“Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain” (Ex. 20:7). “The Lord thy God”, or, for preference, “Yahweh thine Elohim” can be freely translated, “Ile shall be thy mighty ones”. The Yahweh Name used in this commandment was originally announced to Moses, in the first person, as ehyeh asher ehyeh (Ex. 3:14), and can be translated “I will be who I will be”. “Mighty ones” (Elohim) was frequently added when the Memorial Name was changed to the third person. The Memorial Name is intended to declare God’s purpose; “I will be who I will be” in the first person, and “He shall be” in the third person. A memorial name is a name to be remembered, both for us (the Israel) and for God.
How was Israel of old to be associated with this Name and the purpose of its remembrance? Referring to this Memorial Name, the prophet Jeremiah records: “I am called by Thy Name” (Jer. 15:16); and speaking of Israel he writes: “We are called by Thy Name” (Jer. 14:9). And then, recalling Israel’s duty to remember this Name, God asks through Jeremiah: “How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; which think to cause My people to forget My Name by their dreams” ( Jer. 23:26, 27). God is quite clearly here referring to His Memorial Name which He made known to Moses.
Solomon in his prayer draws our attention to the significance of the Yahweh Name with these words: “That Thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which Thou hast said, My Name shall be there” (1 Kgs. 8:29); and: “When Thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against Thee, and shall turn again to Thee, and confess Thy Name, and pray, and make supplication unto Thee in this house … Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of Thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for Thy Name’s sake; (for they shall hear of Thy great Name, and of Thy strong hand … )” (vv. 33, 41, 42). Solomon also prayed “that all people of the earth may know Thy Name” (1 Kgs. 8:43). God in His reply to Solomon’s prayer had this to say: “I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before Me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put My Name there for ever” (1 Kgs. 9:3).
When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, the opening words of his prayer were: “Our Father Which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name” (Mt. 6:9). Undoubtedly Jesus had in mind God’s Memorial Name. And in that wonderful prayer recorded in John 17, Jesus says: “I have manifested Thy Name unto the men which Thou gayest me out of the world: Thine they were, and Thou gayest them me; and they have kept Thy word … And I have declared unto them Thy Name, and will declare it” (vv. 6, 26). It is clear that the knowledge of God, the Truth and the Gospel are embodied in the understanding and knowledge of God’s Memorial Name. When Jesus affirms that he has declared unto them God’s Name, he is fulfilling what was prophesied of him in Psalm 22:22: “I will declare Thy Name unto my brethren”.
Turning our attention to the Proverbs, we read : “The Name of the Lord (Yahweh) is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe” (Prov. 18:10). It is not only a Name which is called upon us, but also a haven of safety and a city of refuge. An understanding of what is defined by the Memorial Name of Yahweh is given us by Agur in Proverbs 30:7-9: “Two things have I required of Thee; deny me them not before I die: remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full, and deny Thee, and say, Who is the Lord (Yahweh)? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God (Elohim) in vain”. Here we have a direct reference as to how the Name can be taken in vain. To steal is to take this Yahweh Name, God’s Memorial Name, in vain, as it would be to murder, to lie, to commit adultery—in fact to break the commandments. Therefore are we commanded to “hallow” God’s Name in all that we do. Agur is clearly referring to others who are called by this glorious Memorial Name when he uses the words “the Name of my God” (Elohim—mighty ones, “who will be”).
While Agur thus indicates that the Name of the Lord is a strong tower, there is an echo of this in different language when the Psalmist prays, “Save me, 0 God, by Thy Name”, indicating clearly that Yahweh is a Name of salvation (Ps. 54:1). Speaking of the future millennial glory of God’s Name, the Psalmist also has this to say: “From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s Name (Yahweh) is to be praised” (Ps. 113:3).
When a son is born he takes his father’s name; this is typical. When a bride is married she takes her husband’s name; this too is typical. When we are baptised we are “born again”—born into the Yahweh Name. Having run into the strong tower we take the Name of the Father in sonship and the name of the Son as bride of the Bridegroom. The Name of the Father and Son is called upon us. That God’s Name was to be called upon the Gentiles as well as upon Israel is clear from the following: “I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: that the residue of men might seek after the Lord (Yahweh), and all the Gentiles, upon whom My Name is called, saith the Lord, Who doeth all these things” (Acts 15:16, 17; cf. Amos 9:11). We call the Name—Yahweh—upon ourselves in baptism, and we are baptised into the Name of the Father and the Son. Clearly then the third commandment applies to us Gentiles as well as to Israel: “Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord (Yahweh) will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain” (Ex. 20:7). There is a duty and responsibility upon all who bear God’s Memorial Name.
The swearing and cursing that we hear all too frequently, in which the names “God” and “Christ” are used loosely, is not therefore —in the Scriptural sense—taking the Name of the Lord our God, Yahweh our Elohim, in vain. It is a commandment for those who are called by His Name, who have put on this Name, those who are invested with this Name as were Israel. We ourselves take this Name in vain when we are disobedient to the commands of Christ, to the laws and precepts which we, as sons of God, should obey.
What then does this Memorial Name signify? It signifies all that God’s Word teaches in truth and righteousness, for God will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain.
The Solution