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Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain: What Does it Really Mean?
by C Michael PattonJune 7th, 2007
145 Comments
What does it mean to use the Lord’s name in vain? This is a question that might seem self-evident to most people in western society. Whether you are religious or not, you would not even hesitate with your answer, “It means to say G-D.” I am sure that there are more people that can answer this than there are who can list the ten commandments, name the Gospels, or tell you the difference between the New Testament and the Old Testament. With all the talk about cursing pastors and the evolution of swearing going on in the blogsphere, I thought that I would try to contribute once more to this discussion by asking the question “What does it really mean to take the Lord’s name in vain?”
Obviously, I am going to say something that is at odds with the common conception among those of us who grew up in the context of our western Judeo-Christian culture, otherwise I would not have included the word “really,” and put it in italics! The reader must also be warned that I am going to use a phrase that is very offensive to many. I am assuming that I am dealing with a mature audience who understands the intentionality that I bring to this blog (most of the time!). If what I am proposing here is correct, we all need to hear this in order to overcome a serious issue of folk theology that damages the character of God and misrepresents what it means to talk in a Christian manner.
For most, the ultimate violation of the third commandment, “You shall not take the Lord your God’s name in vain,” is to say “God damn it.” You can use just about every other word or phrase, no matter how bad, but when your vulgarity includes the utilization of this phrase, many would believe that you have crossed the line. You might even be charged with blasphemy. Some people will stand before God and when asked “Why should I let you in to heaven?” will proudly say, “Because I did not murder, commit adultery, and I never said “the G-D word.” (Please note, I don’t think God is going to ask that question.)
I believe we have this wrong. In fact, from a purely objective standpoint, I don’t believe that this phrase causes God to bat an eye whatsoever. Think about it this way for a moment. Why would calling on God to damn something be so bad? What does the verb “damn” mean? The American Heritage Dictionary defines the verb ”to damn” as “the act of pronouncing an adverse judgement upon.” To call upon God to damn something is neither sinful nor unbiblical. In fact, you can find people throughout Scripture, especially in the Psalms, who call upon God to bring judgement on their enemies. In other words, they are asking for God to damn those who they feel are ripe for His judgement. In this sense, saying “God damn _____” is as biblical as saying “God bless _____.”
Some may say to me the reason why this is a violation of the third commandment is because people are using God’s name in a “vain,” “worthless,” or “empty” way. In this case, to say “God damn it!” in our colloquial tongue is not the same as seriously calling upon God to damn something or someone. For these people, if you say it seriously, fine, but if you say it casually, then you have used His name in an empty way and thereby broken the third commandment.
But there are three major problems with this line of reasoning:Â
1) “God” is not the name of God, but a common phrase used to refer to deities in general. How can a generic classification be considered a formal name? It would be like you saying that my name is “person.” God gives His name to Moses in the book of Exodus. His name is Yahweh. Would you have the same offense if someone were to stub their toe and say “Yahweh damn it!”? I doubt it.
2) If the principle that we are going by is that we are not to use God’s name and not really mean it, then I believe that we are very inconsistent in what we take offense to as a culture. Why don’t people get offended when others say “God bless you?” Do you think that every time someone says this that they really mean it? Do you think that in their mind they are talking to God, beseeching on your behalf for a blessing? Just about every email I get ends with the phrase, “God bless.” I seriously doubt that that person actually said a prayer for me before he or she hit send. If this is the case, then why is saying ”God bless you” not just as much a violation of the third commandment as saying “God damn you?” Is it more biblical to ask for God’s kindness or judgment? I don’t think anyone who is honest with themselves can say that they are consistent in this regard. Saying “God damn it” and not meaning it should be just as bad as saying “God bless you” and not meaning it.
3) This is the most important so I have saved it for last. In fact, if what I am about to say is true, then the first two don’t really make a difference. The question is this: What does it mean to use God’s name in an empty or vain way? What does the third commandment really mean? It is hard to tell from a simple word study on the Hebrew term naqa (vain). As well, our understanding of a “name” and what it signifies is much different than what it meant in the context in which this commandment was given. What we have to do is to try to understand what it meant then, so that we can understand what it means now. It does us no good to anachronistically impose our understanding upon an ancient text. This is eisegesis (reading into the text what we presuppose), not exegesis (letting the text speak on its own terms).
Briefly, here is what I believe your studies will show. The nations to which the Israelites were going had many gods. They were highly superstitious. Their prophets would often use the name of their god in pronouncements. The usage could be in a curse, hex, or even a blessing. They would use the name of their god to give their statements, whatever they may be, authority. To pronounce something in their own name would not have given their words much weight, but to pronounce something in the name of a god meant that people would listen and fear. They may have said, “In the name of Baal, there will be no rain for 40 days.” Or “In the name of Marduk, I say that you will win this battle.” This gave the prophet much power and authority. But, as we know, there is no Baal or Marduk. Since this is the case, they did not really make such pronouncement and therefore the words of the prophet had no authority and should neither have been praised or feared.
God was attempting to prevent the Israelites from doing the same thing. God was saying for them not to use His name like the nations used the names of their gods. He did not want them to use His name to invoke false authority behind pronouncements. In essence, God did not want the Israelites to say that He said something that He had not said. This makes sense. God has a reputation to protect. He does not want anyone saying “Thus sayeth the Lord” if the Lord had not spoken. All of you have experienced this. You have had people say you said something you did not say. This can be very damaging to your character. It is very destructive to your name. Why? Because it makes you out to be something that you are not. How much more important is it for God to protect His character? It is fitting that God would have put this as one of the ten most important commandments as the nation of Israel moved towards Canaan.
What does this mean for us? Well, for starters we understand that the third commandment is certainly not focused on something so trivial as saying “God damn it!” The funny thing is that while some people may never think of using that phrase, people all over the Christian religious landscape are breaking the third commandment every day, damaging the Lord’s reputation. “Thus sayeth the Lord . . .” “God told me to tell you . . .” “God says that if you send in this much money, you will be blessed.” I could go on and on, but you get the point. Using the name of the Lord in vain means that you do damage to His reputation and character through false and unsure claims. Think again before you say “God said . . .” Make sure that He has really said it. If you are unsure, make your statement reflect your uncertianty. Saying “I think God is telling you to . . .” rather than “God is telling you to . . .” may not be as authoritative, but it will keep God’s reputation safe and keep you from breaking the third commandment.
As an aside, I think that this misunderstanding of the third commandment is not only sad, but tragic. If I were Satan (and I am not 
), I can’t think of a better way to trivialize such an important commandment and misrepresent the character of God than to make people focus its essence on the phrase ”God damn it.”
Does this mean that I believe that we can now say this phrase and not worry about it? Not exactly. I think that using this phrase in a colloquial way is offensive in many (if not most) contexts. We don’t want to be offensive. It all comes back to being intentional with everything we say. While it is not a violation of the third commandment necessarily, it is offensive speech that must be used with wisdom and discretion.
Similar Posts:
- What Does it Really Mean to Take the Lord’s Name in Vain?
- Inviting Jesus into your Heart (Dan Wallace)
- Would Christ have died had he not been killed? (2)
- Was God’s purpose in creation to glorify Himself?
- A Near Death Experience? A Theological Evaluation of Don Piper’s “90 Minutes in Heaven”
145 Comments
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
18
Very well said, Michael, and very wise. Thanks and I hope you have a great day!
Joanie
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Thanks Joanie!
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
7
Thanks, Michael….
You concretely answered something that had been bugging me in a nebuluous way for awhile. I knew we had that wrong but not exactly sure how. I’m glad you fleshed it out for me and I think you are absolutely correct!!
Again we strain at gnats and swallow camels, its disheartening
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This is a quite good, blog-length treatment of a subject that needs repeatedly to be addressed in evangelicalism. It is no small thing, as you say, to attach God’s name to an activity or enterprise in which He is not involved.
I had only recently finished Friessen’s Decision Making and the Will of God when I heard Bruce Waltke make much the same point you make here. The convergence of these two messages turned my nascent spiritual life upside-down for a time while I came to terms with personal responsibility for my choices and desires. Having been unchurched prior to my conversion, I quickly adopted the evangespeak that was rampant in the little Christian subculture.
(An analysis of the psychosocial reasons for prefacing one’s behavior with “God said/told/showed/revealed . . .” is a tangential but important issue itself).
The following year (1983?) I was asked by an application to seminary to “explain my call to the ministry.” Well, I had no “call to the ministry,” believing that it was a decision that God both gave me the wisdom to make and the responsibility to make. I was not courageous in saying I did not believe in such a call: the forward to Friessen’s book had been written by the then-president of the seminary! So I was pretty sure I was on holy ground and wouldn’t be kept out for that reason!
I would enjoy hearing your thoughts on the need for evangelicals of all ages to take responsibility for their words and actions rather than attributing their motivation to God. I know you have addressed one side here, but there is also the aspect of irresponsibility on the part of Christians who employ such language and thinking. Such behavior lies at the root, I think, of much unbalanced theology and praxis.
Again, thank you for the post.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
9
Just wanted to say I completely agree. And it is very sad that we get caught up in trivial issues. I KNOW satan loves the fact that we misunderstand these things. I just wish more Christians knew this. Guess this is a good place to start as any.
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Thanks for the refreshing post. I think these types of things fall under the category of “straining out a nat, but swallowing a camel” and can turn us into whitewashed tombed legalist very quickly.
One thing I would like to add that may help our perspective on issues like these is from a book (which I don’t remember the name or the author). In the book the author talked about how he used an instance where someone said “Jesus†(in the sense of throwing your hands up in the air and saying “Jesus†out of frustration), using that opportunity he asked the person, “You know my friendâ€? The guy was confused and asked “who’s your friendâ€, the author answered, “Jesus, my friend, you said his name, do you know himâ€?
This gave him an opportunity to talk about Jesus without sounding like a “crazy fundamentalist†because the other person brought it up to begin with. At this point the person has two choices (rather two paths to go down in their reasoning) either to say, “Oh a Jesus freak, your crazy†and walk away or “how do you know he’s your friend?†Which if the second line of reasoning is used, you know God is working because they are having “ears to hear†even if it’s just a tiny bit. It’s amazing what God can do with simple questions, and how He uses them to open the eyes of people you were “sure†were clamped shut.
This is also Jesus’ model, using the circumstances of the day to spread the news of the Kingdom (woman at the well, paralyzed man being lowered down etc) so this should be our ultimate goal in our everyday life’s as His disciples. Again, I affirm and thank Mr. Patton for addressing this issue, but I think if we walk away with merely “head knowledge†on the subject with have missed its point.
Thank you again for your wonderful post,
Your brother in Christ,
-Josh
P.S. I’m not saying that Mr. Patton in anyway desired merely to educate, I’m just encouraging the practical application of such useful knowledge.
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Josh-
I love it! Good points and valuable to the post. Thanks!
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I am going to send this to my husband. He will love it! This one has come up in our household once or twice before!
-Kara
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Thanks for so clearly defining what it means to use the Lord’s name in vein! I’ll be sending this on to my husband. He’ll love it! This one has come up in our household once or twice!
Kara
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FINALLY!!! You have no idea how nice it is to hear this stuff. God Bless You. Really. More people need to hear this too.
Thanks.
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Awwwwwwesome post!
It’s so refreshing to read something that enlightens issues that just don’t seem right after a minute of thought, but that we usually don’t give more than a minute of thought. And it causes me to examine myself and realize I’ve got that off thinking in me as well.
Thank you!
(Now I just need to restrain myself from throwing it a few “God said you all should..” peoples’ faces I can think of… God grant me a heart of grace!)
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
17
I tend to agree with you. But with a little added insight…
We speak of a woman who marries and changes her last name to that of her husband as “taking his name.” If she were to take his name, and then continue to act as a single woman, she would be taking his name in vain.
If we live our lives in a way that people question that we are really called by His name, we take His name in vain. So our faithlessness is actually taking His name in vain.
Having said that, I think we should not be saying the GD stuff. Because as Christians, it’s supposed to be our job to shine His light so that people can repent and escape His judgment. It’s not our job to call down His judgment.
