The 3rd Commandment

Intro

Names are important

Take Edwin Thomas, for instance. At age fifteen he debuted on the stage playing Tressel to his father's Richard III. Within a few short years he was playing the lead in Shakespearean tragedies throughout the United States and Europe. He was the Laurence Olivier of his time. He brought a spirit of tragedy that put him in a class by himself. Edwin had a younger brother, John, who was also an actor.

Although he could not compare with his older brother, he did give a memorable interpretation of Brutus in the 1863 production of Julius Caesar, by the New York Winter Garden Theater. Two years later, he performed his last role in a theater when he jumped from the box of a bloodied President Lincoln to the stage of Ford's Theater. John Wilkes Booth met the end he deserved. But his murderous life placed a stigma over the life of his brother Edwin.

An invisible asterisk now stood beside his name in the minds of the people. He was no longer Edwin Thomas Booth the consummate tragedian, but Edwin Thomas Booth the brother of the assassin. He retired from the stage to ponder the question why? Edwin Booth's life was a tragic accident simply because of his last name. The sensationalists wouldn't let him separate himself from the crime.

It is interesting to note that he carried a letter with him that could have vindicated him from the sibling attachment to John Wilkes Booth. It was a letter from General Adams Budeau, Chief Secretary to General Ulysses S. Grant, thanking him for a singular act of bravery.

It seems that while he was waiting for a train on the platform at Jersey City in early 1865, a coach he was about to board bolted forward. He turned in time to see that a young boy had slipped from the edge of the pressing crowd into the path of the oncoming train. Without thinking, Edwin raced to the edge of the platform and, linking his leg around a railing, grabbed the boy by the collar. The grateful boy recognized him, but he didn't recognize the boy. It wasn't until he received the letter of thanks that he learned it was Robert Todd Lincoln, the son of his brother's future victim.

What an incredible twisting of fates of these two brothers, and the Lincoln family, as well as showing how quickly a person’s reputation can change

Not only that, but what changed Edwin’s reputation is not anything he did, but what others with his name did

Or perhaps we might consider a still common euphemism in our culture, calling someone a “Benedict Arnold”

Which means what? Yes a traitor

We might not say name in English as important, but we do think our reputation, and our character is!

This is why we have things like trademarks, laws against slander and defammation, we know that harm that losing reputation does!

What Does It Mean?

Now you might be thinking, Kyle, what do these things have to do with what we are talking about today, which is the 3rd commandment, and how do those things have to do with with our series ‘The Names of God’

Well, names tell us who our God is, in relation to our need, as well as our need to understand who God is and who we are

The few weeks we have been in this series, I hope you have seen and grown in your understanding of the character of the God we serve!

So when we consider ‘do not take the Lord’s name in vain’, there is some foreigness there for us, but also should be some understanding

Perhaps we could use ‘reputation’ in our verbage to help us get a better understanding of the scope of this command

This is why we see things like Proverbs 22:1 “1 A good name is to be chosen over great wealth; favor is better than silver and gold.” There is something to your name, your reputation in Scripture

The other way we see this come about is when God does something for His name’s sake

For instance David writes this in Psalm 23:3 “3 He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake.”

What is shown here is that God acts for the sake of his name, that is his reputation, and brings renewal and salvation to David

Elsewhere:

God forgives for his namesake

God delivers for his namesake

God deals with us out of his goodness, for his namesake

God lets us continue to live for his namesake

God will says Paul will have to suffer for his namesake

God will give a hundredfold and eternal life to who forsake everything for Jesus’ namesake

So it’s a pretty big deal for God to act on his reputation, or for his name

I’m also not pulling this out of nowhere, Moses writes in Exodus 34:14 “14 Because the Lord is jealous for his reputation, you are never to bow down to another god. He is a jealous God.”

The word there for reputation is the exact same as used for name, God is extremely jealous for his reputation and what it means!

If you are like me, this was viewed as primarily in our speech, don’t use the name of God or Jesus as a profane statement when something terrible happens, or your stub your toe or step on that lego that your kid left out on the floor!

