Name In Vain
You’ve read it or perhaps heard it said, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” It is found in the bible. It is one of the “Ten Commandments” you see on the little plastic signs posted in people’s yards. The Ten Commandments were recently brought to the forefront of public awareness by Alabama’s former Supreme Court Judge, Roy Moore.
But, is it like some preacher says about taking God’s name in vain, just don’t say ugly words? You know like “hell” or “dam”. Is that vanity? Is that taking God’s name in vain? What is vanity? And how does it relate to the promise from God to the Hebrews that they wouldn’t take his name in vain? In the Lord’s Prayer Christ prayed, “Hallowed be thy name”. Does God have a name? If so, how do you “take” his name? The answer to these very important questions can be found in the dictionary and the scriptures.
In our society when a woman marries a man, she takes her husband’s name. In our bibles the church is referred to as, “the bride of Christ”. When we are baptized and join the church with the other body of believers, are we not married to Christ? Is not the church the bride of Christ? Are you not part of the church? Is not Christ your husband?
To answer the question, what is vanity? We can look at the definition of vanity from the dictionary.
Pronunciation: 'va-n&-tE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ties
Etymology: Middle English vanite, from Old French vanité, from Latin vanitat-, vanitas quality of being empty or vain, from vanus empty, vain.
1: something that is vain, empty, or valueless
2: the quality or fact of being vain
Did you get that friend? It says vanity is the quality of being vain!
Well OK, what is vain? Looking again to the dictionary, we find the meaning of “vain”.
Pronunciation: 'vAn
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin vanus empty, vain
1: having no real value: IDLE, WORTHLESS
2: marked by futility or ineffectualness: UNSUCCESSFUL, USELESS <vain efforts to escape>
3 archaic: FOOLISH, SILLY
4: having or showing undue or excessive pride in one's appearance or achievements.
So let us see now, Gods promise to those taking his name was, it SHALL NOT be something; having no real value: IDLE, WORTHLESS; marked by futility or ineffectualness: UNSUCCESSFUL, USELESS; archaic: FOOLISH, SILLY.
Now doesn’t this seem a little more in depth than just a verbalization of the word “dam” or maybe “hell”? Doesn’t this understanding of cussing, saying ugly words, as being vanity seem rather like something from kindergarten! You know there are, “baby Christians”, those still on milk and not able to take the “meat” of the word?
Let us look back to Genesis, back to where we find God giving the Ten Commandments. God made promises to this group of slaves. Slaves freed from the wrath of Pharos’s hand, freed from the land of Egypt. We find they were an insecure bunch. And some of them were thinking even of going back! Back to where they at least had food to eat and water to drink. God spoke to this group of culls from Egypt. They were the dregs of the society of Egypt. This group of slaves! But God, made a covenant with them. And gave to them priceless, wonderful and precious promises.
His promise to them was, they wouldn’t go after one another’s wives or husbands.
He said, “Thou shalt not commit adultery”
His promise to them was, they wouldn’t take something that wasn’t theirs.
He said, “Thou shalt not steal”
He promised that following him would not be unsuccessful, worthless, foolish or silly. It would not be a VAIN thing.
God’s promise to them was, “thou shalt not take my name in vain”
He promised them that they wouldn’t think he was a “golden calf”
He said, “thou shall not make unto you a graven image”
He promised they would cease their toil on the seventh day as a sign of their recognition of his creative power and commitment to them. In the years that followed, this was demonstrated time and time again. He fed them with manna, on the ground, daily, every single day, except the seventh! And then, preserved the manna from spoiling on the seventh day. This happened day after day, week after week, Sabbath after Sabbath, for forty years!
You’ve perhaps heard of one of the major promises, “Remember the Sabbath”?
The Sabbath identifies the true God, the creator God, the God who, “became flesh and dwelt among us”.
So what is taking this God’s name in vain? Let’s look into the scriptures at two people who were not Jews but did take this Gods name. It was not a “vain” thing they did. It was not something unsuccessful, worthless, foolish or silly. It was not vanity. In fact, in both cases, taking this God’s name was a highly successful thing!
The first individual was a woman that worked in the local tavern in a town called Jericho. In modern terms, in addition to waiting tables at this ancient “beer joint”, in her other duties she might have been referred to as an “escort”. Perhaps even prostitute? In any event, in the King James Version of the scriptures, she is called a “Harlot”. You can read her story found in the Old Testament in the book of Joshua. The point of it is she accepted the God of the people she followed. When she left the city of Jericho, the city walls were flat, her former friends and neighbors were all dead. But, she and her family were alive! Alive and “married” to God. She took his name! Was it vanity? Was it a vain thing Rahab did? Hardly! She “became” a Jew!
