Category: 2017 – Ten Commandments

What’s In a Name?

Exodus 20-7

This third month of the year, I’m focused on the third of ten commandments.  I’ve also heard it expressed, “No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won’t put up with the irreverent use of his name.”

Who God is forms the foundation for the first three commandments.  God’s name represents all that He is—His character and conduct, His power, His wisdom, and the honor and glory that belong to Him.  The Bible includes more than 500 names, titles, and descriptions of God, each expressing some aspect of His character, conduct, or nature.

God wants to be honored, never taken lightly or in vain.  That’s especially important guidance for us, as leaders.

Click here for more about the Third Commandment.

Who’s #1?

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_LI#/media/File:Super_Bowl_LI_logo.svg
You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.   Exodus 20:4

The Israelites couldn’t wait for Moses to return from Mount Sinai, so they asked Aaron to make them a god.  Aaron took their golden earrings and crafted a golden calf that they worshipped.  For the second of God’s Ten Commandments, He knew that no image crafted by human hands could ever accurately represent the totality of who he is, so he told them (and by extension, us) “not to make yourself an image.”

Exodus 32:20 tells us that upon his return, Moses “took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.”  No doubt that was a bitter taste that brought the people back to reality.

So how does this apply to us today?  Google “Super Bowl Idolatry,” and several articles appear.  There are many spiritual pitfalls—traps and snares—inherent in the Super Bowl.  Webster defines idolatry as the worship of idols, images, or anything which is not God; the worship of false gods; and excessive attachment or veneration for anything; respect or love which borders on adoration.  Ask yourself, “Does that apply to anything in Super Bowl 51?”

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