Sermon, 2013-06-09, Ten Words, Keep God’s Name Sacred 1 | P a g e Title slide
Someone named Paul Dickinson has written a book called A Collector’s Compendium of Rare and Unusual, Bold and Beautiful, Odd and Whimsical Names. He collected over 10,000 strange and unusual names in different categories like palindromes, anagrams, and aptronyms. An aptronym is a name that matches the occupation or character of its owner, often in a humorous or ironic way. For example, in 1941 there were 2 men executed in the electric chair in Fla. and their names were Will Burn & Will Frizzle. There was a window washer in Montreal who fell while he was washing windows and died. His name was Will Drop. Dickenson found a barber who was named Dan Druff. And a podiatrist named Jeff Treadwell. Goforth & Ketchum . are two police officer partners. O’Neil and Pray . were partners in a church equipment company. He found a gynecologist named Zoltan Ovary. And finally somewhere in the world there is a urologist with the name of P.P. Peters.
What’s in a name? God says a lot when it is His name. That’s what the third Commandment is all about.
We are looking at the 10 Commandments this summer. We are focusing on what God calls us to do in Deuteronomy 5:1 Learn them. Live them. (Message) Last week we looked at Commandments 1 & 2. Today we look at the 3rd Commandment which says, Deuteronomy 5:11 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. (NASB)
First, let’s make clear what name of the Lord your God refers to. What name are we commanded not to take in vain?
The OT was originally written in the Hebrew language. In the original Hebrew the Lord your God was Yahweh Elohim.
Yahweh is the name God gave for himself in Exodus 3 when Moses met God in the burning bush and he asked God “what is your name? God said Yahweh.
In Hebrew it meant I am who I am, or I will be who I will be. It is an expression of God’s eternal natural. God said this is my name, “I am the Eternal One.” This is his personal name.
Elohim is the general or generic word for God. Sermon, 2013-06-09, Ten Words, Keep God’s Name Sacred 2 | P a g e It is in a plural intensive form with a singular meaning, Which is interesting for a trinitarian view of God. But it is the general word for God.
What name are we forbidden to take in vain? Both the personal name and the general words for God.
So this would include God, Lord, his other personal name Jesus, Jesus Christ, and even the Holy Spirit.
In the New Testament Jesus said there was one sin that was unforgivable and it was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
Blasphemy is to say something false or slanderous or contemptuous about or against God. This includes taking his name in vain. And Jesus said it is very serious.
So, now that we are clear on what name, the issue becomes: What does it mean to take his name in vain? What is it that we are not to do with God’s name?
The Hebrew word translated vain here is shav.
Shav means and is translated as vain. But it also is the Hebrew word for empty, emptiness, nothingness, falsehood, lie, lying, and worthlessness.
In other places in the OT, when shav is translated into English sometimes it is translated as empty, or worthless, or lie or lying.
Understanding shav helps us to understand what God says not to do with his name. I want to suggest for us today that there are 3 main ways we can take the name of God in vain that are implied by how the word was used.
What does it mean to not take God’s name in vain? It means: 1. Do not say God’s name for empty reasons.
In Job 15 we see the word shav translated as empty.
Job 15:31 Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; For emptiness will be his reward. (NASB)
Emptiness here is the same shav that is translated as vain in Deut. It means empty.
When people say the name Jesus Christ for no real or good reason as an expression of anger, surprise, or jest, that is taking God’s name is vain. Sermon, 2013-06-09, Ten Words, Keep God’s Name Sacred 3 | P a g e
It is amazing how people say the name of Jesus as a curse of anger, and how they put the foulest words as his middle name.
Why do people do that? Why if they don’t believe or care at all, why is that the name that comes out of their soul when they are angry or frustrated?
When we say “God, Oh my God, God damn it,” and the like, that is taking God’s name is vain.
A couple years ago ABC’s news show Nightline asked kids at a Hebrew high school in NYC about texting OMG and if they thought that was violating the 3rd commandment.
Oh My God is using God’s name, Elohim, in a worthless, empty way. God’s name deserves more respect than that.
As I was researching, I came across one author who said the word Gee as in Gee whiz was blasphemy because it was short for Je-sus.
And one said that Gomer Pyle was an instrument of the devil because when he said “Golly” it was a form of saying Go-od in vain.
I think these are taking it a little too far for me.
But the Israelites who God gave this commandment to first wouldn’t write it or say God’s name for fear of saying it in vain.
They would substitute Lord for Yahweh. Or they would say “the Name” instead of Yahweh. When they would see Yahweh on the page, they would say “the name.”
They also added the vowels from Adonai, which was Hebrew for Lord To YHWH to come up with Jehovah. Jehovah is a combination name they made up so they wouldn’t say Yahweh in vain.
But more than this being a rule not to break. I think this is about our relationship with God. We respect his name because we respect Him.
We are not to “empty” the name of God of value, Because God is worthy of all respect, glory and honor.
What does it mean to not take God’s name in vain? It means: 1. Do not say God’s name for empty reasons. 2. Do not use God’s name to swear deceitfully.
Sermon, 2013-06-09, Ten Words, Keep God’s Name Sacred 4 | P a g e So again, the Hebrew word for vain in the commandment is shav. Shav is also translated in 8 places in the OT as lie, lying or false. As in, Hosea 10:4 They make many promises, take false oaths [shav oaths] and make agree- ments; therefore lawsuits spring up like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.
