"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."

What Does This Mean?

Two thoughts generally come to mind with this commandment. First, we see an injunction against the improper use of God's name. To us, this generally means that we shouldn't use His name as a curse word, nor should we use such language in general. That is one part of the picture. The second aspect of this commandment has to do with oaths, which are a somewhat less common concern in our day. We still have oaths of office, and we are still required to swear an oath before our testimony is to be considered by the court, but outside of that, we don't see a lot of call for oaths.

Consider now the actual meaning of the terms in this verse. The phrasing is not of a nature we're likely to see much of outside of church circles, and it will serve us well to make certain we understand what's actually written, and not just what we've always assumed to be there.

Take:

To lift up or exalt or help, to carry or bear

Name:

Reputation or fame or glory

In Vain:

lying empty speech, worthlessness of conduct

So. Let's consider this again. You are not to carry or bear the Lord's reputation in worthlessness of conduct. You are not to exalt the Lord's fame or glory with empty speech or lies. These two, between them, will support the ideas we've already stated - don't curse, don't make false oaths. These are the standard views. But it appears to me, at least, that there's more in the picture. Before we pursue that, however, I want to look at the issue of oaths. First, we can look at other commands laid out in Mosaic Law with regard to oath taking.

The Issue of Oaths

10 "If a man gives his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep for him, and it dies or is hurt or is driven away while no one is looking, 11 an oath before the LORD shall be made by the two of them, that he has not laid hands on his neighbor's property; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution.

OK. We know this isn't talking about foul language. It's a matter of oath-taking that is in view. Note that it is not the oath-taking that is disallowed here. In fact, it is encouraged within proper bounds. It is the false oath, the oath not kept, that is ruled out. Also, the calling of any other than God as witness to the oath is ruled out. However, we also know that Jesus raised the bar on this one. He told us to have nothing to do with oaths. And this is echoed by his brother James.

Mt 5:33-37

How does this fit? If God has said to swear only by His name, and only in truth, why does Jesus say not to? Does God contradict Himself? This cannot be so. Therefore, we must need a better understanding.

First, we would do well to understand a bit about the times and habits into which Jesus was originally speaking. It had become common practice in that day to use all sorts of objects as the seal by which one swore, whether it be Greek gods, or buildings, or nature, or self. The 'official' thinking was that by keeping God's name out of the oath, the possibility of violating this commandment was avoided. The unspoken thinking that accompanied this was that by keeping His name out of the oath, there was far less danger in breaking the oath. It was a means of swearing an oath that one needn't see as binding.

This is what Jesus was addressing. The oath was a God-instituted mechanism, for use in specific conditions and by specific means. To take the form of an oath without the solemnity of a true oath is rather like having a form of godliness but not the power thereof. In treating the oath as they did, the people were making a mockery not of the oath, but of Truth.

The people of Israel had kept themselves from false oaths, but had not kept themselves from frivolous oaths, and willingly swore by other things (the heavens, etc.) The "at all" of Mt 5:34 applies to the evasive forms of idle oath-taking that are listed, not to the legitimate oaths commanded by God. Whatever we may swear and whatever we may swear by, the matter is indirectly referred to God, once more. Thus, any vows or oaths we might make must be considered carefully.

Christ, Himself, was willing to take oath as the situation required, as were His apostles after Him. Oaths required by public office, or judicial process are clearly acceptable uses of oath. By the same token, such private oaths as are necessary to establish trust between individuals are also permitted in this commandment. Where an oath serves to vindicate God's glory, or to edify a brother, it is permitted.

Today, this same display of concern for God's name can be seen in those who take up the habit of omitting one or more letters from His name when it is written. Thus, since they never actually write out His name, they cannot be using it lightly, right? After all, they haven't used it at all! This is no different. The technicality of dropping a letter has not changed the intent. Nobody is fooled by it. Nobody thinks the word to mean anything other than God's name. It is the intent of the usage that will determine whether proper awe and respect was maintained for His holiness, not the use or avoidance of proper spelling.

Another aspect that Jesus is dealing with is the truthfulness of the people called by His name. Our reputation should be so well known that nothing further than our word on the matter is needful. This can only occur if our words on all matters are consistently true. The flip-side of this is that our view of others is to be such that we presume they are also being honest with us. We should not require an oath from those we deal with, for this is not the act of a loving person.

