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The Unwilling Accomplice
April 13, 2025 · 28 min
What does it really mean to take God’s name in vain? Is it just about expletives and oaths, or is there something much greater at stake?
Shawn Boonstra explores God’s third commandment and its tie...
Series Season 9 April 13, 2025 · 28 min · Season 9
What does it really mean to take God’s name in vain? Is it just about expletives and oaths, or is there something much greater at stake? Shawn Boonstra explores God’s third commandment and its tie... ...more Show the full description Show less What does it really mean to take God’s name in vain? Is it just about expletives and oaths, or is there something much greater at stake?
Shawn Boonstra explores God’s third commandment and its tie...
Series Season 9
81.3K followers
Authentic with Shawn Boonstra confronts life’s toughest questions head-on: What is our purpose? What is true love? Explore the depths of human existence and
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In this video 0:00 The Weight of God's Name18:31 Identity and Integrity
The Weight of God's Name 0:00 You know, I've got to admit, I really cringe when I hear somebody using God's name as an expletive, as a swear word. Not because I'm some kind of prude, but because it feels like a0:12 a personal attack on somebody I love and respect. But let me just ask you this, what's really behind the third commandment? The commandment that prohibits such things.0:45 Some of you might remember those payphones that had a credit card slot, the successors to the dime operated phones that were around when I was a little kid. This version allowed you to call long distance0:56 without having a pocket full of quarters or having to place a collect call. So 1 day, I was using a payphone in the lobby of a hotel when my credit card suddenly got declined.1:08 Now that really really bothered me because I'm not even the type to use credit in the first place. In fact, I'm pretty much credit averse, but I do carry a credit card because it's almost1:20 impossible to travel without 1 these days. And when there's something wrong with a card, I usually get on it right away. I mean, in my Dutch universe, having good credit is about the equivalent of having a1:32 good reputation. So I called the company using the 800 number on the back of the card and they told me what the problem was. The card was maxed out. Now that was impossible1:44 because I hardly ever used the thing. So naturally, I asked them, hey, tell me what I bought. Well, it turns out that somebody had used my card to buy a bunch of expensive stereo equipment1:56 in some city I'd never even been to. And get this, they'd actually physically been in the store and swiped a real physical card. Now, this was in the days before everybody was using
2:08 credit cards online. So the real option you had was to call in an order and read the number out loud or show up in person and actually swipe a physical card. Well,
2:20 of course the the charges were dropped my credit was restored when they realized it wasn't me, but I've got to admit that it felt like a real violation. Somebody out there was pretending to be
2:32 me and doing really dishonest things. Now this was before everybody started using the term identity theft, which is even worse than stealing a credit card. Identity thieves take pretty
2:43 much everything, your ID, your social security number, and now in some cases even the title to your house if they can manage to forge a property deed. What these people are doing
2:55 is taking something really incredibly valuable, your name and your reputation, and they're using these things in a dishonorable way, which is exactly
3:07 what you and I are doing when we appropriate God's name to accomplish something that we want. When I was a little kid, I was given the understanding that the third commandment was really a prohibition against naughty
3:19 language, especially if you were attaching God's name to your cussing. But I've come to believe since then that it's a lot more than that, that that was a rather simplistic explanation.
3:32 So today, we're gonna unpack this just a little bit and you might wanna grab a Bible and have it handy if you've got 1. And if you don't, you can always head on over to voice of prophecy dot com and look at some of the
3:43 great study bibles we have available because, well, some of them have extra wide margins, which means you can take a lot of notes. So today, maybe let's start somewhere obvious. Exodus chapter
3:55 20, which is the best known summary of the 10 commandments. And today, we're gonna start right at the very top of the chapter because I wanna point out something really important. Exodus 20 verse 1.