The other individual was a young widow woman. Her husband was dead. Her brother in-law was dead. Her father in-law was dead. Her mother in-law was moving away. Her name was Ruth.
Ruth was not a Jew, but she became one. She “married” God. She took his name. You can read her story from the Old Testament in the book of Ruth. The gist of it is she accepted the God of the people she joined up with. Ruth’s own words were, “where you go I will go, where you lodge, I will lodge, your people will be my people, your God will be my God”. Did you get that friend? Yes, she married God. She took his name! She became a Jew! Was it vanity? Not Hardly!
Those immortal words! They still ring across the centuries, down through the ages of time. “Your God will be my God”! Why not let this God be your God also?
When God became incarnate, these two women, women who were not Jews, not until they “married” God and took his name. These same two women are mentioned in the human genealogy of Christ. From Matthew 1:5 we read “And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; Oh! Yes! God became flesh and dwelt among us!
But you say, they were Jews, I’m not a Jew. If this is your idea, then maybe you haven’t taken Christ’s name. And you’re not “married” to him. If this is the situation then, could it be, your faith is vain? Is this idea that you’re not a Jew, biblical? Don’t worry friend if you are not a “Jew”, you can become one! The bible says, “whosever” and that puts the ball in your court! Fight against it all you want to, but the choice is yours! And if I were in your shoes and was serious about my salvation, I’d do just exactly what Ruth did that day long ago as she followed her mother in-law along that dusty road, I would proclaim, “Your God will be my God” and join up with the family of the God of creation.
The bible says you are a Jew. That is, if you consider Abraham to be a Jew. In fact the bible insists you are a Jew! You can not call yourself a “Christian” and not be a Jew! Because it is written:
“ Now unto Abraham and his seed were the promises made and not unto seed(s) as of many, but unto thy seed, which is Christ…Now if ye be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise”. Do you suppose that sense Abraham is called the father of the Jews then the seed of Abraham are Jews? I can hear some one’s thoughts as they read this, “I don’t want to be a Jew cause Jews keep the seventh day Sabbath”. That’s right! They do! And more over they want to! It is one of God’s promises and they want them ALL!
Oh, but friend don’t miss this part, It says,“heirs according to the promise”. Not the promise of--- Jerry Falwell or John Hagee or Dr. James Kennedy. NO! NO! NO! Heirs according to the promise of God himself. The promise God made to Abraham. This is the promise that you are an heir to! As is recorded, “now if ye be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise”. We find this principle of becoming a follower of God, as becoming a Jew, in the book of Romans where it is written:
“for he is not a Jew which is one outwardly… but he is a Jew which is one inwardly”
Friend, if you are a follower of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, If you are married to this God, you may not have a blood line heritage as a Jew but, you are a Jew! It is an inward thing. The same as were Rahab and Ruth! They were not “Jews” outwardly, that is in their bloodline. As far as is recorded, none of their ancestors were Jews. But, they were Jews “inwardly”. In their hearts, in their minds they had consciously made the choice to follow the God of creation. They were married to him. They took his name.
They became Jews.
The height of an extreme example of taking God’s name in vain can be illustrated by modern day situations in which a church pastor runs off with the piano player. Perhaps he has convinced himself as well as the dear sister [or brother, we have ordained homosexuals you know] that it doesn’t matter what they do, God will forgive them! Assuming they each were married, such an act is complete denial of the promise, “thou shall not commit adultery”. You can insert Jim Baker, Jimmy Swaggart’s or many lesser known pastors’ names here but, the point is their prior marriage vows were something which had no real value. The god they served was not big enough to keep them from sinning. Their vows were: IDLE, WORTHLESS; marked by futility or ineffectualness: UNSUCCESSFUL, USELESS; archaic: FOOLISH, SILLY. In short, the vows they took were in vain. Claiming to follow GOD while doing this is vain. It is vanity to say you are a follower of God and then live as though he doesn’t exist!
Can you imagine, Ruth saying to Naomi, “This Sabbath stuff is foolish, I will continue to live as I did when in Moab”?
What if Rahab had questioned the lifestyle and the camp life of the followers of this God, the God who had collapsed the walls of Jericho?
If they had done this then, would these women have been mentioned as being in the genealogy of Christ as found in the book of Mathew? Would not their actions have been in vain? Would not they have taken God’s name in vain