Luke 9:54-56
And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”
But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
4
Scott, thanks for the post. I am not sure that I would look at it this way. It may be a good illustration as to how a woman takes or receives her husbands name, but I don’t know of any evidence to suggest that this is what was going on in with regards to the ancient audience. We have to be very careful not to refer to the way we understand something and impose that upon how they understood it. This is called the anachronistic fallacy.
Anyway, if you could point us to any information that would suggest this is the right way to understand it, that would be appreciated.
Thanks for contributing!
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One Scripture that comes to mind is the book of Haggai. Where God uses the prophet’s marriage to Gomer as an illustration of Faithless Israel. Surely they took God’s name in vain just as Gomer did.
Interesting blog. I’ll be back!
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Seems waaay to simplistic.
So you’re saying that He really meant, “Don’t misrepresent me”? That He really meant, “Don’t lie about me”?
Wasn’t that covered under a different commandment?
This doesn’t appear to be the understanding of Jewish scribes (who were reluctant to even print His name) either.
My understanding of this is that to use His name in vain is like; knocking on His door- then running away before He opens it. Should he not be more reluctant to open the door for you in the future? Kinda like the boy who cried “Wolf”?
I would only minimize this command (as you have) with great fear and trembling. Please rethink this.
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Thanks for the post!
I can see you don’t agree with me, but you gave no historical or exegetical evidence as to why other than the way Jews interpreted it. Have you really studied the way that they interpreted it fully? Are you going to follow by their hermeneutical method of protecting the law in everything? Look at the implications for interpreting the fourth commandment in Christ’s day. You could not even sneeze (literally) on Sunday. They always protected the law by emphasizing the “letter of the law” and lost the underlying principle. This is my arguement here, not only of the Jews, but our Christian culture.
Thanks for the post my friend.
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Thanks for your reply Mr. Patton,
Thank you for allowing me to try to figure this one out. I haven’t done any formal theology so I’m kinda slow at this. Sorry for dragging this thread out.
Now, I hear you telling me that I need more historical and exegetical evidence. I hear you telling me that I should study this more fully. I hear you asking me if I’m going to follow Jewish hermeneutics slavishly. I assure you that I feel no compulsion on “protecting the law” but rather on honoring the law-giver. The law will remain whether I protect it or not.
There is much I do not understand about your exegesis.
I do not understand why Deut 18 does not use the term vain as you seem to use it in your exegesis. Indeed, your definition fails often with a word study.
You have rendered many O.T. passages meaningless with your strict definition. Why are you so reluctant to allow the root meaning to define the semantic domain? Are you not being more strict than I am?
Your study tickles my ears but makes my eyes trickle. Please provide a better study.
P.S. Please tell me how to find the word “naqa” as well.
May God bless you in your studies,
Ron
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Ronnie, the word used for vein means “empty” or “worthless.” This supplies us we a semantic domain to be sure, but the context does not narrow the meaning without historical inquiry. Therefore, we saying that God tells us not to use his name in empty or meaningless way. Now the question comes down to what does the word “name” mean in this context. Again we find that it has to do with reputation, the essence of who or what one is.
Now, here is what we have, “You shall not give our Lord an ill-reputation by throwing it around in a meaningless way.”
From here is where we find the parallel to the day of people using the name of their gods in order to gain an audience.
This is the closest parallel that we can find. The next step is to compare Scripture with Scripture to find if our interpretation is consistent with other part of the Bible. Immediately we find that God is concerned about protecting His reputation by making sure there are no false prophets. Deut 13, 18. Then we see this abused in Jer 13.
All things considered, this is the best exegesis I can do.
For a short summary of this process, the theological/exegetical process, see here. Scroll to the bottom and watch or listen to # 4 and #5. (Really, it is much more profitable if you watch).
God bless.
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Thanks Mr. Patton,
Thanks for the video. I can’t tell you that I learned anything from it though.
I’m still not finding the word “naqa” either. Do you mean the Hebrew for “take”?
Also, I hear you saying that the word “vain” is synonomous with “presumptuously” in Deut 18. I don’t see even a 51% parallel.
As I understand this passage- it applies only to prophets.
That with your “timeless principle” we can safely ignore this commandment because we suspect that there are no more prophets in the same sense.
I find it much safer to rely on the footnote of the NET Bible
regarding this commandment:
21tn ש×Ö¸×•Ö°× (shav’, “vainâ€) describes “unreality.†The command prohibits use of the name for any idle, frivolous, or insincere purpose (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 196). This would include perjury, pagan incantations, or idle talk. The name is to be treated with reverence and respect because it is the name of the holy God.
I find it much safer to rely only commentators like Matthew Henry, John Gill, K&D etc. regarding this commandment.
I’m reminded of F.F. Bruce saying, “If you find the sayings of Jesus easy you probably are not understanding them”.
Jesus not only expands the categories of adultery, murder, blasphemy etc. ,but refuses to minimize the commandments (as you seem to be doing). In fact, he pronounces a curse on those that do (Matt. 5:19).
May you not be among them.
Regards,
Ron
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3
Well, all I can say is that we are held accountable by our exegesis first. While I do respect what others have said about this, not many current scholars would follow the common evangelical folk theology concerning this issue. In fact, the NET Bible quote you gave should have given you further confidence that I am not in left field on this one.
Again, it comes down more to historical inquiry and what “name” means in the context. We simply think of it as an articulated designation, but in that day (and in some cultures today) it had to do with reputation. That is where you should take your studies next. What does “name” mean?
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Ron,
I’d just like to inteject here and say a couple of things:
1) Michael’s exegesis seems, to me, to be making the commandment harder and not easier. In addition, he has clearly stated that the use of God’s name as a curse word would be wrong still, but not on the basis of the 3rd commandment.
2) Is there any evidence to suggest that anybody was using God’s name (or any other god’s name) as a form of cursing at that time? Surely that would be necessary to understand the passage in the traditional manner?
It was a blog and not a precise article, for sure, but I thought it articulated well a good piece of exegesis.
Anthony
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[...] & Pen’s C. Michael Patton ponders the meaning of taking God’s name in vain and concludes we are missing the [...]
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1
So Should I Start Swearing?
I was pointed to an interesting perspective on the Third Commandment (not taking the Lord’s name in vain) here. It makes more sense than any other argument I have heard against taking the Lord’s name in vain.
…
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I think it would be best to understand that we’re talking about two ways of using God’s name: one is to use it in a frivolous manner, the other is to use it in cursing. The third commandment is explicitly prohibiting using God’s name in a frivolous manner. It is good to point out that we can do so without cursing. Certainly we don’t want to be careless as to how we use the Lord’s name. But how much more then does this imply that the Lord’s name ought not to be used for cursing either! The Lord’s model prayer included the phrase, “Hallowed be Thy name” (Matt 6:9). I can’t imagine that anyone with a clear conscience could in a fit of frustration utter a curse using the Lord’s name and consider this a means of hallowing His name or bringing glory to Him! It may not break the letter of the law, but it certainly breaks the spirit of the law! We should be careful as to what we encourage others to do in this matter as Jesus said that, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” (Matt 12:36)
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I think Mr Patton has made a good point here and reminded
us that we have a responsibility to represent the Lord as
accurately as we can. That we also have to give account
for every idle word should preclude using expressions like
GD and let our ‘yea’ really mean ‘yea’. I thought Scotti’s
insight on our being ‘the bride of Christ’ and therefore
responsible to be a true and example of Christ, our
‘bridegroom’ very helpful and supported by scripture
throughout the testaments. My only question is therefore:
What is there to argue about here?
I find it very helpful when my brethren of whichever
Christian persuasion shed a little more light on the scripture.
As long as these insights are supported by the
preponderance of scripture and point us to greater devotion
and obedience, and a closer ‘imitation of Christ’, thank God
for them! God bless you! (I mean that!)
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[...] we do use the term “God”, even with a capital G in other ways. As was pointed out in a post on another blog (a blog unfamiliar to me, and one I only found in looking for some other information about this [...]
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To pick up a bit on what Anthony was saying (#2)…
It seems to me that people are denouncing a modern usage that may not have even been imaginable in biblical times. How many ancients were throwing their hands up saying “Jesus” or stubbing their toe and screaming G-D?
It appears obvious that the commandment could not directly apply to these utterances since they didn’t exist at the time. Is there any evidence to the contrary?
Great article and discussion Mr. Patton
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There is very little that I could add to your well thought out and presented article. All I will say is, “Well done and about time”.
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I didn’t read all of the comments but did notice a couple that look at this commandment a little differently.
“Take” and “Use” are actually different.
My husband was the one who introduced me to this other way of looking at the 3rd commandment. He works in a factory and some of his co-workers get upset at anyone on the line who use any curse word and tell them they are offending God by “taking His name in vain” when the word ‘god’ wasn’t even in what they said.
The answer my husband has for that is that most of the words they hear are slang terms for functions God created and therefore not a surprise to Him. (Even so, I would suggest avoiding using those terms because they’re crude and crass.)
Hubby sees “taking” the Lord’s name as referring to something like a
(1) marketing ploy — such and such celebrity is now a Christian (hoping to break into that market — and when it turns out it isn’t quite as lucrative as they had hoped, they become a Buddhist or an Atheist).
Or,
(2) actually following the Bill Bright idea of “Try God.” But when things get tough, you say “that didn’t work” and move on to what the next self-help guru has to offer to improve your life.
Taking the Lord’s name in vain seems to be more about wearing the mantle of being one of His followers to either look right to the right people or to see how that “magical” cloak will make your own life better now.
Now, back to “swearing” — I said maybe we shouldn’t do it because it offends people. But, who is being offended? As a general rule it is people who are living a legalistic lifestyle of Christianity rather than one steeped in grace and mercy. Maybe swearing isn’t the way to do it, but a lot of these Sisters and Brothers need to be offended right out of their legalism and into a real understanding of the truth of the hymn “JUST AS I AM.” And stop telling the world they need to be pefect BEFORE they can come to God?
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Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, for this AWESOME and ACCURATE post!
I am TOTALLY convinced that one of the biggest stumbling blocks sitting before unsaved people today is “Christians”, and by Christians… I mean, people who CLAIM to be redeemed by the blood of Christ, but may or NOT be in fact. The damage done by us (I will include myself since I am a Christian), is when we teach people “doctrines and/or traditions of men” as if it is the Word of God and not making SURE we are totally lining up with scripture. We MUST all do as YOU just did in this posting and examine the scriptures… study them for ourselves and not just fall back on what a preacher, or teacher, or friend, or Mom, or Dad, or a tradition says… but what the SCRIPTURES say and mean.
I have always had a problem with people who consider saying (G-D) to be taking the name of the Lord in vain. If anything, using the phrase “Gosh darn” is worse because by definition… when one uses that phrase they are in effect “cursing” by trying to side step “cursing” so it is a more deliberate act and thus actually makes the person guilty of BOTH offenses (as far as profanity goes). (Just a thought). I don’t use the phrase (G-D), nor do I think ANY Christian should use it to curse, (swear), but just as you so clearly explained, saying it is not what is at issue. The question is, is using that phrase taking the name of the Lord in vain?
Using that phrase is not a violation of the 3rd commandment.
Thank you again for your post and blog.
May God bless and keep you… and yes… I mean it along with prayer.
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Very interesting conversation. So what does everyone think about the 3rd Commandment and it’s application to Sarah Palin’s comments made to her Pentecostal church? (See Video Below)
Should Christians trust other Christians (in this case Sarah Palin’s direct quotes) which proclaim that God’s will is to unify “People & Companies to get gas pipelines built”, and promote & justify war with Iraq as being “God’s Plan”…?
It was the Bush Administration’s plan to go to war, last we all checked, and “Palin’s Plan” to get a gas pipeline built which will enhance Alaska’s wealth and her own career as a politician.
Read Luke 9:54-56 “…For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”
Mankind must be highly careful to decipher the truth between understanding a man-made wars vs “God’s Will”.
