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Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain....what does this mean??
'god' is a title.
In it's proper usage, a title of respect and showing relationship.
A servant addressing his employer / master to say: "My lord and my god" would not be out of place.
A wife to address her husband by such, would not be out of place either. Though in our current culture it is rarely seen. We live in a culture of dis-respect.
Ancient Hebrews were taught to never speak thier diety's name out loud, except for once a year in the holy of holies, by the mouth of the high priest.
Through out the Old Testament 'The Lord' was commonly substituted as it became considered that writting their god's name was too holy to be contained by ink on a scroll.
To me, speaking in the name of god in vain is to do so without using God's power and might.
If your ministry does not heal people than it is in vain.
If a ministry does not release beleivers from their bonds, then it is in vain.
if a ministry does not bring others closer to God, and into the household of heaven, then it is in vain.
A false prophet when declaring a 'prophecy' would try to say that it was from God. However by being a false prophet, we know that his prophecy will not come to pass, therefore the prophecy was in vain.
'in vain' means without power, or to no purpose, to no profit.
If I taught a doctrine, as if it were a true doctrine. If I taught this 'false' doctrine, and lead others toward vanity. They would be functioning within a doctrine that was in vain. Their prayers would likely be amiss, since they would be based upon bad doctrine [doctrine with no power].
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain....what does this mean??
It seems like it is common place for many people (Christians among them) to flippintly use the name of deity. Is this not what it means? Is this not disrespectful?
I was surprised the other day when I was watching a reality show and this mother from a very strict, devout Baptist family even said Oh my G**. Maybe others don't view this the same way but if you are Christian and you use this phrase or others do you really think about it in connection with the 4th commandment? Or is there a connection to you?
I dislike it very much when I hear people say OMG. I don't say it at all. If I hear my children saying it they get a lecture. I think it is important to talk about God. But when this title even becomes a comon word we use just to express disgust or shock or nothing at all, I think it degrades our idea of who God is to us and who God is to the others around us.
I hate it when someone bangs their foot and exclaims "Jesus Christ!" That person does not respect the Lord. And they are also saying they disrespect me because they are turning my God into a curse word.
Actually the creators name is not God..According to the OT times, when Moses brought the commandments down from the mountain god had told them that his name was Jehovah.. Perhaps people were cursing using that name (Jehovah)....anyway..cursing in any name, imo, is rude, annoying, shocking to some, and an unnecessary habit that is hard to break...
Well you are absolutely correct here. Capitalized words such as LORD & GOD are poor irresponsible substitutes for the places where the original name (YHWH - Tetragrammaton) did indeed appear in God's word the Bible. It takes so much meaning out of the 3rd Commandment. Here's the way a couple of other Bible translations render that verse or 3rd Commandment.
Exodus 20:7 - (New Jerusalem Bible) "You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God, for Yahweh will not leaves unpunished anyone who misuses his name."
Exodus 20:7 - (Darby Translation) "Thou shalt not idly utter the name of Jehovah thy God, for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that idly utter his name."
Take another significant example and how using the Jewish superstition of removing the actual name and replacing it with GOD or LORD in capitals destroys the powerful meaning. Take a look at the scripture at,
Exodus 6:3 - (Authorized Kings James Version - one of the few instances it is kept)
"And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah I was not known to them."
Not look at how the (New International Version) renders Exodus 6:3 "I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD, I did not make myself known to them."
See the difference. The meaning is diminsihed greatly.
Here is yet one more interesting biblical account that illustrates the power behind the name no matter which pronunciation you choose to use. Many have wonder why God used all those 10 plagues against Egypt, when God could have just waved his hand and obliterated the Egyptians permanently and freed his people so easily. Notice how the reason is explained in the Bible why God has Moses explain this very thing to Pharaoh.
Exodus 9:13-16 - (New English Standard) "Then the LORD (YHWH) said to Moses, 'Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD (YHWH), the God of the Hebrews, "Let my people go, that they may serve me. For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and on your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have put my hand out and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth."
Every one of those plagues was a blow to each one of the Egyptian gods that supposedly controlled those natural forces of nature. All of those Egyptian gods had a personal name such as Horus, Ra, Isis, etc. How powerful that Israelite God proved to be over those imitation man made up gods. If you remember the bible account afterwards when they got to the promised land, the nations already knew the personal name of the Israelite god as Jehovah or Yahweh. So God's purpose regarding his name declared in all the earth came true.
Now other questions about disrespect come into play. Considering that scholars everywhere acknowledge that the name was indeed in the original and oldest copies of the manuscripts of the scriptures, 'Is it disrespectful not to ever use it at all ??? Should it be restored into it's original place in the Holy scriptures, if indeed we all believe that the Bible was inspired in the first place by God Almighty Yahweh or Jehovah ???' Especially from what I've gleened off the internet from independent and without predjudice sources that it was originally there over 7000 times, that in itself would show it to be of great worth with that fact alone ???
Here's one of the websites I found which has some very imformative material on the subject. The seem to be an independent group of Bible collectors.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain....what does this mean??
It seems like it is common place for many people (Christians among them) to flippintly use the name of deity. Is this not what it means? Is this not disrespectful?
