The Ten Commandments, Todays Verse is Ex 20:7

We continue our look at The Ten Commandments with an in-depth look at Ex 20:7 

 

You can find the posts on a few of the Scripture passages that precede The Ten Commandments at the following links:

The observational overview of Ex 19:3-11 can be found HERE

And the in depth look at Ex 19:3-6 can be found HERE.

The in depth look at Ex 19:7-11 can be found HERE.

The concluding thoughts on Ex 19:3-11 can be found HERE. 

 

The initial overview of Ex 20:1-17 can be found HERE.   

 

The in-depth look at Ex 20:1 can be found HERE. 

 

 The in-depth look at Ex 20:2-6 can be found HERE.

 

I do encourage everyone to look at all the prior posts in this series as the preceding context helps us to a deeper understanding of the Ten Commandments.

 

You can hover your pointer over any verse reference to read the corresponding verse(s).

 

Exodus 20:7 (NASB)
⁷ "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

Grammatical and other Considerations:

• This flows logically from the last commandments: Ex 20:2-6 God is a jealous God who loves us and wants us to love and obey Him. He is holy. And so is His name.
• for: There is a consequence for misusing the Lord's name. That person will not go unpunished. (and yet there is James 3:2 to help us know that God knows we make mistakes! That is why He sent His son to save us! For only through God's grace and mercy and the sacrifice and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ can we be forgiven! But God HAS given us that gift!!

My Questions:

• Why does God give this commandment a little extra weight with the point about not holding that person guiltless?
• God basically answered my first question of why, in my first look at this verse. (see below) But now I want to know what actually constitutes taking the Lord's name in vain. How broad of an action is that describing?
• What exactly is blasphemy? It seems to me it could be a very broad description.

Verse Cross References:

• Ex 20:7 -- Lev 19:12 Mat 5:33-37 Dt 6:13 Dt 10:20 Lev 24:11-16 Dt 5:11 Mt 23:16-22 James 5:12 Lev 18:21 1 Ch 16:10 Eze 36:20-23 Nu 30:2 Dt 23:21 Dt 23:23 Psa 50:14 Psa 76:11 Ecc 5:4-6 1John 5:18 Job 22:27 Psa 61:8 Mat 12:34-37 James 1:26 1Pe 3:10 Psa 34:13 pro 13:3
• Thoughts --Dt 6:13 tells us to take our oaths (make promises) only in God's name. Lev 19:12 warns us against making false promises in God's name (or to God for that matter) Jesus tells us to just make our yes=yes and our non=no! Mat 5:33-37 This seems to breakdown to we shouldn't need to swear an oath. If we DO feel the need we should make our oath to God, but we cannot break it. And since we are imperfect and are more than likely to at least our word once in awhile (even if it is with regards to "trivial" matters) we should not take the chance at all and make no oaths! Our yes should be yes and our no should be no.
• James 3:1-11 and what I really needed in this moment as well: James 3:2 As an aside: God is amazing! I went astray today. The thorn in my side pushed in deep after having receded for awhile. I gave in to temptation. I repented and know that God has forgiven me. But still, spending time in the Ten Commandments, I was feeling very convicted of my sin and for good reason. And then God's Word led me to James 3:2 We all stumble, we all make mistakes. My mistakes are becoming farther and fewer inbetween! I am better..because of God! So for that I should be (and I am) very thankful. James 3:2 also states that if someone dosn't make mistakes he or she would be perfect. Only Jesus was perfect! So all while convicting and making me very aware of my sin, God let me know that I am only human, I make mistakes and most importantly He has forgiven me because through His grace, mercy and love and through the sacrifice and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ!

Important terms:

take:

• WORDSearch concordance search -- This is an interesting word that is tough to use in a search. It is used over 600 times in the Hebrew Bible and is translated into quite a few different English words.
• Thoughts --
• Definition --to lift, to carry, to take away. To lift the hand in taking an oath. To take up or to induce iniquity. To bear or carry in reference to the bearing of guilt or punishment of sin. Lev 5:1 Or simply to take away. It seems the term is used figuratively here as in lifting to take an oath or possible to induce iniquity..? I think the key might be "in vain". Lets explore that a bit more.

in vain:

• WORDSearch concordance search -- Dt 5:11 1Sa 25:21 Ps 2:1 Ps 31:6 Ps 127:2 (now searching for just the Hebrew word in the NASB) -- Ex 23:1 Dt 5:11 Dt 5:20 Job 7:3 Job 11:11 Job 15:31 Job 31:5 Job 35:13 Psa 12:2 Ps 24:4 Psa 26:4 Ps 31:6 Psa 41:6 Psa 127:1 Psa 127:2 Psa 139:20 Psa 144:8 Psa 144:11 Pr 30:8 Isa 1:13 Isa 5:18 Jer 2:30 Eze 13:8 Jonah 2:8
• Thoughts -- Almost ALL of the cross-references with regards to the Hebrew word lead us to the following themes: deceit, falsehood, falseness, worthless or empty. In context it seems deceit or falsehood when paired with the idea of taking an oath from the first term, "take"
• Definition --vanity, emptiness, evil, uselessness, deception or deceit. The primary word is deceit, lie or falsehood.

Answering My Questions:

• Why does God give this commandment a little extra weight with the point about not holding that person guiltless? -- Because He is God! His name is Holy and He should be feared, respected, loved and worshipped. And if we don't love and revere Him enough to honor His name? Well that says a lot!! We should want to honor His name. And since we are not to use God's name in an oath. To do so risks breaking an oath that we swore to Him! How can WE break a promise to God?? How can we associate His name with something that we either know to be false or may prove false. God is NOT false!!
• God basically answered my first question of why, in my first look at this verse. (see below) But now I want to know what actually constitutes taking the Lord's name in vain. How broad of an action is that describing? -- It seems that using God's name to justify a lie would fall under the category of taking the Lord's name in vain. So would using God's name in an oath we won't keep. Saying anything against God would also fall in this category. And empty off handed uses such as those that are Grammatical Considerations

Summarizing:

• Mat 12:37 Jesus states clearly that our words are important! God's name is holy because He is holy! How we treat His name is important. To treat it anything other than holy is a sin. By doing so we dishonor God. When all we should do is honor God, and worship and praise Him.

Topics for further study:

• Blashpemy
• Oaths

 Bibliography

• Baker, Warren, ed. – The Complete Word Study Old Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG, 1994. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Baker, Warren and Eugene Carpenter. The Complete Word Study Dictionary – Old Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Brand, Chad, Charles Draper, Archie England, ed. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• God's Word: Today's Bible Translation That Means What It Says Holiday, FL: Green Key Books, n.d.. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• God's Word Application Index. Holiday, FL: Green Key Books, n.d.. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• . WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• – Holman Christian Standard Bible Nashville: Holman Bible, 1999. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Holy Bible, New American Standard. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• . WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Holy Bible, New American Standard La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Thompson, Frank Charles. Thompson Chain Reference Bible. Indianapolis, IN: B. B. Kirkbride Bible Co., 1997. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Torrey, R. A. The New Topical Textbook. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1897. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• . WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Vine, William E. Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1940. WORDsearch CROSS e-book. 

Our next post will look at Ex 20:8-11