Palin’s quote that the Iraq War is God’s Plan, could potentially backfire and fuel radical Muslim desire for Jihad (Muslim Holy War) with the US. Bin Ladin’s own statements showed that he hoped to use the US stepping foot onto Muslim soil in war, as reason to ignite Muslim countries to “unite in Jihad against the US”.
Isn’t this talk from Palin, especially coming from a potential VP and possible default President of the USA (should God forbid McCain die or fall very ill in office – a highly likey event considering his age, and that 8 of 43 US presidents – that’s nearly 1 in 5 US presidents in our history having died in office, plus the fact he’s had cancer 4 times and has reportedly up to 18 current ailments), awfully dangerous speak?
…Potentially giving those radical Muslim countries video evidence (should Palin be elected to office) reason to feel the US is – via it’s leaders, instigating Jihad with Muslim countries? I find this quite worrisome…
Please see for yourself the “Sarah Palin & the Wasilla Assembly of God Video” below.
Sarah Palin DIRECT QUOTE #1 in this video below:
“I think God’s will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that…”
– Sarah Palin
(Can the 3rd Commandment also mean in essence: Thou shalt not use the Lords name to gain an audience for your political gain or profit. ???)
And, Palin’s direct quote #2 in this video re: the Iraq War US Troops:
“Our national leaders are sending them [our US troops] out on a task that is from God”….”that plan is God’s plan”. – Sarah Palin
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Vote2008/story?id=5801485&page=1
I would be interested in hearing your perspective considering this very important election. Thank You.
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I’ve often thought the widespread use, in America at least, of the phrase “Oh, my God!” (OMG) is a case of taking the Lord’s name in vain. (This was before I read — and agree with — your statement that “God” is not his name.)
OMG is everywhere, but mostly on the home makeover shows of TLC, HGTV, Ty Pennington extravaganzas, and reality shows everywhere. I suppose it is meant by the users to express surprise, joy, delight, unexpected results, etc., but OMG has become exceedingly trite. I wonder whether He really is “their” God since many times their lifestyles don’t seem to take Him into consideration.
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I think you def. need to do some more research
before you keep typing Gd so much without
hesitation. Your stuck on saying it all has to do
with the word “name.” God is God! Lets not forget
that. And make sure that your definitions for the
words vain and damn are not just supporting
your theory. Have you researched them enough to
back your theory. I can say with little research on
my part I do not agree with saying gd is ok! I think
that def. falls into not taking his name in vain. Do
you honestly think that if God here’s a Christian
spout that off that he doesnt care. I beg to differ.
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CAV, if you haven’t noticed the militant Muslims are in a holy war with the West. As far as they’re concerned they’re just continuing a war begun 1400 years ago that will continue until the world submits to Allah and his Prophet.
Based on your criteria sportsmen shouldn’t pray before a match, businessmen shouldn’t pray before meetings, politicians shouldn’t pray before politics. How does that fit with the commandment to acknowledge God in all your ways?
Perhaps God doesn’t want a pipeline, perhaps God doesn’t want a war, but who can say? He accepted a necessity for war, even commanded it on occasion. He seems pretty indifferent to pipelines, but can probably see the economic benefits as being good for people.
In the end I’d rather have a politician who acknowledged God and was wrong, than one who believed themselves beyond all judgment. I’m not saying Obama is like that, he’s a Christian too, but Palin would probably have been okay as a VP.
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You mentioned people being offended by saying God bless you when someone sneezes. What if you said it without really wanting someone to be blessed by God? What about misquoting scriptures and saying “GOD said ________…” when it’s not true? What if you sing praise to God, but your heart isn’t behind the words you are saying? You are misusing God’s name in these situations to. I think it goes far beyond simply cursing using God’s name, which you started to hint at towards the end.
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Great topic! I don’t think “God d@mmit” and “God bless you” are similar in offense. The former differs because it is illogical (among other things). God doesn’t damn people per se. He only allows for it, per accidens, because of the existence of free will! People damn themselves. You’re asking God to do something He cannot do by His very nature.
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This article/arguement is old, but I just came across it today and wanted to share my opinion.
First off, the Bible says not to curse and considering that the word “damn” in our society is a curse, we shouldn’t be saying it. However, even if the word “damn” wasn’t a curse (the letter of the law) the manner in which we say it does not bring glory to God. (the intent of the law). So, if you’re throwing God’s name around, carelessly, in your curses, you’re violating God’s word.
Secondly, a really simple and very sound philosophy when researching and dealing with the Word of God is as follows: “Do you tremble at His word or are you looking for loopholes around it?” Trying to justify the use of a phrase that obviously brings no glory to God just because you don’t want to feel bad about saying it is, in my humble opinion, borderline blasphemous in the sense that you aren’t “agreeing” with God’s word.
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I disagree completely. Saying “God Damn it” is a sin. Its a thoughtless and Godless invocation of God’s name. When was that phrase ever used thoughtfully or with proper reverence for the name of God?
Just as “God Bless ___” is can be a thoughtless invocation of God’s name., and thus a sin.
And your argument that “God” is a general term referring to all gods, is in error. The bible refers to God as God, God refers to Himself as God, and if you are a Christian or a Jew, GOD is GOD.
If you argue that you meant “god” instead of “God” then you are guilty of breaking the first commandment.
The Name of God, should be spoken only in reverence, or in good Christian fellowship, or when relating the word.
Its not okay to say God Damnit, just as its not okay to say, “Jesus Christ!” as an exclaimation. Thoughtless.
God will “bat and eye” so be careful in your speech.
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Great blog. I was just reading the 10 this morning and as usual pondered the 3rd because our Western definition just doesn’t sound like it fit with the time it was given.
I decided to google ‘take the lords name in vain’ to see if anyone else questioned this as I did. scotti on 18 Jun 2007 at 3:15 pm talking about how a women takes on a man’s name fit closest to my own thoughts. I based this on God’s own curse on people that ‘though they labor they labor in vain’, meaning to produce nothing. So if using or taking on God’s name produces nothing then the 3rd is being broken.
Likewise, if you say ‘God said …’ and produce nothing then the 3rd is broken. I’ve seen many people hurt (more specifically their faith hurt) by those (stumbling blocks) making false promises in God’s name saying ‘Send money’, ‘have enough faith’, ‘just repeat a written prayer (that’s not in your heart) and all will be well’.
Those who think this complicates the law don’t understand the law. The law was not given that man could keep it. It was given to show that man could not keep it, that without Christ (the only one who could) man is lost. If you break a ruler, it doesn’t matter whether it’s at the 3 inch mark or the 4, the 5, or any other. The ruler is broken. The law is the same way, one unit in honor of a triune God.
Just as Paul says that we are not to sin more so the grace abounds more, I am not saying it’s okay to say OMG, GD, FU, or any other offensive language. Just recognize that without Jesus Christ, the only perfect keeper of the law, no one is saved. Do the best to honor our God, the trinity of Yaweh, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
Thanks for the blog. I’ve been blessed and pray others will be too. And I mean God Bless You
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You’re right on, Michael. To “take God’s name in vain” is to use God’s name/authority/etc. for your own agenda or something that he would have no part in.
Two NT examples of this are 1) the moneychangers cheating innocent worshipers – in God’s name (Luke 19:45-46); and 2) grown children withholding financial support from their parents because they had dedicated their monies “to God” (Mark 7:6-13).
In both cases they were mis-representing God and misusing his name (for their own purposes) to do something he would not approve.
Also, remember to whom the 10 commandments were given – God’s people. Ultimately, it does an unbeliever no good to follow God’s plan for living, because they are still under his condemnation. God’s laws are given to his people to keep us safe and to keep us from walking back into slavery.
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As a fairly new “convert” to the Reformed doctrines, I hesitate to put my two-cents-worth in here. However, as a mother of 6 and grandmother of 10, I have learned a few things from my slow-but-steady walk with my Lord -
There is a reason that one of the most common expressions of disgust refers to excrement (the “s” word.) There is a reason that even unregenerate, filthy-mouthed parents cringe and respond with quick punishment when their children use profanity in their presence. We all recognize cursing for what it is — and blessing and cursing should NOT come out of the same mouth of a Christian, period.
I have spoken to quite a few who claim that they have the “liberty” to use profane and obscene terms because of their “freedom in Christ,” or their belief that these expressions are simply that, rather than the taking of His name in vain.
Here’s my take (for what it’s worth among so many who know the scripture far better than myself:) Expression of disgust, shock, or anger should NEVER include any form of the name of God — it is a poor testimony to the world of our lack of the fear of God and of self-control, among other things. Whatever we personally determine “taking the Lord’s name in vain” to mean, we must be mindful of what comes out of our mouth, and that we do not give any cause to the world to scorn our faithfulness to Christ.
By the way, just to make it more complicated, I taught my children that it is best to avoid “minced oaths” as well (substitutes like “darn,” “shoot,” “Geez,” and “Goldarn!”) If God indeed measures the thoughts and intents of our hearts, shouldn’t we stay as far away as possible from the impression of worldly conversation?
Thanks for listening -
Cindy
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I think you contradict yourself to a certain degree. Your post seems to suggest that it is permissible for Christians to use the word God or the name of Jesus as a simple curse in frustration or anger. It seems to me that God would want those who claim to belong to him not to use his reputation in such a vain (meaningless) fashion.
Although I totally agree that the higher meaning would be for wicked televangelists to stop speaking for God and robbing congregations.
In that same vain and meaningless fashion would Christians not represent the intention of a loving God if they were to use such phrases as unthoughtful speech?
I also agree that although people generally don’t say the correct names in such uses – Jesus’ Hebrew name is Yeshua or more properly Yehoshua and the name of God is Yahweh as you correctly mentioned – but they certainly have the entity of the creator or Messiah in mind when they repeat such phrases.
Could you imagine using the name of another religious figure as a curse in frustration? What if the people in your cubicle farm went around all day saying, “By Allah!” or “Oh for Mohammed’s sake!” Perhaps we might realize that it is at least disrespectful in manner to say such a thing if we want to be true followers of a loving God. We certainly don’t want to dissuade people from knowing Christ by shouting or murmuring curses including His name.
And by the way your interpretation of the fourth commandment is close but slightly off base. The Sabbath is from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. You can sneeze all you want to on Sunday – the venerable day of the sun is a Roman institution that was instated to bring the sun worshipers and the Hebrew Christians in line and stop fighting.
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What does name mean?
One last thought on this since I reread your response regarding what name means.
Christians – in the Greek to mean “Christ-Ones” or followers of Christ. If we call ourselves Christians we take His name and reputation upon ourselves.
You are right that we are held to a higher standard in all our actions – which I would think would include our speech.
Although you are correct that no one at the time the commandments were given would have used the term God or Jesus during a severe toe stubbing – it is evident that they were even hesitant to write the name or word representing Him and therefore referred to Him in several different ways – Adonai, the great I AM and more.
It’s pretty apparent that even in the context of their colloquial speech that the Hebrews did not want to misrepresent the Lord in any fashion, whether it be the utterances of their anger or their actions.
May God Bless us all for being about His business with respect and true Christian thought and action!
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One purpose of the 3rd commandment was to keep the honor of God’s name.
Satan is in it at a much deeper level than we think but that’s not the point. Let’s address Exodus 20:7
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain
I think this is a good starting point. If we look a Strong’s Concordance the word Name is the Hebrew word “Shem” which has the meaning as
• Name
• Reputation, fame, glory
• The Name (as designation of God)
• Memorial, monument
I think with some reason we can see that the verse is not talking about just his name (whether you call it Yahweh or Jehovah is not the issue) the verse is talking about anything that can be associated with God.
You are right euphemisms may not violate the letter of the law,
But in Matthews 12:36 Jesus make it very clear that euphemisms violates the spirit of the 3rd commandment
Matthew 12:36 Jesus tells us “That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” KJV
The NIV says “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken.”
The word idle and the word careless in the two versions of Matthew 12:36 is the Greek word argos which means lazy without effort or at leisure. Here Jesus makes clear that casual conversation or off the cuff wording will be judged just as any other sin.
Now as we see the name of God as not just a word but anything for which we associate with God we see the power of His Name
I would like to go further with this subject and I can think of verses after verse that would support my view.
