Exodus 20:7 "Misusing God's Name"

                This past weekend I attend the quarterly meeting of our Presbytery (soon-to-be-divided), a regional (somewhat) gathering of EPC churches in Laurel, MS.  It was great to get together with dear friends who I so rarely get to see and catch up with.  It’s a time in which we handle the business of the church on a larger scale, but it’s also a time of fellowship.  We talk little about theology, but instead about families, friends, mutual acquaintances, and life in general.  We spend much time talking about each of us as a person and not strictly as a pastor.  However, the conversation does eventually turn to something that has happened in one of our congregations.  We laugh with and at each other as we share stories about things that have happened at our particular churches.  We’ve shared stories of awkward situations, strange events, and comical moments.  And if you have ever known a pastor who says that he doesn’t do this, then he’s lying. 

One of my friends and mentors in ministry shared a story one time about a sermon preached by a guest preacher on our text for today, the third commandment.  Now, this text is commonly interpreted as a condemnation against coarse language, particularly that which contains the name of God.  Well, this guest preacher stood up in the pulpit and the first few words out of his mouth at the time of the sermon were comprised of only those of a profane nature.  He capped off this little episode by then stating the “biggie” that most of us say is strictly forbidden by this commandment right from the center of the pulpit.  Now, he then went on and gave his opinion as to why he hadn’t violated this commandment (an opinion that he and I do not share), but no one in attendance really heard anything he said.  All they could focus on was how he began his sermon.  The conversations in the car after church weren’t about how he presented God’s Word in a unique way so that it finally made sense, but that families couldn’t believe what he had said.  After all, he was a preacher and he said it in church…in the sermon.

Now, I point to this example not just to show how some have so brutally misinterpreted this text, either too loosely or too strictly, but to point to an even greater tragedy.  You see, for this pastor to stand in the pulpit and to spew such profanities and end with God’s name being taken so misused shows just how diluted the name of God has become in our world today.  The third commandment reads, “You shall not take the name of the Lord you God in vain.”  Some translations say something to the effect that you shall not misuse the name of God.  God’s name is special; it’s special because it carries with it his personal identity.  It deserves reverence and awe.  Using it frivolously is common today and we quite often fail to realize how serious of an error it is.  The way that we use God’s name conveys how we really feel about him.  When we feel that we can use his name the same as we would any other name, then we have diluted God to be just like any other person.  We should respect his name and use it appropriately.  We should speak it in praise and worship with reverence and not carelessly in cursing or in jest.  Now I’m not saying that we go so far as to follow the ancient or modern orthodox Jewish school of thought and not even be allowed to say or write out the name of God.  I’m just saying that we ought to have a sense of the magnitude of that name when we use it.  When we say or write or in any way use God’s name, we ought to treat it with the reverence and respect that it deserves.  Our usage of his name should in no way shape or form lessen our view, or anyone else’s view, of God.

I want to also point out that not only does this command speak to how important God’s name is and the reverence that we ought to display when using it, but it also speaks to our using his name of ourselves.  By this, I mean that the misuse or taking of his name in vain extends much further than just what we orally portray.  It extends to our actions, behaviors, and really all parts of our lives as well.  When we call ourselves children of God, when we call ourselves Christians, but we live in a manner that is against God, that is a violation of this commandment as well.  Think about it; if we are saying that we are of God and yet are living and acting in defiance of God’s will, then isn’t that a misuse of the God’s name.  To claim that we belong to him yet his Word has no impact upon us is vainly taking and using God’s name.  When we became Christians, we didn’t say that we believed in God and belonged to him, but were going to wait a few years until we began living as such (at least not intentionally we didn’t).  No, when a Christian professes faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior then they are forever changed from that moment on.  From that point they are to forever be marked by the name of God, proudly baring the name Christian across their chest.  When I speak with a couple prior to their getting married, I make sure and emphasize that they are not just making a pledge to each other, but they are making a pledge to each other in the name of God.  When we make that pledge in God’s name, then we are to honor that pledge unless for some reason there is a violation that is allowable by God.  I know that I am going to offend with this statement, but “growing apart” isn’t exactly a Biblical grounds for breaking a vow taken and made in God’s name.  I use this as an example because it is quite possibly the most common form of misusing and taking God’s name in vain that exists in our world today.

