Hallowed Be Thy Name

Post # 103

Jesus said in Matthew 6:9- 13, “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. ¹⁰ Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. ¹¹ Give us today our daily bread. ¹² Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. ¹³ Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.” (WEB)

Exodus 20:1-2 says, “God spoke all these words, saying,  “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Verse 7 says, “ “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” 

God’s name should be hallowed because he brought Israel out of Egyptian bondage. Moreover God’s name should be hallowed because of John 3:16-17, “ For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.”

Exodus 20:11 says, “for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.” God’s name should be hallowed also because he loved us so much, before he even created us, that he made the earth for us to dwell in. We should be very grateful and thankful for this.

What does it mean to take God’s name in vain?

John Piper of Christianity.com said, “The idea of vanity (and I think the Hebrew carries this connotation) is ‘don’t empty the name.’ “ (Here).

2 Timothy 3:1 – 5, “But know this, that in the last days, grievous times will come. ² For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ without natural affection, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, not lovers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; ⁵ holding a form of godliness, but having denied its power. Turn away from these, also.”

Those who claim to believe in God and yet deny his power  to create the heavens and earth, do empty his name of significance and therefore break the third commandment.

God deserves to have his name hallowed, esteemed and treasured based on his magnificent reputation, his pristine character and his indomitable Spirit.

Let us think of some of his other great qualities.

Our triune God has passionate  unconditional love, which he exhibited when he endured extreme suffering on the cross, at the hands of those he came to save. He still loves them.

God is consistent. Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” There are many similar themes  that are shared in the Old and New Testaments. CARM – Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry lists 28 common themes (Here – scroll to end).

For example God promised to send a saviour to repair the breach between himself and our first parents, Adam and Eve, in Genesis 3:15. A type of saviour was the near sacrifice of Isaac by his father, Abraham, but a ram was substituted in his stead in Genesis 22:6-18.  The sacrifice of Jesus was foretold in Psalm 22, and he was substituted for our sins. Jesus tells of his Father’s love and purpose for his sacrifice in John 3:14-17.

John Piper said that his greatest passion in life from now on is to hallow God’s name (Here).