I have been thinking lately, and I would like to put it out there and see what other people think. I am new to reading the Bible, having done so for maybe two years or so. When it comes to the Ten Commandments, I have been stuck on the phrase about not taking the Lord's name in vain. Whenever I hear someone referring to this, it’s usually God followed by other choice words. However, He says He is the one true God, and no other god is to come before Him or be equal to Him.
When reading that, I think of "God" as a title. The only time I have seen that God gives His name in the Bible was to Moses. When giving His name, He said, "I AM." So I'm wondering if maybe in the commandment He may have been talking about how we talk about ourselves—kind of like when people say, "I am dumb" or something along those lines.
I don’t know; maybe I'm way off base here, but I thought it would be worth seeing what others think. Feel free to share your thoughts or ask for further clarification!
Hi and welcome…
We can understand that the sanctity of Gods name was attached to his sovereignty……his right as Creator to dictate the terms of life. In the beginning, the terms were very simple…..obey God and live a happy peaceful life free from the knowledge of evil…..or die, knowing it and practicing it.
Sin required God to add many laws because a knowledge of evil was now present with all mankind descended from Adam. There were laws about many things and the first of the Ten Commandments was not to have any other gods but Yahweh/Jehovah. (Exodus 20:3)
God’s name was also his reputation…a guarantee that all who respected God’s name would in turn be respected by him. The Israelites freed from slavery in Egypt were told the divine name in Exodus 3:13-15 by Moses after hundreds of years in slavery, yet they kept separate all that time from the proud Egyptians.
We are in no doubt about the existence of God‘s divine name as he is the sole possessor of it. (Psalm 83:18) Jehovah is
“the Most High over all the earth”…..there is no one who is his equal. He alone is “God”. (Deut 6:4) But there seems to be dispute over what his name actually means. As you mentioned many believe that “I AM” is the meaning of God’s name, but reading Exodus 3:13-15 in the Jewish Tanakh, we see an alternative rendering that actually makes more sense in context.
| 13 And Moses said to God, "Behold I come to the children of Israel, and I say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" | | יגוַיֹּ֨אמֶר משֶׁ֜ה אֶל־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֗ים הִנֵּ֨ה אָֽנֹכִ֣י בָא֘ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ וְאָֽמַרְתִּ֣י לָהֶ֔ם אֱלֹהֵ֥י אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם שְׁלָחַ֣נִי אֲלֵיכֶ֑ם וְאָֽמְרוּ־לִ֣י מַה־שְּׁמ֔וֹ מָ֥ה אֹמַ֖ר אֲלֵהֶֽם: |
| 14 God said to Moses, "Ehyeh asher ehyeh (I will be what I will be)," and He said, "So shall you say to the children of Israel, 'Ehyeh (I will be) has sent me to you.'" | | ידוַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־משֶׁ֔ה אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר כֹּ֤ה תֹאמַר֙ לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה שְׁלָחַ֥נִי אֲלֵיכֶֽם: |
| 15 And God said further to Moses, "So shall you say to the children of Israel, The LORD God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, and this is how I should be mentioned in every generation. | | טווַיֹּ֩אמֶר֩ ע֨וֹד אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶל־משֶׁ֗ה כֹּ֣ה תֹאמַר֘ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ יְהֹוָ֞ה אֱלֹהֵ֣י אֲבֹֽתֵיכֶ֗ם אֱלֹהֵ֨י אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִצְחָ֛ק וֵֽאלֹהֵ֥י יַֽעֲקֹ֖ב שְׁלָחַ֣נִי אֲלֵיכֶ֑ם זֶה־שְּׁמִ֣י לְעֹלָ֔ם וְזֶ֥ה זִכְרִ֖י לְדֹ֥ר דֹּֽר: |
Exodus 3:13-15 chabad.org
God’s people as descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knew who their God was, but in this instance Jehovah was telling his people, about to be liberated after centuries of slavery, that their God’s name would have an added dimension…..he was not telling them that he existed, because they already knew that…..he was telling then what he would “BE” or “BECOME” to his people, one who would show them and the Egyptians his power over their useless gods.
The name “Jehovah” (Yahweh) is the causative form of the third person singular of the verb “to be” and literally means “He causes to be.” He “causes to be” according to his purpose. It was very appropriate for the name to be stressed to Moses on this occasion, for Jehovah was beginning to cause his purpose concerning his people in Egypt, to be accomplished. And this was four hundred and thirty years before he had promised Abraham that he would make of him a great nation. (Gen 12:2)
So Jehovah’s name was to be held in high esteem as it carried all that Jehovah was, and would become, to his people.
In the Lord’s Prayer, what was the first thing Jesus taught us to pray for….?
“Hallowed be thy name”…..but when Jesus walked the earth, God’s name had not been mentioned among his people for a very long time….so long in fact that it’s pronunciation was lost. This was a failure to uphold Gods instructions to Israel through Moses…..
”This is My name forever, and this is how I should be mentioned in every generation.”
God’s precious name was not mentioned at all, but substituted with a title “Lord” or “God”…..
You can see in the Hebrew that the divine name is there, but in the English translation, it is substituted with his title. A title is not a name, and God’s name is associated with his Sovereignty…..and his word….once you start messing with God’s name, trouble is sure to follow….as the Jewish nation found out.
I have read that one of the reasons why the Jews stopped uttering the divine name was because the people were making frivolous oaths in God’s name and then not keeping that oath…associating God’s name with falsehood and misrepresentation. Instead of punishing the offenders, the religious leaders simply made a law that stated that God’s name was unutterable (a lie of course) not because it was too sacred, but because it was easier to do that, than to punish the offenders. So taking God’s name in a worthless oath was taking it in vain, bringing reproach on God’s name and reputation as something of no account.
God is always true to his word…..but the faithless Jews were not.
Jesus said he had “come to make his Father’s name known”…and he did as he went about teaching everyone who would listen about the wonderful God and Father he served.
