Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
In verse 7 we are warned against something that is very common in our world now. It is very disrespectful to take the LORD’s name in vain. To use God’s name as a curse word or a word to express surprise, etc. is foolish and it is evil.
Man has a vivid imagination. There are people in the past who knew this commandment and so they came up with a “creative” way to “get around” this command. The word “gosh” originated somewhere around the 16th or 17th century. It has been around for some time. It was invented to try to beat God’s law. It was a foolish move then and it is still foolish now. God is much wiser than man and He can see through every attempt to skirt around the truth.
There are also many people who claim that God does things He does not do. There is much false teaching about God. God’s Word is Truth. We learn Who God is when we submit to Him and are saved. We must accept His Word as Truth and worship Him in truth.
God warned Moses then and us now that He will not hold the person guiltless who takes His name in vain. It is important for those who are saved to remind others of the condemnation they are under when they take God’s name in vain. People need to be reminded of the facts.
Verse 8 is a verse that was abused by the Seventh Day Adventists. Mary Ellen White claimed that the fourth commandment stood out from the rest and she assumed that this meant that this was the most important of the Ten Commandments. She had possession of a tract by Joseph Bates that promoted the Sabbath and she later had a vision “confirming” this in her mind. She was a false teacher who was able to convince other gullible people that she was a prophetess of God.
Seventh Day Adventists do not keep the Sabbath according to Jewish law. If God wanted to He could have them killed for defiling this day. It is important to remember that the Sabbath law was given to the nation of Israel. That is the one commandment of the Ten that does not apply to Gentiles. All the others are repeated throughout Scripture and apply to all people. The Sabbath was clearly instituted by God for the Jews and the Scriptures are clear that it was specific to them.
Exodus 31:12 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
We first read of the Sabbath in Exodus 16:23. God began to instruct the nation of Israel of the significance of this day then and He also began to enforce this law for them. A day of rest in seven is important for mankind. God showed us this in Creation week. The New Testament shows us the significance of the first day of the week for born again Christians. This day was depicted in the “wave sheaf” that was the day after the sabbath. That wave sheaf was a type of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the reason why born again Christians stop their regular schedules of the week and take time to gather in a true local church to worship God and to fellowship with Him and with fellow saints. Jesus Christ rose on the first day of the week. He implemented that day as a special day for His sheep. He met with His disciples for special meetings on the first day of the week. The early Christians met on the first day of the week for fellowship and teaching. Christians demonstrate their love for God by giving Him special attention on the first day of the week which is sometimes referred to as “resurrection day”.
I understand there are people who want to point to the origin of the name “Sunday” as giving honour to the sun. The world will always try to take away from anything that is designed to honour God.
There are professing Christians who are confused and want to make Sunday the “Christian sabbath”. Sunday is not the Christian sabbath. Our keeping of Sunday is based on our love for the God Who provided salvation for us.
Those who are saved want others to see the importance of knowing the true God and of understanding the significance of having the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour and Lord. We want to exalt Him and make His name known.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
That passage speaks of the name of Jesus. The apostles lives were under threat because they preached Jesus to the people. They reminded the people of the fact that there is no salvation outside of trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. The Judaizers/Pharisees hated that fact and they tried to silence the apostles and others who believed this. God protected the saints and they did not stop preaching the truth. Souls were saved and saints were persecuted for speaking the truth, but they did not stop. The truth is far too important to allow false teachers to silence It. God will see to it that His Truth is proclaimed in every generation. We have the privilege of speaking the truth and living in the truth today. Be sure you choose wisely.
Pastor Bartel
