“ You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain” (Deuteronomy 5:11).

The Third Commandment is the one we would readily admit we see being broken on a regular basis as God’s name is often reduced to an expression of exasperation. But that is actually the mildest infringement of this commandment. So what does it actually mean to take God’s name in vain?

The Hebrew verb gives us an insight into this, as it means ‘to bear’ or ‘to carry’ His name. In the Hebrew names often denoted character, in other words they told you something about the person whose name it was. The most common name for God in the Bible is ‘Yahweh’ which is often translated as ‘the LORD’ and can mean ‘Lord God Almighty’ with connotations of a self-existent and continual existence nature.

But there is also another conclusion we can draw. Peter Masters in his book ‘God’s Rules for Holiness’ puts it like this: ‘by adopting a name the Lord assures us that He is a personal God who may be communicated with. If God had no name we would have to become mystics engaging in vague worship of an unknown hidden, or amorphous force.’ That being the case to use God’s name in a flippant way or without due respect would be a denial of this and would be a case of breaking this commandment. Masters concludes: ‘by describing himself through a name, God tells us He is knowable and personal.’ [1]

Sadly there is an increasing tendency to cut down on the glory and majesty of God in worship. We can be guilty of forgetting that He is Lord of the universe and He is holy, yet He reaches out to sinners and welcomes those who seek forgiveness. Just how easy it is to forget this hit me with full force when I came across a children’s song with a chorus that included the words: ‘God’s love is big, God’s love is great, God’s love is fab and He’s my mate.’[2] How can we possibly describe the Lord God Almighty as our ‘mate’? Without to offend any teetotallers, a ‘mate’ is someone you go to a football match or to the pub with, not the Lord and Creator of the universe!

Casual use of God’s name is something that should not be encouraged. A great responsibly rests with preachers who teach the nature and character of God. Preaching must always be done carefully and soberly as we do not want to belittle or make light of who God is and what He has done. Sadly, I suspect, we often fail where this is concerned, and do not set our congregations the best example. It would be a brave Christian who could say that they have always been respectful and never made a thoughtless comment where God’s name or character is concerned! So that said, we all need to examine where we stand in relation to how we observe and keep this commandment before we are too ready to point out violations of it!

[1] Peter Masters. God’s Rules for Holiness, Unlocking the Ten Commandments (London, The Wakeman Trust, 2003). 41.
[2] Simon Parry, VINEYARD SONGS (UK/Eire). 2005.