What If They’re Wrong Series Exodus 20:7
"What’s In A Name?"
We’re in the third week of a series entitled "What If They’re Wrong."
In this series we’re looking at the Ten Commandments and comparing what God says with what our culture says.
Our culture isn’t always completely truthful.
For instance, our culture says that there are no standards.
In our discussion of the First Commandment, we discovered that there are, in fact, standards that all of us can and should live by.
And we noted that God not only set that standard, He IS that standard.
We also saw that our culture says you can only find fulfillment in the things you do or in the things you possess.
Looking at the Second Commandment showed us that we can really only find ultimate fulfillment through a restored relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Today we’ll look at the Third Commandment. Let’s read it again:
“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”
Doesn’t sound like much of a commandment, does it?
But there’s more to this commandment than we realize.
This commandment focuses directly on the name of God.
What’s in a name?
Not much anymore.
• For instance, my name is Carl. Carl means "farmer." I’m not a farmer. I’m not even a very good gardener. I was second runner up in the name game. My father and a friend of his flipped a coin to determine my name. If my father won, my name would be Carl Edward. If his friend had won, my name would have been Edward Carl. Obviously my father won the toss.
There’s no significance to our names today.
Mostly we choose names just because we like the way they sound.
Names in the Bible have significance.
Take Abraham, for instance.
His name means "father of a multitude."
God made him the father of many nations.
And what about Moses.
His name means "drawn."
Pharoah’s daughter named him that because he was "drawn out of the water."
There’s a lady in the Old Testament book of Ruth named Naomi.
Her name meant "pleasant", but because of some hardships in her life she changed her name to Mara.
Mara means "bitter."
A familiar name in the New Testament is John.
John means "Jehovah is a gracious giver."
Another familiar New Testament name is Jesus.
Jesus means "Jehovah is salvation."
So, you see, names in the Bible have much more significance than our names today.
We don’t tend to think about misusing the name of the Lord because our culture doesn’t place any emphasis on names.
That’s why people can give God that derogatory last name and come up with expressions like "Oh, my God" and not give it a thought.
We don’t think it’s wrong to say things like that for two reasons.
First of all, we don’t understand what the commandment means.
The King James Version of the Bible says, "Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain."
The most accurate way to describe that word "vain" is the concept of making something void of meaning.
When we give God a last name or flippantly use the expression "Oh, my God" we make the name of the Almighty, the most holy and magnificent God of the universe, void of meaning.
When you make his name void of meaning you make his person void of meaning.
His name describes who He is.
That’s the second reason we don’t think it’s wrong to misuse the name of the Lord.
We don’t know what his name really means.
I want to share with you some of the names of God this morning so you will have some idea Who God is.
The first name used for God used in the Bible is Elohim.
Elohim is a plural noun.
It’s used with a singular verb.
Right from the start in the Bible God makes reference to the Holy Trinity.
You’ll find this name in the creation account in the book of Genesis.
The Trinity is difficult concept for people to grasp.
Some religious people don’t acknowledge the Triune God.
That’s because they don’t get it intellectually.
I don’t get it intellectually, either.
But then, I don’t understand how I have a body, a mind, and a spirit.
And I don’t understand how Freud came up with the concept of an id, an ego, and a superego.
Folks have believed that for years, and have never questioned it.
It’s an accepted fact that we all have an id, an ego, and a superego.
We accept Freud’s theory without question but we can’t accept God’s truth about himself without raising some doubt.
The thought is, "I can’t buy into that God in Three Persons stuff because it doesn’t make sense. If that part doesn’t make sense I don’t have to believe any of it."
If we don’t believe any of it, we can misuse the Lord’s name because it’s no big deal.
Another name for El-Shaddai.
This translates "God Almighty."
The name "El" means "strong or mighty."
It’s always connected with some attribute or perfection of God.
The name "Shaddai" means "Almighty."
This name for God indicates that God is everlasting.
He is the Lord of Hosts.
He is sufficient and he is resourceful.
He’s the one who gives blessings to his people.
He’s the "real thing."
He’s the promise keeper.
Another name, Adonai - Means "Lord."
It denotes ownership and authority.
It means he’s the master of the sea.
He’s the potter; we’re the clay.
It means that he is the master and we are the slaves.
Now you’re thinking, "Slavery went out with the civil war."
No it didn’t.
We are all slaves to something - jobs, possessions, children, spouses, sin.
I would rather be a slave to God and be assured of my place in heaven and be empowered to live an abundant life right now than be a slave to my self and suffer eternal consequences.
We talked about that last week - how we like to serve ourselves.
Our God is El-Adonai - the Lord God!
The most famous name for God is YHWH or Jehovah.
This is what it means: "He that always was, that always is, and that ever is to come."
He’s the Alpha and Omega; the First and Last; the Beginning and the End.
There’s none before him and none after him.
He IS GOD!
Jehovah is the personal and incommunicable name of God.
It’s the name that no Hebrew person would dare say.
A Hebrew would substitute Elohim or Adonai whenever he read the Scripture.
This is the name of God in covenant with man.
The name "Jehovah" is used as a compound with other names to show God’s character in meeting the needs of his people.
There are fourteen of these names in the Old Testament.
These names will give you a good picture of who God is:
1. JEHOVAH-HOSEENU, "Jehovah our Maker"
"Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;" #Ps 95:6
2. JEHOVAH-JIREH, "Jehovah will provide"
"So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided." #Ge 22:14
3. JEHOVAH-ROPHECA, "Jehovah that healeth thee"
"(Moses) said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you." " #Ex 15:26
4. JEHOVAH-NISSI, "Jehovah my banner"
"Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner." #Ex 17:15
5. JEHOVAH-M’KADDESH, "Jehovah that sanctifies you"
"(God told Moses) Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy." #Ex 31:13
"Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy." #Le 20:8
6. JEHOVAH-ELOHEENU, "Jehovah our God"
"Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.” #Ps 99:5
“O LORD our God, you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds." #Ps 99:8
7. JEHOVAH-ELOHEKA, "Jehovah your God"
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” #Ex 20:2
“You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,…” # Ex 20:5
“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” #Ex 20:7
8. JEHOVAH-ELOHAY, "Jehovah my God"
"You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him." #Zec 14:5
9. JEHOVAH-SHALOM, "Jehovah sends peace":
"So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites." #Jud 6:24
10. JEHOVAH-TSEBAHOTH, "Jehovah of hosts"
"It is just as Isaiah said previously: "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah." #Ro 9:29
"Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty." #Jas 5:4
11. JEHOVAH-ROHI, "Jehovah my shepherd"
"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. " #Ps 23:1
12. JEHOVAH-HELEYON, "Jehovah most high"
"I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High." #Ps 7:17
"How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!" #Ps 47:2
"For you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods."
#Ps 97:9
13. JEHOVAH-TSIDKEENU, "Jehovah our righteousness"
"In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness." #Jer 23:6
"In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness."
#Jer 33:16
14. JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH, "Jehovah is there"
"The distance all around will be 18,000 cubits. "And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE." #Eze 48:35
And the name above all names is Jesus Christ, Jehovah is our salvation, the Annointed one of God who takes away the sin of the world.
What’s in a name? Everything!