However instead think about King David a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22) and his attitude toward the Name of God
When you read psalm 145 and the power of The scripture began to minister to your spirit. I’m sure you will know the truth in no uncertain way.
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Michael,
I think this is excellent. The popular (I suppose one could say ‘literal’) interpretation of this commandment can cause people to do at least two counter productive things.
1) As you stated, avoid the use of the phrase (like avoiding scratching an itch), believing they had made some sort of spiritual conquest by doing so.
2) Fail to meditate on possible deeper meanings of the commandment.
Following a rule without considering its meaning at some point is much like following the sheep with the bell around its neck. It is one thing to follow a teacher because they have a sense of inner peace that can be felt by those around them. It is quite another to follow the sheep off the cliff because they are the leader and that is where they went.
Peace be with you, and also with me.
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Doesn’t taking the Lord’s Name in vain mean using His Name for one’s selfish gain? Because if that’s the case, then most preachers are definitely taking His Name in vain. Walk into almost any Christian church of your choice. Look around the sanctuary. What do you see? Thick, EXPENSIVE carpet. High quality, EXPENSIVE oak pews. The BEST of EVERYTHING. And how was it all obtained? By the preacher using the Lord’s Name in order to manipulate the flock’s emotions to the point that the collection plate got STUFFED FULL of money! Did any of that money go to help the poor? Nope. Or for someone’s heart operation. Nah. It went to that solid oak desk in the Pastor’s study, didn’t it? It SURE didn’t go to helping the poor! Okay, of course there are exceptions to this. Some churches walk the walk. I wish some of them were in my town. It would be a real joy to belong to a church like that. But around here, it’s “put money in the collection plate or else you’re not a Christian”. THAT is taking the Lord’s Name in Vain. And it’s why I don’t go to church anymore.
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Excellent post! Thank you. I’m preparing a message on this same topic and I found your post to be quite foundational. To elaborate and extend your idea…
If we look at the 10 commandments and instead of reflecting on what we cannot do, look at what we are called to do instead … that is, the positive flip side of the admonition against something (i.e. ‘Don’t Steal’ becomes ‘protect others property and exercise extravagant generosity’) then we begin to see what Jesus meant when he said “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
In that vein, the flip side of not taking the Lord’s name in vain, is to glorify God’s name … not just our words, but our actions also. If we believe that God love us and wants to bless the world through us, then we can look at the names God uses in connection with blessing people – His attributes – The description of His nature and think about how we not only verbally proclaim those attributes, but live them out as a blessing to those around us … Not just for those of us called and who deserve His blessing, but for those who don’t as well (Please see the humor here since NONE of us deserve God’s blessings, yet receive it by the His Grace!).
Here’s Sunday’s message from our senior pastor (Dr. Michael Traylor) setting the stage for how to approach the 10 Commandments, guiding my approach in preparation of the sermon on the 3rd Commandment:
http://www.newhopefree.org/sermons/2009_06_07.mp3
When we truly bless the world, when we love all people, when we live our faith in a way that makes a difference … (starting with those in our spheres of influence) … then we glorify the name of God powerfully! As you said, God has a reputation to protect, and we are called to do our part!
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I am speaking at a youth conference next month on this subject and agree we need to look beyond G-D as the only way to use Gods name vainly in our lives. God reveals Himself as I Am. He was looking for Israel to covenant with Him and show His name to the nations- When we say we “take” His name (as those in covenant take the names of another) and continue to live as individuals it harms the relationship. When we pay attention how we use “I am” in our speech– “I am so thankful” vs. “I am so angry” we see how powerful those words are. We join the name of God vainly to ideas and attitudes that dishonor His name.
When we hear ourselves say I am— we generally believe what we are stating and need to be careful to say what God says about who we are. I am is current. It is moment by moment. God is not a God of I used to be or I will be. He is a God of I Am and we need to make sure we are not using His name without consideration of what we are telling ourselves and those around us.
I had a student struggling with sexual thoughts who did not know how to overcome them. I asked if he had acted out any of the thoughts physically–He had not. Then I asked if he had ever heard himself say “I am (what ever the struggle might be)————–” He had not. Casting down imaginations is much easier than forgetting experiences or overcoming labels we assign ourselves. Thankfully he grew through this time in his life and learned to see himself as God saw him. He later said if he had spoken the words “I am ——————-” it would have set him on an entirely different path.
We introduce ourselves as “I am (whatever our name might be)
I told my kids to see I Am as their last name rather than an opening statement. They carry their fathers name and hopefully remember the name of their heavenly father and consider Him in their lives.
I still hate the way our culture uses G-D, but I agree we are straining at gnats if we thing God is bothered by mere words.
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OK, I guess I need to stir the puddin’ a little more. I have enjoyed reading the last 2+years of thought over the past few minutes, and have an additional thought.
I agree with the original posting, as cussing seems more in line with keeping your temple clean, as opposed to the third commandment.
Although I understand the vapid contexts associated with the word “vain,” I have always understood a context of the word “vain” in the context of self-absorption, ie, vanity.
So, in my simplistic mind, the third commandment carried the context of not to take God’s name for your own carnal benefit.
I have attributed my wincing at the following things to this thought:
Jesus fish on business cards, Preachers who focus solely on money, People who talk up their particular brand of Christian religion to the exclusion of living a spirit filled life.
And, unfortunately, much of my wincing is at my own actions on this issue.
Just a thought.
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Merriam Webster defines “in vain” 1 : to no end : without success or result
So, taking the lord’s name should be evaluated for the end that it brings. If calling on “god” and jesus all the time is not helping you in any tangible manner, consider giving up on christianity or religion in general.
The Judeo-Christian-Islamic god forgives murders but not blasphemers. Maybe it’s time to find a new deity, one with a more reasonable moral code.
You can talk ill of me all you want, just don’t kill anybody.
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Has anyone considered that when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and all the other extreme number of laws His followers were adhere to that He was intentionally setting things up for the coming of Yeshua the Messiah thus letting the people know that NO ONE other than Yeshua could follow all the laws set forth thus Adonai’s birth on Earth as Yeshua, God Incarnate….Immanuel and thus the only person to walk the earth and not sin? And that He did this to prepare everyone from the dispensation of the law to the dispensation of Grace under Yeshua and His sacrifice on the cross for us as the FINAL sacrifice for sin.
Also, Scripture states the only unforgivable sin is blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
I believe we all should step back with the “I’m right and you’re wrong” legalistic stuff and check first on our salvation and state of our spirituality and that includes our speech and how we present ourselves as Christian witnesses to unbelievers.
No we shouldn’t cuss. However, we are all sinful by nature because of the fall thus everyone sins. We all drop the ball from time to time. The point is that we repent, ask to be forgiven (already done all ya gotta do is ask) and be humble when this is done.
If you’ve made a mistake in front of an unbeliever and you believe this has made you a “stumbling block” to that person go to that person and explain that you are sorry, however, you are not perfect but are forgiven by the Grace received from the blood of Jesus Christ.
Same could be said of a Christian who carries on about drinking and is seen out in a restaurant having a glass of wine with dinner. That is a damaging witness for that Christian, whereas, if that same Christian has said the only admonition in Scripture I can find about drinking is where God told the Levite priests not to drink and rest is about excess, excess, excess to the point of becoming drunk etc. or drinking for the wrong reasons and to remember Jesus drank wine and turned water into wine then that Christian’s witness is not damaged.
Bottom line……if you’ve offended one point of the law you’ve offended the whole meaning we’re all sinful by nature and we cannot go one hour or one day without sinning. All sin is an abomination to God but thankfully we have Jesus to bridge that gap from sin to God and it’s ONLY through Christ Jesus we can do this because no one and I mean no one comes to the Father except through Jesus the Son. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. End of discussion.
Y’all can argue with me, call me out whatever.
Nuff said.
Goodbye and truly God Bless……….”Yahweh, Yeshua Adonai, Ruach Hakkodesh I truly call upon You to bless my brothers and sisters in Christ who participated in this discussion. I ask this as always in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and as always the Name Above All Names Yeshua and not my will but Your will be done. Amen”
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Very Good, Now if people learn to live by the other 9 also, they will be blessed. Possibly saved and go to heaven.
The New testament tells us to live by the 10 commandments as well as the old testament.
Do you live by the ten commandments. . . .
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I look at it this way taking anything dealing with God and making it vain is taking his name in vain. Example: You use an obsure verse that may mean many things but to that particular verse it means the total opposite of what you are portraying it to mean. In doing that you have taking his words in vain and in taking his words in vain you have taken his name in vain.
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I heard Dr. Vern Steiner (www.miqra.net) say recently that understanding the context will never impoverish, but only enrich the text. I don’t have much else to add to what has already been said, but thanks Michael for your helpful thoughts. I believe that what you are saying enriches my understanding of this text. Contrary to the accusations of some here, I do not hear you prescribing cursing as a normative lifestyle for Christians. The fact remains that if we honoring the Name & reputation of the LORD, we will be careful how we use His Name. However, there is more on the line here!
And Rob… go back to church, bro. You need the body, and the body needs you, even if they’re all hypocrites.
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I think the real meaning of the 3rd commandment is this: Love, i.e. honor, your god YHWH with all your heart and mind and soul and strength. I’m not sure what exactly is in mind with that one, but I AM sure I don’t do it on a consistent basis.
That being said: Lots of food for thought on that one. Thank you, CMP.
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Since to me all ten commandments boil down to some basic morality issues ingrained in humans. Id say taking his name in vain would be to use it to do damage to others as c michael patton implied. Having the power of god over people is a responsibility just like any of the sins work. They all give you power over your fellow man a or imply that you want the power your fellow man has. They all give one man/woman power over another for ones benefit. So if your going to use his name it should be to spread love and peace and not for any personal benefit which is a basic principal which you can always trace through history. Selfishness. The third commandment for me is the ultimate test of faithfulness of one that commands the power of god. Such as a priest or pastor. All you have to do is turn on some of these religious programs on TV and see some guy preaching to people that god wants there money and then he walks out the back of the building puts on his suite and jumps in his Mercedes. That to me is pretty basic as are all and should be all the 10 commandments. Why would god complicate morality. its simple. Be kind and caring in everything you do and pay it forward. Selflessness. Test this if you want read each commandment and consider why you would do it. Pretty much they all boil down to selfishness. Or maybe im just crazy. Sorry if this is out of context with some of the more recent post I tried to read them all but there is a lot of stuff. Also if you look on Wikipedia they list the third commandment as “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God”
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Wow! Great discussion…two years and going! So, just to redirect a little bit here, I agree with Mr. Patton to a point, but let me explain. And first, let me say that I will try to not fail in eisigesis (which I agree is rampant and wrong) nor a achronistic fallacy (love this new term!). I will stick to the Text.
It seems based on the commandments themselves, that the command is totally concerned with G_d’s holiness. Being the “third” command, it comes just after “I AM the only God” and “don’t you dare worship anything/one but Me…’cause remember: I AM.”
The word “take” or “use” means many things, including bear, lift up (btw, great connection to NASA here!), carry, use, take, etc. He does self-refer here again to Himself as I AM (YHWH), so He doesn’t just say “god” but “YHWH your God”. And the third word in question means in emptiness, vanity, falsehood, worthlessness.
With that in mind, we could reasonably restate the command as:
I AM your God (remember the one who delivered you from Egypt?!!?) so don’t lift up/use/carry around my Name/Reputation/Glory/Fame in any empty, vain, false, worthless ways.
So while I 100% agree with Mr. Patton’s assertion that it doesn’t mean ONLY cursing in a worthless manner, it does, as I read it, mean that TOO. In other words, the Israelites may have (and as has already been stated DID) had the prerogative to call an ACTUAL CURSE down from YHWH, they should NEVER do so lightly. I would think then, in our context, that stubbing our toe, or spilling milk, may not warrant a curse from G_d.