The third and final aspect of the third commandment is found in the second half of verse 7, “You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”  For the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.  My pastor friend, in telling the story about the guest minister, when he tells this story, says that you could just see the look on people’s faces in the sanctuary.  It was as if they were waiting for a bolt of lightning to come through the ceiling and strike him right where he stood.  When we hear someone take God’s name in vain, or when we see someone claiming to worship God but living a lifestyle contrary to the Christian nature, we often look for the punishment.  We look for the way in which God is going to punish that person(s).  Unfortunately, we even start to want to witness it just so we can be there to give the typical “told you so” response (a response that we will see typically comes from our own sinful desires and not from God).  However, that’s not the way it works. 

I want you think back with me to some 2000+ years ago to the city of Jerusalem, to the story of Palm Sunday and the Triumphal Entry.  I want you to remember back when we walked through John’s gospel how the very same people who lined the street praising Jesus as the king were the same ones chanting a few days later to have him crucified.  Well, as Jesus was entering the city, the people were shouting, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”  They took God’s name in vain.  They were not cheering for God, but for themselves in the name of God.  When we lie under oath or when we profess Christ as Savior with our mouths but not with our hearts, we are guilty of the same crime.

Have you even taken his name in vain?  Have you ever professed with your mouth and not your heart?  Have you ever said that you would follow, trust, and obey, but instead ran, doubted, and defied?  Have you taken his name in vain?  God will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.  Now, I realize that the reaction to this is going to be “Well, does that mean that everyone who uses God name profanely, breaks a religious vow, or gets divorced will not be considered guiltless before God?”  Well, my answer is “Yes, but that’s only if it were up to us.”  As we’ve said before (and are going to continually say), we are looking at the commandments through the lens of the cross of Christ.  Our being declared guiltless before God Almighty has absolutely nothing to do with us.  It has to do with the blood of Christ; the blood of Christ which covers all sins.  There is nothing outside of the righteousness of Christ and the forgiveness found in him.  Which brings me to a second question, have you trusted in Christ?  Do you trust in him as your Lord and Savior?  Do you think that on the last day when you stand before God, He'll receive you in because you've been a good person, but you've never taken up for yourself the name which is above every name?  Do you know what the Bible says about that name?  There is no other name in heaven, under heaven, whereby a man can be saved.  Don't come to the one true God on the last day unless you know the one who has the name above every name because in the end he will say, “I never knew you.”  And so as to not leave any loopholes, do you really think that those who live lives consciously in violation against God and then make some flippant profession at the end will be declared guiltless?  Absolutely not.  I’m not saying that a person cannot be converted at the end of their life, but such conversion must be of genuine faith and not some last ditch effort for salvation.  The name of God, profession of Jesus Christ as Lord, is something that must be made with all the reverence, honor, and glory that it deserves.  So you see, it’s not all about us not using coarse language, but it is about us recognizing and living out the fact that God’s name is above all others.  It’s about us living with a fear of the Lord.  It’s about us being in awe that the one who created us has chosen to reveal himself to us and granted us a means by which we may come to know him.  It’s about putting no person, place, or thing anywhere near the magnitude of God the Father Almighty.  That’s what we are told in this third commandment.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Exodus 20:4-6 "No Idols"

                If we were to look ahead in Exodus to chapter 32, what we find is one of the most well-known scenes in the Old Testament; it is the episode of the golden calf.  Now, we know that it was a sin for Aaron (and the people of Israel) to fashion this calf and we know that they was punished for it and would have been punished much more severely had Moses not interceded.  But I want you to hear the words of verse 4 in Exodus 32, “And they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up of Egypt.’”  It goes on to find Aaron saying, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.”  You see, the golden calf was the fashioning of some earthly material into God so that it could be worshipped.  There was no malice meant towards God, but Israel actually thought they were honoring God.  This is the type of thing that the second commandment is aimed at when it speaks of “any likeness of anything that is in heaven.”  Even the most well-intentioned depictions and images of God are, according to God Himself, a violation of how we are to live.  It’s not like the only improper images of God are the ones coming out of Hollywood.  When artists draw beautiful pictures of what they think God looks like, that is still a violation against God.  Even if the most wholesome of Peanuts cartoons contained a depiction of God that was in no way meant to offend, it would still be offensive to God.