So when God says do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, he may be saying “do not make false oaths.”
Do not say, “I swear to God.” Do not say, “I swear to God,” especially when you are lying.
Many biblical scholars believe this is the primary intended prohibition here. When Jesus gave us his sermon on the mount in Matthew 5, it was his version of the 10 Commandments.
Moses went up on a mountain and delivered the words of God. Jesus went up on a mountain and delivered the words of God.
If you’ve never seen, look at Matt 5-7 today and look for how much of Jesus’ sermon on the mount deals with the 10 Cmdment issues.
But, in his sermon on the mount, Jesus doesn’t say “don’t take the name of the Lord your God in vain.”
But he does say, Matthew 5:33-37 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil. (NASB)
The people in that day had developed a system where you could break an oath if you swore by lesser objects – it was like when we were kids and would say, “I had my fingers crossed.”
Jesus says that is swearing falsely. He says don’t even swear. Just let our yes be yes and no, no. This means followers of Christ are to be people who keep their word. We are to be people who do what we say we will do. We don’t look for loopholes. And we don’t use God as a guise for making our position right.
We don’t use God as a guise for making our position right or true! We do not swear to God. We do not use God to deceive. We do not use God to make us sound more right. Sermon, 2013-06-09, Ten Words, Keep God’s Name Sacred 5 | P a g e
What does it mean to not take God’s name in vain? It means: 1. Do not say God’s name for empty reasons. 2. Do not use God’s name to swear deceitfully. And finally, 3. Do not take God’s name without honoring it with your life.
A passage that shows how shav could mean this is Psalm 24:3-4 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully.
The expression in Hebrew is the same in: Do not take up the name of the Lord in vain As it is here in has not lifted up his soul to falsehood. Nasa shav.
Lift up in falsehood. Or Exalt God in falsehood. It may be that what God means here is: You shall not take up, lift up, my name falsely. You shall not pretend to worship me. You shall not pretend to follow me.
It agrees with the first two commandments. 1. Have no other gods. Worship only me. 2. Worship no false gods. No idols. 3. Do not take up my name in falsehood – do not worship me falsely.
This idea has several corollaries in the New Testament. In one, Jesus tells us that 21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”
What are they guilty of? They lift up his name in vain. They call on his name in falsehood.
And guess where we find this passage? In Matthew 7, in Jesus’ sermon on the mount.
When he redelivered the word of God the same way Moses did from the mountain, Jesus said don’t take my name and use it falsely. Don’t claim to be mine, but live a life of lawlessness. Sermon, 2013-06-09, Ten Words, Keep God’s Name Sacred 6 | P a g e
God wants us to represent his name with our lives! We are not to lift up his name in vanity. We are not to take his name, but then not show people who he is!
When God gave the Israelites the 10 Commandments, he told them: Exodus 19:4-6 “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
God was saying here’s the covenant I am making, I promise to provide for and protect you. But it also meant that they bore the responsibility for carrying God’s name to the rest of the nations of the world.
When others looked at Israel, they saw God’s people. They got an idea of what God was like. They carried God’s reputation with them.
Here’s a passage that shows how this was God’s expectation.
Malachi 1:6-14 “A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty. “It is you priests who show contempt for my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’ 7 “By offering defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ “By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible. 8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty. 9 “Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”—says the Lord Almighty. 10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food is contemptible.’ 13 And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the Lord Almighty. Sermon, 2013-06-09, Ten Words, Keep God’s Name Sacred 7 | P a g e “When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the Lord. 14 “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.
God’s people were failing to represent His name correctly by how they didn’t do what they said they believed! Their belief and their practice didn’t match up, and God said it was profaning his name among the nations.
The Bible teaches us that we reflect the name of God to this world like ambassadors, and that failure to represent Him faithfully in the way that we live or speak means misusing His name.
1 Peter 2:11-12 calls us, Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
After WWI Herbert Hoover was the head of the American Relief Administration. Hoover organized shipments of food for millions of starving people in Central and Eastern Europe through a newly formed Christian organization, the American Friends Service Committee. He provided aid to the defeated German nation, Finland, Sweden, Poland, and others, as well as relief to famine-stricken Bolshevik- controlled areas of Russia. He faced opposition from Senator Henry Cabot Lodge and other Republicans for helping the Russians. When asked if he was not this way helping the communists, Hoover retorted, "Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they shall be fed!" At war's end, the New York Times named Hoover one of the "Ten Most Important Living Americans." In July 1922, Soviet author Maxim Gorky wrote to Hoover: “Your help will enter history as a unique, gigantic achievement, worthy of the greatest glory, which will long remain in the memory of millions of Russians whom you have saved from death.” Shortly after, a new word entered the Finnish language. In Finland, to “hoover” means “to be kind, to help.”
This is how we should represent the Name of Jesus Christ with our lives.
So much goodness and truth and love, that the name of Christ takes on the very meaning of these things to other people.
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. Sermon, 2013-06-09, Ten Words, Keep God’s Name Sacred 8 | P a g e
1. Do not say God’s name for empty reasons. 2. Do not use God’s name to swear deceitfully. 3. Do not take God’s name without honoring it with your life. Keep God’s name special. Invoke God’s name for righteous reasons only. Express God’s name in truth. Represent God’s name with your life.
We are going to close with a short video on the names of God. As we watch and listen, I invite you to praise God’s name And to ask for forgiveness in how you have fallen short. And to ask for grace to live for him.
Show video - The Names of God.