Q: What does God require in the third and fourth commandments?
A: Third, that we treat God’s name with fear and reverence, honoring also his Word and works. Fourth, that on the Sabbath day we spend time in public and private worship of God, rest from routine employment, serve the Lord and others, and so anticipate the eternal Sabbath.
Exodus 20:7-11 ““You 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. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
So, the first question we need to ask is, what is God’s name? Exodus 3:14 says “God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” This can alternatively be translated “I will be what I will be”. This again leads us to the same conclusion we have reached previously, the Lord is indefinable apart from himself. God tells Moses to reveal his name to his people as “Yahweh” or “He will be”.He reveals his name to his people, as a personal deity that is in relationship with his people, that his people can call upon him personally. God revealed his name to us that we might ascribe to him the glory due his name, we do not praise or worship an unknown God.
When we speak of taking the Lord’s name in vain this is often thought of as blaspheming the name of the Lord, and that is certainly one of the ways in which we can take the name of the Lord in vain. James 3:6 says “The tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.” We are indeed prone to speak profanely in this way, but that is certainly not the only way in which we take his name in vain.
Psalm 115:1 “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” We take his name in vain by speaking slightly of God, by belittling his name. When we do not ascribe him the glory due his name, we are taking his name in vain.
Psalm 29: 1-2 “Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.” When we fail to show him reverence we belittle the name of the Lord.
When we swear in the name of God, we are taking his name in vain. Matthew 5:33-37 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 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 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 one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” Even our well intentioned oaths are not truly in our power to accomplish, only God can execute everything he wills, so do not falsely attribute anything to God that is of our own will.
Finally, Acts 19:13-15 “Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ‘I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.’ Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” As discussed, God revealed his name to us that we may have relationship with him, he did not give us his name as some sort of mystical talisman. He gave us his name for a purpose, so using his name outside of his revealed purpose is to blaspheme his name. Likewise, calling upon his name in prayer without faith is to take his name in vain. To try and invoke his name, when there is no faith, is mysticism and blasphemy.
We also bring great dishonour to his name when we misrepresent God by the abuse of his word. God has revealed himself most clearly through scripture, and when we use his words contrary to his intended use we dishonour him. Especially teachers are called to a careful exegesis of the Scriptures, that God is revealed to his people, and all people, as he truly intended. 2 Timothy 4:1-4 “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
We do not just blaspheme the name of the Lord through our words, Ezekiel 36:20-23 says “But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.” and also Romans 2:23-24 “You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, ‘The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” When we claim to be the people of God, but live like people unaffected by his rule, we bring dishonour to his name and guilt upon ourselves. In contrast to this Jesus says in Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
It seems that the Sabbath is a command that many of us struggle with in modern times, not just in regards to obedience, but in regards to understanding its requirement since Christ’s fulfillment of the old, and instatement of the new covenant. Perhaps the best way to approach this is to look at what this command reveals to us of the character of God.
Even before God laid out the ten commandments he had given instruction regarding the Sabbath to the Israelites in Exodus 16, telling them to gather twice as much manna on the sixth day as there would be none to gather on the Sabbath saying “Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.” He also gave commands in Leviticus relating to the Sabbath year which was to be observed every seven years, and the Year of Jubilee to be observed every fiftieth year. All of these commands reinforce God as the only true provider, it reinforces the idea that God wants our good, every gift he gives us is designed to draw us into deeper worship of him. Matthew 2:27-28 “(Jesus) said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
As we approach the Sabbath in worship of our creator and provider, understanding that in our rest, we show our reliance on him alone as the true provider, and we humble ourselves in recognizing our own labours cannot satisfy our need, we fulfill the heart of the command of the Sabbath.
Exodus 31:15-17 “Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” We are told that the observing the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant, and was to be observed forever – by all generations. We know that we are commanded to keep the Sabbath, but how we observe this commandment does not necessarily look like it did for the Israelites. Paul says in Colossians 2:16-17 “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” As the Mosaic covenant has been replaced with a better covenant, so to, is the Sabbath, the sign of that covenant, being replaced with a better Sabbath, an eternal Sabbath that we see revealed through Christ. We are still required to keep the heart of the Sabbath, in that we are required to worship the Lord as provider, we are required to trust in him over ourselves knowing that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17) It is right for us to set aside time in worship of our Lord, it is right that we take time to worship through the fellowship of believers. Not only are we required to keep these things, but it should be our joy and our desire to keep these statutes, it is our right response to our good Father.