4:07 The bible says, and God spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Now, what you're gonna
4:19 notice in most English translations is that the word Lord is written with all capital letters. And that's because the translators are letting you know that the original Hebrew is something the scholars
4:31 call the Tetragrammaton, the 4 Hebrew letters that make up God's name. And those 4 letters, as you probably know, are YHVH or YHVH if
4:42 you transliterate it into English. Now of course, YHVH is pretty hard to pronounce, and back in the medieval period, we invented the word Jehovah as a
4:54 pronounceable stand in for the letters. Then in recent years, we kind of wandered away from that and tried to be more accurate. So now you'll hear people using the name Yahweh instead. The
5:06 real truth is, we don't know exactly how it's pronounced. But we do know this. The way God's name is used throughout the Bible indicates that how you use God's name is
5:18 not a trifling matter. When God first met Moses at the burning bush, he used this 4 letter name because Moses wanted to know what his credentials would be if he went to go speak to the Israelites.
5:30 When they asked who sent me, what should I say? Here's God's reply back in Exodus chapter 3. God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, say this to the
5:42 people of Israel, I am has sent me to you. The name y h v h or yad he vav he is a form of the Hebrew verb to be. And
5:54 throughout the Bible, God identifies himself as a self existent being, which means that he's truly eternal. He doesn't depend on anybody or anything else for his existence, but it's even
6:06 more than that. Everything else that does exist depends on him. And so there's a sense in which the holy name also means I will cause it to be, as in God is the
6:17 creator. He's letting us know that the entire universe including us is only here because he caused it. So as you can probably guess, the identity of the creator is not
6:29 a trifling matter. In fact, who he is, who he claims to be, well, it's pretty important for all of us because you wouldn't be here without him. So when God descends on
6:41 Sinai to address his people, he starts by reminding them that the great I Am is speaking, the 1 who led them out of Egypt. The fact that he identifies himself by name at the very top of
6:53 the commandments, the same way he did when he launched the Exodus, is a reminder that we are dealing with the very creator of the universe, the all powerful, all knowing, omnipresent
7:05 God. Which brings me to the third commandment, where God draws a clear boundary around how his name gets used. Here's what it says in Exodus chapter 20 and verse
7:16 7. Ye shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Now again, you'll notice this is not a small thing.
7:28 God says he's not gonna just let it slide if you choose to take his name in vain. And you know, given the way that you and I tend to downplay sin, especially in this day and age, human beings are often tempted to
7:39 consider the matter of abusing God's name as a minor thing. Hey, it's no big deal. But God says otherwise. It is not a trivial matter to him. God says he won't hold you guiltless if
7:51 you do this. Now, of course, you might think you got away with it. You might think it didn't mean much, but God disagrees and he says there will be a bill to pay for that.
8:03 But a bill for what exactly? Just for using God's name as an expletive? Well, clearly that's part of it, but the issue runs deeper than that. And before we take a really quick break, I'll give you a
8:14 little hint about what I'm gonna show you. Taking God's name in vain has something to do with the crime of identity theft. Maybe you've had your identity stolen or maybe somebody spoofed your
8:26 social media account. So during the break, think about the way that made you feel and that awful feeling you get when you realize that if people believe the imposter is you, it might just
8:38 ruin your reputation. I mean, have you ever seen 1 of those messages from 1 of your social media contacts saying, hey, if you get a new friend request that looks like me, please ignore it. Why are they so
8:50 concerned? And why do corporations use things like trademarks and copyrights? Well, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? It's so that nobody else can claim to be them. I'll be right back
9:02 after this.
9:06 Here at the voice of prophecy, we're committed to creating top quality programming for the whole family like our audio adventure series, Discovery Mountain. Discovery Mountain is a Bible based program for kids of all
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9:35 When you buy a franchise, you have to sign an awful lot of legal paperwork that outlines precisely how you're allowed to use the company's name and trademarks. If you're going to open a McDonald's, you need to
9:47 look like a McDonald's, and of course, you have to behave like a McDonald's. Or if you're gonna open a 7 11, you need to behave like a 7 11. It's a matter of branding. And wouldn't you know it,
9:59 sometimes people wonder why we won't just let them use the name of this organization, the Voice of Prophecy. And it's for the same reason. For almost a hundred years, this organization has preserved a very
10:10 pristine reputation. People know what we are. And in the world of the Internet where international boundaries don't really exist anymore, it doesn't take very long for somebody to cause significant
10:22 damage by going out there and pretending to be you. I mean, some dishonest person could open a YouTube channel and claim to be affiliated with us and they could spout a lot of religious nonsense. And
10:34 believe me, people try it so we don't allow it. And when we find somebody doing it, we shut it down like yesterday. So what exactly does it mean to take the Lord's name in
10:45 vain? Well, it actually refers to a number of issues from taking frivolous oaths all the way down to a person's general conduct. And I think maybe we should start with this business of oath taking.
