The Reverence of God's Name

I believe the Ten Commandments are as authoritative today as when they were written. However, the Hebrew actually means "the ten words" or "the ten sayings". John 1 relates that "the Word" is Jesus Who became flesh. Thus the Ten Commandments are the Ten Sayings of the Word who Is Jesus. 

God has three attributes: Mind (Creator), Body (Jesus), and Spirit (Almightiness). What was written in stone was God's will, the Word spoke it, and the Spirit of God powered the printing press so to speak:

Exodus 31:18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

The "finger of God" was the Power of the Holy Spirit, and was the same "finger of God" which performed the miracles against Pharaoh (Exodus 8:19), and the same "finger of God" which is in us and protects us:

Luke 11:20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. 

We never look at it that way, but the Ten Commandments are the very Will of God spoken by the Voice of God who Is  Jesus who can protect and Comfort us. Thus, "the Ten Words" were Jesus Christ in absentia. That is why Jesus said:

Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

With that said, Jesus is the Law. He wrote it, it's His, and it is forever because it's in stone! By disobedience to the Law, a sinner is irreverent to Jesus.  The first four "Words" were to honor God - the One who Willed the Law, Spoke the Law, and Printed the Law.  The last six "Words" were to honor each other. Thus, Jesus said:

Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Thus honoring the Ten Commandments is honoring Jesus. How is that done? By loving each other, not just tolerating, but as we love ourselves, and God knows the magnitude of that! "The Ten Words" - Commandments, then, as all Scripture, is all about Jesus!

Now, let us look at a particular "Saying of the Word":

Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

This verse has two parts: (1) the Command, and (2) the penalty for disobedience. We know the command but we often neglect the penalty. Let's look more closely at the passage:

"Take" is nasa' in the Hebrew.  The first definition is Strong's Dictionary is "bear".

"Name" is shem (pronounced "shame" ironically) in the Hebrew. Strong's points out another word even better: "Name" - meaning renowned or famous.

Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Jesus means "God saves" and is a theophoric reference to Yeho or JHVH. Thus, the very name of Jesus - Yehoshua refers to and points back to the Nameless One - God! That's right, before Jesus was born, God was without Name:

Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.

Until Jesus was born, "the Word" was without Name. How can this be when the Third Commandment is to not take God's Name is vain!  That's because someday God would have a Name, and He was called Jesus, and by the way - Emmanuel, or God with us!

Now, let is look at the commandment again. We are not to take "name of the Lord thy God " in vain. "Vain" means "with no real value" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) in this context.

Thus far, we have "You shall not bear Jesus without regard for who he Is." Who is He? "God saves".

It looks as if violating that Commandment is more than using God's Name with frivolity but blasphemy itself. Blasphemy is the denial of the Existence of God; irreverence for Jesus. ("There is no God," is a violation of the Third Commandment.) However, I'm sure you will point out that the reference is not to blaspheme against the Holy Ghost:

Matthew 12:21 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

Let's be clear: THE Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Jesus who Is with us still! (See my thought "Daily Thought" at http://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-holy-ghost.html for more on this. There is a video link as well).

Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, then, is the denial that Jesus is resurrected. If He has not been, you can't be - thus damnation!

The words  "the Name" (proper) refers to Jesus. Throughout the Old Testament (OT) and the New, "the name of the Lord" - that which the Jews refer to as "The Name", is He whom the Jews and the Apostles called upon. However, in the OT God was without name - He Just Is/Was/Shall Always Be, since God is Existence. Therefore there had to be a Name of the Lord. It was always one of two: Jesus - "His Existence saves" or Emmanel - "The Existence With Us". "The Name of the Lord" means eternal existence, and that's what Jesus's Name means - "God or The Existence saves"!

God doesn't have three Names; He Is God, He Is Jesus, and He Is the Holy Spirit. The Name of God is validated using scripture:

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

This usage is not "names" but "name". God is not plural. The Name of the Lord Is "Jesus"! 

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Which is it then - the Name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, or Is it Jesus's Name? I submit it's the same Name! The Name of the Lord, and the God-Person Jesus.

Now back to the Third Commandment: Jesus means "God Saves", hence the Name of the Lord is "God Saves". Taking "God Saves" insincerely is using "God's Name in vain". It is denying the efficacy of Jesus's Purpose - to save mankind by His death in our place! In other words, taking the Lord's Name in vain, is failing to consider the Holy Ghost - that Jesus still lives!

How many of you don't seriously believe in the Ghost of Jesus? How many don't take seriously that you don't have the Spirit of God dwelling in you? That, my friends, is taking Jesus frivolously; that is taking the Name Jesus ("God Saves") in vain! You deny that God can save by not taking Jesus and his sacrifice seriously.

Let me validate that argument by part two of the Third Commandment: "the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain". The penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23). Using "the Lord's Name in vain" is by definition "sinful". The only sin which is not covered by the blood and death of Jesus is blasphemy. Thus "using God's Name in vain" and "blasphemy" are essentially the same. It's not that people say God's Name on vain, but that they "bear" His Name without sincerity. 

In front of God, everyone will someday bow to Him. "The Lord, or the Word -  Jesus says:

Romans 14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

It appears that "taking the Lord's Name in vain" is failure to serve Jesus. It's not recognizing God's sacrifice of His Namesake.  Rejecting Jesus by not taking Him seriously is damning. That is vanity. When we fail to take God's sacrifice of His only Son seriously, that is "bearing the Name Jesus with frivolity."