Also, and interestingly, by my reading this command would only be binding on those whose God WAS YHWH (YHWH YOUR God), so for anyone who did not know Him, or who had not (yet?) been delivered by Him from slavery, the curse they “request” is to a false god, which is no god at all, and therefor of no consequence. So Christians ought to stop wagging our finger at those who are following false gods and spouting meaningless curses (or blessings for that matter) all the while ceasing our wagging tongues from meaningless chatter that defames our Holy and Righteous God and guarantees our punishment according to His command. (That’s the third one, in case you’ve lost track.)
G_d help us.
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“Vain”
Not to utter “…in vain…” is one of the Ten Commandments. There are Ten Commandments, but they are not of the Covenant. There is a Covenant, but it contains no Commandments. The Covenant commands nothing of men, it is pure. The Ten Commandments are of men and its cunning way of getting its desires etched across the unblemished Covenant itself which is in fact, two wonderful blank ivory tablets (Hippo Ivory, “hip” huh?), each authenticating the other’s content’s…which is nothing.
The Ten Commandments are best defined as graffiti penned by man at the behest of the the pig because the beast is eternally penned himself and cannot write, it is hoofed. It must deceive man therefore into authoring for it, penning and penciling for it, understand?
I hope that doesn’t sound kooky or radically out there, I don’t mean it that way and it isn’t being written in that tone or intent. It is simply true.
There was/were and are no “Commands” made, only mutual promises between two parties. Each party being a part of the whole. When the tablets were presented, there was no reason to write anything upon them, it had been written. The beast’s most wanton desire is to command, which he can never do, he can only deceive. This is why they are entitled as a whole, “Commandments.”
Never, ever, would the party responsible for the Covenant blemish the two tablets representative of pureness and goodness with writing of any kind, especially writing defining that which is the most wicked. Writing and words can be erased, altered, misinterpreted and changed. But love, goodness and caring remain the same and cannot be written down and is defined by the individual him or herself. The party responsible for the Covenant writes nothing, it had been written already; And certainly, would never write anything on stone or in it, stone like a mountain, eventually withers, decays and is washed to the sea. Stone is meant to be walked upon, not to base a life upon.
Nothing needed to be said or written, both parties knew what was being promised and what needed to be kept. They both know the pig needed and needs to be kept in a pen to prevent it from deceiving men into penning and penciling for it. That is the purpose of the Arc itself, to pen the pig within it for eternity. The gold is the best conductor of electricity on Earth. Two poles are to go through “it.” Not the Arc, through “it,” the beast. “It” can be carried and led that way, not lead men. “They are never to be removed.” If they are removed, the beast might or will be able to move or make eye contact, which is how it moves around from one to another. Furthermore, to ensure no eye contact is made by the beast with either of its two heads, each upon its two rears, two cherubim will be positioned upon the lid with wings outstretched blocking each head’s view.
“VAIN” mean…don’t call unless you really are in need, call for a reason, not in vain.
“
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Great post, answered my question. But what about people who say “Oh My God!” Is this taking the Lords name in vain? I know that God’s name isn’t “God”, but still. Is this the same as saying “God Damn It”? It is a pet peeve of mine.
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I totally agree I don’t understand its not like god is going to strike you with a thunderbolt or something
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All you need to do is spend a little time with a devote Jewish believer and it will shock the disrespectful North American culture out of you. They have such a strong sense of the holiness of God that they will not even write his full name on paper. I think that the phrase “Oh my God” is a sign of the general lack of respect that people have for God. Firstly they don’t really know who God is any more and if they did they would fear and love him and respect his name. Secondly I really believe that the use of Gods name is connected directly with the God of heaven not just some generic mother earth. It’s a slur plain and simple…a sign of not caring or believing he is real.
Even if you believe it’s okay, I just have to ask why is it necessary? Do not conform to the habits of the world rather be transformed by the renewing of your minds.
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interesting post. i’m muslim, and in Islam taking God’s name in vain means making false oaths, (eg: I swear to God…), or swearing to God frivolously, (i think).
I’ve always wondered why Christians seem to disapprove of using God as an exclamation. to me, it’s just another way to remember Him. btw, do i have that right, or is it just the phrase God d*** that’s disliked?
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I don’t think taking the name of God has anything to do with vocabulary. I don’t think even God could keep track of all the GD’s and JC’s. Yeah, He created the universe and all but where would he get all that ink?
When the Israelites left Egypt to do their wandering they were the looting and plundering Vikings of the time. Their self justification takes God’s name in vain. All this sleweth mine enemies stuff makes me furious. God is a participant , advocate and supporter of murdering other ancient people? I think not. And when we read the OT about this we think it’s OK behavior for the chosen people to act this way. That’s God’s name in vain big times.
And the Crusades and the popes and their decrees for war. All that is taking the name of God in vain.
I think it’s the hypocrisy in action not vocabulary words that is the issue.
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Shalom,
Let’s our conversation continue. Appreciate your wonderful thought-provoking article on this third commandment.
Two things have to clear: (1) KJV English ‘in vain’ gives wrong sense of something of vanity. It’s amazing to find this word still adopted by NET, ESV, RSV, NRSV, NKVJ, etc. (2) As the phrase was quoted the readers would start to look for the name itself elsewhere, but actually the text has it. It should read ‘Taking the name of YHWH your God in unworthy manner.’ Here, the name = YHWH. It is not about utterance of the word ‘God’ or ‘god’ as in everyday English. Phrased as a counterpart positive command = ‘honor, sanctify His name’ (cf. Mt 6:9).
A. I don’t think this would be something to serve as a sound rationale of going too far as a historic Judaic ‘superstition’ of avoiding the pronunciation of the very name of God.
B. That one shall not swear falsely (Lev 19:12; Mt 5:33) is just only one example.
c. That one should avoid general swear word ‘God damn’ etc. is our own problem which we can find in our everyday English, but the text does not really concern with. If someone did that then, he would be stoned right away.
C. This phrase ‘take the name in unworthy manner’ may be ‘our turning His name worthless by attributing Him to whatever Lord has in reality nothing to do with, so often we hear lay people or pastors do on the pew and on TV media.
My own thought: it may simply and fundamentally refer to ‘invoking God by calling His name’.
I’m not knowledgeable about Hebrew Bible, but at the least in NT, ‘invoking’ is something mentioned as in pagan practices (Act 19:13). It reminds us of a picture of ‘conjuring up spirits’ (Deu 18:11. Cf. 1Sa 28:11). Our communication in faith to God is prayer, direct for that matter (Cf. Heb 4:16; 10:39 – no need of intermediary of priestly class). There is no invoking God, no invoking by calling His name. Yeshua Himself is sufficient; He is the only true and living Way…
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[...] Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain: What Does it Really Mean? 64 comment(s) | by C Michael Patton [...]
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[...] Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain: What Does it Really Mean? digg_bgcolor = '#ffffff'; digg_skin = 'compact'; Print This Post [...]
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Michael,
Wonderful (original) post! I never really looked at how one “takes the Lords name in vain” quit this way, so thank you for the insight. I do not think I could (even if I wanted to) break my old habits, but I will certainly add this to how I teach my child on this commandment.
Cindy
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[...] 14. God D*%n: The only phrase that you can use that will immediately let others know that you are not a Christian and the only exception to the once-saved-always-saved doctrine (despite the fact that it is not really taking God’s name in vain). [...]
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Wow, this is a popular post!
My own view on God’s name goes like this:
* god was referred to as EL
* then, he announces that his name is YHVH
* rather than risk taking it in vain, Jews refused to speak YHVH and just said ADONIA
* now they say hA SHEM
* NT Christianity was spawned from the LXX and other Greek apochryphal texts, and never knew that name. They only knew KURIOS;
* Paul says that God conferred that title (which is above every title) upon Jesus
* so post Jesus, God is, to the NT Christians, “the father.”
* the Catholics didn’t catch on to the subtlety described above, and just called him “God.”
* about the 4th Century, they invented “The Trinity” and began all manner of titles, such as “The Blessed Trinity” and “God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost”;
* Subsequent generations couldn’t figure out when to use “God the Father” etc so they just used “God” and Jesus” interchangeably.
So, I have no idea what the NT had in mind when it says “separate be your name.”
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Oops, I forgot to subscribe to followup comments…
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I am exhausted,been reading all the post on a blackberry all. I agree with the original post,u have to know Gods name before you can use it in vain/improperly.love all the post and the use of our messiahs true name “yahshua” He is the king of kings,Lord of lords ,AND GOD over all gods. But His name is YAHVEH. It really doesn’t offend me to hear all the use of god in the manners that people use it because they are dumb to the fact. We need to pray for those who don’t know the truth and as yahshua did on the cross. Forgive them for they know not what they do. Let’s just be thankful that they don’t know how to use his true name as fluently as they do god. May yhvh bless u and keep u all.may he make His face shine upon u.. Gnight.. such good post,so exhausted.. Lol
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Woops me too,forgot to sign up for followups .lol and correct a typo up there. Was suppose to be “been reading all the posts on a blackberry all night”. Now shalom and gnight.
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i totally disagree. The Lord’s name is sacred, and not to be used
in any way except sacred. Would you use a Church for any purpose but worship ? Whether Christian, Jew or Muslim, the santicy of the Lord’s
holy name applies. If a book has the Lord’s name in vain, put it down, or better still, burn it. If a movie uses the name in vain, leave.
There is no time, no situation, where it would be justified to use the Lord’s name in vain
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>>>…If a book has the Lord’s name in vain, put it down, or better still, burn it. If a movie uses the name in vain, leave….
There is an interesting irony here…
As I pointed out before, the term “lord” (or, in the Greek, KURIOS) has, in scripture, two different referents at different times. That is, to Hellenistic Jews, “the lord” or “ho KURIOS” refers to God. To post-resurrection christians, “the lord” or “hO KURIOS” refers to Jesus. Post-Augustine “Christians” use the term (*unscripturally) to refer to God and to Jesus.
So, when you refer to “the Lord’s name” – to whom do you refer? And what is that name?
When was the last time you heard the name of God (YHVH) used in a movie or a book?
The prohibition does not apply to the name of Jesus.
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[...] first site (http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2007/06/what-does-it-really-mean-to-take-the-lords-name-in-vei…) Google gave me denied that this commandment forbade cursing in God’s name; the author said that [...]
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There is one spot of truth in this and that is “He did [does] not want them [us] to use His name to invoke false authority behind pronouncements [any acts (verbally as well)].” Feeding the masses what you have fed them and handing them an interpretation of God’s word that is not spoken by God Himself is thereby invoking false authority behind this pronouncement which is not His word. Have you not heard that the God of all the universe is the everlasting God who is the same yesterday, today and in the future? If you do not believe this, then why do you fear an ancient god? If you believe this, then why do you speak of the God of Moses as different today? Is this letter not to promote your own beliefs and feed others in disobedience with what they want to hear? It is so true what Paul (of the New Testament) wrote that people will become lovers of selves and promote false doctrines. For those who want to know the truth, read 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. You do not have to take my word for it–ask God yourself. Read James 1:5-8. Do not take my word for it–ask God yourself. Do not bet your life and soul on what another human being says. God is my Father in heaven, and my Lord and Savior is Jesus Christ, and I am here to tell you that I know my Father, and you do not need the Holy Bible to know Him (John 5:39-40). You need God through Jesus Christ to obtain life, and only through Him will you understand why you read the Bible and what the written words truly mean. Praying for us all! Bless each and everyone of you.
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To Luis #75
You wrote …..God is my Father in heaven, and my Lord and Savior is Jesus Christ, and I am here to tell you that I know my Father, and you do not need the Holy Bible to know Him (John 5:39-40).
You are wrong on two counts:
(1) God is ‘OUR’ Father, not ‘my’.
(2) You do not need the Holy Bible to know Him – whether did you get this b.s. idea? How did you come to know Yeshua to begin with? Did some light-bolt from heaven tell that?
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1) “God” is not the name of God, but a common phrase used to refer to deities in general. How can a generic classification be considered a formal name?
Because He calls Himself GOD. That is the only reason needed.
