The commandments that were written by the very hand of Yahh begin by establishing the proper relationship between He and His faithful.

Shemot (Exod) 20:1-7

1          And Elohiym spoke all these words:

2          "I am YHWH your Elohiym, who brought you out of Egypt , out of the land of slavery.

            Here He has identified His position as sovereign authority. Next He establishes His exclusivity.

3          "You shall have no other elohiym before Me.”

            Then, seemingly to help insure our adherence He makes even the creation of images outside our authority, saying:

4          "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.”

            He then emphasizes this principle by His going on to carefully detail idolatry? Admonishing:

5          “You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, YHWH your Elohiym, am a jealous El, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who do not reverence Me….”

            Yet He then kindly balances this negative directive with a specific positive reward encouraging the hearer by finishing this ruling with:

6          “…while showing love to a thousand who love Me and keep My commandments.”

            He then concludes this primer on exclusive worship with:

7          "You shall not take the Name of YHWH your Elohiym in vain, for YHWH will not hold anyone guiltless who bears His Name irreverently.

            No taint, impertinence, mockery or worthlessness but only respect and clear definition are to be associated with the use or attribution of His Name.

            We recently received a request for admittance to our KUSA e-list. This application included a reference to a URL where we could ‘learn more’ about the applicant.

            Oh what a barm pot of unholy misinformation was there to unearth.

             When and if someone attributes gross ignorance to our creator, our eternal sovereign, YHWH, I see this as nothing short of taking His Holy Name in vain.

             It led me to question all the ‘holy dung’ that is consistently offered as wise and wholesome doctrine.

            Those saying the earth is flat or hollow, or that earth is the center of the universe or that the earth does not move because the bible tells them so, are throwing reality and the Elohiym that created it in the trash heap of ignorance.

            Metaphor, allegory, simile and figures of speech are effective tools of communication but should never be seen as proof of reality that supersedes demonstrable fact.

            *This experience took me back to an event that happened some twenty years ago.

            He verbally reasoned, “Scripture clearly speaks of His right arm and a foot stool for His feet,

tell me then, oh do tell, How, would He enjoy the savory odor of the burnt offering if He had no nose. Yes, right there in black and white, these most holy scriptures prove my case!”

            But, I say, aren’t we are told to worship the one true Elohiym and never to take His Name in vain?

            Just what do these words mean?

Why not turn to the language in which they were originally recorded to find what the writer was truly saying and what He really meant?

            That ought to be simple enough. There are only six or in a way seven Hebrew words. A close examination may enhance our understanding

(1)‘Lo’ #3808 (2)‘nasa’#5375 (3)‘shem’ #8034(4)YHWH #3068 (5)Elohiym #430 (6&7)l’shav #7723

 (1)‘Lo’ #3808, a simple negation meaning ‘not’ or ‘no’.

(2)‘nasa’ #5375, is to ‘take or carry’

Here Brown Driver Briggs gives a complete list of its variations, among these are:

to lift, to bear up, to carry, to take

a) (Qal)

1) to lift, to lift up

2) to bear, to carry, to support, to sustain, to endure

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (A complete list is given in the text)

3) to take, to take away, to carry off, to forgive

b) (Niphal)

1) to be lifted up, to be exalted

2) to lift oneself up, to rise up

3) to be borne, to be carried

4) to be taken away, to be carried off, to be swept away

c) (Piel)

1) to lift up, to exalt, to support, to aid, to assist

2) to desire, to long (figurative)

3) to carry, to bear continuously

4) to take, to take away

d) (Hithpael) to lift oneself up, to exalt oneself

e) (Hiphil)

1) to cause one to bear (iniquity)

2) to cause to bring, to have brought

(3) Shem is name

8034  shem (shame);

a primitive word through the idea of definite and conspicuous position; an appellation, as a mark or memorial of individuality; by implication honor, authority, character: as well as renown or report.

BDB says:

a) a name

b) a reputation, fame, glory

d) memorial, monument

(4) YHWH The Eternal.

3068

Elohiym

430  'elohiym-

1) (plural)

a) rulers, judges

b) divine ones

c) angels

d) gods

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ see text

2) (plural intensive -singular meaning)

a) God, a god, a goddess

b) god-like one

c) works or special possessions of God

d) the one true God

e) God

(6&7) L’shev

The prefix ‘L’ is ‘to’ or ‘in’.

7723  shav' (shawv);

or shav (shav); in the sense of desolating; evil (as destructive), literally (ruin) or morally and figuratively idolatry. Uselessness.

BDB lists:

emptiness, vanity, falsehood

a) emptiness, nothingness, vanity

b) emptiness of speech, lying

c) worthlessness (used of conduct)

            In ignorant frenzy the heathen shows utter contempt by misapplication and misuse of His monumental reality, His sovereignty, His power and His dignity.

Hear this lament. It is a simple Davidic dirge.

Tehillim (Ps) 74:10

10        Oh Elohiym, how long will the adversary taunt? Will the enemy blaspheme Your Name forever?

 And then, here repeated in paraphrase:

Tehillim (Ps) 74:18

18        Remember this, the enemy is taunting YHWH and a foolish people blaspheme His Name.

            If you were referred to as a dog or the son of a dog you would naturally be offended. If you were a fair and honest judge yet someone accused you of accepting a bribe to weight the scales of justice you would be outraged.

            His position of designer and builder of all reality includes all the laws of physics. To deny reality is to deny Him. On the other hand, learning the truth about the sun, moon and stars only increases our knowledge and respect of its designer.

            When, if we fail to get our head out of chronic mysticism, and when we allow ourselves to become comfortably habituated with ritualistic mumbo jumbo, we do ourselves and His name gross disrespect.

             By the same token, we lift up and honor His ‘Qodesh Shem’ when we are careful to attribute to Him all of His own beautiful reality.

            That is a figure of speech and we all readily know what is meant.

             Let us endeavor to praise and honor Him in honest reality and set aside our childish ignorance as well as all the worthless junk food to sooth our soul.

            Let us seek His face that we may serve Him honorably.

References Used:

Shemot 20:1-7

Tehillim 74:10, 18

Brown Driver Briggs & Strongs: #3808, #5375, #8034, #3068, #430, #7723

Divrei Yamim Bet (2 Chr) 7:14

Questions for Discussion:  

(1) Can misidentification be an offence?

(2) Can we create false elohiym through mental imagery?

(3) Can we fall in to worshipping these created images?

(4) Do we show our love or our disrespect by adherence to His will, His law and his purposes?

(5) Are there consequences to our thoughts and actions?

(6) Can what we think and say of Him offend our Elohiym?

(7) Whose task is it to be faithful to truth and honor?