Bring No Shame to God's Name

Introduction

We are familiar with the concept of an ambassador. Almost all nations have them. They represent the interests of their home country in other nations and are primarily accountable to the leader who sent them. This is an awesome responsibility. Their speech and actions, directly or indirectly, shape the views of their leader / nation. This is why it is important for an ambassador to speak only those things consistent with the views of their head of government or state, Likewise their actions must be in accord with the standards set forth by that same governing authority. If one of these things is not the case, there could be serious national, personal, and / or global consequences. Ambassadors are not lone rangers and should never act as such. In order words they are to bring no shame to their leaders name. This is what we will be discussing today.

Background

OT Scholar Mark Rooker gives us this insight into ANE uses of deity names: “In the ancient world, serious matters such as treaties and contractual obligations derived their binding character by the use of solemn oaths. These oaths normally included the invoking of an individual's god, often at a temple or before a representation of that god. It was believed that the gods would attest to the oath transactions as well as serve as potential avengers of their violation. The fear of divine retribution would compel the oath taker to speak the truth. So real was this threat that a person might refuse to take an oath even if he had to pay a fine. The critical issue in the oath taking is the calling on or evoking a deity's name. We see this in a prayer by an Egyptian man:

I am a man who swore falsely by Ptah, lord of Maat,

And he made me see darkness by day.

I will declare his might to the fool and the wise,

To the small and great:

Beware of Ptah, Lord of Maat!

Behold, he does not overlook anyone's deed!

Refrain from uttering Ptah's name falsely.

Lo, he who utters it falsely, lo he falls!

It was thus no light matter to utter a false oath using the name of a deity. There is widespread evidence in the ancient Near Eastern documents that invoking a god in a frivolous manner or without serious intent could lead to serious repercussions.”

Exposition

Scripture is clear, especially in the Old Testament, that the name of the LORD and the LORD Himself are closely intertwined. Prov. 18:10 calls “the name of the LORD” a strong tower. Ps 148:5;13 exhort us the praise “the name of the LORD” as “His name is exalted”. Ps 124:8 declares “Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth”. In 1 Kgs 5:3 Solomon states his intention to bring a house “in the name of the LORD”. These examples show that when reference is made to the name of the LORD, the reference is to the LORD Himself. Therefore the name of the LORD is to be handled with care. The LORD Himself treats the use of His name with the upmost seriousness, requiring death for anyone who profanes it. An example is found in Lev. 24:10-16 where a son of Israel is put to death for cursing the Name. Yahweh holds His name in high regard. As the people of God we must do the same. This raises to obvious question: what does in mean to take the LORD’s name is vain? There are two avenues we want to explore: the misuse and abuse of God’s name in our speech and the profaning of His name in our actions.

Dishonoring the LORD’s name in words

Much of the discussion around taking the LORD’s name is vain relates to how His name flows from our lips. The sad reality is that we are often quite flippant with it. Like the subject of our poem above we have disconnected the name from the holy and honorable God to whom it and we belong. Examples include:

The name of the LORD as a curse word: Profanity is prohibited in scripture as unbecoming the people of God (Eph 5:4). We are to hallow God’s name.

Swearing falsely: By this I mean swearing before / to God concerning the truth of a manner you know to be false or calling God as witness to a lie. This is perjury and a clear violation of the commandment. We saw this with Jacob in Gen. 27:18 -20;24, where he declared the LORD blessed him to quickly provide a meal to his father Issac. Lev. 19:12 explicitly condemns such actions.

Sorcery - using the name of the LORD in magical incantations. This implies the LORD can be controlled or manipulated to do what the creature wants. John Mackey writes: “That was of the essence of heathen religions. Knowledge of the divine was seen as a way of inveigling the gods into acting as the worshipper requested. Israel is reminded that their covenant King is not at their disposal.”[3] This is detestable to our creator, so much that such things are worthy of death (Deut. 18:10 - 12).

