3er Mandamiento: No llevar el nombre en vano

Now, let's look at the third word. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. The most literal translation would be, you shall not take, from the Hebrew verb nasa, which literally means to lift and to carry. Good. You shall not take Yahweh's name, your Elohim, in vain, because Yahweh will not declare innocent to the one who takes his name in vain. So, all of this has to do with the name of God. Yes. In the Hebrew Bible, the name of God is written with four Hebrew letters, Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh. The oldest pronunciation we believe we can reconstruct with a lot of certainty would be Yahweh, which means that which is. It's a spectacular name. It's the most incredible name of all. Yes, it's a good name. It's the greatest name of all, because He is the creator of all things. I'll share another interesting fact with you. When God says He's going to guide the Israelites through the desert, He says, I will send a messenger to go with you. The translation says angel, and then God says, be careful in how you treat that messenger. My name is in him.

How you treat him, that's how you treat me. In other words, when God gives His name or associates it with someone, that someone becomes a form of representation or a way of meeting the God who is beyond all. When the priests entered and left the tabernacle, one of the special things they wore was a pectoral with gold clasps that contained 12 precious stones. On the stones were engraved the names of the 12 tribes of Israel, and all this symbolizes that the priest is a representative. When the priest entered with those names engraved on the stones, it was as if all the people of those tribes were entering the store. So twice, in Exodus 28, this is described as saying, Aaron will carry his names before Yahweh. In other words, what Aaron had to do for Israel was what it was supposed that Israel had to do with the name of Yahweh. That is to say, to carry the name. It is risky to associate your name with something. Yes, it is an intimate gesture. Yes, and the risk is that Israel carries the name of Yahweh in vain. That is the Hebrew word, shab.

It can refer to something that does not fulfill its purpose. For example, in Psalm 127 it says, if Yahweh does not build the house, those who build it work in shab, without any purpose. It will not succeed. It will not do what it is supposed to do. So God has associated his name with you, with a purpose, so that you represent it. So carry the name of Yahweh with fidelity. Represent the character and history of Yahweh with all your life and your being. And how is it supposed that we should do it? Well, that is what the rest of the Ten Commandments are about.