Summary
Many years ago I was dining with some university acquaintances when one of them uttered a blasphemous phrase in my hearing. Remembering that I was a Christian and perhaps with a vague knowledge of the third commandment, he apologised to me for his words. While I appreciated his respect (at that point) for my faith, it was to God that he truly owed an apology.
While we tend to think the Third Commandment forbids using God’s names as an expletive, the commandment covers more than that. It reminds us God is holy, and we must always treat him that way in all our acts. We must not misuse God’s name for false worship, speaking blasphemy, or treating God like our cosmic servant. And that respect must extend to all those whom God has made.
Our Passage Explained
The Third Commandment requires that “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” (v.7). Taking God’s name in vain is literally to lift up God’s name to emptiness or falsehood, rather than to the holy standard that is true of everything about God.
Taking God’s name in vain is not a costless exercise but has real, eternal consequences. God warns that if we treat his holy name with disrespect, we cannot expect to escape some form of divine punishment.
The most common way we think of violating this commandment is through using God’s name as an expletive or in an empty way. God’s name is not a curse word, or a swear word. To treat God’s name as something profane is to empty it of its holiness.
Likewise, there might be times to cry out to God, such as when we cry out in prayer for help to God as we witness something terrible. But finding a new favourite brand of ice cream is not truly an “OMG” moment, and empties God’s name of its holiness.
We must also avoid using God’s name in false worship. False worship is quite broad, but includes any sort of superstition, claiming that God approves of a false teaching (when Scripture clearly states he does not), or using God’s name to approve of worship of which he does not approve.
Thus we must be careful to conform our worship to God’s Word, and to centre our worship on God and our Lord Jesus Christ. We must not use God’s name or twist his words to suggest that God approves of the latest societal sin, or in connection with deceptive practices under the guise of ministry which part people from their money.
We also cannot treat God like he is our cosmic servant. The Second Commandment forbids the making of images of God, which in the context of Israel at Sinai made God like the deities of the pagan nations around. Those images made the deity in a sense local, and thus controllable.
A name in Scripture, and in the days of Moses, was intimately associated with that person’s character and being. Pagan nations invoked the names of their deities like a special password which unlocked new features – rain, victory in war, or something else desired.
The Third Commandment forbids this type of thinking. God is holy and eternal, transcending all things. Knowing God’s name does not allow us to use it emptily, as if we can ring a bell and demand God comes to grant us our wishes. Instead, we ought to pray to God seeking his will, and that if our prayers align with his will, trust he will grant them.
Our Passage Applied
Our conduct towards other people must also treat them with respect as a consequence of the Third Commandment. Everyone is made in God’s image (Gen. 1:26-7). When we treat them with disrespect, we are suggesting that someone beautifully crafted as resembling God’s very nature is of little worth.
When we spread rumours, slander, gossip, and other things which do not treat people with respect, we are treating Image Bearers as not worthy of honour and respect. The Apostle James reminds us that when we do that, we are effectively treating the Lord Jesus with the same disrespect (James 3:1-12).
That goes beyond disrespect to people, but to breaking vows and promises we have made to others. Breaking a vow or a promise not only affects the way we are perceived by others, but suggests that the value of the person whose trust we have breached is less than ours.
Even more so, when we do so with God as a witness to our vow. When we make that worse by adding in God’s name, we defame God before the world by identifying our character with his.
When we read of how easily we fail to acknowledge God’s holiness in speech and act, we can only acknowledge our sinfulness. Thankfully, Christ never took God’s name in vain, but always honoured God in his speech and his deeds. In Christ, God holds us guiltless because Jesus took the punishment for our guilt in taking God’s name in vain.