You are right in that there are other ways to take God’s name in vain. The millions of people around the world that call themselves “Christian” but are not that, are taking God’s name in vain by placing it on themselves and living and speaking and thinking willfully with no sense of a need for repentance are taking God’s name in vain. When we say “God bless you” but we don’t mean it… when we ask God to bless something that we know we are doing for entirely selfish reasons, we are taking God’s name in vain… The ways are many. However, this truth does not undo the fact that uttering God’s name — GOD — which He refers to himself as the only one of (because throughout scripture He takes great pains to point out that other “gods” are no gods at all but creations of our hands or imaginations) in an unworthy or wasteful way as is done millions of times a day on FB alone, is taking God’s name in vain. It is. One of many.
Freedom in Christ is one thing. But God’s law is to be our delight.
97 Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the aged,8
for I keep your precepts.
101 I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
102 I do not turn aside from your rules,
for you have taught me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
Why should we try to make one another feel more comfortable in small breakages of God’s heart which He gave us in his…
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Michael-
Thanks for a thoughtful, practical reflection on the Third Commandment.
Best,
Pat
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C M Patton,
Very well said. Where did the expression “God damn it” originate anyway?
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Nancypants,
One flaw with you’re reasoning – God never calls Himself “God”. He calls Himself numerous Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic words which we translate as “god”, but God never once in the entirety of Scripture referred to Himself as g-o-d. The proper name of the Lord, His actual proper name printed in Scripture is YHVH and even this isn’t His true name, but rather an abbreviation of sorts which omits the vowels because the ancient Jew’s considered God’s proper name to holy to be written down. Modern scholarship believes the proper pronunciation to be “Yahweh”, but no one is completely certain.
On the other hand the more generic word often translated as “god” is “Elohim”. This word is used not just to refer to the God of Israel, but Pagan deities as well (Baal, Asheroth, etc.). Thus saying “oh my Elohim” is equivalent to saying “oh my god” because it is a generic term, rather then a proper name.
Still all this misses the point of CMP’s article which is that in Hebrew culture the “name” of God has nothing to do with the name itself, but rather the reputation that goes with that name. This jist of the commandment is equivalent to someone telling you not to sully their good name.
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>>>…which is that in Hebrew culture the “name” of God has nothing to do with the name itself…
I used to think that, but…
Exodus 6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
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I totally agree that this commandment not to take God’s name in vain is not referring to the use of the G-D word. However, I too believe it means something different than common belief. I believe we must divide the word of God “rightly” by using keyword study. Each time the word “vain” is used in the KJV new testament it is referring to those who follow the works of the law. Those who do so are trusting in their own works of righteousness in the flesh. However, we know that salvation is by grace through faith, not works lest any man should boast. Therefore, those who say they are Christians (taking God’s name on them, his branding as his children, representing God), but trust in the works of the law (their own righteousness), will not profit. For those who trust in their own righteousness as the Pharisees, are evil in the sight of God. We must trust in Jesus alone for salvation. When we do this, we will be new creatures that do not walk in sin any longer. I hope this interests you. God bless all who share his word in spirit and in truth.
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I’m sorry, “Bible Study” but your comment springs more out of fanaticism for your Calvinism than any exegetical effort. That was not “exegesis” but rather “eisegesis” (pronounce “I-See-Jesus”)!
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Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s comment about “GD America” no longer means what I thought, dang it. LOL
I always thought using the Lord’s name in vain was someone stating God was behind a certain event or cause (e.g. that is why something bad happened to you) and he may not have been. hmmm?
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I think the idea of the post is really good; however, modern application is certainly worthwhile. We do this all the time. It is likely that the original idea did have the sense given in exegesis above. There are plenty of examples of false prophets trying to invoke God’s name, or Jesus’ name in the case of the sons of Sceva, as a means of gaining power or authority. As was mentioned earlier, I doubt the Jews were going around flippantly using God’s name when the hit their finger with a hammer, etc. This has likely developed over time, but that doesn’t mean Ex 20.7 has nothing to say about this flippant use of God’s name. The whole “God” is a generic term is a pretty lame argument as well. Since people put a premium on intent, as opposed to letter of the law, doesn’t what we mean by what we say matter? As someone already said, the Bible refers to our Creator as “God.”
The reality is this should deepen our understanding of the 3rd commandment, not totally uproot it! People today (ie., TV evangelists) who claim to speak in God’s name, yet often deny Scripture, break the 3rd commandment (Although we are no longer under the 10 commandments anyway, since we are under the law of Christ, but anyway…). They misuse God’s name. Similarly, saying “OMG,” or “GD,” when one slams one’s foot into a table is a miss-use of God’s name. It is hypocritical to claim to have fellowship with God, yet walk in darkness (1 John 1.5-6). Therefore, claiming to be God’s child, yet living like a heathen may even be an application of this concept.
Yes, the primary application might be the false invocation of God’s name on a prophet’s own words, but that does not mean there are no secondary applications. Don’t over-contextualize so much that you miss other vital applications from a text.
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didnt God Damn Sodom and Gomorah ? didnt God damn the Fig tree?Didnt God damn Esau?didnt God say he who doesnt believe in Jesus shall be damned? taking Lords name vain is using God damn out of context like g-ding someone for something that God is the only judge for its really means playing God and trying to send people to hell , that is a sin .People who dont believe in Jesus are God damned until they become believers Mark 16:16
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The phrase “in vain” means not successful. As in “I searched in vain for my lost watch.” Look at the biblical excerpt carefully: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” Note that is says “take” not “use” the name of the LORD thy God in vain. To TAKE the name of the LORD means to accept what He stands for, the Ten Commandments, etc. If you take His name in vain, it means that you are not living up to what His name represents. It’s kind of like being a false follower, and not a true believer.
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I love how in your text, you make an argument against yourself saying: “people all over the Christian religious landscape are breaking the third commandment every day, damaging the Lord’s reputation. ‘Thus sayeth the Lord . . .’ ‘God told me to tell you . . .’” You could say the same of the whole Bible. It is written by men. Furthermore, Jesus never wrote anything and therefore never “sayeth” anything. You also point out that you don’t believe in false gods. Neither do I.
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I’m going to say that i disagree with this. God tells us in
Psalm 12:6-7 (King James Version)
6The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
7Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
or ESV
Psalm 12:6-7 (English Standard Version)
6(A) The words of the LORD are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.
7You, O LORD, will keep them;
you will guard us[a] from this generation forever.
The Bible cleary states that we are not to use the Lords name in vain. But yet his words are pure and right? His scriptures have preserved for generations? He assures us that we’ll always have it? What does this mean. Does this mean hmm.. well Gods words were written when? Well it was really long ago so the meanings of the words are completely different now! No thats absolutely incorect. He clearly states we are not to question Him. God says in
2 Thessalonians 2:15 ESV /
So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.
It’s not our right to sit here and nit pick verses and there meanings. If your going to say that God is not really his correct name than it would be okay to say Jesus Christ if you don’t mean it in a derogatory way because in actuallity it’s not God’s name. That’s what your saying. I have never heard someone say “God damn it” and not mean it in a derogatory way. I guess when my brother stubs his toe and yells “God damn it”! I should think that he was daming the corner of the wall? If your going to think this way than you are going to become a very confused christian. Where does cursing come into this? and how God says First Peter 3:10 “For, whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.” Ephesians 4:29 “Do not let any unwholesome talk come…
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Mr Ptton seems to have arrived at a point of resonable intellectaul consideration of the scriptures. However he seems to be more interested in “proofing” his perspective from a “carnal intellect” (historical) than allowing the Hol spirit to bring forth some wisdom and insight to the Commandment. Scotti, in my estimation and descernment, you have it quite correct, to the point of proofing Mr Pattons very observation. since the Church is the Bride of Christ(God) taking the name of God or Christianity and giving that name a bad reputation would be compatible with both the “historical” and “spirtitual ‘descernment”.
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Much ado about nothing. Given Xians just pick and choose what they want to accept as hard law from the buybull, what’s the value in debating anything? I don’t see the cry out for supporting the plethora of Laws as commanded in Deut. So unless you are ALL IN, it is worthless to discuss what is meant by any of it. Hilarious little cult.
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What is in your heart when you say the phrase you claim is not wrong? Does your heart call upon you to attach His name to a vulgar statement? Does your heart not convict you when you say this, or when you hear it constantly in movies, shows, or music? You go to great lengths to reason distinctions. We must all pray about this.
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Steve, the question being raised by the original post is not whether blasphemy is condemned, only whether the commandment is referring to God’s proper name (YHVH) or to word’s like “God” or names like “Jesus” which it is not.
Just as the believer is not “under the law” and yet must not, for other reasons, commit perjury (give false testimony at someone’s trial), doesn’t mean that the believer is beholden to the Sinai covenant.
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Wrong
19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[a] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[b
2 to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
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Outstanding explanation.
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[...] Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain, Credo House helps us understand the context of the Third Commandment. The nations to which the [...]
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Very well said! However, I wouldn’t go as far to say “God damn” is something to be taken lightly. Asking God to damn anything should not be a quick thought, I hardly think that when the authors of the bible used this phrase that it was merely words used out of anger as we use them today.
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Very good article/post.
So . . . does the phrase “In God We Trust” on American money, even license plates in Indiana, violate the third commandment?
Dan
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So, would the recent incident at a Xavier football game where the Xavier fans taunted the losing team by chanting, “We’ve got Jesus” be an example of taking the Lords name in vain?
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[...] If Ever I think of Eternity and Realise The Amasement awaiting us in God Name, This song speaks to … and Realise [...]
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My father recently told me of a speech her heard on talk radio (not sure by whom) about how “taking the Lord’s name in vain” was actually a reference to an ancient Jewish custom. Apparently, people could contractually bequeath their land, property or inheritance to God in order to avoid bequeathing this inheritance to their rightful relatives. This was considered “taking God’s name in vain,” and this is the true meaning of the commandment, according to this speaker. Somehow the interpretation changed over time as this cultural custom (or breach thereof) fell into antiquity.
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I believe this statement is definately referring back to the 3ed commandment(as Mr. Patton says):
“But the prophet who arrogantly(or daringly) speaks a word in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.”
Now the phrase “which I have not commanded him” is actually a Hebraic idiom that states a negative to affirm a positive(e.g. Leviticus 10:1, Jer. 7:31; 19:5; 32:35).
What God was saying is that anyone who daringly claimed to represent(Yahweh in which they did not) were liers(false witnesses) and thus were guilty dragging his name in the mire(Jer. 14:14, Zach. 13:3). Breaching the third commandment!
Now notice God uses the word “zud” or “zid”. Which translates as “boiling, seething, arrogant, insolent, daring, rebellious”. So this is not to be aimed at sincere naive folk. But more towards those who craftily push for church fund-raising for God’s cause(but sneakily pick-pocket all the dough)-leaving a sour tasted to prospective converts!
To this, Zacharia’s message still rings true:
“You must die, because you have told lies in the LORD’s name.”
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Thanks, and God bless.
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I SO think your article is misguided and will only serve to make people sloppier Christians with even more license to be irreverent, tacky, and unbridled with our emotions. This whole issue is so entangled with flesh that you can’t leave it where you’ve left it. I have a few points.
1) While it is true that the word “god” is just a noun meaning lord or overseer, when it is capitalized–even in the mind–it means Yaweh God, Jehovah, Creator. Your name is C. Michael. So when people call you Mike, or Patton, or Daddy or Son, you respond. God is known by many names, and to the majority, He is known only as God. And He DOES care about this issue, if only for the following reasons.
2) If you aren’t really asking God to damn, then WHO are you giving power to do the damning??? That, in itself, is a problem for your soul. Only God has power to condemn to hell. So…if God isn’t Yaweh, who is he??? Who are you talking to???
3) If you ARE asking God to damn, then WHAT or WHOM are you asking him to damn (to hell) when you stub your toe, are cut off in traffic, when you spill hot coffee on yourself, when you’re angry, etc., etc. Just sayin’.
4) We are to account for EVERY IDLE WORD.
