Father of our faith we thank you for by your grace we understand your laws. We thank you for cleansing us of all our wrongdoings. Grant us the mercy to live according to your standard of the law and according to your name that we have taken.

Law is a system of rules designed to regulate behavior. Laws are established in response to disorderliness or unregulated behaviors. Law is usually established in a disordered society, it’s created to refine a crude people; to make honorable a dishonorable people; to make careful a careless people. Law is created to give people a sense of orderliness and reference for actions.

Law is unnecessary in a society where people are well-behaved. Laws are supposed to check ill behaviors in people. For where there’s no sin, there is no need for law, but where sin exists, a law is needful, and when the law is established, it pronounces or identifies sin.

It’s important to learn and understand the law. For when there’s a lack of understanding of the law, a breach is inevitable. For a society, to become orderly, its people must first be properly educated about the law and its aim of establishment, so that they do not fall prey to the arms of the law in ignorance and whoever breaches the law after proper education does so in defiance.

The Ten Commandments are God’s law to mankind. These laws were handed to Moses because the Israelites were crude that needed to be refined. So, God crafted a law that will expose and announce sin. However, the people still continued to disobey the law largely due to their lack of understanding of the law and its expectations.

This article aims to dissect and interpret one of the laws of the Ten Commandments which states that “thou shall 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”. This article is going to explain this law as regards the everyday Christian.

To understand this law, we have to first understand its basics. The most basic part of this law will be to first know the name of the Lord, for it’ll be impossible not to take the name of the lord in vain if we do not know it.

WHAT’S THE NAME OF THE LORD?
In the past, the name of the lord was believed to be YHWH. The Israelites thought this name was too sacred to be spoken aloud, so the name was only spoken aloud by priests. The name was later substituted with Adonai and Elohim for ease of communication.

However, as Christians, our Lord is Christ Jesus and his name is Wonderful; Counsellor; The mighty God; The everlasting Father; The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Although there’s always the temptation for some of us to want to claim that YHWH is the right name but let’s be humble enough to accept that Christ Jesus is the name of our Lord.

TAKING THE NAME OF THE LORD IN VAIN
The Israelites thought that speaking the name YHWH aloud means to take the name of the lord in vain, so they refused to speak the name aloud so as not to take it in vain. The name was reserved to be spoken aloud by only priests. This is why they later substituted the name with other names for effective communication.

However, what the Israelites didn’t understand was that taking the name of the Lord in vain has nothing to do with speaking the name aloud. For if a person breaks just one law, they would have broken every law of the 10 Commandments (James 2:10). This means if a person bows down to a graven image, for example, such a person has also taken the name of the Lord in vain even though they might not have spoken the name of the Lord aloud.

So basically, the Israelites were constantly taking the name of the Lord in vain despite refusing to speak the name of the Lord aloud. This would mean that they were totally wrong about what it meant to take the name of the Lord which means they trespassed the law in ignorance.

INTERPRETATION
It’s highly important to note that the command didn’t say not to “call” the name of the Lord in vain, instead, it says not to “take” the name of the Lord in vain, but the people thought it meant to “call” the name of the Lord in vain, so they thought they were obeying the law by refusing to call the name YHWH.

However, the Israelites are a people called after the Lord, making the Israelites God’s own people. Therefore, each Israelite is a person who is called among God’s people. This means each Israelite has taken the name of the Lord.

As a people called after God, there are certain expectations from Israelites. They cannot bow down to any image because they have taken the name of the Lord, to worship him as their God. Therefore, bowing down to a graven image to serve it automatically means a person has taken the name of the Lord in vain for such a person has done what’s not expected amongst God’s own people.

The law was spiritual but the people were natural (Romans 7:14), so the breach was largely due to the way they interpreted the law; they did so naturally. Their way of thinking about the law was the problem; they had faulty thinking of the law.

As Christians, we have taken the name of our Lord and this is why we’re called after the name of our Lord. We’re honorable people and a Holy nation, and it’s expected that each one of us lives according to our Christly nation. Therefore, if anyone says they are a Christian and live contrary as is seen in Christ, such a person has taken the Christly name in vain and shall not be held guiltless.

When Christ walked the earth, he behaved himself a certain way and did certain things regularly for us to learn and continue in. Therefore, each one of us who has been Christened must behave ourselves as Christ and do the things we see him do.

There are behaviors expected from each one of us as Christians, and there are duties we must carry out. If these are not seen in us, it’ll mean that our adoption is in vain and we have taken the name of the Lord in vain.

Let’s all be diligent in that which we have been Christened, called, or chosen for. Let’s preach the gospel, and behave ourselves as Christ. For a Christian is a person who has been blessed with knowledge and it’ll rather be a waste if such a person is entangled in ignorance, doing things beneath his calling.

Very good.
To all YORUBAS who are 80 years old and above, such as,
FASORANTI, AYO BANJO, BANJI AKINTOYE, OBASANJO, OLU FALAE ETCETERA ETCETERA,
TINUBU MUST HONOUR AND RESPECT THEM.
IT'S A MATTER OF FAITH.
THEY'RE ODU-DU-IWAS. SUCH IS FAITH IN PRACTICE.

I believe this is unnecessary sir

orisa37:
Very good.
To all YORUBAS who are 80 years old and above, such as,
FASORANTI, AYO BANJO, BANJI AKINTOYE, OBASANJO, OLU FALAE ETCETERA ETCETERA,
TINUBU MUST HONOUR AND RESPECT THEM.
IT'S A MATTER OF FAITH.
THEY'RE ODU-DU-IWAS. SUCH IS FAITH IN PRACTICE.

2.

M.

Mk

Thou

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