The Ten Commandments, Part 3: Blasphemy
What’s in a Name?
I know that this series is taking the commandments rather out of order, but it’s my series and I’ll do it in any order I want to! This part is on what is commonly known as the blasphemy law. There has been some discussion about blasphemy in the news recently, about whether the blasphemy laws in this country should be repealed or not. I don’t really want to focus too much on that, and instead go back to the Old Testament to try and understand some of the context of God’s name!
So, without further ado, let’s dive in to Exodus. We’ll look at the relevant passage from Exodus 20, if you want to follow along.
The blasphemy law occurs in verse 7:
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
How are we to interpret this commandment? Well, the understanding I grew up with was that we were not to use “God” or “Jesus” as a swear word. Admittedly that is a fairly simplistic understanding, but I think it’s fairly accurate: using God’s name in that way would be completely disrespectful, and – I believe – it’s right to teach people that this law forbids that.
However, as we shall see, the Israelites at the time would have understood a lot more from this commandment. The key thing is, our understanding of “name” is probably a little different to how it would have been interpreted in the ancient world.
These days, someone’s name is merely a label attached to them. Although names are fairly important, a name doesn’t say much about you. However, in the ancient world, a name was not just a label but a statement about you and your character. If you knew someone’s name, you knew them. So, when people talked about the “name of the Lord”, they weren’t just talking about the name “Jehovah” or “Yahweh”, they were talking about everything that name meant – the whole of the Lord’s character and his relationship to them.
A famous example of this is in Psalm 23:
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
– Psalm 23:1-3, ESV
Notice v3b – “for his name’s sake”. David is saying here that God will “lead [him] in paths of righteousness” because God must act according to His character. God’s “name” not only is a label for God, but it describes his character, and this character defines how he will act.
Now this is where it starts to get interesting. What was God’s character as revealed to the Israelites? God’s name definitely had a special significance for them.
Look at Exodus 6:
God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them… I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
– Exodus 6:2-3, 7, ESV
The “LORD” here refers to Yahweh, God’s covenant name to the Israelites. This is the first time he reveals himself to Moses as Yahweh[1]. He is saying here that although he made himself known to Moses’ forefathers – which is quite important, because it shows that this is the same God speaking to Moses – this new name is the inauguration of a new covenant. If you’ve been reading these articles, you will know the significance of God bringing the Israelites out of Egypt: the Israelites were to see their relationship with God – the covenant – in terms of God bringing them out of Egypt. (And if you haven’t been following this series, you might want to have a look at Part I – it will explain things a bit more!)
All of this was reflected in the name Yahweh. Consequently, not taking the Lord’s name in vain would mean not only using it inappropriately but understanding and obeying the demands of the covenant.
Now we’ve established that the name of God involves a statement about his character and the covenant with the Israelites, what does that mean for us today? Although we don’t live under the same covenant relationship, we do still call upon the name of the Lord.
For example, in John’s gospel, Jesus says: “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:14, ESV). What does “in my name” actually mean? Is it just a matter of adding the words “in Jesus’ name” after we pray? No. It’s calling upon God to act according to his character, for His glory.
So, when we say “in Jesus’ name” when we pray, it should remind us of two things: 1) of what God has done for us through Jesus, and how God promises to answer prayer (always something I need to be reminded of!); 2) how we should respond to what God has done in Jesus. Are we being obedient in our prayers? Are we asking for the right things?
James says “You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:2-3, NIV). In other words, asking for the wrong things in prayer could be an example of misusing the name of God.
This passage also provides another example of misusing the name of God: In context the passage is talking about keeping ourselves pure and dedicated to God. I believe another aspect of acknowledging God’s name is that we should respect it by keeping ourselves holy. If we truly reverence God’s name, we will respect his character by keeping his commandments, and free from sin. This is, of course, impossible as humans – but it is the goal towards which we attain!
I hope this article has at least given you some food for thought – please feel free to continue discussion in below or in the forums!
[1] Note: Sharp-eyed readers may notice there are a few times previous to this when the name “The LORD” is used. Why? It could be that the name Yahweh was not then known or widely understood – certainly under the terms of the covenant relationship as it was to be defined with Moses!
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