“Do not pronounce the name of the Lord in vain” - these are the words referring to the third of God's commandments specified in the Book of Exodus. And also it is set forth in the Book of Deuteronomy. Another version of this statement is: “Do not pronounce the name of the Lord in vain.” This expression has a continuation, which says that the one who does this, the Lord will certainly punish. How to understand this commandment? The meaning of “Do not pronounce the name of the Lord in vain” will be described below.
Meaning of expression
The adverb “in vain” used in the text of the commandment in the dictionary is marked with the words “obsolete”, “book”, “relating to high style”. In simple terms, the adverb “in vain” is used. That is, these are synonymous words.
According to the dictionary "in vain" means:
- vain;
- unnecessary;
- useless;
- unsuccessful;
- excess;
- flimsy;
- senseless.
Thus, if you rephrase the studied expression “Do not pronounce the name of the Lord in vain” in accordance with the indicated value, we can say the following: “You do not need to use the name of the Lord in any meaningless way, as something useless and unnecessary.”
If you apply the method on the contrary, you can put it this way: "You can pronounce the name of the Most High only consciously, with sincere intentions, in a useful (necessary) context, with a useful purpose."
What is the violation of the 3rd commandment?
This is a violation of the prohibition not to pronounce the name of the Lord God in vain. In short, it means:
- Use the name of God in an inappropriate context, without spiritual meaning, without devoting oneself to God.
- Pronounce it as a curse or abuse, wishing evil to someone.
- To give a false oath in the name of God, with the aim of deceit, to mislead.
This is seen as speculation in the name of God.
Explanations in the Old and New Testaments
With regard to the meaning of the third commandment, “Do not pronounce the name of the Lord in vain,” you can find many explanations in the Bible. In the Old Testament times, when the oath was given in the name of God, this was considered a guarantee of its truthfulness. So in the book of Deuteronomy there is a call: "Fear the Lord, only serve him and swear by his name." In this regard, a false oath to mention the name of God was a violation of the commandment in question.
In the New Testament, Jesus also explained the meaning of the commandments. Regarding the third of these, the following is said in Matthew. “Do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor the earth, since it is the foot of his feet; nor Jerusalem, since it is the city of the great King; neither with your own head, since you cannot make a single hair with either white or black. ” Thus, the New Testament calls for the abandonment of oaths altogether.
More on violations
Violation of the commandment “Do not pronounce the name of the Lord in vain” is the following actions:
- A promise made to God and broken. The Ecclesiastes says that when a vow is given to God, it is necessary to fulfill it without delay, since he does not favor stupid ones. Therefore, it is preferable not to promise at all than to promise and not make.
- A false prophecy, by which is meant the expression of an idea, the authorship of which is attributed to the Almighty. It is also a violation of the commandment, because the holy name of God is attributed to a lie.
- Near-religious idle talk, that is, the mention in the speech of the name of God without the existing spiritual background. Use for a bunch of speech such words as: “Oh, Lord!”, “My God!”, “Oh God!”.
- Unworthy use of the name of the Most High. For example, as a magic spell or in various fortunetelling.
- Blasphemy, that is, putting blasphemy against the Lord God. This is confirmed, for example, by an episode from the Gospel of Matthew when the Jews tried to deliberately accuse the Savior of blasphemy in order to put him to death. And also, Stephen was falsely charged with Acts: “And they taught some to testify: we heard that he spoke blasphemous words against God and Moses.”
- Lingering while addressing the Lord. In his prayers, man turns to the Almighty, to the holy name, exalts him. In order to keep the commandment, it is necessary to turn to the Heavenly Father only with an open and sincere heart. Prayers cannot be hypocritical, deceitful, memorized, spoken automatically or read. They should not have common words and idle talk. From Isaiah's book it is clear that God is against hypocritical worship. It says: “This people approaches me only with their lips and honors me only with their tongues. But his heart is far away from me, their grace is the study of the commandments. "
Other Commandment Violations
Among the violations of the instruction from above “do not pronounce the name of the Lord in vain” there are others as well. It:
- Unjustified actions. When a person calls himself a Christian, but at the same time acts differently from what Jesus Christ would have done in a similar situation, this is the use of God's name in vain. Such an action is seen as speculation in the name of the Lord Christ. In this regard, the New Testament calls for living and doing things worthy of the title of Christian. This is stated, for example, in the Epistle of the Apostle Paul.
- Substitution of the name of the Lord. Some people call the Almighty not by his name, but by other names. For example, someone says that Buddha and Krishna are also the names of God. But this is the same as calling Alexander Eugene. Therefore, the Lord will not like it if he is given other names in his speech.
- The dishonor of the name of God, and the blasphemy against him, is in what is dedicated to him, in what they do with the holy things of the Lord, with what he called a saint. The Leviticus has the following words: “The Lord said to Moses:“ Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the shrines of the sons of Israel, so that they do not dishonor my holy name in that which is dedicated to me. ”
- Rejection of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, belittling his personality and role. Thus, the third commandment is violated, since the name of God with whom he was revealed to the world as the Savior is rejected.
Why is keeping the third commandment important?
The name of the Lord is a reflection of his essence, it is inseparable from him. When it is used in vain, it can be considered as its depreciation, thereby showing disrespect for the Lord himself.
The Psalms say that God is holy and his name is holy. Holy is meant for a special purpose. Almighty is not compatible with vanity and sin. When the holy name is mentioned in vain, God unites with sinful vanity.
And also the name of God is an access to his mercies, blessings and grace. When a person uses it in vain, he thereby deprives himself of them.