Though Shall Not Take The Name of HaShem Elohim in Vain
Though Shall Not Take The Name of HaShem Elohim in Vain
The Most Set Apart Master was glad and the heavens radiated with glory. Myriads of Angels watched in awe as a replay of the beginning took place right before their eyes. A time like this, quite some years past now Adam the living Shofar (rams horn) blasted the divine declaration as the breath of life reverberated through him, "....HaShem is the King For Ever!"
And now an anniversary of the first Shofar was taking place as the Torah, the very word that had caused life to enter the first Adam, was caused to be heard by Israel from the Loving Master and the Shofar blasted his Majesty. Mosheh describes the glory so vividly in Exodus 19 as follows, "...in the morning...there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain. And a voice of a shophar was very strong, and all the people who were in the camp trembled...."
It was early in the morning of sixth Sivan; the set apart day of Shabuot.
As the ten words were uttered from divinity no similitude of the Father was visible except the Word, even the Son (Deuteronomy 4:12). For the Word is the express image of the unseen Set Apart Father (John 1:1; I John 1:1,2; Revelation 19:11-13; Hebrews 1:1-3). The glory of the Father was too bright for the frail humans to behold and a medium, even the Son was needed to convey the perception of the infinite Father in quantum bits of glory.
And Israel gazed in awe at the glory of the Son, the only begotten of the Father, who is in the bossom of the Father (John 1:18). And Israel longed to be as free as the Son.
For it is true Israel had been set free from the house of Bondage and the cruel Masters of Egypt were no longer cracking the whip on his back. However four hundred years of slave mentality indoctrination had completely brainwashed Israel of the true meaning of liberty. And now the Set Apart Master of Heaven and Earth was at work; teaching Israel how to be as free as the Son, who was expressing the liberty of the Father (Nehemiah 9:13).
The first Truth was uttered: “I am יהוה your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, out of the house of slavery!"
That was profound.
The gods of Egypt, who Israel had been taught to revere by his slave masters, were not original, many could change on circumstances and they could be trashed at will. Here was a different one and an original one who never changes (Malachi 3:6). If Israel is to learn true liberty, he will have to be set apart and be original. He is to be as I AM; he is to be as HaShem (יהוה). For the very set apart name, יהוה, expresses the True identity of the Master: I Am who I Am. The incomparable one as Isaiah 46:5 declared "...To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?"
So if Israel is to experience true liberty, he has to be just like that in Leviticus 11:45 "....For I am יהוה who is bringing you up out of the land of Mitsrayim, to be your Elohim. And you shall be set-apart, for I am set-apart...". He has to choose either to be like other Nations and live in their shadow as copy cats or remain original and set apart as Balaam would later state in Numbers 23:9 "....For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I observe him. Look, a people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the nations..."
But how could Israel survive surrounded by all those nations? The common way is associations. It is common knowledge that no man is an Island, or so they say.
And the Master revealed it all: You shall have no other gods or mighty ones (elohim) before me (Exodus 20:3). The hebrew word used for before is a preposition 'al' denoting height. No other god's face is to be higher than our Elohim. Elohim wants to behold us all times. Something impossible if another god is taller than our Elohim. You remember Zacheus who could not see the Master since there were other taller people and who were obstructing Zacheus? If we are to survive in this world where conformity is the norm then there need not be anything between us and the Master.
The Egyptian theology was that the Priests and the Pharaoh were better than the common populace. Elohim was different: everyone was a child of HaShem and had direct access to the Father as Deuteronomy 14:1,2 states "...You are the children of יהוה your Elohim...for you are a set-apart people to יהוה your Elohim, and יהוה has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a treasured possession above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth."
This is the renewal of mind that Israel is to have if he is to survive in this world of slavery to corruption.
Besides the renewal of mind, he needs to be very much aware of how mortal he is. It is something that we commonly tend to forget: Our connection to the dust from which we came - our physicality. We forget there need to be boundaries; so we worship the creation instead of the Creator as Romans 1: 25 states "...Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.."
Therefore The second Truth was revealed "...You do not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of that which is in the heavens above, or which is in the earth beneath, or which is in the waters under the earth, you do not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, יהוה your Elohim am a jealous Ěl.." Exodus 20:4,5.
And herein lies a deep secret. HaShem is not like other mighty ones. The moment one assumes they fully understand the ways of HaShem then they are done! For then they can really formulate his divinity. So the Son always taught that blessed are those who hunger and thirst for more (Mathew 5:6) and the prophet said in Isaiah 55:9 "...For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.."
The secret is to always thirst for more, otherwise we will be sated and equate the Master to this material world and worship material wealth as the nations do. Then we will have become slaves of our own corruption and frailty and ignorance.
We have to rise even above our own corruption if we are to be truly free for it is written in II Peter 2:19 "....themselves being slaves of corruption – for one is a slave to whatever overcomes him..."
And the benevolent Father knew what was needed: cultivating his identity in us. So he revealed the third Truth in Exodus 20: 7 as follows "....You do not bring a the Name of יהוה your Elohim to naught.." Other versions render it as "...Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain..."
Yes! For we bear the most Divine and the greatest name/identity of the very Father as Numbers 6:23-27 states "...And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel..."
So now that we bear The Most Set Apart Name/Identity we become like the Most Set Apart One as Psalms 82:6 states "....I, I said, “You are elohim, And all of you are sons of the Most High...". Therefore the third Truth teaches us to know we are: we are elohim. For many times we forget who we are and we bring to naught our identity; we don't work out who we are. We live very vain and empty lives; conforming to this world and never realising our true selves. The Master says he counts it as a sin when we don't appreciate the name/identity we bear. That we are gods, "....for יהוה does not leave the one unpunished who brings His Name to naught..." (Exodus 20:7).
So II Tim 2:19 states "...However, the solid foundation of Elohim stands firm, having this seal, “יהוה knows those who are His,” Num. 16:5 and, let everyone who names the Name of Messiah turn away from unrighteousness...". This is the only way we can experience true liberty: realising who we truly are and actualising our true identity of divinity; It is only through living our original divine selves and not conforming to this world; otherwise we shall always take the Name of our Elohim in vain.