Story of Sacajuwea and By the Beard of Moses so we didn’t get in trouble at youth group

Don’t get me wrong, this understanding of the 3rd commandment is not wrong, it’s just too narrow

It might help for us to look at what some of the catechisms teach us about this commandment

The catechisms are ways that people learn theology through call and response, and are a great resource if you want to learn more about God and Scripture and our role in that

The Westminister Shorter Catechism says, “What is required in the third commandment?” and “What is forbidden in the third commandment?

The third commandment requires the holy and reverent use of God's names, titles, attributes, ordinances, Word, and works.

The third commandment forbids all profaning or abusing of anything by which God makes himself known.

A more modern catechism, The New City Catechism, asks teh same question, “What does God require in the third commandment?”

The third commandment says that we treat God’s name with fear and reverence, honoring also his Word and works.

So certainly we shouldn’t careless allow God’s name to escape our lips in lieu of a swear word

But there are certainly more than words, it’s vain actions, promises, worship, vows, and certainly co-opting God’s name for his authority and approval in things he is silent on

Ultimately, it comes down to this

HOW WE BRANDISH GOD’S NAME LAYS BARE OUR BASIC BELIEFS OF WHO GOD IS

Brandishing means to wave something in a threatening manner as a weapon

Now we might think that we would never do such a think, but there is a lot going on in this command that we need to unpack, so let us turn to Scripture to see how it unfolds in the people of God

What Does Scripture Show?

The Jews were a people that took their vows and covenants very seriously!

So what would happen, particularly in regard to this idea of vain speaking, is the same thing that we do today, yet with far more seriousness

Have you ever been blamed for doing something, and maybe you did do it but didn’t want to get in trouble, or you didn’t and you were being framed, often we say what to try and get out of the trouble

“I Swear to God, I didn’t _______!”

It was the same for the Isrealites, but taken another 10x more serious since vows are an integral part of the system, and so a covenant was only as good as the parties making it

You are not going to go into a business venture with a party that is known to be shady or wicked!

We must also remember that for the initial readers of Scripture, particularly the OT, names were more than just names, they were the things that showed the essense of the very thing named!

So for a Jew to used the personal, intimate, covenant-binding name of YHWH flippently, was certainly a no go

In fact, the Jews were so serious about this upholding this commandment that is why the name YHWH was never spoken, and instead substituted with Adonai, so they would not mistakingly used God’s name in vain!

1 Kings 21.

So let us consider a few texts that show examples of how God’s name is taken in vain

In 1 Kings 21 we are in the reign of two wicked rulers, Jezebel and Ahab

They had done terrible things, had taken Israel away from God and to Baal worship, and did what they want

The king was supposed to be the ideal person of following God, and Ahab did none of that at all, particularly at the behest of his wife Jezebel

Jezebel was so wicked that she enjoyed killing the prophets of YHWH, something that even the most hard-hearted rulers of Israel did not dare to do!

So in this story, we see a man named Naboth who has a vineyard next to the King’s palace!

Ahab sees it, and wants it, and goes to try and buy it and give Naboth a better vineyard in it’s place

What Ahab is offering is a fair price, and so it would leave Naboth’s family, never to return with no ability to redeem it, and the only hope would be the year of Jubilee which was never celebrated by the Jews

Notice what Naboth says 1 Kings 21:3 “3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “As the Lord is my witness, I will never give my ancestors’ inheritance to you.””

Is this then using God’s name in vain?

No it is not. He is doing what God wants him to do, keep the inheritance of his land, not to pass it on for a better option just because it might be a better option, because then what would happen to that person who owned that land?

There would be someone who would be displaced from their promised and divinely given land, and so Naboth is shown to be a man of character in doing this!

Ahab has a big toddler tantrum over it, and then Jezebel comes into the picture and starts the real wickedness!

So then Jezebel uses the power of the name of the king, to do an evil task

1 Kings 21:9–10 “9 In the letters, she wrote: Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people. 10 Then seat two wicked men opposite him and have them testify against him, saying, “You have cursed God and the king!” Then take him out and stone him to death.”

What is Naboth killed for?

Ultimately for being a righteous man during under an unrighteous king, but more than that, he is killed using God’s name as a pretext for evil, since speaking a curse of God would be a capital offense!

So God’s name is co-opted into a wicked plan to kill an upright man!

Then the prophet Elijah is told by God to go to Ahab and bring pronouncement against him

Then Elijah says “This is what YHWH says” and tells him his family line will be destroyed for his wickedness!