1 Co 13:7 [Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Respect for His Name

This is the aspect that the Reformers largely focused on, although they took a serious look at the proper place of oaths as well. A quick look at this:

From the Westminster Shorter Catechism:

• The third commandment requires the holy and reverend use of God's names, titles, attributes, ordinances, Word, and works.
• The third commandment forbids all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God makes himself known.
• The reason annexed to the third commandment is, that however the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment.

From Calvin's Institutes:

This commandment precludes irreverently referring to the name and works of our Lord God, as well as requiring our zealous honoring of the same. There ought to be nothing in our thought and speech regarding God and His works which is without reverence and soberness, and which gives Him His due honor. Our thoughts and words regarding God ought to reflect the greatness of His excellence. We ought to treat His Holy Scripture and His established worship as holy things, bearing His imprint upon them. Whatever we recognize as His works ought to be spoken of in a way that praises His wisdom, righteousness and goodness. To do otherwise is to pollute God's good name.

If such abuse is abominable to God, more so the use of His name in magic-like incantation, and worse still, when we claim His righteous seal upon our idle promise. This is to do with man and God, and not with man's interactions with man, which are sufficiently covered in the later commandments. An oath calls upon God - who is eternal and immutable truth - to witness to the truth of our words. God has declared such oaths a good thing, and a testimony to Him by whom the oath is taken. Because of this testimony, God is angered by His people taking oaths by any other name, for it is treasonous to Him. To ask God to witness to our lies is to deprive Him of His truth. "We cannot call God to be the witness of our words without asking Him to be the avenger of our perjury if we deceive." The holiness of His name is also reduced when it is used in frivolous vows, those which are kept, but unnecessary. The proper applications of an oath must serve either religion or love. Any other use is idle, and sinful. The admonition against vowing by other gods applies as well to vowing by God's servants. This is an affront to His holy privilege.

A Deeper Matter

I want to look again at the reworded statements we came up with.

• You are not to carry or bear the Lord's reputation in worthlessness of conduct.
• You are not to exalt the Lord's fame or glory with empty speech or lies.

Whether our actions reflect it or not at any given moment, we are the people who carry the Lord's name. We cannot help but bear His name, for He has placed His name upon us. As such, our actions cannot help but reflect upon His reputation, either for His glory, or to His shame.

Don't bear His reputation with worthless conduct. His reputation is, after a fashion, in our hands. So long as we walk in a fashion consistent with faith, we bring glory to Him whose name is upon us. In any situation where we allow ourselves to be overcome by evil, we shame Him, for we bear His name upon us. It is no different than the impact a child's reputation has on the family. His honor honors the whole family, for he bears the family name. His shame shames the whole family, for it sullies the family name.

Don't exalt His glory with empty talk or lies. Clearly, if we are using His name to seal false oaths, we have signed His name to a lie. Clearly, if we use His name casually, as if it were no different than any other word in our vocabulary, we are playing with empty talk, but are we thus exalting His glory?

I would suggest that it is impossible for even the most profane of persons to speak the name of God without bringing glory to His name. His name cannot be spoken without glorifying Him. It is precisely because such profane usage of His name does not glorify Him intentionally, that it becomes an issue. It becomes a lie on the lips of the speaker, because he does not mean what he is saying.

This also speaks to those of us who intentionally speak His name in worship.

Jn 4:24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

If our words are not spoken or sung in earnest, how is it truth? If we are singing songs of praise, but our minds are on other matters, this is not worship. If our words are heart-felt, where is the action, where is the fruit. True worship is called for in this commandment, and that true worship cannot be just in word. Love for our brother requires that we act on what we claim to believe. Love for God requires that we believe what He tells us, and that we do as He tells us. It cannot be otherwise.

There is one oath that none of us can avoid. We all took it at the very moment we said yes to the Lord. We have sworn to love Him with all our heart, with all our strength, with all our mind. If we love Him, we will obey His command, and His great command to us is to love each other as we love ourselves, to consider ourselves of less consequence than any other, to love as He has loved us.

1 Jn 3:18-20
18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 19 We shall know by this that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him, 20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

To do any less than this is to exalt His glory with empty talk. To say yes, to say amen, and yet to take no action, is to swear false oath, is to call God to witness against us. Don't take it lightly.