STRM Newsletter 24 January – The Third Commandment

by | Jan 25, 2015 | Blog

The Third Commandment states: “Thou shalt not take the name of YHWH thy Mighty One in vain; for YHWH will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain“. (Ex 20:7 KJV) Most people regard this as an admonition against blasphemy and using the sacred name as a curse. However, a deeper understanding of the Hebrew word translated as “vain” indicates that we can make His name vain through lack of use as well as mis-use. This is exactly what the Rabbis and Bible translators have achieved by using LORD in pace of YHWH, effectively suppressing the use of the name. Many people believe that His name is HaShem, Adonai or Lord, none of which are correct. Others believe that we cannot know the correct pronunciation of His name, therefore we should not make the effort to try. I work for a European company and we often have visitors to our office. When I meet with Johan Schmidt and Pierre Vert, I call them by their true names. I would not insult them by anglicizing their names to John Smith and Peter Green. Why do we believe that it is acceptable to change the names of YHWH and His Son YHWShUA? In this week’s message we explain why it is so important to invoke our Mighty One by His personal name, YHWH. We identify, based on available scriptural texts and a rudimentary understanding of the Hebrew language, how to correctly pronounce the names of our Father and His Son, Y’HoWaH and Y’HoWShUA respectively. We also explain why we do not use pagan derivatives in our worship but choose...