Nothing is so sweet to a person's ear as the sound of his own name. Your name, my name, gives us a basic identity in the world. Our self-esteem is associated with it. From a birth certificate to a grave marker, the identity of a person is important to him. Many of you have been, as I have, to Washington, D.C. and perhaps have also visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Perhaps the most solemn and sorrowful aspect of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is his lack of personal identity.
Other soldiers also, by the hundreds of thousands, have given their lives, as did that soldier. But those men who now are placed within that tomb have no personal identity. Personal identity is important to a person. If personal identity is important to us, it is even more so to our God. For God, in giving us his name, tells us of himself. His name is a self-revelation, telling us who he is and what he is like. His names describe his nature, his essential being.
An example of that is found in the book of Exodus in the third chapter. Moses, who had become the prophet of God, is in this chapter a shepherd. He is 80 years old. He is found, as we come to Exodus chapter 3, in the west side of the wilderness on Mount Horeb, called the Mountain of God. As he was shepherding his sheep, there was an unusual sight that caught his attention. There was a bush that burned with fire, and yet the bush was not consumed. And out of that bush, God spoke to Moses.
We are going to cut into the middle of the conversation and slip to Exodus chapter 3, down to the 12th verse. It says, And God said, Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you, that it is I who have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain. Then Moses said to God, Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you.
Now they may say to me, What is his name? What shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I am has sent me to you. And God furthermore said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial name to all generations.
In verse 14, the Lord gives to us an explanation of his name, Yahweh. I am that I am. It is his memorial name to all generations. Not only in that name did God reveal himself as the Yahweh of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but he reveals himself as well in this occasion by the bush and the fire. The fire speaks of God's holiness, his absolute uniqueness, his majesty.
And the fact that the bush was not consumed tells us of his self-existence, his continuousness, which is also revealed in the name, I am that I am. He is eternally self-existent. And so both by symbol and by words, God reveals himself on this occasion. Now as we come to our actual text for today in Exodus chapter 20, we notice that the whole nation of Israel is back at this same mountain. Only this time there is not just a bush burning with fire. Now the whole mountain is ablaze.
Notice in chapter 19 and verse 9, The Lord said to Moses, Behold, I shall come to you in a thick cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you, and they also believe in you forever. And Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. The Lord also said to Moses, Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments, and let them be ready for the third day.
For on the third day the Lord will come down on the mountain in the sight of all the people. And you shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through, whether beast or man, he shall not live. When the ram's horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.
So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, Be ready for the third day, do not go near a woman. So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes, and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.
And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. And its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. And when the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder. And so we see here a dramatic demonstration or revelation of God Himself, visibly.
It was an awesome and terrifying sight to the people of Israel. After this revelation of Himself symbolically and visibly to their senses, God then began to establish a covenant with them. In so doing, He reminds them who He is in chapter 20. He says, I am Yahweh, Elohim, I am the Lord, your God. You had no trouble convincing them of that, as they looked on the mountain and heard these words.
And then God laid down for them the Ten Commandments, which form the moral base for the covenant with Israel. We come today to the third one in our study, verse 7. 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. God tells us here that His name is to be treated reverently. So much did the Jews take this literally that they would not even speak the name Yahweh.
When they would come to that name in the Hebrew text, they would substitute another name by which God has revealed Himself, which means Lord. And that is the name Adonai. They would refuse to even speak the name Yahweh. God says, do not take My name in vain. What does that mean? Well, before I talk about that, let me tell you what it does not mean. This does not mean that we are forbidden to speak the name of the Lord. God says, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
The word take means to lift up, to raise, to take up. It never refers to the speaking or the uttering of a word or sound. So God is not saying here, you shall not utter the name of the Lord. He is saying something else. This same word is used in Psalm 8-3 for lifting up a song, taking up a song. Isaiah 37-4 talks about lifting up a prayer, the same word, to take it up. So it does not mean that we are not to utter the name of the Lord.
The Jews were wrong in that respect, however sincere their reverence for the name of God. Nor does this commandment deal with obscene speech, with filthy conversation or vulgar language. The third commandment does not deal with offensive speech. It does not deal with abusive, belligerent, or crude language.
Now lest you think that suddenly you are allowed to use that kind of language, let me turn you over to Ephesians chapter 5 just real quick, where we see a New Testament word that covers all the bases that I have just mentioned. Ephesians 5 verse 3, But do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints. And there must be no filthiness and silly talk or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
Here we see a text that does deal with filthy talk. The word filthiness here refers to any shameful speech. It is any language that I use that would make me ashamed when I remember the presence of God. That is what filthy language is in the context of verse 4. There must also be no silly talk. This word refers to the talk of a drunkard. It is the foolish babblings of one who is not in control of himself.