10:58 There's a statement in the gospels where Jesus warns us about taking oaths lightly. You find it in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5 where Jesus sheds a lot of light on the deeper meaning of
11:09 God's moral requirements. A lot of that sermon is like a commentary on the 10 commandments. So listen to what Jesus says. Again, you have heard it was said to those of old,
11:21 you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. But I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is
11:33 his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make 1 hair white or black. Let what you say be simply yes or no.
11:45 Anything more than this comes from evil. Now, back in the day, a lot of pagan cultures were used to swearing by the names of their gods in order to emphasize their credibility
11:57 when they were signing contracts. Of course, the fact you need solemn pronouncements to underline your integrity says a lot about who we are as human beings because as you
12:09 know, anytime somebody has to really emphasize that they're honest, it has a way of making you doubt whether or not it's true. The ancient Jewish philosopher Philo described the problem like this. He
12:21 said, that being which is the most beautiful and the most beneficial to human life and suitable to rational nature swears not itself, because truth on every point is so innate with him that
12:32 his bare word is accounted an oath. Next to not swearing at all, the second best thing is to keep one's oath. For by the mere fact of swearing at all, the swearer shows that there
12:44 is some suspicion of his not being trustworthy. So, in other words, the best possible reputation you can have is to have people think you're honest, that when you say
12:56 something, everybody can take it to the bank. The next best thing according to Philo is to swear an oath. But if you're really adamant about doing that, it makes a lot of people just suspect
13:08 Maybe you aren't all that honest Back in the ancient world people would invoke the names of their gods when they were entering into a solemn contract in order to make the penalty for breaking that contract
13:20 seem all the more serious They they were basically saying, may my God punish me severely if I don't keep my word. And of course, invoking the name of Yahweh is very serious
13:32 business. You want it to be very careful if you did that because God insists that his name is holy and he expects us to treat it with the utmost reverence. So the Pharisees and other religious
13:44 experts came up with all these little loopholes they could use to swear oath that didn't actually involve God's name. They would swear by Jerusalem or they would swear by the heavens or they would swear by the earth. And
13:55 Jesus told them, look, these are loopholes and loopholes are pointless. Why? It's because character is what matters. I mean these were the people who adopted God's name.
14:07 They they publicly identified with him. Your words were found said Jeremiah and I ate them and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart for I am
14:19 called by your name oh Lord. Again, that's Yahweh. In other passages we discover that the temple was also called by God's name and so was the city and so were all the
14:31 people. It's as if God gave his people his personal credit card along with his signature. He allowed them to identify with him so closely that he actually called them by
14:43 his own name. So let's think about you and me. You might not take a vow that actually mentions the name of God, but the fact that you identify as 1 of his people means that
14:54 your character needs to represent him every bit as much as your words. And wouldn't you know it, there's a well known scene over in the book of Revelation where John sees God's covenant people standing on
15:06 Mount Zion, the holy mountain, and they have the Father's name written in their foreheads. Just listen to what it says. Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him
15:18 a hundred and 44000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb
15:30 wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.
15:42 You see, in the biblical world, your name was more than just a label. It was supposed to be a summary of your character. Parents chose names for their babies very carefully because they were praying that
15:54 their children would grow into the character described by the name they chose. And you'll notice that when God revealed his name to Moses again on Mount Sinai, he did it by describing
16:06 his character. You'll you'll find that in Exodus chapter 34. A name was a very sacred thing, and to be identified by God's name meant that you belong to him, and he
16:18 expects your behavior to reflect his character. That's why we find God's name written on the foreheads of his last day people. It's not a tattoo. It's not a computer chip. It's a reflection of the
16:29 way your mind has been reshaped by the very character of God. And if you really want your life to reflect the name and character of God, then being truthful is a really
16:41 good place to start. So Jesus says, look, it's not just your language that counts, it's also your character. So let your yes be yes and your no be no. And to this day, there
16:53 are all sorts of Christian groups that actually refuse to swear any kind of oath based on that statement, and what they'll do in a courtroom is affirm their intention to be truthful instead of swearing to
17:05 it. And honestly, I find that pretty admirable because most of us would rather be known as someone who is always, always, always honest. Now I'm not convinced that the statement from
17:17 Jesus completely precludes the taking of all oaths because you'll notice he still expects his audience to perform the oaths they've taken. And we have all kinds of biblical examples of oath
17:28 taking that are clearly within the bounds of what godly people are supposed to do. For example, the Apostle Paul swore an oath on more than 1 occasion and even God confirmed his own word
17:41 with an oath in Hebrews 6 verse 17. In Numbers 30 verse 2 and Deuteronomy 20 three:twenty 1, we discover that God expects us to keep our oaths.