Is Elijah using God’s name in vain?

No! He is a prophet of God, it is the very name of God that brings authority and weight to the words Elijah is speaking

So we see multiple instances of using God’s name, and one of using God’s name in vain, and how vile that is!

Now let us move to the other passage today, because I don’t want us to think that it is only crazy evil people like Ahab and Jezebel that would use God’s name in vain

No even people striving to be godly do this, because sometimes we do the wrong things for the right reasons, or the wrong things with the right motives

Mark 7.

Jesus was an up and coming Rabbi and people wanted to see what Jesus was about

These guys are not innately bad guys, they are just misguided often, they really want to protect the people of Israel from false teachers, and uphold the Old Testament!

So when the bigshots from Jerusalem show up to see who this Jesus guy was, they see his disciples eating food before washing their hands!

Now you will notice that verse 3 and 4 are in parenthetical citations, showing why this is an issue, the Pharisees had stopped seeing a difference between the traditions of the elders and the God given law of Moses!

So when the disciples didn’t honor the elders commentary and extra laws added on top of the law of Moses, it was a slap to their face

The pharisees asked Jesus, why don’t your disciples do this, and man did that open a can of worms they were not expecting!

Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13 “13 The Lord said: These people approach me with their speeches to honor me with lip-service, yet their hearts are far from me, and human rules direct their worship of me.”

In the Greek translation of the Old Testament that word vain in verse 7 of Mark 7 is the same word used in the Greek translation of Is. 29, as well as Exodus 20:7, the third commandment

So Jesus is about to outline what vain worship of God looks like

Worship that is lip service with no heart

Doctrine that is not based of God’s word, but human exposition, and this is where it gets spicy from Jesus!

Jesus says to the Pharisees and their belief system

You abandon God’s command for human tradition

Not only do you abandon it, but you invalidate God’s word to bring out your tradition!

Jesus gives a very pertinent example

Moses gave you the 10 commandments, and #5 is to honor your parents!

So basically it was expected that people would honor their parents when they were old and needed the help, in light of the 10 commandments

Yet there was a corban offering, that the Pharisees took and gleefully put it to use in the temple!

Remember they were under Roman Oppression, and so taxes cut into their revenue for temple upkeep and other religious tasks, many would be important for Jews!

Yet, once money was given to the temple it could not be used for another purpose

Instead of taking the plain reading of the Scriptures to help their parents, they said sorry mom and dad, I gave it to the temple, it’s corban

You can’t think you are more important that God’s house can you!!!

It means they no longer have the money for their parents, and so they are unable to honor God by honoring their parents

You won’t find the idea of corban anywhere in the OT law, it was added later, and it directly went against God’s clear command to honor parents, and so Jesus says they nullify the word of God by these traditions handed down!

So where do we see breaking of the 3rd commandment?

First it is by taking the traditions of the elders and elevating them too far!

If you struggle with legalism, this is a normal point you might do

You want others to walk with God, and avoid the downfalls of sin, and so you need to eliminate the variables that might come

So instead of smoke in moderation, or drink without getting drunk, or being careful what movies and music you listen to, it goes to “no smoking, drinking” and only “Christian movies and music” or such

The Pharisees did the same, the law left things out, like how many steps is considered work on the sabbath? (The elders and the scribes made sure to figure that one out!)

So the issue is that God says one thing, like Honor Your Parents, or Keep the Sabbath, and the Jews then say yes and add to it!

That is taking the authority of God’s name, and applying it to your traditions!

It forces others to say that what they are doing is not what God wants, since you are basing it on God’s word!

Second the taking God’s name in vain comes from Jesus’ quote of Isaiah 29, it is incorrect worship of God, or rather hypocritical worship

Worship that says I love God with my mouth, then turns around and does wickedness, or is filled with hate towards someone that you don’t like or deem unworthy of God’s acceptance!

Finally, it is abandoning God’s word for human tradition!

They give loopholes to people get out of the cost of following God, like making it easy to not take care of parents!

This takes the plain reading of God’s word and then builds on it with Jewish commentary, and then says, this is the only way to read this

If we are to be honest, this is why we should be gracious with how heavily you hold doctrine with other believers

There are lots of commentaries on every book of the Bible, and across the history of the church, a large spectrum of beliefs on many things!

