Exodus 20: 7
Thou Shalt Not
Take the Name of the Lord Thy God in Vain 

The theory that the Ten Commandments are set off from the rest of the law and have permanent force has always been held in the mainstream of Christianity. This is why only they, of any part of the law, were carved on stone and kept in the "ark of the covenant," the box-like container upon which sat the mercy seat, a symbolic throne for Yahweh. 

And their permanence and distinctiveness as great principles of behavior is clearly seen in the N.T. itself in such passages as James 2, Romans 2, and -- in a strange way -- in Matthew 19. But it helps us in our application of the Ten, too. We will see this to be true, I believe. 

The Reformers all believed these 10 Commandments to be incumbent upon the Christian. The major traditions coming from the reformation all held to them. And even our own western culture has always recognized that they ought to have some force over society, though, of course, that conviction in our time is running pretty thin as we observe every day in the newspaper. And generally, all human societies have somewhat shown a conscience about these commandments -- especially the last 6 -- even if they did not obey them. This is what Romans means when it says that "they have the law written on their hearts." Our text, then, is "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." How does it apply? 

I. WHAT DOES THE COMMANDMENT FORBID IN ITS MOST UNDEBATABLE AND OBVIOUS INTERPRETATION? 

1. The answer is that , first of all, it forbids an irreverent use of God's name or title.  We ought to give close attention to how we use his name.  We ought to be careful in the flippant use of such terms as "God be with you," "God bless you," when it is just an expression with no meaning intended.  Do not ask God for what you do not really want. Do not say prayers that you do not mean.  The legalistic Jews, led by Pharisees and the pharisaic mentality, took this commandment to mean that you should never EVER even say God's name, "Yahweh."  Every time they came to the consonants in the text Y-h-w-h they voiced "Adonai," which means Lord or Master.  But the personal name of Yahweh is not to be avoided, nor was his generic name "God" or his primary title, "Lord."  It was to be treated with great reverence. 

2. The custom of using the word "God" or his title, "Lord" as an exclamation of surprise or as a conversational oath of sincerity or anger just completely astounds and bewilders the objective observer of society.  Could any person in his right mind not be shocked at this coming from a mere theist, not to say from a true believer and receiver of the grace of God? Sometimes I think it must be a special temptation of the Devil, inciting God's people to blaspheme God who has been so gracious to them. 

Are you always careful to not use the name or title of God in away that is irreverent or that opens him up to ridicule?  Surely you are!  But do you use the name of God in a meaningful way in which you mean what you say?  This is certainly one meaning of the "in vain" of this commandment.  Let us think about our habitual way of speaking and carefully purge such things from our vocabulary.  The common southern expression of "Lord" with a "y" appended ought to be revolting to every Christian and ought to cause him pain every time he hears it used.  And this surely applies with regard to the human name of the incarnate Second Person of the Godhead also; and to the Holy Spirit, the Third Person.  And there are all those things called "minced oaths," where a mangled word is substituted for the name of God such as in "golly" or "gol," or "c-r-i-p-e," or "good Lord," "holy man" or "g-e-e" for our Lord Jesus Christ.  I do not want to give a lexicon of blasphemies but you will certainly recognize them if you think about the words you hear and, hopefully, do not speak. It is common among conservative Christians to consider the use of scatological terms (crude terms for bodily functions, etc.) as if they were blasphemy. 

I remember the often repeated teaching of a maven of good manners from the early part of this century about the use of the term "sweat": It must not be used of people, she said.  "Horses 'sweat'; men 'perspire' and ladies are 'all aglow'."  Even to this day there are many Christians who cannot distinguish between scatological terms and blasphemies and they show that they do not appreciate the horror of blasphemy.  However crude, inappropriate, indecent and maybe even morally questionable they may be, they are not even close to being as horrible as a blasphemy against a thrice holy God who, alone, exists outside of his creation and before whom all the holy angels are represented as hiding their faces and before whom all creation will some day bow. 

