God's Holy Name

Operation Christmas Child - The children are beginning work on a mission project, and they need your help. Each month, we’re going to collect items for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. We’ve set a goal of 60 shoeboxes. For July, we’re looking to get combs, hairbrushes, toothbrushes, and wash cloths. You can sign up on the list in the foyer to bring certain items. Make sure they are new, and for the toothbrushes, they ask that the brushes be individually packaged.

Wednesday Nights - Starting July 6, we’re revamping our Wednesday night schedule. We’ll start with our Monthly Fellowship Meal - we’re eating BBQ spareribs, red potatoes, corn on the cob, and homemade ice cream! After we eat, we’ll be starting a new Men’s study. We’re going through the book “Experiencing God” by Henry Blackaby and Claude King. That study will meet in the Choir Room down the hall. I can fill you in on details if you’re interested. The ladies will stay in the Fellowship Hall for a study in the book “Matchless” by Angie Smith. See Ferol or Carrie for details.

GriefShare - One more thing that’s not until August, but I want to get it on your radar. Some of us have struggled mourning the loss of a loved one. Maybe it happened years ago and you still struggle, or maybe it happened recently and you’re trying to adjust to life without them. Whatever the case may be, the Autauga Baptist Association is hosting a grief recovery support group called “GriefShare.” The group will meet starting August 18. If you’re interested, or know someone who is, you can call or email the ABA office for info and to sign up.

Reading: Deuteronomy 5:11

Deuteronomy 5:11 ESV

11 “ ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Pray

The text of this commandment has two parts. First is the prohibition: we are not to “take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” We’ll explore that in just a moment.

Then there is the second part: the rationale. We are not to take God’s name in vain because he will punish us. That’s a round-about way to say that God will judge and punish those who take his name in vain. Even if we escape punishment here on earth, God’s justice is perfect. He will judge us for all our motivations, works, and words. But we need to explore this commandment. What exactly does taking God’s name in vain mean, and how do we avoid it?

Let’s consider very briefly the meaning of the word “vain.” The word for vain has a basic meaning of “empty, worthless.” It’s used throughout the Bible to describe actions that do not matter or cannot succeed. In Jeremiah 2:30, God says:

Jeremiah 2:30 ESV

30 In vain have I struck your children; they took no correction; your own sword devoured your prophets like a ravening lion.

God’s correction is not working because the children of Israel refuse to submit to him. To do something “in vain,” then, is to do it without any hope of success or benefit. It is to divorce yourself from the reality of the situation and continue to act in ways that do not work.

Now consider the idea of taking God’s name in vain. The word “take” comes from the Hebrew root nasa, which means “to lift up.” This form has the idea of bearing, lifting, or carrying something. Thus we are not to carry God’s name in vain. Why not? Because God’s name isn’t something we can carry flippantly. Now we’re ready to ask our two main questions:

What Does the Third Commandment Reveal about God?

God’s Name Is His Radiance

In Scripture, names often bear meaning. Many times, the name identifies the character of the one called by that name. So Adam means “man,” Nabal means “fool,” and Immanuel means “God with us.” Each of these names indicates the character of the man. This is also true of God. And frequently the name of God is connected to his glory:

Isaiah 42:8 ESV

8 I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

Notice the connection: God’s character is connected to his name, and his name is connected to his glory, praise, and his jealousy. We talked about God’s jealousy last week. Here’s another:

Psalm 29:1–2 ESV

1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

His name itself is so great that glory is due merely to his name. It’s the glory due to him. God’s name is a way of describing his holiness and glory. That’s why he sometimes refers to the Temple and the city of Jerusalem (where the Temple was located) as the “place where I put my name.” That’s the place of God’s manifest glory, so that’s where his name “resides.” God’s name is his radiance.

God’s Name Is His Reputation

Related to the connection between the name and the character, names also give a reputation. Often names represent not only the character but the life of the one named. There’s a reason there aren’t too many girls named Jezebel! Another example comes from the days of Saturday morning cartoons: one of Bugs Bunny’s favorite insults of Elmer Fudd was to call him a “nimrod.” That’s a reference to Nimrod, the hunter in Genesis 10 who was the “first to be a mighty man” before God. Of course, Bugs is calling Elmer a “nimrod” sarcastically - he’s not mighty like the real Nimrod was. That’s the reason nimrod is an insult now.

God’s name is also his reputation:

Isaiah 48:11 ESV

11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.

God is talking about the way his people reject him over and over again, but he continues to defer his anger because of his own name. His reputation of holiness balances with his reputation of mercy, and they both are reflected in his name. One of my favorite Psalms also makes the connection between the name of God and his works:

Psalm 106:47 ESV

47 Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.

God’s name is directly linked with the things he does - it’s his reputation.

God’s Name Is His Revelation

Exodus 3:14 ESV

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”

Revelation 15:4 ESV

4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

What Does the Third Commandment Require of Us?

We Must Carry His Name with Care for His Radiance

Our entire lives must honor him.

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV

12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Jesus gives commendation to the church in Philadelphia:

Revelation 3:8 ESV

8 “ ‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

We Must Carry His Name with Care for His Reputation

We cannot misuse the name of God for our personal advantage.

Jeremiah 7:8–14 ESV

8 “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. 12 Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, 14 therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.

We Must Carry His Name with Care for His Revelation

We dare not speak for God what he has not commanded.

Deuteronomy 18:18–22 ESV

18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

We also dare not be silent when God has spoken.

Ezekiel 33:7–9 ESV

7 “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8 If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

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