Episode 44: The Second Commandment

Episode 44: The Second Commandment

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The Second Commandment: You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray praise, and give thanks.

Bible Passage: Psalm 50:15, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.”

  • What is the Second Commandment?
    You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
    • “The First Commandment has instructed the heart and taught the faith. This commandment leads us forward and directs the mouth and tongue to God. For the first things that spring from the heart and show themselves are words [Matthew 12:34].” LC 1:50.

  • What is God’s name?
    • I Am.
      God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14
    • For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
    • Jesus
      She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21
    • The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
      Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19
    • The Word.
      In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1
      • God’s name is everything He is and does. This is why God’s name is connected to His Word being taught purely (see the First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer).
      • “If someone now asks, ‘How do you understand the Second Commandment?’ or ‘What is meant by taking God’s name in vain, or misusing God’s name?’ answer briefly in this way: ‘It means misusing God’s name when we call upon the Lord God—no matter how—in order to deceive or do wrong of any kind.’… for God’s name cannot be misused worse than for the support of falsehood and deceit.” LC 1:51-52
      • “Then, with all diligence, we may guard against and dread every misuse of the holy name as the greatest sin that can be committed outwardly. For to lie and to deceive is in itself a great sin. But such a sin gets even worse when we try to justify our life and seek to confirm it by calling on God’s name and using His name as a cloak for shame [1 Peter 2:16], so that from a single lie and doubt lie results—no, many lies.” LC 1:56

  • We fear and love God in this commandment both in what we do not do and in what we do.
    • What should you not do to keep this commandment?
      • Take God’s name in vain.
        “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. Exodus 20:7
      • Curse or swear. “Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, ‘I do not know the man.’ And immediately the rooster crowed.” (Matthew 26:74) Matthew 26:69-75
        • “No one is so bold as to boast to all the world of the wickedness he has done. All wish to act by stealth and without anyone being aware of what they do. So, if anyone is caught sinning, God’s name is dragged into the affair and must make the wickedness look like godliness, and the shame like honor.” LC 1:59
      • Use satanic arts. “There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you.” Deuteronomy 18:10-12
      • Lie or deceive by God’s name. (Teach falsely). “Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 23:31-32
        • “Now you understand what it means to take God’s name in vain. In sum it means (a) to use His name simply for purpose of falsehood, (b) to assert in God’s name something that is not true, or (c) to curse, swear, use spells, and in short, to practice whatever wickedness one may.” LC 1:62
  • What should you do to keep this commandment?
  • Call upon God’s name in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.
    • Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me. Psalm 50:15
    • In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. John 16:23
    • First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people 1 Timothy 2:1
    • Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the peoples, proclaim that His name is exalted. Isaiah 12:4
    • Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20
      • “Besides this you must also know how to use God’s name rightly. … This commandment also applies to right teaching and to calling on His name in trouble or praising and thanking Him in prosperity, and so on. All of this is summed up and commanded in Psalm 50:15, ‘Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me.’ For all this is bringing God’s name into the service of truth and using it in a blessed way. In this way His name is hallowed, as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer [Matthew 6:9].” LC 1:64
      • “On the other hand, children should be constantly urged and moved to honor God’s name and to have it always upon their lips for everything that may happen to them or come to their notice [Psalm 8:2; 34:1; Matthew 21:16; Hebrews 13:15]. For that is the true honor of His name, to look to it and call upon it for all consolation [Psalm 66:2; 105:1]. Then—as we have heard in the First Commandment—the heart by faith gives God the honor due Him first. Afterward, the lips give Him honor by confession.” LC 1:70
  • Should Christians not swear at all? Consider Matthew 5:34: “But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all…”
    • “The question that has troubled many teachers has been easily solved” ‘Why is swearing prohibited in the Gospel, and yet Christ, St. Paul, and other saints often swore?’ [Matthew 5:33-37; 26:29; Acts 21:20-26]. The explanation is briefly this: We are not to swear in support of evil, that is, to support falsehood, or to swear when there is no need or use. But we should swear for the support of good and the advantage of our neighbor. For such swearing is truly a good work, by which God is praised, truth and right are established, falsehood is refuted, peace is made among men, obedience is rendered, and quarrels are settled. For in this way God Himself intervenes and separates right and wrong, good and evil.” LC 1:65-66
  • Luther teaches in the Large Catechism that we should impress this commandment especially upon children, so that they learn good habits. He also comforts us that this Commandment is of great aid against Satan:
    • “This is also a blessed and useful habit and very effective against the devil. He is ever around us and lies in wait to bring us into sin and shame, disaster and trouble [2 Timothy 2:26]. But He hates to hear God’s name and cannot remain long where it is spoken and called upon from the heart.” LC 1:71
    • “To confuse the devil, I say, we should always have this holy name in our mouth, so that the devil may not be able to injure us as he wishes.” LC 1:72
    • “It is also useful that we form the habit of daily commending ourselves to God [Psalm 31:5].” LC 1:73
  • What is the implicit promise in this commandment?
    • God promises to deliver those who call upon His name! Psalm 50:15

Bible Stories to teach the Second Commandment

  • Matthew 5:33-37 (Not really a Bible story, but part of Jesus’ sermon on the mount).
  • Psalm 50:15 (Again, not a Bible “story,” but a great Psalm verse that teaches the whole commandment.
  • Leviticus 24:10-16: The son of an Egyptian man and Israelite woman, who curses the Name and is stoned to death. This shows the severity of this commandment.
  • 1 Samuel 14:24ff: Saul’s Rash Vow. This the harm that can come about from breaking this commandment.
  • Matthew 26:69-75

Bible Verses for Meditation on the Second Commandment[1]

  • Leviticus 19:22: You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
  • Numbers 30:2: If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
  • Matthew 5:37: Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
  • Hebrews 6:16: For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.

[1] Credit Peter Bender’s Lutheran Catechesis

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