“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” (Exodus 20:7).
We usually understand the third commandment as forbidding the taking of God’s name in vain – using it wrongfully in speech. So, for example, In Leviticus 24:16 we read, “Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death.”
But the word vain (as it’s rendered in the KJV, ESV, etc.) can also mean “worthless,” or “to make of no value.” This helps explain some otherwise puzzling scriptures. For example, strangely enough, sacrificing one’s children to Molech, the god of the pagan Ammonites (1 Kings 11:5) was considered a violation of the third commandment:
“’Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD” (Leviticus 18:21).
“‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death. The members of the community are to stone him. I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people; for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name’” (Leviticus 20:2-3).
Also strange is the location of this law in Leviticus 18 among laws giving proscribed sexual relations:
18:20 “Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife and defile yourself with her.
18:21 “Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
18:22 “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.
How are we to understand this aspect of the third commandment and its setting in the law?
It is sometimes said the position of this law shows taking God’s name in vain was considered a breaking of marriage relation with God – especially because God said: “I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek” (Leviticus 20:3).
But why would this make God’s name worthless or of no value? A more likely reason is that breaking the third commandment “profaned” or devalued God because sacrificing their children to Molek would cause the nations surrounding Israel to say that the Israelites regard their own God as an inferior deity, because they only offered animals to him, but they sacrificed their own children to Molek. Seen this way, by sacrificing their children to Molek the Israelites profaned God’s name by declaring him of less, or little value.
Unlawfully touching the holy things of the tabernacle was also considered a violation of the third commandment: “Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they abstain from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they dedicate to me, so that they do not profane my holy name: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 22:2). In a similar way, Malachi condemns the priests who were devaluing the name of God in his time through their sub-standard offerings (Malachi 1:10–14).
So, while the third commandment certainly covers what is said in regard to God, its principle is actually much wider and can also apply to things that we do.
We usually understand the third commandment as forbidding the taking of God’s name in vain – using it wrongfully in speech. So, for example, In Leviticus 24:16 we read, “Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death.”
But the word vain (as it’s rendered in the KJV, ESV, etc.) can also mean “worthless,” or “to make of no value.” This helps explain some otherwise puzzling scriptures. For example, strangely enough, sacrificing one’s children to Molech, the god of the pagan Ammonites (1 Kings 11:5) was considered a violation of the third commandment:
“’Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD” (Leviticus 18:21).
“‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death. The members of the community are to stone him. I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people; for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name’” (Leviticus 20:2-3).
Also strange is the location of this law in Leviticus 18 among laws giving proscribed sexual relations:
18:20 “Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife and defile yourself with her.
18:21 “Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
18:22 “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.
How are we to understand this aspect of the third commandment and its setting in the law?
It is sometimes said the position of this law shows taking God’s name in vain was considered a breaking of marriage relation with God – especially because God said: “I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek” (Leviticus 20:3).
But why would this make God’s name worthless or of no value? A more likely reason is that breaking the third commandment “profaned” or devalued God because sacrificing their children to Molek would cause the nations surrounding Israel to say that the Israelites regard their own God as an inferior deity, because they only offered animals to him, but they sacrificed their own children to Molek. Seen this way, by sacrificing their children to Molek the Israelites profaned God’s name by declaring him of less, or little value.
Unlawfully touching the holy things of the tabernacle was also considered a violation of the third commandment: “Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they abstain from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they dedicate to me, so that they do not profane my holy name: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 22:2). In a similar way, Malachi condemns the priests who were devaluing the name of God in his time through their sub-standard offerings (Malachi 1:10–14).
So, while the third commandment certainly covers what is said in regard to God, its principle is actually much wider and can also apply to things that we do.
RSS Feed