If you then say you are not a Christian and a heretic on any view, you are claiming that by God’s authority your opponent is outside the faith!

It is a very serious charge, and not something that you should flippently throw out or seek out!

Finally, there is one other passage that Jesus speaks to this quite clearly, and it will help us in grasping this into our modern day and age

Matthew 5:33–37 “33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to our ancestors, You must not break your oath, but you must keep your oaths to the Lord. 34 But I tell you, don’t take an oath at all: either by heaven, because it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, because it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King. 36 Do not swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37 But let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one.”

The title of that section in the CSB is “Tell the Truth”

The reason that Jesus brings this up is that if we need to swear on God’s name, that means that we don’t have much of a name ourselves do we?

It’s like asking God to cosign on our loan of reputation since we’ve taken our reputation credit to the trash!

If your integrity is suspected, it is all the more to not vow in God’s name, but entrust yourself to God

The most difficult part of not using God’s name in vain for many of us is not simply using God’s name, and by extension his authority, as an endorsement for what we want to do!

What Does it Mean Today?

So when we consider today, what does this look like?

I think first we must be careful to put God’s name on anything

If we are making a book on “Secret’s of Goose Snatching”, it’s one thing to call it “Kyle’s Secrets of Goose Snatching”, but quite another to call it “God’s Ways of Goose Snatching”

Now you might laugh at that, but how many books do we see with well meaning titles like “God’s way of Parenting”

I know it markets better, and will make you pick it up from the shelf over “Chris P Bacons’ Book of Helpful Parenting”

Yet the very reason the marketing and your own interest in the book lie in the co-opting of God’s name and authority to make your opinions more lofty than they are

This is a modern, and real way of abusing and breaking the 3rd commandment!

Secondly, we must be careful that we live authentically as possible

Paul tells us in Ephesians that we are marked, or sealed with the Spirit of God, and so that means what we do reflects back onto God

Story of Honors English

While this might be about private sinful living when we are publically proclaiming Jesus, it might be other things as well

For instance crazy pentecostal healing ministries bring shame upon God’s name when they fake healings for the hype and respect of people at the cost of God’s reputation

Or we might say God is God during prayer meeting, then be people that complain about our lives, money troubles, our spouses, or the latest governemental policy announced!

Maybe you believe that God is in control, but your life is lived over-protective of your kids, health, or like me you know things have been going well, so you are waiting for the bad thing to come

We proclaim that YHWH is merciful and compassionate, yet we are not that to others (See the parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matt. 18!)

Perhaps most powerfully, God knows that how His people act, can be a boon or a bane of how non-Christians believe!

Romans 2:22–24 “22 You who say, “You must not commit adultery”—do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 For, as it is written: The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

So our hypocrisy and breaking the 3rd commandment has profound implications to our daily living

Perhaps most common here, breaking the 3rd commandment comes in vague personal beliefs about things that God speaks against

I can’t tell you how many discussions I’ve had in the course of life that goes something like this

“I really love them!”

Yes, but they are not a Christian, you know that is a no go from Scripture!

But God wouldn’t make me fall in love if He didn’t want it

Was that God really?

Then a few weeks later, I prayed about it and I got peace from God, so I’m going to stay/date/marry that person

THe problem here is that it goes clearly against God’s revealed word, but some how that ‘peace’ you get is from God?

That is the implied meaning, this peace is from God, otherwise what could veto the Bible?

God doesn’t contradict himself, and so these experiences are taking God’s name in vain to excuse away ungodly things you wish to do!

Finally, we are finally approaching election day, and I for one am glad that this period is coming to an end soon!

So how does the 3rd commandment come out in politics?

Well, it comes out whenever you hear the statement, “Christians can only vote for _______ party”

Or in the inverse, “No Christians could vote for ________ candidate”

I was scrolling through YouTube shorts, and came across a conservative commentator named Charlie Kirk

It was a rally, and he was taking questions, and Kirk is an outspoken believer along with his politics, which I think Kirk is absolutely a brother in Christ as far as I can tell

He was asked what he thought of Piper’s article about Trump that he wrote in 2020

A quick excerpt from that article:

Nothing I say here is intended to dictate how anyone else should vote, but rather to point to a perspective that seems to be neglected. Yes, this perspective sways my vote. But you need not be sinning if you weigh matters differently.

