Taking God's name in vain (revisited)

[Mirth1981]

Originally Posted by *AQuietPlace*

I know there have been several threads on the subject, but this is a slightly different take on it.

From this blog post:

"Briefly, here is what I believe your studies will show. The nations to which the Israelites were going had many gods. They were highly superstitious. Their prophets would often use the name of their god in pronouncements. The usage could be in a curse, hex, or even a blessing. They would use the name of their god to give their statements, whatever they may be, authority. To pronounce something in their own name would not have given their words much weight, but to pronounce something in the name of a god meant that people would listen and fear. They may have said, “In the name of Baal, there will be no rain for 40 days.” Or “In the name of Marduk, I say that you will win this battle.” This gave the prophet much power and authority."



Most assume that 'taking God's name in vain' means cussing. But, what if it means what the blogger above believes it means? If so, then that should give us pause.

How often do we invoke "God said" as a big stick to get people to do what we want?

Preachers who say "thus saith the Lord" to enforce their own belief system.... are they guilty of taking the Lord's name in vain?

How often do we do things and take actions and say that the Lord told us to do it?

If that is what this commandment means, shouldn't we think long and hard before invoking "God told me...."?

That makes complete sense..I have never thought of it that way before. Although it has always bothered me when I hear people loosely say "God told me..." or preachers claim that every word they speak over the pulpit is directly from God's lips.

[Baron1710]

Originally Posted by Timmy

I completely agree: it's wrong to say God said something, when He didn't.

Is that from God?

[mizpeh]

Who wouldn't get upset if someone said you said something when you didn't?

[*AQuietPlace*]

More from the blog:

"God was attempting to prevent the Israelites from doing the same thing. God was saying for them not to use His name like the nations used the names of their gods. He did not want them to use His name to invoke false authority behind pronouncements. In essence, God did not want the Israelites to say that He said something that He had not said. This makes sense. God has a reputation to protect. He does not want anyone saying “Thus sayeth the Lord” if the Lord had not spoken. All of you have experienced this. You have had people say you said something you did not say. This can be very damaging to your character. It is very destructive to your name. Why? Because it makes you out to be something that you are not. How much more important is it for God to protect His character? It is fitting that God would have put this as one of the ten most important commandments as the nation of Israel moved towards Canaan."

[*AQuietPlace*]

Originally Posted by mizpeh

Who wouldn't get upset if someone said you said something when you didn't?

Exactly!

This explanation makes so much more sense to me than any other I've heard. And I think it's a commandment that we frequently break! I'm going to be much more conscientious about saying "God spoke to me".

[SeekingOne]

Originally Posted by mizpeh

Who wouldn't get upset if someone said you said something when you didn't?

So you think God is upset with the church leaders and parents that teach people that God will send them to hell for things that have nothing to do with salvation? Is that what you are saying?