The word of God says that kind of babbling, that kind of silly talk, is not fitting for one who is a saint of God. And he says furthermore that there must not be any coarse jesting. That is coarse talk. The word really means that which turns easily. And the idea is we are to avoid language that has double meanings to it. We are not to turn the conversation to some off-color or suggestive direction.
We are to avoid the kind of language that has double meanings, which turns easily on itself to say something more than what the word actually says. And you know what I am talking about. This is the kind of language that is so popular with talk show hosts and others. We are to have nothing to do with that. That kind of talk is wrong for us. Filthy talk, silly talk, coarse talk, all of that is out of place. For one who is a saint of the Lord. However, the third commandment does not deal with that.
Remember what the third commandment does not mean. But let's move ahead to talk about what it does mean. What does it mean when it says you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain? The word vain means that which is empty or waste or in disorder. So we are not to employ God's name in such a way that there is emptiness in connection with it or there is disorder or waste. But what more does that mean?
Well let me suggest to you that it has at least five applications that I think are very relevant to us today. What does it mean for us not to take the name of the Lord in vain? In the first place it refers to casual careless employment of God's name. Now what I mean by that is swearing, cursing, and joking about God's name or using God's name. This kind of talk is often acquired as a habit. But however thoughtlessly it may be used, it is nonetheless insulting to God.
To use this kind of language is to be sinfully presumptuous. For who is one man to consign another to hell? Or who is anyone to call upon God to damn anyone else? How presumptuous of any man to put himself in that kind of a posture. Furthermore, to use that kind of language is to talk insincerely. If one is rational. For no rational person who understands what that language means would ever desire even his worst enemy to go to hell. Or to be damned by God.
No one could possibly say that sincerely. It is careless employment of God's name. It also refers to the use of the sweet name of Jesus Christ as a curse. Habitual cursing is sure evidence of a limited vocabulary, a weak mind, an insensitive soul to things that are sacred. Bernard Schneider writes in his commentary on the book of Deuteronomy, In our day, people abuse the sacred name of God and of Jesus Christ almost everywhere, and at almost every level of society.
People swear at home, at work, in school, on the plane, in the Navy, Army, and in the Marines. A man misses his plane and calls upon God to damn everyone. He hits his thumb and takes the precious name of Christ in vain. A man swears at his enemies in anger and his friends in good humor. Men and women swear when they are mad, when they are glad, when they are sad. A man swears at his wife, at his children, at the weather, at the dog, at the policeman, at the traffic, and at things in general.
He swears willfully and more often thoughtlessly. Almost everyone is guilty of swearing. Men swear, women swear, children swear, presidents, judges, teachers, policemen, generals, even some preachers take God's name in vain. Yet every time a person uses God's name carelessly, willfully, or even thoughtlessly to give vent to his feelings, he insults God, his Maker. And God will not excuse him for doing so.
That is exactly what is meant by the statement, He will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. God will not excuse a man for abusing his name, for there is no excuse for this insulting habit. How carefully such words are fed into the minds of young people. I remember as a young child hearing my grandfather use God's name in vain and the name of Jesus Christ as a curse. It was implanted on my soul at a young age. You have experienced similar things, I'm sure.
Therefore we need to be careful how we use our language, our tongues, how we employ our personal speech, the materials that we allow into our homes, whether it be written or spoken on television, radio. We need to be cautious of those words, all of us, because little by little we become insensitive to this awful sin. And it is no less wrong for a child to hear it as it is for an adult. This kind of language is thought commonplace in our world today, and indeed it is, however still sinful.
Furthermore, I believe that we need to avoid slang words, which are nothing more than substitutes for the names of deity or abbreviations for them. By this I'm referring to gosh, gee, gall, golly. What do you think those words mean? Where did they come from? What is the root of them? I challenge you to think about that. Even the word darn that we use, is that not a stand-in for a stronger word?
Have we not somehow sanctified these words and said, well these are okay because we come short of employing the actual term? Is that any less careless and casual in talking about sacred things? We also need to avoid belittling inappropriate descriptions of God. For example, the man upstairs. God is not the man upstairs, my friend. I remember the last time that I used that phrase. I was just out of college and was talking with a maiden lady who was older.
I was going to say old maid, but I'm sure that that's not appropriate to say either. A maiden lady who was older in our church, where I had just gone to be the assistant pastor, and talking with her I used that term. And it was the last time, let me tell you. I appreciated her rebuke, and while it stung at the moment, it has stayed with me for 17 years.