Actually, this is a long-overdue article attempting to explain why I remain baffled that so many Christians consider the sins of unrepentant sexual immorality (porneia), unrepentant boastfulness (alazoneia), unrepentant vulgarity (aischrologia), unrepentant factiousness (dichostasiai), and the like, to be only toxic for our nation, while policies that endorse baby-killing, sex-switching, freedom-limiting, and socialistic overreach are viewed as deadly.

Kirk in response to this says “You cannot say you believe in biblical principals, and vote for the principals of the democrat party, they are incongruent”

That in, no uncertain terms is breaking the 10 Commandments, it is saying Christians cannot honor God if they don’t vote R on the ballot

On the other hand you have “Christians for Kamala”, saying things like this,

“My faith in Jesus leads me to reject Christian nationalism and commit myself to the project of a multiracial, multicultural democracy where we can all freely love God and fully love our neighbors,” said Talarico, a Presbyterian Church (USA) seminarian who has been vocal in his condemnation of Christian nationalism in his state. “That same faith leads me to support Vice President Harris to be the next president of the United States.”

It sounds great, to reject nationalism, and such, until the end, throwing Jesus’ endorsement from your faith to vote for a certain candidate

This is of course the problem

I think one of the most insightful voices into this craziness of political diviseness is Tim Keller, who lived in a very liberal city, while being very theologically conservative

Keller got in trouble for being a registered democrat by many people

His response?

My party registration in NYC reflects the fact that the winner of the Democratic primary is nearly always the winner of the election. If you can't vote in that primary you have no say over who your representatives will be. Vote smart.

Notice, he is not advocating voting for a certain candidate, and even though by the nature of the primary it is a certain party, he is not using Jesus’ name or clout to say “CHRISTIANS CAN ONLY DO THIS”

Keller also wrote this way back in February 2005 it is incredible how well it ages, and it points us to the truth that neither party is the Christian party

We must recognize that neither political party is driven by the breadth, balance, or basis of biblical ethical concerns. The Enlightenment overturned the premise on which all traditional cultures had been built when it asserted the sovereignty of the individual over the family and the community. It made individual fulfillment the ultimate good.

This idolization of the individual is so dominant today that it is the bedrock assumption of both sides in U.S. political debates. Liberals think government should control and redistribute income, but should leave people free to do whatever they choose in the area of personal morality. Their radical individualism comes out in their views of abortion and marriage.

Conservatives, on the other hand, think government should control and forbid personal morality, but should leave people free to do whatever they choose with their money. Their radical individualism comes out in their deep distrust of the public sector and in their understanding of poverty as mainly a failure of personal responsibility.

If you are more concerned about abortion, changing sexual mores, and the severe secularization of the public square, then you will tend to vote Republican. If you are more concerned about racial discrimination, marginalization of the poor, and the erosion of the environment, then you will tend to vote Democrat. Of course the problem is that all of these things are concerns for anyone who reads and trusts the Bible. What are we to do? I think each Christian will have to find his or her own “tie-breaker” among the various biblical concerns and then choose a candidate.

But as we do that, we should not idolize one party and demonize the other. The two-party system does not serve Christians well. Currently it virtually forces us to leave half our faith at the door — either personal wholeness ethics or social wholeness ethics. Our spirit toward those in the other party should be cordial, respectful, and humble. Unfortunately there are few voices speaking with such tones in the political world today.

Well said Tim, your wisdom is already missed in the craziness of this modern world

So what are we to do with this reminder?

We serve the creator God, YHWH, Adonai, The Eternal One, the God who Heals and brings Victory, and so many more we have yet to cover

Our God is so great that we should be slow to bring his name flippently into our lives, because when we do, it shows what we really think of God

HOW WE BRANDISH GOD’S NAME LAYS BARE OUR BASIC BELIEFS OF WHO GOD IS

Benediction

Ecclesiastes 5:1–7 (CSB)

1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Better to approach in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do, for they ignorantly do wrong.

2 Do not be hasty to speak, and do not be impulsive to make a speech before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.

4 When you make a vow to God, don’t delay fulfilling it, because he does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow.

5 Better that you do not vow than that you vow and not fulfill it.

6 Do not let your mouth bring guilt on you, and do not say in the presence of the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?

7 For many words bring futility, Therefore, fear God.