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.”
When Moses first contacted Pharaoh and asked him to let Israel go Pharaoh told his men to give the Israelis more work so that they would not regard vain words. They wanted to worship the Lord in the desert while Pharaoh wanted them to be totally involved in his projects (see Ex 5: 9). The apostle Peter wrote, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;” (1 Pet 1: 18) In the Bible “vain” means something that doesn’t further the purpose of the person in charged. Pharaoh’s purpose was to build cities but Israel wanted to go into the desert, this activity wouldn’t help him build the cities. The Lord has chosen to redeem sinners by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ rather than by vain works. These vain works achieve nothing in eternal terms. We are not to use the Lord’s name for purposes that do not bring glory to His name. It is easy to use the Lord’s name to further our own purposes or to claim that Christianity has another purpose than the one the Lord planned. The Lord Jesus Christ told us, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9: 23) We are called upon to live a life of self denial rather than a life of self indulgence. If we preach that Christianity involves a life of self indulgence then we are taking the name of the Lord our God in vain.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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