17:53 So it wasn't exactly oath taking that was outright forbidden. What Jesus was trying to teach us is that our character should be such a close reflection of God that you
18:05 don't need an oath at all. So in 1 sense, taking God's name in vain is a reference to the ancient practice of oath taking. And if you're going to attach God's name to your
18:17 promise, you'd better be sure you mean it. And you keep that oath because, of course, God always, always, always, always, always keeps his
18:28 word. I'll be right back after this.
Identity and Integrity
18:35 Life can throw a lot at us. Sometimes we don't have all the answers, but that's where the Bible comes in. It's our guide to a more fulfilling life. Here at the
18:47 voice of prophecy, we've created the discover Bible guides to be your guide to the Bible. They're designed to be simple, easy to use, and provide answers to many of life's toughest questions and they're absolutely
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19:04 There's an old story that a good friend of mine used to tell about Alexander the Great. Apparently, somebody caught 1 of his guards sleeping on duty, and so they dragged the poor guy in front of the
19:16 great Macedonian general. We caught this guy sleeping sir. And of course that was a really serious thing because it often met the death penalty. By sleeping on the job, you'd actually
19:28 endangered the lives of your fellow soldiers. It wasn't taken lightly. So apparently, according to the story, Alexander looked this guy over up and down and said, what is your name soldier?
19:40 And for just half a moment the man suddenly felt a little bit of hope. Maybe he wouldn't be killed for his transgression. Oh sir, it's Alexander. My name is like your name. The great general was
19:52 quiet for half a heartbeat and then said, well either then change your name or change your conduct. And you know that's really what's at the heart of the third commandment. It's the issue of
20:04 identity theft. We've looked at the matter of oath taking, how God takes his reputation very seriously. So if you're gonna swear by the name of God, you'd better keep your word because you've made
20:16 God your involuntary accomplice. You've dragged his reputation into the equation. It'd be like 1 of your friends making a big promise on your behalf without your consent. It's the sin of
20:28 name dropping, using God to make yourself seem more credible. And of course, because you're a sinner, God's name almost always gets dragged through the mud when you do that. So is
20:40 God afraid that you're gonna somehow embarrass him? Well, not exactly because the cross of Christ tells me that God was willing to suffer the very worst humiliation to save you.
20:52 The reason the third commandment is so serious is because the entire human race has broken trust with God. And now, in his plan to save us, God is asking us to trust him.
21:04 And when you and I throw shade on God's absolutely trustworthy character, it has a way of driving other people away from him. I mean, just look at the reputation that organized religion now
21:16 has. We've earned some of that to be honest. And that was really the issue back in Jeremiah's day. The people of God were supposed to be a light to the whole world. The temple was
21:28 supposed to become, the Bible says, a house of prayer for all peoples. But instead, the Israelites denigrated the temple and made it less than it was supposed to be. So why was that a problem?
