Copyright ©2019 by The Good Elder. All rights reserved.
In recent moments of contemplation, I found myself becoming upset and exasperated because people, by willful ignorance or apathetic indifference, allow themselves to be misled by people in authority. There are some evil people who try to take advantage of good, well-meaning people by using the name of God to gain support for their nefarious agendas. Knowing that such people exist (horrifying as that may be to consider), it becomes the obligation of the spiritual seeker to learn how to discern truth. See also 2nd Timothy 2:15.
Many of us (especially those who have younger siblings) have had occasion to be left at home by our parents, entrusted to use our home training to keep order in the house while they were away. As is usually the case, someone decides to act out the old cliché, "When the cat's away, the mice will play." The child left "in charge" may not feel that he/she has sufficient authority to halt the mischief. The child acting out is definitely testing his/her boundaries, and may feel insulated from the "heat" because the other sibling is "in charge."
In an effort to lean on higher authority, the child "in charge" may make a threat with the added weight of the words, "Momma said..." In short, the child is using the mother's name to claim authority or power that he/she would not normally have, in order to compel his/her sibling to comply with his/her wishes. Sometimes, it works, other times, not.
When it works, the child who enjoys how that added authority feels may be tempted to lord it over his/her siblings in order to compel (or demand) things that momma didn't actually say (or want). If the children being supervised complain to momma about these unreasonable or unauthorized demands, then the supervising child will shortly receive judgment executed by momma! In retrospect, we find those formative experiences of life to be funny--but also moments when we learned about not misusing the authority or reputation of another to achieve our selfish goals.
People with good hearts, who genuinely seek the LORD, people who may not be the most savvy in the ways of evil or cons, or in discerning deception might be easily misled by one who has no scruples about using God's name to dupe good people into doing wrong. So urgent is this concern that the LORD established that one of the Ten Commandments be a prohibition against using God['s name] in vain.
In our anchoring Biblical pericope, we find a prophet and a man of God who had traveled to Beth-El in Israel (the Northern Kingdom) to prophesy against that kingdom via the altar used there to burn incense. Although Israel had broken away under Jeroboam, God still recognized Jerusalem in Judah as His holy place; thus, Israel was committing a grievious sin by setting up their own altar.
Jeroboam further sinned, setting up anyone to be a priest who wanted the job, with no regard to preparation, holiness, or proper training or lineage (e.g. the Levites).
The prophecy was (essentially) the downfall of Israelite priesthood by way of one named Josiah, who would burn those who offered incense upon that very same altar. God gave this prophet specific instructions to prophesy and come back; he was not to stop to visit anyone, or to eat or drink while there. But, another prophet lied to him in God's name.
For disobedience (i.e. for stopping and receiving kindness when instructed not to), this unnamed prophet was killed. It seems harsh--why would God direct such a strict regimen for that prophet? To understand, we must consider the words of Jesus found in Matthew 10:41:
"He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward."
In short, God had prophecied destruction, but, by deviating from the script, the unnamed prophet allowed kindness to be shown to him; thus requiring God to bless the liar and delay His judgment.
That such a small act ripples out into enormous consequences may seem foreign to us or even fantastic, primarily because few, if any of us are on a high enough level, or are close enough to God where such seemingly small actions would have that level of impact. We see, however, with Moses and the rock of flint, Esau and his bowl of soup, David and Uriah, and several other accounts, that indeed, as we approach the sublime heights of spiritual attainment, everything we do becomes consequential at some level, especially if/when done before other people.
When we consider our topic, using God in vain, in this context, suddenly, this commandment doesn't seem so obscure. While traditional religious understanding is that the Third Commandment is about using profanity, it is much more important than that. Especially for someone who has this level of influence or impact, or even for those of us who strive for higher consciousness, we see how consequential our actions (and even our thoughts) are. We could lead others astray, which is the exact opposite goal of an Israelite (Israel is chosen to show the way TO God, not away from God). Conversely, if we are not diligent about out own consciousness development, or have not moved far enough along in our development, we could be led astray by someone using God's name to usurp power that he doesn't have to achieve nefarious aims.
We see, for example, the radical extremists who use God to justify suicide bombings, slavery, ethnic cleansing, and the perpetuation of oppressive policies and institutionalized racism. For our own so-called "Founding Fathers" all the way up to the Papacy (especially in Medieval times), the cry has been, "God is on my side to establish/continue slavery, to shoot, kill, and conquer, to pilliage and to burn at the stake... and all dissenters will convert or die."
With this very real concern/danger looming before a people still in development, a people who had been sheltered in the wilderness, a people who had not seen God's signs and wonders in Egypt, a people who did not see the Red Sea parted, a people who were not at Sinai--these heirs of the Promise, who had little direct experience of their God, Moses gave them (and us) a test from God to weed out the fake and false prophets (Deuteronomy 18):
[18] I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put My words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
[19] And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which he shall speak in My name, I will require it of him.
[20] But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
[21] And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
[22] When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
Jesus warned about false prophets as well (Matthew 7):
[15] Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
[16] Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
[17] Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
[18] A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
[19] Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
[20] Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
It is on us to become discerning. For too long, too many religious folks have been too reliant upon ministers to spoon feed people doctrines to believe, and people have become lazy and comfortable believing that, as long as they have something to believe in, they're okay.
But what if the presented doctrine is not based in truth? What if it's true but not popular? What is the member to do?
What if the preacher is more concerned about making that paper for his new Cadillac (or private jet, or his pocket) than he is about the salvation of his congregation? What if the preacher has been bribed by secular or political parties to entice his membership to accept a certain agenda, even if it is against their self interest?
How would one know what God would say if that one doesn't know God!? (Note: Truly knowing God is DIFFERENT from believing in a doctrine, no matter how fervent that belief is.)
How would that one know if that one has not spend time reading and studying God's Word, or hasn't spent much, if any time meditating on the His goodness? Bishop William S. Crowdy (affectionately known as "the Prophet" by his followers) said, "...prepare to meet your God." The world is full of distractions, but one should still make preparation a priority. Sometimes we don't feel like it, but prepare anyway! Some may think us to be strange, but prepare regardless of what they think. The powers continue to oppress the downtrodden, but prepare to meet God anyway!
If we prepare, then we will be able to discern who is true and who is not; we'll be able to discern who is using God in vain, who is presenting thus saith the LORD!
True religious traditions, ones where symbols and allegory are used to convey deep and sublime truth (like the teachings of Bishop Crowdy) are designed to lead us to God's front door! In such traditions, everything has meaning. The teachings force us to engage the mind. The effort required to evaluate everything, to think, to fit the conceptual pieces together, trying to assemble the big picture is how one develops one's discernment (since all truth is consistent with all other truth).
Many have, however, gotten suck (and comfortable) staying in a church mindset. But, if we would engage in these practices, we would SURELY reach Eternal Life without fail, for how can we not?
This is the secret meaning behind the "Shema" (Deuteronomy 6:4). The "hearing" referenced here is not just a physiological response to auditory stimulation. It describes the process of assembling pieces of "knowing" (i.e. discovered truth) into a complete whole message and thought, which reveals the oneness of God and His Creation. If God is supreme above all and in all, and we've been studying, contemplating, cogitating the all, how can we not begin to see God!
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