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It is significant that in the 105 comments and the body of the exegesis by CMP that the only two occurrences of the third command being “broken” were not used, referenced or discussed:
Agur tells us in Proverbs 30:7-9 that the dying prayer he had was to not be poor lest he steal AND TAKE THE NAME OF MY GOD IN VAIN. So apparently stealing is a form of taking God’s name in vain. Or stealing at least evidences a heart that lacks trust in his God to provide for him (which attacks Gods character and word) doubting the veracity of God and his integrity. Notice that contextually, this passage follows a great section regarding the word of God being PURE! (Pr 30:5-6)
The second definition of denying Gods name in vain, is “speaking against him wickedly” as found in Psalms 139:20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
Although the common thread of “taking his name in vain” is to speak against God; a better understanding of violating the 3rd commandment is to speak against his character and to doubt his integrity and veracity.
In summary, CMP your are correct that saying “God Damn” is not the violation of the third commandment (the prohibition for that kind of talk is clearly denounced by Paul in passages such as Eph 4:29-31 ) But you missed the exegetical boat by failing to compare scripture with scripture to let the Bible give you the definition of the third commandment.
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I don’t thinki so. At least not the boat. Maybe the ferry you are riding!
It was common in the Old Testament history to have idiomatic reflection on the law. I think that the above references by you are simply idioms, not representing original intent. The easiest examples of this come as the first and the second commandment get blurred during the Monarchial times. If you were to follow the methodology (and rise your boat) you would probably become Cathilic in you understanding of the first and second commandments as “idolatry” was eventually identified with having other gods, yet the second commandment does not have to do with having other gods (already stated in the first commandment) but to make a likeness (controlling) YHWH.
Therefore I would be careful with you assertion that my exegesis fails to take into account all the evidence. I see what you are saying but I would prefer to stay in my boat.
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Thanks for the insight on this. This has been on my mind about where the phrase gd damnit comes from. I think that most people do use it to vent frustration at a situation, so it is not necessarily geared towards God. To me, it’s a knee-jerk reaction most of the time.
I think that most people don’t give a lot of thought or even know what the Third Commandment means. It’s not just about taking the Lord’s name in vain, but also lying or deceiving when using his name. I, unfortunately have seen a lot of (christian) people do this in order to manipulate or make people feel guilty when they don’t need to.
One thing that I do find a bit ironic with people who are offended by the phrase, they are often the people who instigate situations that would make people say it. Sometimes when people pressure or instigate someone, sometimes saying it or some other forms of profanity is a way to make people realize that you are serious about wanting to be left alone or not pressured. So, for those who don’t like hearing it, maybe take a step back and don’t be an instigator. It kind of goes with the saying, if you are going to talk the talk, you should walk the walk.
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[...] gods in order to get a response (e.g., 1 Kgs 18:26). This kind of prayer is to be avoided (cf. taking God’s name in vain ). INTERESTING NOTE: The Rosary is not the only ancient prayer recited by Christians. The Jesus [...]
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I love this…just today @ work we were discussing this…I had similar views to what you have purported but all my colleague said was that I needed enlightenment and perhaps need to go read a book written by Ellen G. White…smh
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How can you say so confidently that “But, as we know, there is no Baal or Marduk.” yet ultimately believe that your god does exist? Did the people that believed in Baal not fully believe as much as you with as little proof?
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Josh, great question.
First you must realize that pantheistic and polytheistic world view argue about their “god” using categorically different definitions for God than theistic worldviews (nearly all monotheism included). It’s comparing apples and oranges. Our God is the trancendant necessary being. Their are just really powerful creations that rule over a certain delighted aspect of creation. From their standpoint anything could be called “god” if it was really really powerful. In the ant world, himans are God. But it is not the same. None of the gods you spoke of possess the necessary properties to canidate for thei deity Osince they are not transcendent, simple, a se, beings. So the comparison does not work.
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might it also mean not to hide behind a collar to do evil. that is to present yourself as a Godly man, a religious man to obtain power in the church and to present a certain image to the public. “Everyone knows Gar*h is in church, so he isn’t capable of evil.” I know of such a man. I used to think he though himself cloaked in good so any evil he did would be excused by church on sundays. I now believe he does not believe in God at all. He hides behind this image he has created so no one suspects him excepts those who are his victims. This is the ultimate of using Gods’ name in vain.
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I think that using god’s name in vain disrespect to God as a christian manner is a serious matter.
It is a negative attitude and is very bad thing to say to God and His only Son that he is Holy.
It is a insult to God. PRAISE THE GOD HEAVENLY FATHER FOR HE IS LOVE AND BE HOLY AS HE IS.
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If you feel in your heart it is disrespectful don’t say it. No it is not His real name. Yes, to most GD and OMG are disrespectful. As Christians wwjd? Lol why say it anyway? Saying and realizing what you have said and repenting and trying to stop is what I think He would like us to do. Do I think it offends HIm in the same way it may have back when it was made a commandment if you as a Christian know you could be offending another? Yes. You could take the time to express this passage with that person. Cool. Or you could just not say them at all. I would like to think our God is above such comments and would consider them foolish? It’s just like having to learn a new language to be able to communicate. If it’s something that Is offensive to others why can we learn not to utter them and walk away and be ok with just that. Do we honestly feel as Christians they are ok things to say? I would hope not. Are we here to look down on those that do? Nope. Gods job. I enjoyed the point of…
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I disagree with your post. If I say ‘God’ carelessly, who do you think others are going to think I meant? Allah? Buddha? Nope. There is only ONE God, and I bet in most places of the world, if you say ‘God’, they would immediately think of God, my Father in Heaven.
And the thing about cursing and swearing, the Bible says to bless and curse not. It also says not to swear by anything on heaven and earth. I hold in reverence the name of God, and Jesus Christ. If I say I swear by another god, then I am idol worshiping, as I have invoked their name. Say what you mean, mean what you say, don’t be careless, and you can argue all you want and try to look for loopholes, but I’d rather be careful and honor God. As far as not finding certain words in the Bible, you are splitting hairs. Swearing is swearing, you can ask a 3 year old, they know what swearing is and that you shouldn’t do it. We should not speak the Lord’s name without purpose. When we say God, we better be discussing him or praying. God is definitely bothered by words. They can destroy people or encourage tehm. God created the world by His WORDS. So don’t trivialize it or minimize it. Gen 1:3 – 26 “And God said…” First off, we call Him ‘God’ all through the Bible, Old and New Testament, and refers to Himself by this name also. Next, He ‘said’. His words were SO POWERFUL that He created the entire world with them. Proverbs 18:21 says there is LIFE and DEATH in the power of the tongue. Prov talks a lot bout the tongue. (prov 12:13, etcl) I am passionate about this subject, as people just say anything without aforethought, and much damage is done. Words are important. They tell others about you more than your outward appearance. They console, speak love, are tender, or hateful, spiteful, start fights, insult, deceive, slander, ruin self-esteem. You get the idea. Never ever underestimate the power of your words.
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First off, Mary Josephine, “GOD” is not “GOD’S” holy name. “YAHWEH,” is.
Besides, Virgin Ears Mary, why would calling on God to damn something be so bad? What does the verb “damn” mean? The American Heritage Dictionary defines the verb ”to damn” as “the act of pronouncing an adverse judgment upon.” To call upon God to damn something is neither sinful nor unbiblical. In fact, you can find people throughout Scripture, especially in the Psalms, who call upon God to bring judgment on their enemies. In other words, they are asking for God to damn those who they feel are ripe for His judgment. In this sense, saying “God damn _____” is as biblical as saying “God bless _____.”
Maybe you should stick with the Teletubbies, they seem to be on your emotional and intellectual level. This “SMART” show just “ain’t” for you…
Oh, that’s right, either are the Teletubbies… They’re gay…
Onward, Christian soldier! Aren’t there withes you need to go burn ?
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i read that the word lord was baal in OT times and meant false god
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one of the reasons, I subsribed to this site is the refreshing and practical approach you have to myths (that are so deeply entrenched in churches we think it is truth) and practices. I have always had a problem with people saying “the Lord says to tell you….”. I do wonder if they donot fear the Lord, if they do not understand and realize who he is. I appreciate your candor in explaining what you believe this commandment means.
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I actually can’t belive some of the posts I have seen on here. Really? It is easy to rationalize behavior that has become every day. We tend to look at others and compare ourselves then we look pretty good. Well narow is the gait and not following the example of Christ and not following Christs teaching will have repurcussions. We might talk ourselves out of it but one day every knee will bow and we will know Christ is Lord and we will answer.
According to the Bible sins are not seen as one is worse than the other. If you have hate in your heart, you are gossiping, causing others to fall is just as bad as murder. God’s name is Holy…..it is “the name above all names” satin shudders when His name is spoken and it’s ok to use it in slang and as a curse word. really …then to say God won’t bat an eye…..my heart breaks when I hear how often the holy name of our God is used. I think there will be a day when even that action requires an answer.
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Good points here. I have a different way of thinking about it, though. To keep this short, i will simply say that taking the Lord’s name in vain is to claim you belong to him, but do not act like it. You talk the talk but do not walk the walk.
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[...] “God bless America” at the end of speeches to score points with believers? I found an old blog post from the Credo House of Theology on this topic that has a good explanation of what the Third [...]
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Best article ever on commandment 3 – thanks
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*sigh* so many.. uneducated, false christians out there bible lawyering to make it say what they “feel”.
It’s actually a pretty clear proscription against claiming to speak for god/commanding god. It’s not complicated folks. Most “religious leaders” break it regularly and with zeal.
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“Whoever blasphemes agains the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit is guilty of an eternal sin.”
I personally always took this passage to mean that obeying the Father through the works of the Holy Spirit was more important than utterances you make regarding The Lord, which are easily forgiven. However, I do personally believe that someone who is Born Again and believes the Good News will work to glorify God and the Kingdom which means being as respectful as possible with their words.
I just don’t think a little “Jesus Christ!” every now and then is going to “God damn” anyone to hell.
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WOW, I just vented about this very thing on Facebook. I have a lot of religious “pentecostal christian” family and sometimes their interpretations drive me up the wall. They mean well, but I honestly get tired of seeing one politician condemned because he doesn’t use words (differentiated from unchristlike actions through entire political career) to claim he’s a candidate “of God” or at least “goes to church” but then leap to the defense of a pastor clearly breaking the third commandment and getting called out for it (I’m referring to that pastor who used God’s share of her entire earnings to justify her very poor math in stiffing her server).
Sometimes I want to yoink out my hair for how they seem to think every single thing evil does is thinly veiled and easily pointed out (and can never use God or good people to perpetuate it).
Thanks for this post, let’s me know there are still some sane people out there representing good spiritual character without breaking far worse in ignorance. Yes, imo “God damn it” is nothing compared to attaching his name to miserly, uncompassionate, unloving, hateful, apathetic, ignorant, etc. behavior.
I’m actually agnostic because of all the “Christians” I grew up around. Not all of them were bad, true, but many of the good ones were easily led down false trails that sounded good (I almost was), such as zero tolerance themes for Christian youth concerts…Christ was certaintly never a zero tolerance person unless you were a church up to some serious nonsense in his father’s name.
I probably ought to reclaim the “Christian” title, I really do believe in the things Christ advocated. It amazes me these days how many “Christians” I see that don’t realize, if Jesus ran for political office under the exact same ideals he stood for in history, many of them would be right at the forefront to crucify him all over again (but this time as a socialist, poor-homo-loving communist).
*head-desk*
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Sorry for the lateness of the comment (and I wasn’t able to go through all of them, so if this is repetition, my apologies).
My response to the post is that it is very good – as far as it goes. That is to say, one could be left with the impression that oaths that include “God” are not as big a deal (at least not direct violations of the 3rd Commandment). But as He is wont to do, Jesus takes the letter of the Commandments and expands it. Just as He convicted all men of the sins of adultery (with lust) and murder (with secret hatred), so does He make the issue of this commandment broader :
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Matthew 12:36
This appears to cover everything from simply “silly talk” to vulgarity to lies to gossip to….you name it. This should be more sobering than the original commandment! And there is no doubt it should include any expression used in anger that isn’t explicitly meant (and man can say some awful things in anger!). If there’s any doubt, just look at the verse before :
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
Matthew 12:35
So the issue, admittedly, is not “Did you say X?” but rather, “Is X pertinent to the issue…is it true…and is it (ultimately) edifying or at least corrective?”.