                I think that now is an important time to answer a question that you might be asking.  You might be wondering if it really is that severe or if I’m just taking things to an extreme measure.  While I absolutely don’t mind being called an extremist when it comes to God, I don’t really think that I’m going overboard with this.  I’ve said throughout this study that each commandment has within it two commands; one for a particular action and one against.  In this case, the second commandment is forbidding our worship of idols, even if they are meant to represent God.  The other side of that coin is why we shouldn’t worship idols or even use them.  You see, if I were to see a picture of God, even just someone’s opinion, then that image is likely to come into my mind when thinking of Him.  But shouldn’t the only source of our “vision” of God be Scripture.  Shouldn’t the only source that shapes our understanding and image of God be that of His divine Word?  I’ll put it like this; can you honestly tell me that when you think of Moses that you don’t picture him as Charlton Heston?  Can you tell me that the image that comes to mind when you think of Jesus isn’t that of Jim Caviezel or Brian Deacon, the two men who played him in the Passion of the Christ and the Jesus film respectively?  Of course that’s who you picture, and that’s alright.  It’s alright because these were actual people who walked the face of the earth.  However, it isn’t alright when it comes to God.  God is revealed to us by His Word.  That’s what he is warn us against and commanding us not to do.  He does not want us to depict Him in some painting or statue because He is beyond imagining.  For us, in our finite and limited minds, to create an image of God is to lessen God’s actual nature.  I like the way that Q. 51 of the WSC puts it:  What does the second command forbid?  The second command forbids our worshipping God with images or in any other way not established in his word.

                You see, God isn’t just concerned for who we worship (the first commandment as well as foreign idols), but he’s also concerned for how we worship.  We don’t worship God through statues and paintings and monuments, but we worship him through his Son.  After all, the Son is part of the Trinity and thus is still God.  “For I the Lord your God am a jealous God.”  Now this word “jealous” helps to set up the rest of the commandment.  When we’re jealous, we are extreme about something.  When we’re jealous, even the most seemingly innocent behaviors can come across as an act of betrayal.  God tells Israel that when they disobey him, that they and their future generations will be punished for their hate of Him.  Notice that God sees our disobedience as hate.  We may think that this is too strong or too much of a reach, but it isn’t.    Remember, we’re not the ones who are setting the standard.  It’s always up to the superior party to set the standard in a relationship.  When it comes to children, parents set the standard.  When it comes to work, bosses set the standard.  Well, when it comes to everything, God sets the standard.  After all, He’s the one who created this world and everything in it.

                I’m not going to do the typical ending to a sermon on the second commandment and ask what idols exist in your life.  I’m not going to end by basically repeating the charge from a few weeks ago that says to find out what things other than God you are worshipping and get them into their proper place.  No, I want to end this week by simply remind you of how glorious, yet basic, worship of God is.  We don’t need trinkets, bracelets, necklaces, certain buildings, or anything else to worship God.  God has given us the only thing that we need to come before him; his one and only Son.  When we look at the Old Testament, and in particular the Ten Commandments, through the lens of the New Testament, the lens of Jesus Christ, we see a fulfillment.  We see the sacrifice that don’t render the Law useless, but renders it completed and satisfied.  I want each of us to remember, as we approach God daily in prayer, that He alone is God, and that we can come to Him in all of our shame and misery and failure not because of something that we have or do, but because of what He has done on our behalf.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Exodus 20:1-3 "No Other Gods"

                Last Sunday, we began our look at the Ten Commandments with an introduction and a setting of the stage for circumstances under which the Ten Commandments were given to Israel.  We saw that the skies turned dark as the clouds descended upon Mount Sinai, bringing with them thunder, lightning, and the blaring of a trumpet.  We saw that in God’s coming and meeting with Israel that there was a time of consecration, of physical and spiritual cleansing, that was required of Israel.  Now there are numerous reasons why this cleansing would have been necessary.  After all, we are talking about fallen people coming into the presence of God.  However, there are also some more specific reasons why Israel would have been in need of such cleansing at this point in time, many of which are addressed within the very commandments that they are about to be given.

You see, the Israelites had just come from Egypt, a place where many different idols and gods received worship from the people.  There was a god for nearly every aspect of life (i.e. farming, fertility, parenting, etc.), so it was common and very much the norm for people there to worship many different gods so that they might be blessed in all those different areas of life.  Now, although the Israelites were descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their view of God had become tainted from what their fathers believed, from what their fathers were told.  Their belief in God had not diminished in any way, but their view of Him as the only god was largely gone.  When God first began to speak to them at Mount Sinai saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,” they would have had no problem with that.  There was no denying the fact that it was God who had delivered them from their oppressors.  No one was trying to say that multiple gods had worked together to deliver them.  They were all very open about the fact that it was the God of Noah and of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who had delivered them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and now was meeting with them in the wilderness.

