The Third Commandment

The third commandment says "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." Exodus 20:7

I have found several different explanations of what "misuse" means here.
 One is using the name of God along with swear words. Another is using the name of God while living a life of sin. One claim is that removing the actual name of God(Yahweh) from the bible is also taking his name in vain.

The argument for the last one is that God chose to put his name in scripture more than 7000 times. It is incredibly presumptuous at the very least for us to remove it. If God considered his name important enough to make a commandment regarding it then it is important indeed.

The Bethel Church of God  has a good article posted on this subject. They make the point that using Gods name while not obeying God is misusing his name. They also point out that if you take an oath using Gods name and then tell a lie...that is a misuse. And that anyone who claims to represent God but do not "practice what they preach" are dishonoring God.

All of these are good points. The only thing I am certain of is that I need to be more careful. Much more careful. And ask for forgiveness more often.

The Second of the Ten Commandments

The second commandment says "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations, of those who love me and keep my commandments." Exodus 20:4-6

This is one that I tend to forget. I don't know why really. It should be easy to remember that you are not to make idols of anything. And this could be something other than a "graven image". Money could be an idol. Power could be an idol. Fame? Celebrity?  Anything that you value or trust more than God can be and probably is an idol in your heart.

I like that it says he punishes the children to the third and fourth generation of those that hate him...but blesses to the thousandth generation those who love him. That is a huge difference.

And we all know it is true too. Children and grandchildren often suffer for what their parents do. Especially children of alcoholics and drug addicts.

And the United States pretty much shows that he does bless the descendants of those who love him. It was founded by religious people and until recently was very much a christian nation.

I think maybe we are starting to see some of the punishment these days.