Taking God's Name In Vain

“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” (Exodus 20:7).

We live in a very casual society, one in which few things are taken seriously and almost nothing is sacred. In such an irreverent climate the words of the third commandment must seem awfully strict. But the principle it contains is desperately needed.

“Vain” (shav) means empty, worthless, frivolous, to no purpose. The Hebrew verb nasa means to take up or lift up. A good rendering of this command would be, “You shall not lift up the Lord’s name lightly.”

The third commandment naturally flows from the two before it. “Although there is no God besides Jehovah, the absolute One, and His divine essence cannot be seen or conceived of under any form, He had made known the glory of His nature in His name” (Keil). While we usually give our children names because they sound nice, a name in Biblical times was meant to say something about the person who wore it.

At the burning bush, a reluctant Moses asked God for a name to identify Him to the Hebrews. God replied, “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). From this Hebrew word (hayah, to be or exist) comes the name translated “Jehovah” (yhwh). In the next verse God calls Himself “The Lord [Jehovah] God of your fathers,” adding, “This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.” In the very name of Jehovah there was testimony of His eternity and power. Just as a man’s name represents his character to those who know him (cf. Proverbs 22:1), so the name of God represents all His attributes: power, wisdom, authority, love, mercy, etc.

Likewise, the New Testament speaks of “the name” of Jesus as much more than just a name. Believing on His name or calling on His name means placing our trust in Him and submitting to His Lordship (cf. John 1:12; 3:18; Acts 2:21; 22:16; Romans 10:13). Doing things in His name means not just invoking His name (see Acts 19:13-16 for proof of the futility of that), but acting by His authority, in a manner consistent with His will, and from a relationship with Him (cf. Matthew 18:20; John 13:13-14; 1 Corinthians 1:15).

The command of Exodus 20:7 is against irreverent and empty treatment of God Himself, not merely His name. The focus is not on an attitude of contempt toward God (the first commandment deals with that), but rather one of carelessness. And as Israel was to reverence Jehovah’s name, we are also to honor His name — His person — and that of His Son, Jesus.

Consider a few of the ways men take up God’s name lightly:

Invoking His name thoughtlessly. It is said that the Jews were so careful about the third commandment that they eventually allowed God’s proper name to be uttered only by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. With disuse, its true pronunciation was forgotten. The more generic terms Adoniah (Lord) and Elohim (God) were substituted. That’s quite a contrast to our time, in which many folks only use the name “God” or “Jesus” as an exclamation of anger or surprise. (Are euphemisms like “Geez,” “Gosh,” etc., really any different?) Such trivial use of the name of God certainly qualifies as “unwholesome speech” (Ephesians 4:29) and “foolish talking” (5:4). It shows disrespect for the One to whom the name belongs.

False or frivolous oaths. Have you noticed that the person who’s always “swearing to God” that his words are true is usually a chronic liar? Paul called God as witness to the truth of his words (Galatians 1:20; 2 Corinthians 1:23), and we can infer from this that taking an oath of truthfulness (such as in court) is not sinful. But any such vow before God is a serious matter. The Pharisees, it seems, viewed only certain kinds of oaths as binding, effectively using a “technicality” to lie with impunity (Matthew 26:13-22). In contrast, Jesus calls for integrity in speech without the need for swearing (Matthew 5:33-37). People shouldn’t require an oath of us before they will trust our words.

Careless worship. Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, offered strange fire to the Lord and perished. God had said, “By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honored” (Leviticus 10:1-4). The worship of God demands reverence. He is the focus, not us. There is no real reverence in empty ritual or stuffy formality (cf. Matthew 6:7). The same is true of the sensationalism and entertainment that passes for worship these days. And it is just as true when we sing or pray or gather around the table while our minds are a million miles away. All such praises are as careless and empty as the strange fire of Aaron’s sons. “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Mark 7:6).

Disobedience in daily life. The Jews may have forgotten how to pronounce God’s name, but they still managed to profane it. God spoke of how the people’s disobedience had defiled His holy name among the nations (Ezekiel 36:20-23). We who are created in God’s image treat Him profanely when we disobey His laws. That is even more true of the Christian, who is “being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him” (Colossians 3:10). Our disobedience brings reproach on Him. Paul urged servants to honor their masters “so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed” (1 Timothy 6:1). His instructions to wives carried a similar admonition (Titus 2:5). Warning of false teachers, Peter said, “many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed” (2 Peter 2:2).

And how many times have people tried to paste the name of Jesus onto things that were not done by His authority or for His cause? “It is awful…in how many instances God’s name is taken in vain, by the use of it to sanctify unholy ends, justify unrighteousness, and give to error what dignity and force can be gained from an appeal to divine authority” (Young). The examples are legion, from the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition to the Ku Klux Klan, from the false teachers of the first century to modern TV evangelists peddling their spiritual snake oil. As one writer said, “We may do many things in the name of the Lord, but that does not make them the Lord’s things” (cf. Matthew 7:21f).

Proper reverence toward God begins in the heart, the source of all we do and say (Matthew 15:17-20; 12:34-37). We will not treat God lightly if we truly regard Him as holy. “This commandment, like the rest, must be kept positively, or it cannot be kept negatively. If we are found making a serious and habitual use of God’s name in a right way, then, and only then, shall we be kept effectually from using it in a wrong one” (Young).

“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created” (Revelation 4:11). “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.…Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name” (Psalm 96:4,8).