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?
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.
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?
No comments:
Post a Comment