Honoring the Lord’s Name

Having considered the first two commandments given to the people of God on Mount Sinai (Ex. 20:4–6), we now look to the third commandment, which forbids our taking the Lord’s name in vain. Commonly, believers understand this command as outlawing crude or coarse language, especially when it is used alongside the name of God. Of course, this is a proper interpretation of the commandment, but it does not exhaust the meaning of this rule.

To understand the third commandment, we must first consider the significance of a person’s name. Especially in the ancient world but also today, a person’s name is a symbol that encapsulates a person’s character and points to the kind of person that he is. When we hear the name of someone we know well, we often think about what that person is like, if only for a brief moment. Scripture emphasizes the importance of a good name (Eccl. 7:1), connecting a person’s name with his reputation and reinforcing the idea that a name symbolizes the entire person. We see this with particular clarity when it comes to the names of God, each of which tells us something true about His nature. For instance, as we saw in our study of Exodus 3, the covenant name of God, Yahweh (“I am”), reveals His eternality and self-existence.

Since the name of God points to His very nature, the third commandment has in view more than coarse language that uses the name of God. John Calvin’s comments on Exodus 20:7 help us rightly comprehend the scope of the third commandment: “It is silly and childish to restrict this to the name [Yahweh], as if God’s majesty were confined to letters or syllables; but, whereas His essence is invisible, His name is set before us as an image, in so far as God manifests Himself to us, and is distinctly made known to us by His own marks, just as men are each by his own name. On this ground Christ teaches that God’s name is comprehended in the heavens, the earth, the temple, the altar [Matt. 5:34], because His glory is conspicuous in them. Consequently, God’s name is profaned whenever any detraction is made from His supreme wisdom, infinite power, justice, truth, clemency, and rectitude.” Yes, the third commandment has special reference to our actual use of His name in spoken word or in writing, but it more broadly forbids anything that presents our Lord and His character in an incorrect or frivolous manner. There are many ways that our words and deeds can say wrong or trite things about God, and the third commandment forbids all of them.