“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.”
Comment:
This is clearly green, but it is always useful to know what exactly we mean by “taking the Lord’s name in vain”. We have described it as “dishonouring” His name, which is more meaningful in modern English than “taking in vain”. The Hebrew word used שָׁוְא shav usually infers lying or deceit but also indicates making empty/void/worthless. These are all things to avoid when dealing with YHWH’s name.
The fact that the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain indicates that this is so serious it may not be forgivable. Is this the unforgivable sin of lying to the Holy Spirit spoken of in Matthew 12:31?
Do we make his name void or worthless by hiding it behind a title Lord, Hashem, Adonai etc? It is worth considering this question. It is worth noting that the followers of Yeshua that come to him in Matthew 7:21-23 call him Lord, Lord and claim to be doing many works in His name yet Yeshua claimed they were lawless and cast them into outer darkness.