ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Monite Ma’asi 20, 2023

שׁוא Hallowed Not Hollowed

KE TAPUHAA - ‘IKAI KO E TAUKAE

EXODUS 20:7

"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."

‘EKISOTO 20:7

‘Oua te ke takuanoa ‘a e huafa ‘o Sihova ko ho ‘Otua: he ‘e ‘ikai lau ‘e Sihova ‘oku ta‘ehalaia ia ‘a ia ‘oku ne takuanoa hono huafa.

To "take [nasa] the name" is shorthand for "to take the name of God upon the lips." Thus the psalmist says he will not take (nasa) the names of other gods upon his lips (Ps. 16:4). The expression "in vain" is "in shav." To be shav is to be empty, vain, worthless, unreal-to take God's name upon one's lips emptily, worthlessly, trivially. Since shav also refers to idols, using God's name in shav entails magic or false prophecy. Basically, God wants his name to be hallowed (treated as holy), not hollowed (treated as empty).

The right use of God's name is integrally connected with God's mission. "As is your name, O God, so is Your praise to the ends of the earth" (Ps. 48:10 NASB). The Lord wants his name "proclaimed in all the earth" (Exod. 9:16). So he protects that name, lest it be belittled or besmirched, and occasion given to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme his name (cf. 2 Sam. 12:14). He writes his name on baptism (Matt. 28:19). He proclaims his name through preachers (Luke 24:47). And he gives us Jesus the Messiah, who is his embodied and glorified name (John 12:28).

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name... on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:9-10).