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Very nice article!
I think the 3rd Commandment refers to using G-d’s name in the various forms of Hebrew. G-d’s many names have different connotations and numerical values that all have significance. There are certain names that I will not spell out here that shouldn’t even be read out loud; they should only be scanned with the eyes.
Wondering if there is a study on how many people worldwide say “G-d D.I.”? I believe a pretty large percentage of people have used this phrase when angry, as do many Jewish people gather wood on the Sabbath. Both are wrong so we believe from G-d’s stance. My point is that in biblical times people were punished to the law almost instantaneously, but today our punishment is more spread out.
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wow…… this is so true… thank a lot.
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The Jews would not even say His name because they did not feel worthy to and they did not want to use it in a disrespectful way. Why would anyone want to say the name of the Almighty in a way that does not bring glory to Him? We are all going to give an account for what we do and say. We are to fear The Lord God and we are to guard our tongue. Do you really think, taking in to consideration everything that the Bible says, that it is ok and more importantly, that God is ok, with the use of His name in a way that does not bring Him glory? Look at it from a different angle. What would be the fastest, shortest, and easiest way to break the third commandment? (And I am by no means asking you to say this, I am only trying to prove a point to show that what you are implyimg is ok is actually wrong!). Your answers to this question cannot be anything close to what you are saying is ok to say. Satans first words of deception were did God really say…
Glorify God in all that you do and say.
For it is written, worship The Lord your God, and serve Him only. I hope that God will bless all who choose to live for Jesus and not conform to the ways of this world.
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Well done, although I would have been much happier if you had used LORD, instead of Lord during your explanation.
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I appreciate this article quite a bit, but there is something wrong with your third contention: the word you use, naqa, is not the correct word, which is in fact שָׁוְא, or shav.
Voila, for what it’s worth.
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Ok i didnt get half way reading before i was inflamed and couldnt read on. You contradict yourself.. Sayin that in bible people use to say dam this person but turn and say saying gd is not to dam something how? Your asking god to you know what the d word. I cringe hearing people saying it and or wording that. My dad told me to stand back with him because his friend was gd everything it wont take long for god to answer and sure enough my dads friend broke his oh for the life of me cant think of word the stick =) sorry. And a gmc truck ramed backwards in my dads lincon the gmc smashed a dent in my dads car. Yes im not saying the damage cars are buildt one way and another big deal. That wasnt many situations he would point out to me. Just one i would share. So i believe in gd is saying his name in vain at a price of daming a person, object whatever. The fact is is it ever wirth risking and your opinion is wrong? If my opinion is wrong then no consequences if your wrong you shall pay a price. Another view about his name thats when i stopped reading… His real name is this saing his name in vain be yew( whatever) he is a god. He wants us all to look at him as a god not another fellow by using his real name. In the bible he is telling everyone i am the lord ect.., just something to ponder if you will
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Hey, so I really enjoyed reading your blog post Michael.
I would just like to mention a side point.
Since we now know that saying Gods name in vain means basically using it in an empty way, or saying that he said, did, feels, or will do something that he didn’t actually say, do, feel or will do; is what it really means to break the third commandment of using Gods name in vain.
Would God be petty enough to be angry with us or condemn us because we can’t pronounce his name right, which is really the fault of the superstitious Jews in Jesus day?
Or is he the kind of just and merciful God who would see that those who use the version of his name in their own language are just trying to draw close to him. Just as we use each others personal names, to show that we have a close personal relationship with each other.
If he didn’t want us to use his name, why did he inspire men to write it, all throughout the Hebrew scriptures over 5000 times?
If Jesus spoke Gods personal name and made it manifest, or known, than wouldn’t it make sense that we should be using Gods name?
John 17:6 (NWT)- Jesus said to God “I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have observed your word.”
Psalms 83:18 (OKJV 1611)- “That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.”
http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/book.php?book=Psalms&chapter=83&verse=18
Jehovah is the English way of saying Gods name, just as Yahweh is the supposed Hebrew way of his name.
In Spanish it’s pronounced Yehovah, Filipino it’s Dyihobe, in Indonesian it’s Yehuwa, and in Italian it’s Geova, and so on and so forth.
Could the Pope himself be breaking the third commandment by going against what the scriptures say (example Acts 15:12-14, Romans 10:13), when he declared that priests are not to say the name Jehovah?
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I liked the post, was just agreeing with your original idea, started getting caught up in the replies to it…then Thank God I stopped about 15 posts down and now wonder if we are talking VEIN or VAIN as all seem to be using both rather recklessly. The 2 spellings have very different definitions no matter how old you are correct?? Really took away from the power of the subject for me
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135: appreciated the post as it placed some things in perspective. Jesus mentions that they worship God in vain-make the word of God of no effect- by preaching doctrine the commandments of men or tradition of the elders. Some by products:
(Jude) Men having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. People who hold to advantage the admiration of men.
(Luke) that which is highly esteemed by man is abomination to God
and so on. So in a class i asked if they thought praying for healing in which none occurs was taking the name of God in vain…quiet…And, while the whole thing brought some concerned looks, my own prayers did change–(Jesus) that my words sink down in their hearts and I should convert them and heal them–to heal the broken hearted…
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I have been studing a book by Beth Moore on breaking free from spitual strongholds. I was a drug addict. Since 1993 I have been going from getting clean and then relapsing. I saw this scripture Exodus 20; 4,5,6. I really wanted to know what this phrase reallymeant. I enjoyed it very much.
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Leviticus 24:16
“Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.”
Blasphemy (OED): a. Profane speaking of God or sacred things; impious irreverence.
Impious (OED): 1. Not pious; without piety or reverence for God and his ordinances
Irreverence (OED): a. The fact or quality of being irreverent; absence or violation of reverence; disrespect to a person or thing held sacred or worthy of honour.
Reverence (OED): a. Deep or due respect felt or shown towards a person on account of his or her position, status, or relationship to oneself; deference. Now rare.
Since blasphemy is defined in terms of speaking of something or someone without due reverence, I would suggest that speaking about God without truly meaning God in any context is sinful. I apologize if this has already been discussed in the comments; I chose not to take the time to read all of them thoroughly.
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[...] Q. (29:6): So, Achish acknowledges the Lord here. Are the Philistines just fickle and go back and forth between following the true Lord and idols? Or, was he just simply acknowledging the Lord’s power, even though the Lord is not his God? Another question this brings up is swearing. We may have talked about it before, but it’s worth exploring again. We have read about many of God’s followers — most recently, Jonathan and David and Abigail — swear by God. One of the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:7 says, “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.” I certainly don’t think any of the three I mentioned are misusing God’s name. But, I thought it was a great time to bring the subject up. I have the feeling that whenever I mention the Lord, I have to make sure he would approve of it. I don’t say He said something He didn’t, nor do I use his name casually in blame or whatever. It jabs me when I hear someone say, “God this” or “Jesus that” or “Oh my God,” especially Christians. As I pull the knife out of me, I would like to call the person on it, but never do. What do you say about this, Rob? I found a great paper on this subject. See if you think it’s worth mentioning. http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2007/06/what-does-it-really-mean-to-take-the-lords-name-in-vei… [...]
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[...] Q. (29:6): So, Achish acknowledges the Lord here. Are the Philistines just fickle and go back and forth between following the true Lord and idols? Or, was he just simply acknowledging the Lord’s power, even though the Lord is not his God? Another question this brings up is swearing. We may have talked about it before, but it’s worth exploring again. We have read about many of God’s followers — most recently, Jonathan and David and Abigail — swear by God. One of the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:7 says, “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.” I certainly don’t think any of the three I mentioned are misusing God’s name. But, I thought it was a great time to bring the subject up. I have the feeling that whenever I mention the Lord, I have to make sure he would approve of it. I don’t say He said something He didn’t, nor do I use his name casually in blame or whatever. It jabs me when I hear someone say, “God this” or “Jesus that” or “Oh my God,” especially Christians. As I pull the knife out of me, I would like to call the person on it, but never do. What do you say about this, Rob? I found a great paper on this subject. See if you think it’s worth mentioning. http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2007/06/what-does-it-really-mean-to-take-the-lords-name-in-vei… [...]
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Gods namy is actually unpronouncable. It is spelled with the hebrew letters Yud Hay Vav Hay. It means I am or I will be. We use the word Adonoi to mean God. I agree with your explanation of the 3rd commandment.
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Thank you! A girl recently once told me that a believer does not say the lord’s name in vain and called me a “disgusting atheist”! Just looking for something to explain to her- and I don’t even say god d*mn it, I say oh my God! D:
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Using god’s name in vein is like when some one stole some some thing from you and when he wants to lie about it, he says to you; I swear the god I didn’t stole any thing from you. Or when he says, god is my witness, I didn’t do it. The person is already guilty of a sin and he is condamning more sins by using god’s name to save himself and his selfish act.
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Americana…
Gee, Golly, Gosh, Jeez, Gad, Gadzooks, Gol, Gee whiz, Jeepers, Jimminy Christmas. These are all examples of classic Americana; they are the accepted ways in which we skirt the simplistic notion of violating the Third Commandment.
When I was 10 years old I recall my curiosity about god, my numerous and probably precocious questions regarding all sorts of aspects of him that I couldn’t fathom. I also recall the answers I was given, by mom, pop, teachers, etc. What’s god’s name? He doesn’t have a name. Well it’s Yahweh. Well that’s just a translation of sorts; He who creates, i.e. just another term for god, The Divine, The Holy One, The Lord . This bugged me, because I knew the Commandments, don’t take the lord’s name in vain… What name!?!? This stuck in my brain for years. All of the other commandments were self-evident, don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t be jealous, etc. Why was this singular commandment so unlike the others?
Swearing and such were simply unacceptable for me and my sisters at that age. We had a piggy bank for when mom or dad broke their own rules. I remember praying for dirty words. Money had no value to me yet, but it was clinky and shiny, and I already knew it was the penultimate desire of most. “Hope dad spills something again!” That’s a Quarter word! Haha! Clink, clink, clink.
I got older; then came the Americana. When kids get together in school, they start trading. I had a good stock to trade, and shared eagerly with my friends. But it was not just the words we traded, we also traded the ideas. The authorities in our lives traded with us as well… when we got caught. I learned all of those nice euphemism for god and Jesus, and I learned why we use them, or at least why many people thought we used them. Then the bug came out of me. I argued. I questioned. I had “temerity” I was told. My grandmother explained it best, “You don’t ask god to hate. God is love.” That worked…
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…for a bit, but goldang that bug!
I think for most of my adolescence, I had an idea forming in the back of my mind that didn’t take shape or fill out until I had some more experience.
I got even older. Cousin and friends started to marry and phrases like “take his name” started to come up in other contexts. She’s taking his name. She is sacrificing her name in union with a man.
Then it hit me, and I have done my best to spread this idea, that we as a culture have the third Commandment all wrong, and this somehow imperils us.
When you take the Lord’s name, you sacrifice yourself. The entire religion revolves around sacrifice, complete giving in love. Vanity has no place in love. It’s a false love of one’s self.
How can one sacrifice himself completely and utterly to god, and love himself more (his personality, his ideas, his ideals, his goals, his plans)?
It became clear all at once. Do not attribute your human actions to god. Do not attribute your human emotions to god; these are yours.
By then I knew the history. Most religion was spread at the point of a sword back then. In many places it still is. Indeed we have to deal with our own spawn doling out god’s will at bombpoint. But even at home we are chastised by those who claim to know god’s will better than we.
Christianity is about love and sacrifice. The imposition of will is absent in the Christian heart. The imposition of will is strong in man, as is the desire to steal, murder,covet, commit adultery. The commandments are what to strive for, the ideal. Jesus’ teachings all reflect this message to us. Turn the other cheek, love thy enemy as you love yourself; this is the path from bondage (both real and spiritual). Then acts! This is how to act. This is how to change minds. Not at the point of a sword.
Do not commit your silly frail human acts in my name; I am Love.
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