The problem for Israel, in their current spiritual state, is what comes during the actual commandment itself, “You shall have no other gods before me.”  Some translations say, “You shall have no other gods besides me.”  They both mean the same thing, just with a little different wording.  You see, Israel (as well as all other Christians and worshipers of God, even those of us today) are not to just believe that God is the greatest of gods, but that He is the only God.  There are no other gods other than the God that we worship.  That’s a harsh reality for Israel at this time, and it’s a harsh reality for us today as well.  We live in a world that seeks to be tolerant, loving, and accepting of all other people even when it comes at a price.  Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not trying to say that we shouldn't be loving and accepting and tolerant of all people.  After all, we are all God’s creations.  What I am saying is that we have become so overly tolerant, that we are afraid to say that anyone else is wrong.  When we meet someone who worships a different god than we do, we rationalize in our minds that their god is just as real to them as ours is to us, so there is no reason for disagreement.  We walk away saying that they are just as right and proper in their worship as we are in ours.  I have heard the statement about all religions being true (at least to the people who believe them) far too often, and far more often from Christians than I ought to.  Friends, I just don’t see how if we read Scripture and we accept all of it as true that there is any room for doubt.  I don’t see from my study of God’s Word where the door is left open for other gods to exist.  Some folks may say, “Well, what about all of the other gods worshiped throughout the Old Testament?  There’s proof that other gods exist.”  My response would be that you’re just making my point for me.  Each one of these “other gods” was proven to be a false god or simply a figure conjured up by the people of the day.

We will see in our look at the Ten Commandments that for each of these commandments, there is a gospel counterpart to them taken from the very words of Jesus himself.  We find the companion statement to the first commandment in Matthew 4:10, “(Jesus said,) ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”  I realize that I won’t win any friends over this statement.  In fact, I will probably even lose some, but I think that it has to be said:  Any other god aside from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; any god other than the God who made heaven and earth, is a false God.  I don’t see any way that as Christians we can believe anything else.  Sure, I understand how we can worship other things.  I see how we can worship objects, power, money, etc.  I don’t agree with it, but I do know that it is real.  I acknowledge that other groups do worship different gods, but I don’t agree with them.  I don’t place their god(s) anywhere near God the Father Almighty.  In fact, as you can probably conclude from the remarks I have already made, I don’t even view their gods as real.  I don’t care where your worship is directed; if it’s not towards God Almighty then it is misguided and false.  I’m following in the footsteps of Paul here.  I’m point blank putting it out there that if the Gospel which I boldly proclaim is false, then let me be the first to be condemned; let me be counted as the “chief amongst sinners.”

“You shall have no other gods before me.”  I said at the beginning of this study that each commandment carries with it two commands.  There is the one against something (in this case against having other gods), and there is the call to a certain action.  The question now becomes, “What is the particular action that this commandment is calling us to have?”  Well, let me offer up this as the answer.  As a response to our being given the commandment to have no other gods before God Almighty, we must seek to remove the things in our lives and the lives of others that detract worship away from God.  No, I’m not talking about removing everything, just helping to keep everything in its proper place.  Yes, when we see people worshipping another god, we are to work to point them to Christ, but in terms of the everyday things (family, money, athletics, etc.) that sometimes receive worship from us, we just need to prioritize better.  We need to get things in their proper place.  God is supposed to be first and foremost; the Greek word for that is πρῶτος .  When God is not first in our lives, then it is impossible for everything else to be in order.  To very much overly simplify it, my daughter is learning to tie her shoes.  We can teach her how to make the most beautiful yet secure knots and bows that we want to, but none of it does any good if she doesn't begin with putting her shoes on her feet.  There may be success and happiness experienced even when we don’t have God in the proper place, but it’s momentary and fleeting.

“You shall have no other gods before me.”  This seems like such a simple command.  This seems like such an easy thing for us to follow to the fullest extent.  However, even though it may be simple, we are still incapable of fulfilling it without the power of God working in us.  Without the Holy Spirit guiding us along the path that God has set out for us, it is all too easy for our hearts to drift away from God.  It’s all too easy for our worship to be deflected somewhere else.  I’m going to end each of our looks at the commandments with a challenge, something that we can all take with us and work at in order to fulfill what God commands of us.  And the challenge for the first commandment is this:  figure out what the things are in your life that you worship.  Figure out the things in your life that leave you in awe.  Are you more excited over the saving grace that you have in the Lord Jesus Christ or an unexpected Christmas bonus that might have gotten?  What are the things that leave you awestruck?  Find out what those things are, and put them in their proper place.  “You shall have no other gods before me.”  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.