3rd Commandment - Third Commandment Meaning

The 3rd commandment of Gods Ten Commandments recorded in Exodus 20:7 of the King James Version of the bible states.

"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."

What is God saying in the third commandment? How is he commanding us to conduct ourselves?

What does it mean to take Gods name in vain?

 

Third Commandment Meaning

According to the Strong's Hebrew and Aramaic Dictionary of the Old Testament, the word vain is referring to desolate. According to the Oxford American dictionary the word desolate means make someone feel unhappy. So with this information lets arrange Gods 3rd commandment to reflect our new knowledge.

Do not use God's name in a way that will make God unhappy. For he will hold us responsible for hurting his image, making him unhappy.

So what conduct makes God happy?

Well let us look at the events that lead to God giving his ten commandments. 

God brought the Israelites out of Egypt. The Israelites acknowledged this by singing a song of praise after they crossed the Red Sea and the Egyptians that followed were killed (Read Exodus 15, The Song of Moses). These events God created brought honor to his name and now all of Egypt knows the power of God and his love for his people the Israelites. So know the Israelites are happy. They are claiming the goodness of God, which makes God happy.

Immediately after they traveled in the desert for three days with no water (Sounds like a three day fast to me). While in the land of Marah, they complained to Moses about having no water to drink. Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD provided instructions to Moses showing him a tree to put into the water to make the water good to drink. And God delivered an order and law for the Israelites to live by. To live in peace, free of the diseases God placed on Egypt, they must diligently obey the LORD thy God's orders and commandments, and do what is right in Gods eyes. This includes every order and law God gave starting from Abraham, the Father of the Israelites, and now including the recent commandment of the Lord of Feast.

They continued to travel from Marah to Elim, where the land was plenty, full of trees and water. From Elim they traveled to desert of Sin hungry for food. Where they began to complain to Moses and Aaron about being hungry and why Did God lead them out of Egypt to die in the desert. They would rather be slaves in Egypt at least there they could eat to they were full and happy (Read Exodus 16:2-3). 

Now these things said by the Israelites are hurtful. God saved them from captivity and now they are ungrateful. It has only been two months and fifteen days since they departed from Egypt. So not that long ago, and they are already complaining, Using God's name in vain.

Now God is a great God. He answered their complaining by giving them bread, manna, from heaven every day except on the seventh day, the Sabbath. They were commanded to gather twice as much on the sixth day, to store so they could eat on the seventh day. The other days they would only gather enough to eat for that day. No one could store bread from days one through five. This was God's commandment.

Unfortunately, some people didn't obey God's commandments. Some people tried to store manna on the days there were not suppose too. And on the Sabbath, seventh day, some tried to gather manna. These actions mad God unhappy as recorded in Exodus 16:28 - 31. He was upset because people did not obey the Sabbath. This is the day that God set aside to rest and for us to worship him for the good events in our life. To rest in the fruits of our labor. So God commanded Moses to create a memorial of manna for current and future generations to remember the bread God delivered when the Israelites were brought out of Egypt. Which would hopefully help us obey his commandments.

However, once again the people complained of thirst at the next land they traveled too, the land of Rephidim. There they said, "Wherefore is this that thou has brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our Cattle with thirst?" (Exodus 17:3). Therefore again using God's name in vain. Showing a lack of respect for God and what God has done, by bringing them out of captivity from Egypt and feeding them daily. They were very ungrateful towards God.

So what conduct makes God happy? Simple obey all of his ten commandments and show your gratitude for what he has done to save you. Through the blood of Jesus we are saved from our sins. But we must accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and get baptized in his name to receive this gift. If you haven't been baptized then do so know. Read the book of Acts to understand why.

Are you obedient to the 3rd commandment? What can you do today to make God happy, to bring Honor to his name?

The Second Commandment - 2nd Commandment

God's second commandment of the Ten Commandments is a continuation from the first commandment. In the first commandment God tells us to have no other gods before him. God our creator knowing us so well knows we are challenged with obedience tells us in his second commandment how to keep the first commandment. The second commandment provides detail of what God considers putting other gods before him. He gives explicit instructions on how we are to love him.

The Second Commandment of The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20: 4-6)

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."


As recorded in the book of Exodus, God gives further instructions to Moses what we ought not do and what he expects us to do to honor him through worship.

"Ye shall not make me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold." Exodus 20: 23

 God gives specific instructions on how we should worship him in Exodus 20: 24.

"An alter of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice therein thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee."
God gives further instruction on the resources we can use to build the alter in Exodus 20: 25 "And if thou wilt make me an alter of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it."


Go also provides instruction on what not to do at the alter in Exodus 20: 26. "Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon." This makes since, it is hard to stay focused on worshipping God if you are looking up someone's dress or looking at his or her bottom.
Are you obedient to the first and second commandment? Are you bowing down to other gods. Are you worshipping things of the earth?  Hopefully you answered Yes, No and No. If you answered differently, then it is time to make a change today. Evaluate what and whom you worship. Do you fear (respect and reverence) God more than your boss, your spouse, your children, your money, your car, your parents, and your life?

When we fully respect and reverence God, we will receive his reward eternal life. Find a way to show God you respect and reverence today.

Ten Commandments - First Commandment

God's first commandment of the Ten Commandments is "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

Our Father God which art in heaven wants our respect! He is our creator. Do your want the love and respect of your own children? Do you want your own child worshipping and clinging to every word of their best friends father? Would you want your son to say, Tommy's dad is better than you. So I am only going to listen to him.

Any loving father or mother would not want their child to disregard them and love, respect and worship another parent more than them. This is exactly how our Heavenly Father feels. He wants us to worship him only. We must give him our best love, respect and worship.