False prophecy: Attributing to Yahweh words He did not speak, This is what the false prophets of Jeremiah did in his day. Examples include Jer 5:31;27:14-16;Jer 29:9. Quite simply, it is claiming our wishes, desires, or plans are actually those of the LORD. It dishonors God because it attributes untruths to him, bringing Him reproach and damaging both the false prophet and the people of God. Concerning those prophets, Luther put it this way: “Here, then, let us learn and take to heart the great importance of this commandment, that with all diligence we may guard against and dread every misuse of the holy name, as the greatest sin that can be outwardly committed. For to lie and deceive is in itself a great sin, but is greatly aggravated when we attempt to justify it, and seek to confirm it by invoking the name of God and using it as a cloak for shame, so that from a single lie a double lie, nay, manifold lies, result.”This bears direct relevance to recent events regarding COVID and the election. Back in March there were so called “prophets” whom were declaring that COVID19 would be over by mid-April and the nation would be freed from it. They indicated president Trump would be able to open the nation as he wanted to before Resurrection Sunday. These prophecies didn’t come to pass. If you aren’t familiar with this it because it was not picked up by the national media, at least not to a great extent. There was a quite a bit of discussion in social media amongst believers, much of it scornful. This doesn’t diminish the seriousness of what took place or the dishonor to the name of the LORD that still resulted. As we assemble here today there have been prophecies that Donald Trump will win a second term. All evidence points to the contrary. If things remain as they have been, again the name of God would have been dishonored. David declared that the name of the LORD is excellent in all the earth. To speak things in the name of God He didn’t actually speak is to attempt to mar this and will not be treated lightly by the LORD of heaven and earth.

Dishonoring the LORD’s name in deeds

There is another way to dishonor the name of the LORD. That is in living and acting in a manner that brings His name, and therefore Yahweh Himself into disrepute. Remember from Exodus 19:1-6 that the people of God were to be a kingdom of priests and holy nation to God before the nations of the earth. By them the nations were to see and know the true and living God (Deut 4:6). Our actions reflect the God we worship, for good or bad. The LORD through the prophet Nathan made this very point to David (2 Sam 12:14). Other examples include Prov 30:8-9, Jer 34:16, Ezek 36:20, and Amos 2:7. It is the people of God that are the image bearers of the LORD in the truest sense. Having explored how we take the LORD’s name in vain, we turn to the positive case. What does it mean to properly use God’s name.

Honoring the name of the LORD

What is the underlying positive command concerning the LORD’s name? To answer this we will walk through the scriptures, ending with the LORD’s prayer:

Beginning with the psalms: Ps 29:2 calls us to “give unto the LORD the glory due to His name.” Ps. 66:2 calls us to “Sing the glory of his name. Make his praise glorious” Ps 72:19 declares “Blessed be His glorious Name forever.”

The law connects honoring the name of the LORD with obedience. Deut. 28:58-59 equate keeping the words of the law with fearing the name of the LORD. Is. 29:23 does a similar thing, connecting sanctifying the name of the LORD with sanctifying the Holy One of Jacob.

Christ our savior begins the Lord’s Prayer with the petition “Hallowed by the name”. Most translation render it this way. The CSB and NET translations capture more closely the reality that this first sentence is a petition, not a declarative statement. The NET states this as: “may your name be honored”. This means all our words and actions should be such that men and women will give praise to God, glorifying the father in heaven (Matt 5:16). This of course is done via the Spirit of God operating in us to do that which we can’t do ourselves.

Honoring God’s name names proclaiming Christ and him crucified. We declare there is no other name in heaven by which men may be saved (Acts 4:12). We declare those who call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved. We agree with John that those who believe in the name of the Son of God shall have eternal life. Paul declares “we were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the LORD Jesus Christ”. Blessed be the name of the LORD. If we do these things we won’t bring shame to God’s name. We will honor the name of the LORD, honoring Yahweh and bringing Him glory.

Bibliography

1. Rooker, M. (2010). The ten commandments: ethics for the twenty-first century. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic. Pg. 57

2. ibid

3. Mackay, J. L. (2001). Exodus (p. 348). Fearn, Ross-shire, Great Britain: Mentor.

4. Martin Luther, The Large Catechism of Martin Luther, (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "The Second Commandment".