Bible Studies

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Exodus 20:7 – “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.”

Thesaurus Fun:
Name – identify, specify, character
Vain – ineffective, unproductive, worthless, useless

Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain

The most basic understanding of the verse is this; do not use (speak) the Lord’s name lightly – without thought, carelessly, flippantly, and especially as a curse word and expletive. To show such disregard of God’s name shows a basic disregard for His person. We are never to use His name simply for our own purposes or carelessly. He is the God who made everything and His name deserves respect as representing who He is. The Jews had such great respect for God’s name that they removed the vowels when they wrote it down so that it couldn’t be pronounced (ex. Yhwh). Another way to understand this command is that we are not to use God’s name in making an oath, but, as Jesus said, “Let you yes be yes and your no be no. (Matthew 5:37)”.

Lastly, there is one more principle to be gained from this passage; do not take (claim) the name of the Lord in vain (ineffectively). That is; do not claim to know God, to belong to Him, to be a “Christian” if there is no change in your life, if you remain unproductive in fruit bearing, thus showing your faith to be worthless and dead as James said, “In the same way, faith by itself—that does nothing—is dead. (James 2:17)”. There are many people out there who call themselves “Christians” who live worse than the heathens because they give the name of God a bad reputation. They claim to be God’s but they still live under the power of the enemy. They identify themselves with God in name only denying His power in their lives (2 Timothy 3:5) thereby making their association with Him ineffective and their supposed faith worthless. In the end though they will say to Him, “Lord, Lord…” He will say to them, “I never knew you…” (Matthew 7:22-23). And so they will be punished for using His name without giving their lives to Him.

We even see in acts, “Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." 14Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15(One day) the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" 16Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. 17When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. (Acts 19:13-17)” Even if people do cast out demons in His name it does not mean that they belong to the Lord or that they will go unpunished for abusing His name.

Point to Ponder:

Is there any of these areas in which you might be taking the Lord’s name in vain? If so, repent right now, “for the Lord will not leave (you) unpunished (Ex. 20:7).”. Most importantly, be sure that if you claim to belong to God that you really evidence it – bearing fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), demonstrating genuine love for others (Romans 12:10, 1 Cor. 13:3, 1 John 3:10), and living for the glory of God.

Let’s pray, “Our Father in heaven, maker of everything, all-mighty and sovereign, full of love and grace – may Your name be honored and praised in all the earth. May we see You as You are. May we be like You and shine for Your glory. May we claim Your name in truth and not in vain. May Your word and Your presence be active in our lives, changing us and producing fruit in us. Search us and know us, our God. See if there is any offensive way in us and lead in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24). Lead us into truth (John 16:13) and life. Amen.”

See these songs; At the Sound of Your name, The Glory of Your Name

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