21:40 Well, the temple was a portrayal of God's love and mercy. It was a transcript of his character And if you obscure God's image, you're going to rob people of the hope that God wants them
21:52 to have. God told Jeremiah, they set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name to defile it. And now God has chosen to place his
22:04 name on us if you can believe it. To identify with us so closely that people will start to see him when they study us. It's 1 of the reasons I find it so despicable
22:16 when famous TV preachers behave badly. It's not that they're embarrassing the church and believe me they are. It's more that they're bringing shame to the name of God and it's shame that God
22:28 clearly clearly doesn't deserve. If you're gonna call yourself a Christian and it's a word that literally means in Christ. If you're gonna call yourself a Christian, you're
22:40 claiming to represent Christ's values and his character and that's a duty that nobody should take lightly. If I call myself a Christian and then go out and live like the devil, well that's
22:52 a good example of taking the name of the Lord in vain. But then you know it goes even deeper than that. When you work in religious circles like I do, sometimes people will try to convince
23:04 me to do something and they'll suddenly invoke God in order to persuade me to do it. They'll ask me, hey, preach on this topic or endorse this book that I've written or
23:16 endorse this album I've recorded. But instead of just asking, they try to convince me by saying something like this, God told me to ask you this. Really? Did God
23:28 really tell you that or do you hope I can't refuse you if God is attached to the request? Now personally, I I do think that God still asks people to do things, but
23:39 usually it's a matter of your conscience prompting you. He's trying to get you to do something. If you're gonna suggest that God told you to tell someone else to do something, well you're
23:51 claiming a kind of prophetic status and I'd be really careful with something like that. And I know I'm not alone on this. I think I might get more of it because of what I do for a living, but if I were
24:03 to hazard a guess I'd say that most of you, if you happen to go to church have experienced something like this. There just seems to be this subset of people who want to claim that God is driving everything
24:15 they want, and they seem to think that the rest of the congregation has no choice but to go along with them if they say that God is pushing this idea. Now to be fair,
24:27 I've had any number of occasions when I'm absolutely certain that God is prompting me to do something. I mean, if you're going to believe the Bible, then you have to believe in the work of the Holy
24:39 Spirit. And 1 of the Spirit's key activities according to scripture is to generate conviction. So, yes, I'm convinced that God has prompted me to do things.
24:51 But to suggest that God is speaking through you to get someone else to do something, well you better have some compelling proof because, I mean, why wouldn't God just talk directly to that
25:03 person? I'm convinced that when we drag God into our desires as an unwilling accomplice, it's another form of taking God's name in vain. You're invoking God where he did not
25:15 speak and it's not much different than behaving badly while wearing the label believer. I'd be very careful before you tell someone this is what God wants because at the heart of the
25:27 third commandment is a prohibition against dragging God down to our level. I'll be right back after this.
25:38 Dragons, beasts, cryptic statues. Bible prophecy can be incredibly vivid and confusing. If you've ever read Daniel or Revelation and come away
25:49 scratching your head, you're not alone. Our free focus on prophecy guides are designed to help you unlock the mysteries of the Bible and deepen your understanding of God's plan for you and our world.
26:01 Study online or request them by mail and start bringing prophecy into focus today.
26:07 Most of us kind of like to do a bit of name dropping sometimes because hey, when you meet somebody famous you want your friends to know it because you quietly hope that your own stock value rises if they connect you
26:19 to somebody prominent. You're riding a celebrity's coattails and here's the interesting thing when it comes to God he doesn't actually mind if you do that. He doesn't mind if you claim to know him. I mean if you
26:30 listen to the remarkable statements from the Bible, I mean this 1 from the book of Hebrews, Jesus. He is not ashamed to call them brothers saying I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the
26:42 congregation. Think about that. The supreme Son of God, the very fullness of God in human flesh is not afraid to identify with you. And honestly, if you were God and looked at
26:54 us morally corrupt human beings, would you be willing to identify with us? I mean, think of all those distant family members who share your name and you kind of wish they didn't. But the Son of God has such
27:06 profound love for you. He doesn't mind descending to our level to claim us. He even calls us by his own name. It's a gift that deserves the very highest
27:18 respect you can muster. And the Bible says that someday soon, the name of Jesus will command the highest honors ever paid to anybody. And imagine that, Jesus, the Son of God, the creator of the
27:30 universe, allows you to use his name, the name that will be exalted above all names, every knee bow, every tongue confess. That urges me to
27:42 take the matter of calling myself by Christ's name a Christian very seriously. Because if we're gonna use his name, we need to use it in a way that the world sees him
27:54 in us and recognizes that we actually know him. Thanks for joining me again this week. This has been another episode of Authentic. I'm Shawn Boonstra. We'll see you next time.
Shawn Boonstra
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