1. Surely the profane or careless use of holy terms and the exclusive attributes of God are included as prohibitions this one of only 10 principles covering all morality.  Let not God's attribute of "holy" combined with a profane thing and used as an exclamation ever pass the lips of one of his children, however harmless it seems to the people of our culture.  Do not EVER use the term "good gracious!," "Lord have mercy!" or "for goodness sake" as an expression of surprise about something.  The fact that you might think you NEED to have that in your vocabulary is an indication that you have not learned English very well and the fact that you USE it shows that you are at the moment, at least, a blasphemer who deserves to be struck down by God. 

2. Never make jokes about God, however funny they may seem to be at the moment. Probably the fact that they seem funny to us is an indication of our casualness about the holiness of God.  They are a staple in cartoons. I think you would do well to not make jokes about heaven either. He is our dear Heavenly Father but he is also the thrice holy God of creation. And heaven, and our entrance into it, is not a joke! It is a matter of wonderful grace. 

3. And how could any mere theist -- not to say a true Christian who knows God -- ask (or command) God to damn someone or something? How awful a curse if it is only meant as an expression of dislike or rejection and how presumptuous even if it were said about a very, very evil person! 

4. Never use God as a prop! Do not seemingly pray to him to impress others or use prayer to him as a means to convey a message to humans who are listening in, or to induce an attitude in them or produce a reaction on their part (the time-honored sin of the clergy).  Do not treat our holy God, your creator, and the one who willed and arranged your salvation as a person to be demeaned. 

5. And in the case of our dear Lord Jesus Christ, even though we draw close to him by the Holy Spirit and through the merits of the atonement, we must not forget that he is the incarnate Second Person of the Godhead and not a heavenly buddy or a substitute for a human companion.  Treat him as one who loves you and to whom you draw near spiritually, but do not treat him as a playmate, as is often done.  I urge you to think about these things and the reason why they are true and consider how the principle applies to numerous other things and yet does not apply to everything that might be inappropriate speech.  This is one of ten primary foundations of Christian behavior.  It is a great offense to be careless in these things. That is one reason to discipline our speech in the matter.  But does it not also seem to be a mark of one's love for God the Father his King and Jesus his Savior and the Spirit his Comforter, that he willingly and enthusiastically obeys this second commandment? 

1. "Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in VAIN."  Even in a profane, irreverent culture in which professing theists blaspheme the name of God and in which men talk to God as if he were a drunken bum on the street or talk about him as if he were the straight man in a comedy routine, this way of violating the commandment is probably even more prevalent. 

2. As a person who has come into right relationship with God the Father by the atonement and imputed righteousness of the Lord, you have taken the name of God.  You are a child of GOD, called a CHRISTIAN for the Son and are said to be indwelt by the HOLY SPIRIT. You were baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Hoy Spirit!  You bear his NAME!  And "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."  The commandment probably applies to this circumstance where in the lives of professing Christians -- and we must say also, probably true Christians -- they behave in a way that seems to say that there really isn't any God.  The vast majority of Americans use the term "god" in a way that shows they are really talking about what we call "luck" or about a convenient concept which, as far as true reality is concerned, has no more real existence than the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus. And even true Christians, in certain aspects of their lives and at various times in their lives sometime give an uncertain evidence that God exists and so take his name in vain. Negatively, the commandment forbids us to do this. 

3. Positively, it dictates that you live your life in a way that confesses and demonstrates that you believe that there is a kind of God which you profess:  That he is a Savior who has saved your soul; that there is a life beyond this life that makes this life a fleeting instant in the midst of an eternity of blessedness in future existence for his children; that he wills you to be his servant here in the meantime, being his agent in the society in which he has placed you; that his commandments are good and not evil or burdensome; that God is a very present help to you in the time of trouble and difficulty. 

Of course, none of us obey this commandment in its full effect (and probably do not do so in most of the other things God tells us to do) but we do not despair. Because he has previously forgiven us in justification he forgives now, when we confess our sin -- now, not with the judicial forgiveness that was the character of our justification but with a parental forgiveness in Christ who alone perfectly kept the laws and requirements of God in our behalf and who was the atonement for our sins and the righteousness that was imputed to our account by the Father. And when we read this commandment, we respond to what he tells us to do and not to do with joyous obedience saying that it is right and just and our bounden duty to do so. May we all give attention to this: to the words of our mouth and to the hours and days of our lives that we may "not take the name of the Lord (our) God in vain."