Carrying His Name

By Eric Smith. Written October 4, 2020

The King James version of the bible rendered the third commandment as follows: “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.” Some may consider it a trifle thing or mere academic study to look at the deeper significance of word origins, but I do not. Words have meaning, and the way English speaking people understand this commandment is not the way it was originally given by the Lord.

The limitation of the word “take” is that it sounds like a singular and discrete event. We can take a bath; take a number and get in line; or take something that does not belong to us. The Hebrew word Nasah has a less discrete, and longer-term connotation to it. It would fit nicely in the context of lifting and carrying a pitcher of water from the creek to the household kitchen for drinking and washing. Its duration is longer, more ingrained, and less of a singular event. Those interested can learn more of the word here (Strong’s Hebrew 5375).

The culture of our day has taught me that to take the Lord’s name in vain is to casually or thoughtlessly use any of the variations of the Lord’s name such as God, Lord, or Jesus Christ for example, and to put them in a usually non-religious and non-worshipful context, therefore making its use ‘vain’. We often see these phrases in pop-culture. While I personally do not use these phrases, to believe that using them is a violation of the third commandment undermines the Lord’s intelligence and the far weightier matter of what is harbored within a person’s heart over the long term, rather than what passes through their lips in a singular moment.

I know some who have climbed this tree of incorrect belief and extended it further, assuming that the Lord was condemning the use of other expletives, and therefore the use of words like damn or hell (or even the big ones) is a violation of the third commandment. I know of a family who believes brushing teeth during a fast presents a risk of ingesting water and spoiling their fast. Missing a word in an ordinance, wearing the wrong color of clothing or wrong grooming style to a religious setting serve as more examples in a long list of these doctrinally unfounded beliefs.

Such extrapolations are the process I think of as spiritual entropy. This happens when a law or belief is originally given in purity, and over time becomes embellished or extrapolated and has little to do with the original intent of the law. These are the ideas that led to the creation of many of the unwritten laws that governed the Sadducees and Pharisees. They are the ideologies that the Savior spent much of His ministry trying to un-teach in the hearts and minds of those He taught.

Those who create such extraneous beliefs in our day, probably initially do so with pure intentions, but the reality is that before long these unfounded beliefs lead to a spiritually deaf and dumb culture like that of the Sadducees. Such beliefs on their own are a perversion of truth, but become even more grossly compounded when they are nurtured in the name of God. Ironically as the Jews created more and more extraneous additions to God’s laws in His name, supposing themselves to be more and more in His favor, they were actually in a state of spiritual degradation to the point they failed to recognize the Son of God in their midst, and executed Him.

In doing so, the Jews did not take the Lord’s name in vain, they carried Him in vain. When a person discovers the miraculous power of Christ they become a Christian, taking His name upon them. Is that singular event enough to know the true measure of the heart? I propose that a person’s true nature can only be measured by the way they carry the name of the Lord over time. In other words, taking His name upon us is truly measured by how we carry it, rather than how we take it.

If a non-Christian were to take the name of the Lord, non-religiously in casual conversation, would that be carrying His name in vain to you? In the third commandment, carrying the Lord’s name in vain is an offense most likely to be found among those who profess to speak, think, or do the will of the Lord. In other words, to not carry the Lord’s name in vain is most likely to be violated by the leaders of churches.

How many wars have been conducted in God’s name, even by both opposing sides? How many priests have committed fornications, adulteries, or other impure acts in the name of the Lord? How many hedonistic sacrifices have been offered and the blood of the innocent slain in the name of God? While these examples are dramatic and the exception rather than the rule, consider the more frequent misuse of those who carry the Lord’s name in vain.

What spiritual individuals have you observed speaking of the Lord and serving Him publicly who abuse their spouse, offspring, or others they have stewardship over, who in action rather than word preach the sermon of doing as they say but not as they do? What priests’ sermons have you listened to that evangelized a personal agenda and closed in the name of the Jesus who did not authorize their words? (Matthew 7:23). What false belief systems have been instilled in church congregations because of one or more men who carried the Lord’s name in vain by preaching their own sermons rather than His?

In the second part of the third commandment we find words which are seldom recited or considered: “…the Lord will not hold him guiltless that [carrieth] his name in vain.” The degree to which a shepherd has stewardship and misspeaks in the Lord’s name, is the degree to which the lord’s warning and penalties will be incurred. Representing a personal or political agenda which is not the Lords’, and doing so in His name is a violation of the third commandment.

May our thoughts, words, and actions be conducted and carried in ways we can confidently think them, say them, and do them with the Lord’s approval. And may we recognize those in high places who use the Lord’s name in ways the Lord Himself does not approve of.