Someone has said, the foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it. That's a strong statement. You say, what preacher made that statement? It was the first president of the United States. What does it mean to take the Lord's name in vain, to employ it casually, carelessly, and swearing, cursing? We're talking about God in an appropriate manner.
What does it mean to take the Lord's name in vain? Well, let me secondly suggest to you that it refers to lack of faithfulness or truthfulness to an oath, promise, or commitment that we make. In Leviticus 19, 12 it says, You shall not swear falsely by my name, so as to profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. The scriptures do not outlaw the taking of an oath or the making of a promise.
Indeed, in ancient Israel, these things were practiced, and today we still practice them in a courtroom, for example. When one takes an oath, so help me God to say the truth. My friend, when that oath is made to say something less than the truth is to break the third commandment. When one takes an oath of office, he promises by the help of God to fulfill requirements of that office. To come short of that is to blaspheme the name of the Lord.
You and I who are believers cannot make a commitment or sign a document without that also being co-signed by Jesus Christ.
For how can we possibly separate ourselves from him and say, I do this apart from you, Lord? No, no. We can do nothing apart from him, whether it be the signing of an application where we say all of the above things are true and accurate, as far as we know, or the signing of a tax form where we say that that represents the fullness of our income and responsibility to the government, or whether it be a credit form where we promise to pay what we owe when we owe it,
or if it be a sign-up sheet where we promise to do something. When we make that commitment and say that we will do it, we are taking the Lord's name in doing that. And if we fail, then we have broken the third commandment. What does it mean to break the third commandment and to take the Lord's name in vain? It is to make a promise, to take an oath, and then to fail in what we have promised to do. What does it mean to take the Lord's name in vain?
Thirdly, I would suggest to you that refers to claiming that God is supportive of a cause that is actually godless. I think, for example, of liberation theology, which is so highly touted by some circles of Christendom. Liberation theology is nothing more than communism, Marxism, dressed up in Christian terms.
Though there be even priests and religious leaders who use this term and promote this kind of theology, to do that and employ the name of God in doing so is to break the third commandment, for that is a godless cause. Communism, socialism are without God. And to proclaim something that advances that cause, which is godless, in the name of God, is to blaspheme the holy name of the Lord Himself.
Any religious social program that does good and yet denies the truth of God, nonetheless it invokes His name in what it's doing, is taking the Lord's name in vain. I think furthermore that invoking the name of God at a convocation of people, which is essentially ungodly, is taking the Lord's name in vain.
For an invocation that is only ceremonial or traditional, and does not represent the true sense of dependence of those people, or which does not truly seek the favor of God upon that assembly, that is invoking the name of God in vain. There have been places where I have been asked to give the invocation and have done so, and I have said to God and myself that I will never do it again in some of those places.
For to invoke God's blessing upon a cause or upon a convocation which is godless, and has truly no interest in God, or no seeking of His favor, that is blasphemy. I'm not saying that all of those causes or convocations are wicked, I don't mean that. But I mean that they are godless, they ignore God. God has simply given a tip of the hat through that little brief invocation at the beginning. It seems to me that that is in effect blasphemy. What does it mean to take the Lord's name in vain?
Fourthly, I would suggest that it is hypocrisy in word and act while claiming the holy name of the Lord. Jesus said, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say? In other words, to call Him Lord, but to deny His Lordship in our lives. Or to say that we are Christians, Christ-ones, Christ-followers, and to live a life that does not reflect the life of Jesus Christ. That is blasphemy. That is taking the Lord's name in vain.
Of ancient Israel, God said through Isaiah in chapter 48 verse 1, they swear by the name of the Lord and invoke the God of Israel, but not in truth nor in righteousness. That is the breaking of the third commandment. G. Campbell Morgan wrote, The form in which this third commandment is broken most completely, most awfully, most terribly, is by perpetually making use of the name of the Lord while the life does not square with the profession that is made.
There are men who have told that they were profane swears and would be terribly shocked. They have never allowed an oath to cross their lips in their lives, nor do they know what it is to make use of profane or vulgar language. And they make their boast in their freedom from these things. Yet these men are breaking the third commandment more often and more terribly than the most profane swears.
The man who professes with his lips to honor God and yet denies Him in his life will do far more to hinder the coming of the Kingdom than the man who openly blasphemes and makes no profession of honoring God. The point of course is this, that if we call ourselves by that name, then let us live honorably, let us live worthily of it. We read in the New Testament, walk in a manner worthy of your calling, walk in a manner worthy of God, walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel.
