Dementia for 2

This is day 2 of our learning process into the 10 Commandments. We covered some background in day 1 and the first two commandments.

The second commandment states:
"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)

This commandment is about keeping God's name holy. We are to respect the name of God. There are many ways that God's name is used in a disrespectful manner. The most obvious use is in using profanity. Stop and think about how many times you hear people swearing using God's name. You never hear people using the name of Gandhi, Buddha, Confucius, or any other name they consider holy in vain. I work around people from a lot of different countries. I have noticed that this is a favorite word of choice among them also. Have you ever stopped to wonder why?

The Hebrew for vain is "shaw" and it means vanity, falsehood, iniquity and emptiness. Among the Jews, it is forbidden to even say the name of God in vain needlessly. They don't even spell out the word God they revere His name so much!

When I thought about this commandment, I thought of all the ways I carelessly use the name of God. In casual conversation, in anger or exasperation, in fatigue, etc. While I don't use the more common curse word, I am guilty of saying the name of Christ in vain. Since the Bible teaches that God and Christ are 2 separate beings of the Trinity, to me this constitutes the use of God's name in vain.

Below I have listed some scripture for you to see that Jesus taught to obey the 10 commandments in the New Testament. Christ stays that He is the fulfillment of the Law. (Mt. 5:17)

So our homework for today is to review the first 3 commandments and to notice just how we and others use the name of God in a vain or disrespectful manner.

Verses in N.T. concerning 10 Commandments
# First Commandment: Matthew 4:10; 22:37-38.

# Second Commandment: 1 John 5:21; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 10:7, 14; Ephesians 5:5.

# Third Commandment: Matthew 5:33-34; 7:21-23; Luke 11:2; 1 Timothy 6:1.