Biblically speaking, perhaps it began as Adam named all the animals… acting as the ruler of creation God created him to be.
Perhaps it began when man realized he could control his fellow man simply by calling out his name. Just by uttering a few syllables one could make another human stop in his/her tracks and turn around.
There is power in a name.
And so the black magicians call on the names of deities to conjure up power for their purposes. They speak incantations to grant magical effects. If they can name the deity, they can harness its power and authority.
Who knows where it started…
but we know where it was called to an end. Exodus 20:7
It is said that Rome had a secret name… only shared in mystical rituals. It was kept secret unless an enemy of the state would learn of it and speak it against Rome… because to speak the name of a thing was to share in its authority… its power. (or to take it)
God was not… and is not… afraid of that
He shared His name with us.
“Who shall I say is sending me?” Moses asked.
And God answered.
GOD WANTS HIS NAME KNOWN
but He wants it known in truth
FOR WHO HE IS
leviticus 19:12: Don’t swear deceitfully in my name and defile the name of your God… I am YHWH.
The first two commandments reshaped the Hebrews ideas of deity, worship, commitment, and authority. The third commandment sealed the deal…
and acted as a warning.
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.
God’s name shall not be upon your lips for empty ends. AND there is a danger in neglecting the holiness of His name.
Unlike the priests of the various gods in other nations… the one true God has standards on how we should use His authority… His power… His works.
He’s a live wire
You had better be careful how you handle Him
In 2 Samuel 6 Uzzah touched the ark of the covenant… and dropped dead.
In Acts 5 Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit… and dropped dead.
In Acts 19 seven sons of Sceva conjured up the “name of Jesus whom Paul preaches,” to exert power over a demon…
the demon knew the names of Jesus and Paul
but the sons’ vain use of the NAME was powerless
the demon beat all 7 up and sent them running… naked.
Isaiah sees God in His throne room,
“Woe is me!”
“I am ruined!”
“For I am a man of unclean lips in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for I have seen the
King, the Lord of hosts!”
God is terrible.
He is not safe.
He is powerful and majestic and pure and HOLY.
He is not ok with the abuse of His power… of His holy name.
He has offered us community with Him.
He has not offered Himself as a tool for us to use in pursuit of power and authority.
So what did they do? t h e y d i d t h e i r b e s t … b e t t e r t h a n a n y o n e b e f o r e t h e m
They protected the name with all their might… YHWH
It was not to be spoken lest it be taken in vain.
Only by the High Priest, and only once a year.
until we forgot how to say it.
in fear of using the name toward empty ends, we lost it
b y t h e t i m e o f J e s u s t h e y w o u l d s w e a r b y t h e t e m p l e a n d l i e …
s w e a r b y t h e a l t a r a n d l i e …
in the letter of the law the Lawgiver was lost
vanity
the 3rd commandment breeched
So what do we do? w e d o o u r b e s t … b u t n o n e b e t t e r .
We shudder when the word “God” is used as a profanity.
a s i f G o d i s i n s u l t e d ?
In our fear of making the name empty, have we represented God as a pouty child upset at the mispronunciation of his name?
is he that small?
are there worse ways of wasting the Name we should be wary of?
He is not ok with the abuse of His power.
“Do not defile my Name.”
Wherever science has given one man control of another,
science has broken the 3rd commandment.
Creation is the work of God.
The artistry of His hands.
That we should take His works and use them toward empty or evil ends…
h o w d o y o u u s e t h e i n t e r n e t ?
empty?
evil?
evil?T.V.
Music
the Media
etc.
even our intelligence (given to us by God)
we use to exert control over others.
are we using the work of God for
empty or evil ends?
We break the 3rd Commandment
“I have a word from God…”
The name of God is loaded.
It inspires people to be convinced…
of our opinion.
Joy Davidman:“If we object to meat-eating, we declare that God is vegetarian; if we abhor war, we proclaim a pacifist Deity. He who turned water into wine to gladden a wedding is now accused by many of favouring that abominable fluid grape juice. There can hardly be a more evil way of taking God's name in vain than this way of presuming to speak in it…
For here is spiritual pride, the ultimate sin, in action-the sin of believing in one's own righteousness.
The true prophet says humbly,
"To me, a sinful man, God spoke."
But the scribes and Pharisees declare,
"When we speak, God agrees." They feel no need of a special revelation, for they are always, in their own view, infallible.”
“It is this self-righteousness of the pious that most breeds atheism,
by inspiring all decent ordinary men with loathing of the enormous lie.”
we defile the name of God when we make use of it
we break the 3rd commandment
We speak in His name and defile it.
We take His name in vain.
And it is this sin that causes others to break the 3rd Commandment as well.
His name becomes nothing to them… because of us.
We who have used the Name for unhallowed ends,
We who have taken the work, the very artistry, of God’s hands and used it to control others… or used it toward empty ends.
We who have “called upon the Name of God to bolster up our own vanity”… our own opinions…
We who have neglected to call upon His name because of our prejudices.
We are all black magicians who misunderstand and misuse the name of God.
HE IS HIGH VOLTAGE… HE IS HOLY.
Remember… God gave us His name. He doesn’t want it hidden under a bushel.
The God who died for us does not want us to live in fear of Him continually.
He wants us to understand His holiness so that we will understand the depth of His love and sacrifice…
So for us the 3rd Commandment is about more
than casual profanity.
It is remembering His holiness in order
to remember His love.
And if we will remember His love,
We will make His name great among the nations.
don’t fear offending Him
desperately desire to honor Him.
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