What does it mean to take the name of the Lord in vain? It is to claim to be someone who knows the Lord and then to deny Him in the way that we live. What does it mean to take the name of the Lord in vain? Finally, I would suggest to you that it involves the denial of the deity of Jesus Christ. In 1 Timothy 1.13, Paul says, before he was converted, that he was a blasphemer. Now remember who's saying that. This is a religious Pharisee.
He would be counted among those who would not even speak the name Yahweh. And yet he says that when he was in that religious condition before conversion, he was a blasphemer. What does he mean? He means that before that day on the road to Damascus, when he saw Jesus and bowed the knee to Him, calling Him Lord, that before that time he had not admitted the deity of Jesus Christ, he had denied it. And so to deny the deity of Jesus Christ is to blaspheme, to take the name of the Lord in vain.
Jesus says in John 8.24, if you believe not that I am... Now when he says that, he is tying that phrase with Yahweh of the Old Testament, as you know. He says, if you believe not that I am... and he says before Abraham was, I am... If you believe not that I am, you will die in your sins. One who dies in his sins dies without any hope. To deny the deity of Jesus Christ is to blaspheme the name of the Lord. I want you to notice that there is a word of warning connected with this commandment.
Only with this one and the previous one is that so. The last one dealt with idolatry and there was a warning, and now we have another one, and this one that deals with the name of the Lord. It says, the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain. Literally it says, God will not hold him clean who takes his name in vain. In other words, he is stained. He is dirty. He has polluted himself and God will not count him as clean.
Those who are guilty of blasphemy, who have taken the Lord's name in vain by their lives or by their lips, will be held accountable by God for the abuse and desecration of his holy name. There is a starting example of that in Leviticus chapter 24 and I invite you to turn there with me in closing. In the tenth verse of Leviticus 24 it says, Now the son of an Israelite woman whose father was an Egyptian went out among the sons of Israel.
Apparently this was one of the mixed multitude who came with Israel out of Egypt. He is half Israelite, half Egyptian. Then the Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel struggled with each other in the camp. They got into a fight. And the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the name and cursed. So they brought him to Moses and they put him in custody so that the command of the Lord might be made clear to them.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Bring the one who is cursed outside the camp, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head. Then let all the congregation stone him. And you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, If anyone curses his God, then he shall bear his sin. Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of Yahweh shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the alien as well as the native. When he blasphemes the name shall be put to death.
Verse 23, then Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought the one who had cursed outside the camp and stoned him with stones. That surely seems out of character today, doesn't it? And these laws are in fact for ancient Israel. However, don't miss the point. The point is how seriously God takes an insult to His name. The point is how sacred God considers His name and how dangerous it is for any of us to blaspheme the name of the Lord.
In the disciples' prayer, sometimes called the Lord's Prayer, Jesus begins by teaching us to pray, Our Father, who art in heaven. And then He says three petitions and a modifying phrase. The three petitions are, Your name be hallowed, Your kingdom come, Your will be done. As in heaven, so on earth. In other words, that last phrase applies to all three.
So what Jesus is really saying is, Our Father, who art in heaven, Your name be hallowed, Your name be consecrated, Your name be reverenced, Your name be set apart as no other name. Your name be hallowed, As in heaven, so on earth. As Your name is spoken by the angels, So may those on earth learn to speak it. The Lord is holy and holy is His name.
If we are called by that name, then we are called upon to live our lives reverently, to use our tongues carefully, to make our commitments sincerely, to invoke His name prayerfully. Someone said, when I was converted, I lost half of my vocabulary. I suppose that there might be some of us who could identify somewhat with that statement. But I guess that the searching point this morning is, my Christian brother and sister, to what extent have we reacquired our old vocabulary?
If not in the way we talk, do we take the Lord's name in the way that we walk? Heavenly Father, I pray that You will search out our hearts, expose to us a lack of sensitivity, and the careless employment of Your name, forgive us. But it cannot be said that we do not know what we are doing, because now we do. And so with that responsibility, we commit ourselves afresh to You to make Your name holy, and to live lives that are commensurate with the calling of His hours to holiness.
We thank You that You are a gracious one, that You are forgiving, and that Jesus shed His precious blood at Calvary so that we might be forgiven even of this kind of verbal sin. Father, if there be some friend here today who doesn't know Jesus, I pray that You will call that one to Yourself.
Perhaps that one is guilty of terrible blasphemy, but if not of that, perhaps there are other areas of the life that are today exposed, and there is that sense of guilt, and sense of judgment and condemnation before God. Father, cause that one to reach out in faith today and to receive the Savior who died for him and rose again. They might find forgiveness of all of his sins. Lord, teach us how holy and precious is Your name, and may it be blessed forever. In Jesus' name, Amen.