The peh Factor
“Seeking balance in a polarized world”
#3 “Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain…”
For many of us raised within the Christian faith (we might add Judaism and Islam as well), to use the name of God or Jesus as a curse, in vain, was an absolute no-no. Back in the day such an utterance was worthy of having one’s mouth washed out with soap. It always pointed back to this command. The rationale behind this prohibition is seen in the introductory remarks made on the website Got Questions for which I have a great deal of respect. It reads:
The God of Israel was known by many names and titles, but the concept embodied in God’s name plays an important and unique role in the Bible. God’s nature and attributes, the totality of His being, and especially His glory are reflected in His name (Psalm 8:1). Psalm 111:9 tells us His name is “holy and awesome,” and the Lord’s prayer begins by addressing God with the phrase “hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9), an indication that a reverence for God and His name should be foremost in our prayers. Too often we barge into God’s presence with presumptuous “to-do lists” for Him, without being mindful of His holiness, His awesomeness, and the vast chasm that separates our nature from His. That we are even allowed to come before His throne is due only to His gracious, merciful love for His own (Hebrews 4:16). We must never take that grace for granted.
So, to take God’s name for granted (or the name of Jesus for that matter … Philippians 2:5-11) is to make a subtle shift in one’s soul that can lead us into bondage. What happens inside of a person if they live as if God is not greater, if God is not to be respected, if God can be used and abused, if I have the power to use God’s name with all of its authority as I want? Think what would happen if one of our United State Ambassadors determined to use his representative authority to misuse the name of our country and make personal pronouncements that were not backed by our nation. That person would be taking the name of our country in vain, could start an international conflict and would ultimately be removed from their position and tried for their treason.
Take not THE NAME in vain.
On the flip side of this command is an action that is rarely spoken about. Don’t take the name of the Lord your God in vain leaves the door open to take his name and use it wisely. Think about our use of the phrase, “God Bless you,” and not just when someone sneezes. Think about the conclusions of our times of prayer when we pray, “In Jesus’ name, so be it (Amen).” Think about the honest desire to see a promise of God fulfilled in a person’s life when we claim, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Use THE NAME wisely to fulfill God’s purpose and advance God’s Kingdom.
So, how do we respond in this world that increasingly does not honor the name we esteem?
She was a stubborn Irish woman, Eileen Porter Bailey. I had gotten to know her through the church I served in college. She hired me to be her assistance on her property between my junior and senior year. Because we spent a lot of time together our conversations…check, they were not conversations, they were her trying to impart her accumulated wisdom to a young man in her employ, I learned some things from her of which one was related to this command. She said one day, “Paul, I believe every time a person takes the Lord’s name in vain they are really uttering a prayer, they just don’t know it.” I have often remembered this and it has helped me be more compassionate when I hear someone taking the Lord’s name in vain. I pray that whatever hurt exists in their soul be healed and that in that through that moment of expression, God breaks in and reveals himself to them.
#4 Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy
The last of the “Theological Commands” pertains to the Sabbath Day.
8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy (set apart). 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—…11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
The root idea of Sabbath is the balance of work and rest…especially the need for rest. Within our nation, the idea of Sabbath existed until the early 1960’s when what were known as “Blue Laws” requiring businesses to be closed on Sundays were questioned and laws began to change. Now it is generally assumed that a business needs to be accessible 24/7/365. As a result, we see more people becoming frazzled…stressed out…and the fracturing of structures within our society that have provided stability for generations, especially the family. The breaking of the 4th commandment has created a bondage for many.
But, the idea of rest is not the sole focus of this commandment even though essential. We are not just to keep a day separate from the others for personal rest. We are to keep a day separate “To The Lord.” The Sabbath is not only a day of rest but of refocusing. It should be a day to take our eyes off the things of this world and intentionally turn them to God and God’s kingdom. It is a constant reminder that there is an eternal destination toward which we are moving. If we don’t take the needed time to refocus we often find that the temporal can become a prison. Bondage.
It is interesting to me that of all the commandments, it was the Sabbath commandment over which Jesus and the religious leaders had the greatest conflict. It seems that they had made this command become a bondage for the people. Note some passages where Jesus healed people on the Sabbath and the conflict it created with the religious leaders (Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6, John 5:1-18; 9:14–16). The conflict became so great that it resulted in this response,
“For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:18).
Why would Jesus create this conflict? It seems the religious leaders had interpreted the portion of the commandment in Exodus “…Sabbath to the Lord your God…” in a very limited way. Jesus on the other hand had also read and prioritized the reading of the 10 Commandments from Deuteronomy where it says,
12 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 14 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; …15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.
Deuteronomy emphasizes the deliverance God had given the Israelites as a reason to remember the Sabbath Day and not just the 6 days of creation. Therein, when Jesus healed on the Sabbath, it was a reminder that the God who had delivered them once was still in the delivering business. God does not want his people to be in bondage. God is the God of freedom, true freedom and what better day to show that than the one dedicated to God’s worship!!
Keep the Sabbath Day holy. Remember the Lord your God. Take a break. Rest. Reflect. Renew.
God Bless, Paul.
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