  Foundations of the Faith
By Robert P. Mills The Presbyterian Layman Editor’s note: The Layman feature Foundations of the Faith is designed to explore and explain the fundamental doctrines of our Christian faith. Our prayer is that laity and clergy alike will find these articles useful not only in developing their own faith, but in their ministries of preaching, teaching, and witnessing.
|
||
“Names,” writes Gerrit Dawson, “communicate relationships between people, and so reflect our basic identity. … Names help us find our place.” At the burning bush, Moses asked God his name. God revealed himself as Yahweh, “I Am Who I Am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I Am has sent me to you” (Ex. 3:14). Derived from the Hebrew root “to be, to become” (hence “I Am Who I Am), the name Yahweh occurs more than 5,000 times in the Old Testament. This name reveals God to be eternal and unchanging and it helps us find our place in relationship with him. The third commandment, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God,” forbids the misuse of God’s name and helps us maintain our relationship with the One who calls each of us by name. God’s name Yahweh is the personal name of the one God in three persons, the manifestation of his character as the dependable and faithful God who desires the full trust of his people. While the third commandment mentions only the name Yahweh, in principle it includes all the names by which God has revealed himself to his people. The use of God’s name played an important role in Israel’s faith and life. God’s people called on his name (Gen. 4:26; Ps. 116:4, 13, 17), prophesied in his name (Deut. 18:19), blessed (Ps. 72:19), praised (Ps. 69:30), trusted (Isa. 50:10), and sought refuge in his name (Zeph. 3:12). God’s name is holy (Ps. 103:1; Ezek. 36:20-23) and majestic (Ps. 8:1). God protects (Ps. 20:1; Prov. 18:10) and saves (Ps. 54:1) by his name. Accordingly his people trust in his name (Ps. 20:7; 33:21), hope in his name (Ps. 52:9), sing praise to his name (Ps. 7:17; 9:2), and rejoice in his name (Ps. 89:16). Such understandings of the nature and proper uses of God’s name suggest the gravity of violating the commandment against misusing God’s name. Indeed, when Jesus said “before Abraham was, I Am,” equating himself with God by applying the name Yahweh to himself, the Jews who heard him “picked up stones to stone him” as a blasphemer (John 8:58-59). Misusing God’s name The Hebrew root translated “misuse” or “take in vain” means “to be empty, groundless.” It suggests a lack of substance and is also used in the sense of lying or speaking falsely. A broad paraphrase of the third commandment might read, “You shall not reduce the name Yahweh to emptiness. You shall not, by your life or your speech, diminish God’s name to the point that it seems meaningless to those who are around you.” This commandment thus covers a wide range of application. It forbids the use of God’s name in a frivolous or insincere manner, or in any way that ascribes unreality or emptiness to the name “God.” It prohibits a lack of seriousness about Yahweh’s reality and presence. Simply saying God’s name aloud is not prohibited. However, God’s name must not be spoken without meaning or with deceitful intentions, as when a speaker refers to God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit knowing that his hearers will understand those names very differently than he does, yet making no mention of that difference. As Bruce Larson notes, this commandment “is a warning about being casual in the use of God’s name. When we toss off a ‘by God’ in the same way we would toss off a ‘by George,’ we are acting as if there is no God, or that he is so remote it doesn’t matter. Someone by that name, in fact the Ultimate Being, is listening. He has warned us not to use his name lightly because in doing so we are making him some far-off intellectual concept, instead of a living, loving Father with whom we are in relationship.” The commandment also forbids blasphemy, hurling words of hatred, reproach, or defiance against God. Similarly, the commandment forbids false oaths, which call on God to be witness to a lie. Perjury is a grave offense against the God who is forever faithful to his promises. And it prohibits the use of God’s name in magic or in attempts to harness God’s power for personal gain. God’s people have always been tempted to invoke God’s name in the service of private interests. Again quoting Bruce Larson, “The whole idea that we can make use of [God] to bless or to curse at our whim is more than foolish. It is offensive and arrogant. God is not our servant; we are his.” So serious are such abuses that the commandment contains a warning: Any member of the covenant community who misuses Yahweh’s name will not be left unpunished. What this punishment is to be is left unsaid. That it will come is a solemn certainty. |
||
|
||
| The
overflow of the heart The names we give each other reflect facets of our relationship. Consider the divergent overtones of “my beloved” and “the creep.” God’s blessings to his people are often indicated by a new name: Abraham, Israel, Peter. Just as misusing God’s name through insincere vows, irreverence, cursing, or contempt diminishes our capacity for relating to him, showing reverence for God’s name helps us develop spiritual maturity. For our speech mirrors the state of our soul; what emerges from our mouths testifies to what is on our minds and in our hearts. As Jesus said, “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt. 12:34). Misusing God’s name cannot hurt God, but it can hurt us, now and in the life to come (Matt. 12:36-37). In particular, children who grow up where God’s name is not properly reverenced or is even abused by their parents will often draw tragic conclusions about God’s worth and relevance. For the way we refer to another person profoundly influences the way we regard and treat that person, whether our neighbor whom we have seen or God whom we have not. This is why the ancient Hebrews were so careful with what they said about God. And that is why today’s believers, who are inundated with insincere speech, need to take special care with the ways in which we use the name of God. Respect and right use of God’s name are both a mark of growing spiritual maturity and a witness to believers and non-believers alike. Properly using God’s name Prohibiting the misuse of God’s name implies taking care to give it reverence and honor. Respect for God’s name expresses the respect owed to God. Therefore, the key to properly using God’s name is a proper understanding of God. If we know who God is, and if we want to share what we know with those around us, we will not want to misuse his name. |
||
|
||
|
||
|
The Presbyterian Layman, July/August 1998 contents |
||
|
Home,
· Archives,
·
Breaking News, |
||
