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“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”

Our names are given to us, we don’t get to choose them. Our parents use their authority over us to give them to us. But we didn’t give God His name, He tells us.

This is the first commandment where God speaks about Himself in the third person. So that He can call Himself LORD or Yahweh – “I am who I am”. It’s not a name, but an identity. Not just a label.

A more literal translation of this commandment would be “You shall not lift up the name of the LORD your God for nothingness”. We’re not to use His name thoughtlessly, carelessly or flippantly.

We can still use God’s name! We just can’t misuse it. Yahweh is in the Old Testament nearly 7000 times!

God’s name was misused in the Old Testament in three ways

1. Sorcery
   “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practises divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord” – Deuteronomy 18 vv 10-12a
2. False Prophecy
   “Then the Lord said to me, ‘The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries[a] and the delusions of their own minds. Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them” – Jeremiah 14 vv 14-15a
   The prophets always said “Thus saith the LORD”
   Church history is littered with people claiming the name of God on their side for all sorts of things to advance their own agendas.
3. Swearing False Oaths
   A common phrase was “As the LORD lives”, and so if this is used when lying, this is not casual.

The consequence: “the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name” – v7b.

Misusing God’s name is a sin because it’s a direct attack on His honour and glory. It’s serious.

The most obvious misuse today is using Jesus’ name as a swear word or exclamation point.

Imagine someone you know insults a member of your family, we’d react. It’s scary, but maybe we should politely tell people it offends us when they take the name of our God in vain.

We need to watch our language too. If we use it as a throwaway word, it’s an indication of the true spiritual condition of our heart.

We may say we don’t do that, but there are more subtle ways.

It’s easy to say that God told us to do something without testing it against God’s word or with other Christians. If it goes against the bible then it’s a form of false prophecy. With all things we should be testing against Scripture.

Even more subtle, and potentially more dangerous – taking a bible verse out of context, to say something we want it to say.

Some non-conformists and puritans went through a period of not singing in church for fear they couldn’t live up to what they were singing. This may sound extreme, but we’ve lost some reverence for God’s name. Do we really live out what we sing with our mouths? Singing is biblical and fundamental, but we need to think about the words we’re singing.

It’s not just not negative, but positive to – we’re to honour God’s name. The Lord’s prayer says “Hallowed be Your name”. The Psalms are great for honouring God’s name.
“Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name” – Psalm 29 v 9
“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!” – Psalm 103 v 1

We’re also instructed to
“trust in the name of the LORD” – Isaiah 50 v 10
“fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD Your God” – Deuteronomy 28 v 58

As Christians, we bear Christ’s name, we’re baptised into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That name is now associated with all we say and do. “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” – Colossians 3 v 17.

It may say He will not hold anyone guiltless, but this is where the gospel steps in! “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1 v 9

Last week I was on Sunday School, but I’ve just found time to sit down and listen to the sermon.

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them”

The first commandment forbids us from worshiping false gods. This one forbids us from worshipping the true God falsely.

The Rule – “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” – v4
This means man made representations of divine beings. They could still make things, but not to worship them – the verse continues “you shall not bow doen to them or worship them.” Nothing in the tabernacle represented God directly, the items were to aid worship, not to be worshipped. These days we have things like banners and the cross in church, they’re to help us worship.

The Reason – “for I the Lord your God am a jealous God” – v5a
God loves His people with a jealous love. Jealousy doesn’t get a good press, it’s often a negative thing these days, but in the bible it means that God burns with love for us. God loves us too much not to be jealous.
“A God who was not jealous… would be as contemptible as a husband who didn’t care whether or not his wife was faithful to him. Part of our problem with this profound covenantal reality is that we have come to regard religion, like everything else, as a matter of ‘consumer choice’… We resent monopolies. But the unique and incomparable, only living God makes necessarily exclusive claims and has the right to a monopoly on our love….Jealousy is God’s love protecting itself.” – Christopher Wright
He loves us, and wants to be loved in return.

The Warning – “punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me” – v5b
Not many of us these days have carved idols at home, we have more of an issue with idols of the heart. An idol is anything we love or trust more than Jesus Christ.
The idea of punishing children for the sin of their ancestors is something that is very hard for us to understand in our individualistic western culture. In those days, three or four generations would have been likely to live together, and so if the head of the household worshipped idols, it would likely mean that the rest of the family would too. They worked in family units, not as individuals.
Discipline is part of love. It’s not loving to allow your children to do wrong and just let them get on with it and say it’s ok.
“because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” – Proverbs 3 v 12

The Promise – “but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” – v6
The promise is so much more powerful than the warning: 1000 >>>>> 3 or 4!
We know that children, grandchildren and so on have the ability to make their own decision and turn away, but Grace is available.
What kind of legacy are we leaving? Will it be a blessing?

This still applies today
“The human heart is a perpetual factory of idols” – John Calvin
As Christians there are even more subtle ways we manage to make idols. Any time we try to make God into something we can contain or control we’re making an idol. We may try to bargain – “If I do this for God he will do that for me”, or think there are formulaic ways to get God to answer prayer.

We make an idol when we choose to worship God for some of his attributes but not others. For example, we’re happy with a compassionate God, but less keen on a God who keeps us accountable for our sin. We shouldn’t ever want to water God down, that’s putting Him in our image. “Who wants to worship a God made in mans image?” – Julian Barnes

Rather than making God in our image, we need to be made in His. Adam and Eve twisted His image in us, and Jesus came to restore it.