God gave the Israelites and Egyptians eleven events to prove there are no other gods or person greater than him. God performed eleven amazing events to get the Pharaoh of Egypt to set the Israelites free from slavery. The events recorded in the book of Exodus 7 through 12 are:

1) Turned a rod into a serpent. (Exodus 7: 9-12)
2) Turned the river into blood. (Exodus 7: 17-25)
3) Filled the land of Egypt with frogs. (Exodus 8: 2-8)
4) Turned the dust of the land of Egypt into lice. (Exodus 8: 16-19)
5) Swarm of flies into the houses of the Egyptians. (Exodus 8: 21-24)
6) Sent an infectious disease to the animals that only the Egyptians owned. (Exodus 9: 3-6)
7) Turned ashes of the furnace into boil spreading through the land of Egypt. (Exodus 9: 8-11)
8) Sent hail and fire through out the land of Egypt. (Exodus 9: 22-26)
9) Sent a swarm of locust into the land of Egypt. (Exodus 10: 4-15)
10) Three Days of Darkness over the land of Egypt. (Exodus 10: 21-23)
11) Sent a plague upon Egypt, called the LORD's Passover. (Exodus 11 - 12)

Through out these events the children of Israel were not touched. God set them apart from these events. These eleven events proved to both Egyptians and Israelites that God is "I Am" there is only one god and that is the God which art in heaven, the creator of heaven and earth.

As if these eleven events were not enough. God performed one more amazing event after the Israelites left Egypt so the Egyptians would know that God is the LORD. God harden the heart of Pharaoh so he would follow the Israelites out of Egypt to bring them back into slavery. Pharaoh and his army of over 600 men went after the children of Israel and caught up with them by the Red Sea.

The Israelites were so afraid, that they cried out to the LORD. Moses answered with the instructions from God. Told the children of Israel to not fear, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show you today. You will see the Egyptians no more after today. The Lord will fight for you and you will have peace. (Exodus 14: 13-14)

God divided the Red Sea for the children to cross on dry land. God blinded the vision of the Egyptians with a cloud so they could not see the Israelites moving and crossing the sea at night. Once they started to cross God lifted the cloud so the Egyptians could gather themselves and follow them and cross at the sea. As the Egyptians were in the midst of the sea, God gave the command to Moses to stretch out his hand over the Red Sea to close it back up. The Red Sea returned to its strength natural flow and killed every Egyptian of Pharaoh's army that pursued. (Exodus 14: 19 - 30)

What an awesome event. God completed what he said he would do. He brought honor to his name and proved to the Egyptians that he is the LORD. There is nothing Greater than GOD. Even the children of Israel after this event feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses. (Exodus 14: 31)

God said the following words three months after he set the children of Israel free from slavery. "I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20: 2-3) Read the first commandment of the Ten Commandments in the book of Exodus chapter twenty verse three.

Ten Commandments – Are They Important To Be Godly

Is Living By The Ten Commandments Important To Be Godly Today?

Ten Cmmandments

Yes! Jesus says so. Jesus came to fulfill the commandments of God, which are the Ten Commandments. In Matthew chapter 5 versus seventeen through nineteen (Matthew 5:17-19 KJV) Jesus says;

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

Since Day one after God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments, they continued to fall short of being obedient of God's law. Therefore God sent Jesus to fulfill the law and as a pure sacrificed so that we could continue to live.

To Be Godly, Why Are We Believing The Ten Commandments Are Not Important?

Our lack of understanding God's heart is why we fall short of the commandments of God. When we understand God's heart, we will understand the reason for his commandments. Jesus illustrates this point in Matthew 5:21-24 KJV.

"Ye have heard that is was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill: and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thou gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."

Jesus also gives another example using the commandment thou shalt not commit adultery. In Matthew 5: 27-28 KJV Jesus says;

"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."

You see the commandments of God are to keep us safe and pure. God created us in his image. We have the ability to turn a thought into reality. God created the heaven and earth and all living things from a thought. So you see, God knows if we think it, then it can happen. So he doesn't want us to think it.

So yes, today the Ten Commandments in its entirety are relevant to live Godly. The commandments of God will continue to be relevant until heaven and earth pass.

Here are the Ten Commandments in entirety listed in the book of Exodus and Deuteronomy.

Define Godly - 15 Scriptures That Define Godly

"Please help me God understand how to live Godly. I want to live a Godly life, but I do not know exactly how. Please define Godly for me. Make it clear and plain so I can follow. Thank you God, In Jesus Name. Amen"

This is the prayer I say often these days. Looking for true understanding and revelation of God. I desire to seek God, as we all should. In my search to understand my role in God's kingdom the answer is always, Read God's Word. Read the Bible for understanding.

Several years ago, my Pastor showed me how to study the Bible, by using a concordance.  A concordance is a biblical dictionary. It lists every word in the Bible along with corresponding scriptures. In addition, it contains Hebrew and Greek dictionaries.

Sure enough when I open Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible to Godly, I see several scriptures listed; specifically a total of fifteen.

Scriptures That Define Godly

Psalm 4:3	2 Corinthians 7:9	2 Timothy 3:12
Psalm 12:1	2 Corinthians 7:10	Titus 2:12
Psalm 32:6	2 Corinthians 7:11	Hebrews 12:28
Malachi 2:15	2 Corinthians 11:2	2 Peter 2:9
Corinthians 1:12	1 Timothy 1:4	3 John 6

The first scripture we will discuss to define Godly is Psalm 4. I encourage you to read Psalm 4 before reading the next post.

I encourage you to leave comments and questions. Hopefully, we can learn to live a Godly life together.