I was surprised the other day when I was watching a reality show and this mother from a very strict, devout Baptist family even said Oh my G**. Maybe others don't view this the same way but if you are Christian and you use this phrase or others do you really think about it in connection with the 4th commandment? Or is there a connection to you?
I'll admit to saying "Oh, my god" sometimes. I don't understand how that's interpreted as taking the lord's name in vain. I'm not saying anything against God. People usually say it when shocked by something either negative or positive (like all the reveals of new rooms on HGTV for instance) and I see it as a happy statement.
Well you are absolutely correct here. Capitalized words such as LORD & GOD are poor irresponsible substitutes for the places where the original name (YHWH - Tetragrammaton) did indeed appear in God's word the Bible. It takes so much meaning out of the 3rd Commandment. Here's the way a couple of other Bible translations render that verse or 3rd Commandment.
Exodus 20:7 - (New Jerusalem Bible) "You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God, for Yahweh will not leaves unpunished anyone who misuses his name." Exodus 20:7 - (Darby Translation) "Thou shalt not idly utter the name of Jehovah thy God, for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that idly utter his name."
Take another significant example and how using the Jewish superstition of removing the actual name and replacing it with GOD or LORD in capitals destroys the powerful meaning. Take a look at the scripture at, Exodus 6:3 - (Authorized Kings James Version - one of the few instances it is kept) "And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah I was not known to them." Not look at how the (New International Version) renders Exodus 6:3 "I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD, I did not make myself known to them."
See the difference. The meaning is diminsihed greatly.
Here is yet one more interesting biblical account that illustrates the power behind the name no matter which pronunciation you choose to use. Many have wonder why God used all those 10 plagues against Egypt, when God could have just waved his hand and obliterated the Egyptians permanently and freed his people so easily. Notice how the reason is explained in the Bible why God has Moses explain this very thing to Pharaoh. Exodus 9:13-16 - (New English Standard) "Then the LORD (YHWH) said to Moses, 'Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD (YHWH), the God of the Hebrews, "Let my people go, that they may serve me. For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and on your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have put my hand out and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth."
Every one of those plagues was a blow to each one of the Egyptian gods that supposedly controlled those natural forces of nature. All of those Egyptian gods had a personal name such as Horus, Ra, Isis, etc. How powerful that Israelite God proved to be over those imitation man made up gods. If you remember the bible account afterwards when they got to the promised land, the nations already knew the personal name of the Israelite god as Jehovah or Yahweh. So God's purpose regarding his name declared in all the earth came true.
Now other questions about disrespect come into play. Considering that scholars everywhere acknowledge that the name was indeed in the original and oldest copies of the manuscripts of the scriptures, 'Is it disrespectful not to ever use it at all ??? Should it be restored into it's original place in the Holy scriptures, if indeed we all believe that the Bible was inspired in the first place by God Almighty Yahweh or Jehovah ???' Especially from what I've gleened off the internet from independent and without predjudice sources that it was originally there over 7000 times, that in itself would show it to be of great worth with that fact alone ???
Here's one of the websites I found which has some very imformative material on the subject. The seem to be an independent group of Bible collectors.
Tetragrammaton (broken link)
WOW!! You summed that up so nicely. I think the Jewish belief that not saying/ using God's personal name was like throwing the baby out with the bath water. It might have started out with good intentions of being respectful, but it just went to an extreme.
If people would just replace the LORD's in their bible with the proper Yahweh/Jehovah it would make things more clear. It is clear that God does want us to use His personal name and He does want it to be known throughout the world.
There was another post on here yesterday about an article called "Barring Yahweh" from an evangelical christian magazine. I found it very interesting that the Catholic church has decided to remove yahweh from all of it's worship materials. Is that drawing closer to God? http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/...ober/9.15.html
Last edited by beeveenh; 09-17-2008 at 12:38 PM..
Reason: add link
The fourth commandment begins with "Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work: But the seventh day (Friday sundown to Saturday sundown) is the Sabbath of the LORD your God....." Exodus 20:8-11. The whole ten commandments are Exodus 20:1-17. If anyone has an argument or disagreement they need to take that up with YHWH (the creator--I am that I am).
I have been studying in-depth the question of His name. So, lets look at this logically. For instance, if your name is Fred and if someone writing a letter to you called you George, is that acceptable to you. My name is Ernest and in Spanish my name is Ernesto. They both mean the same name, but does Fred and George mean the same name? I don't have all the answers but I will continue my studies of the scriptures. When I stand before Him on resurrection day I don't want to take the chance of calling Him G-d and have YHWH look at me and say "what did you call me!"
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain....what does this mean??
I heard this explained in a way that made a great deal of sense. I'll try to do it justice in a very condensed form:
Often names in the Bible indicate a person's nature. You can see that play out throughout the Bible. So, you could possible say that taking God's "name" is to take upon yourself His "nature" (putting on Christ).
Another way to look at it is from the viewpoint of how a woman, traditionally, "takes a man's name" in marriage. If Mary marries Mr. Smith, she is now identified as being a member of the Smith family and what she does reflects upon the Smiths.
If you are going to claim God's nature and claim to be a member of the "God family" do not do so in vain, allowing it to have no effect. But allow that Nature to mold and shape you into His image so that you can truly represent the Name.
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