Chaplain’s Blog

Ten Promises of a New Life

Promise #3 – Exodus 20: 7 “You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.”

 

Growing up in church, I heard this was all about swearing. Don’t say, God, Jesus, and so on as swear words.

 

But, that is just a small part of not misusing the name of the Lord. When the Bible is talking about “name” it’s not just talking about a word – it’s talking about a lot more. It’s talking about the reputation, the fame, and the persona of a person.

 

When I worked at summer camp one summer there was another guy named Brian there. Problem was, he was a bad worker and didn’t get along with the other staff very well. And it started to effect MY reputation. MY name got rubbed in the mud. Once I complained to some friends that he was messing up what people thought of me because the name Brian was getting a bad reputation!

 

That’s what the Bible is talking about in a name…

 

So, this promise is really about living life about something different!

 

The first promise is that God is it! There’s nothing greater than Him in your life.

 

The second promise is that God is going to rock your world and take you on an adventure that’s completely outside of what you can imagine!

 

The third promise is God is going to give you a passion and a mission in life! It’s the passion for God’s reputation in the world! Nothing else matters except that God is glorified:

 

            Isaiah 26:Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws;

      our heart’s desire is to glorify your name.

            1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,

do it all for the glory of God.

 

God says, your life is about something totally new! It’s about living for God’s reputation!

 

For more on this, check on my sermon on this subject at http://livetheexperience.org/media/listen-online-september-6-2008/

 

I would like to make a brief mention of a movement among some that stems from this commandment, as well as other thoughts. Some call it the Holy Name Movement; some may call it different things, or nothing at all. But, it’s the idea that it is improper to use the names God, Jesus or Lord when talking about God.

 

Here are a few thoughts on this:

 

• First, to think that we fully understand the name of God is a big presumptuous of us as humans. We must realize that we are not divine, the Bible is not written in some Biblical language – it was written in the language of the people! So, to think that humanity can contain the name of God is crazy!
• Secondly, when God did name Himself to Moses, He said, I AM. He’s saying, you can’t define me! This is the issue of the second commandment – you won’t understand me! You can’t put me in a box!
• Third, the Bible uses the generic name that would be translated “God” in both the Old and New Testaments. In the New Testament the Greek word is Kyrios that both Jesus and the apostles use for God. It’s used for human authority and for deity – false deity AND true deity. The Old Testament uses elohiym – and it’s used for the true God and for gods and goddesses as well as rulers and judges.
• Fourth, Jesus is the English transliteration of Iesous – which is the Greek transliteration of Yeshoua. The New Testament writers use it consistently.
• Fifth, there might be those who then say, well, the Bible is corrupt. This is a false theory for several reasons:
  • First, we have New Testament manuscripts to within about 30 years of when the original books were written – and they are consistent with what we have now.
  • Secondly, the Old Testament was preserved with incredible accuracy – as was found with the revelation of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
• Yahweh may not even be the name of God. The Israelites were so careful to not harm the name of God that they took the vowels out! Scholars have guessed at what those vowels probably are, but we don’t actually know. So, we don’t really know what the name actually is!

 

This is a very surface review of why this belief system is in error. There’s nothing WRONG with using Yahweh or Yashua, but it is not a requirement or obligation to use those names and NOT the names of God, Lord, Jesus, etc.

 

You see the name is not a magic potion. If Mike Agee, KTSY general manager sends me to a Christian Book Store in the area and asks me to pick up tickets for a concert we’re helping promote, the name Mike Agee has no power. It’s the reputation that Mike has; it’s the position, authority and history that Mike’s name carries that moves people to do what I ask…

 

The same with the name of God. Acts 19 tells a great story of people who tried to use the name of Jesus like a magic potion. The demons came and beat a guy up! It’s about the power of the person behind the name; it’s the reputation, history, position, and authority of the being WITH the name.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 5:41 pm and is filed under 10 Commandments, Chaplain Rambling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.