10 for Ten (2)

Introduction

In our individualistic, relativistic society we have lost the idea of representing others

It is about representing ourselves, “being true to ourselves”

There is little to no sense that there is something bigger than me

This is not God’s picture for humanity, nor was it for Israel.

Super quick recap

2nd commandment

So what’s this name all about then?

I. Name of God

Psalm 111:9 ESV

He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name!

Psalm 106:6–8 (ESV)

Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness. Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power.

In other words, the name Yahweh Elohim (Lord your God) speaks of who Israel’s God is and of His reputation (glory)

Habakkuk 2:14 ESV

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

And as God’s people they affected this

To some degree this can or does happen in our lives

Appliance Repair - business name

This is not only a reputation but a display of a persons character (goodness, righteousness)

What is your reputation?

What is God’s?

Again, Yahweh(the personal name for God given to Israel) means, “ I am and will continue to be, what I am and will forever be.”

His character and reputation, righteousness and glory, is and will forever be the same.

While there are many other names given to God out of what he did, however, this was the name God gave and is repeated again here.

Yahweh - would encompass all these other names

Let’s go back to

Exodus 34:6–7 ESV

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

This is who God proclaims to be.

This as Yahweh’s character and reputation is to be also proclaimed and honored by Israel as God’s “kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Ex 19

And so the Lord says...

Isaiah 42:8 ESV

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

II. Take Up

Lit is to “raise up yahweh’s name for no good.”

nasa - pickup/carry

Also the Hebrew word used for forgive

To pickup or carry God’s name

I believe it holds a similar idea of being marked by God’s name and Identifying as such

It’s a taking, perhaps as in marriage, of anothers name

Not in losing your identity but of covenanting together

In fact in Num 6:22-27

Numbers 6:22–27 ESV

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

God marks his people with his name

Interestingly, this sort of picture is used in Rev 13 of the mark of the beast

Revelation 13:17 ESV

so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

This is an identifying mark but even more so a mark of allegiance

Later in Revelation

Revelation 22:4 ESV

They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

God’s people in the restored creation will be marked as God’s

So Yahweh is who God is and His reputation

Those who are his are marked by His name and His presence

Again this is a picture of the covenantal relationship between God and Israel, of belonging to Him

And so the use of God’s name for an Israelite was extremely important

So to take up God’s name was to identify yourself as one of God’s people

Now Israelites, in fear of breaking this commandment, would not even speak God’s name but rather came up with a hybrid of Yahweh and Adonai coming up with Jehovah.

This was not the intended application of this

It wasn’t that they couldn’t speak or write Yahweh’s name but rather they are warned to not use it in vain, in speech or in action

III. In Vain

This really means - “for no good” or “with emptyness” (deception/falsity)

Let’s look at some examples

Ezekiel 36:18–21 ESV

So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it. I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them. But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.

profane - to defile or make morally impure

But also includes the idea of “put into use”

They put into use the name of the Lord in a way that defiled it.

Ie. as Yahweh’s people they were idolatrous and exiled and so defile God’s character and reputation among the nations

Proverbs 30:7–9 ESV

Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

This gives us a picture of stealing as a way in which one might defile God’s name

The rest of commandments then are a picture of how to honor and not defile the Lord’s name

Romans 2:17–24 ESV

But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

Here is a picture of hypocrisy

Matthew 5:33–37 ESV

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

So it is claiming God/Yahweh as our God and so by proclaiming our allegiance to Him and yet it does not match up with the rest of what we say or do.

We today would call it hypocrisy but in our hypocrisy we are defiling the name of God

Are we glorifying or profaning the name of the Lord in this community, this world?

So let me give us a couple verse in challenge this morning.

1 Corinthians 10:31–11:1 ESV

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

1 Peter 2:9–12 ESV

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Conclusion