USE YOUR POWER OF THE SPOKEN WORD TO BUILD AND NURTURE A LOVE-RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

Thanks to Lucifer, Commandment No. 3 has been scaled down. A commandment has two or more decrees (ordinances, rules and regulations) under it. In the Old Testament a mere decree (Exodus 20:7) is being passed off as Commandment No. 3. Lucifer has the real commandment omitted so that nobody might observe it completely.

⁷ You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name. EXODUS 20

As we’ve said, Lucifer has been corrupting God’s instructions—contaminating, distorting and messing up our knowledge and understanding of them. His motive is to frustrate obedience, to spite God.

The Old Testament correlates Exodus 20:7 with swearing falsely in God’s name:

¹² Do not swear by My name if you do not intend to keep it; that will profane the name of your God. LEVITICUS 19 

Imagine a man in a courtroom, his left hand atop the Holy Bible, pledging to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Yet when he opens his mouth to speak, out comes lies and deception. That is an example of breaking Exodus 20:7. The man swore falsely in God’s name. 

God’s name is most sacred. It should be exalted and not taken lightly, moreso blasphemed, profaned or dishonored. 

³² Do not profane My holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. LEVITICUS 22

Y’shua expounded Exodus 20:7. That means it stands.

But to Him it is more of a call for integrity—for us to say what we mean and to mean what we say, doing it even if we do not feel like doing it.

³³ You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord. ³⁴ But I tell you, do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; ³⁵ or by earth, for it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. ³⁶ And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. ³⁷ Simply let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and [your] “No” [be] “No;” [for] anything [more you say] beyond this comes from the evil one. MATTHEW 5

God is an integrity-practitioner (1 Corinthians 10:13).

¹⁹ Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill? NUMBERS 23

² He does not take back His words. ISAIAH 31

⁵⁶ Not one word has failed of all the good promises He gave through His servant Moses. 1 KINGS 8

²³ By Myself I have sworn, My mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked. ISAIAH 45

²⁴ Surely, as I have promised, so will it be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand. ISAIAH 14

³³ I will (never) betray My faithfulness. ³⁴ I will not violate My covenant or alter what My lips have uttered. PSALM 89

The only occasion when God revokes His word is this: 

⁷ If at anytime I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, tore down and destroyed, and ⁸ if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster. ⁹ And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, ¹⁰ and if it does evil in My sight and does not obey Me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it. JEREMIAH 18

Christians are called to imitate the Integrity-Practitioner (Ephesians 5:1). That means the Christian who is not an integrity-practitioner is no Christian at all. 

So keep your word to God.

²² If you make a promise to the Lord, keep it as soon as you can. Don’t wait until you are about to die to set things straight. SIRACH 18

¹ This is what the Lord commands: ² When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said. NUMBERS 30

Repentance, baptism, Sabbath observance, tithing, marriage and priesthood entail making promises to God.

²² But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty (of sin). DEUTERONOMY 23

¹ Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. ² Do not be quick with your mouth; do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. ³ As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words. ⁴ When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. ⁵ It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. ⁶ Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? ⁷ Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore, stand in awe of God. ECCLESIASTES 5

And keep your word to your neighbor. 

A promise to a neighbor is a promise made to God. “Whatsoever you do to your neighbor, that you do unto Me,” said God in Matthew 25:40. Fulfill therefore your promises to your neighbor (Numbers 30:2).

²³ Even before you make a promise, be prepared to keep it. Don’t try to test the Lord’s patience. ²⁴ Think! Do you want Him to be angry with you on the day you die? When you face His Judgment, do you want Him to turn His back on you? SIRACH 18

God hates liars, but is pleased with integrity-practitioners (Proverbs 12:22 tev). Why? Because integrity nurtures LOVE-relationships. It promotes truthfulness, virtue, godly character, responsibility, dependability, trust, openness and camaraderie; and does away with falsehood, deception, buck-passing and moral indifference. 

God has made a personal promise to integrity-practitioners: 

¹⁴ Fulfill your vows to the Most High ¹⁵ and call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me. PSALM 50

And do away with expediency and lack of self-discipline. 

Why? Because they are the major causes of broken words.  

Expediency is a euphemism for Machiavellianism which teaches goals to be achieved “no matter what the cost is.” As for lack of discipline, you see it in persons who are quick to speak. They swear, promise to do something, without making prior assessment of what they can do and cannot do, and of the collateral considerations that might affect their capacity to deliver on their word.

²⁵ It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider his vows. PROVERBS 20 

⁴ If a person thoughtlessly takes an oath to do anything, whether good or evil—in any matter one might carelessly swear about—even though he is unaware of it, when he learns of it he will be guilty [of sin]. LEVITICUS 5

¹¹ If he fails to fulfill his oath, he is guilty. If he ignores his oath, he is twice as guilty. SIRACH 23

Because of expediency and lack of self-discipline, people promise to pray for us but will not. People bargain with God (saying “If you do this for me, I will do this for you”) but do not deliver their part of the bargain after their petitions are granted. People make an appointment but do not come on time. People borrow but do not return what they borrow as promised. People say “Go ahead, do it, you have my support,” but leave us in limbo, at times at an irreparable damage to us. People blame other people for their sins.    

Broken promises cause frustration, hurt, misunderstanding, resentment, depression, anger and hostility among neighbors. This in turn causes the unwary to stumble, hinder the spread of LOVE, and wreck LOVE-relationships.

¹³ Do not offer parts of your body to sin, [your tongue in this instance] as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. ROMANS 6

Have you been caught by your own words, trapped by your own promises? Well then, this is how to get out of it: “Hurry to your neighbor and beg him to release you” (Proverbs 6:2-3 tev).

THE REAL COMMANDMENT

Y’shua taught Exodus 20:7 but did not limit Commandment No. 3 to it. He taught the power of the spoken word. And He gave instructions on how to use it in pleasing God. One is the Great Commission:  

¹⁵ Go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. MARK 16

Other instructions pertained to praying, blasphemy, confession, and exaltation of the Most Holy Name. The existence of other instructions leads to the conclusion that Exodus 20:7 is only a part (technically a decree) of the real Commandment No. 3.

Now what could it be? For a while, I thought it was Bless the Most Holy Name. Bless as defined by Encarta: (1) RELIGION make holy: to bestow holiness on somebody or something in a religious ceremony; (2) protect: to watch over somebody or something protectively; (3) wish well: to declare approval and support for somebody or something; (4) confer personal benefit on: to give somebody a desirable quality or talent; (5) thank: to express heartfelt thanks to somebody.

But questions cropped up in my mind: “Why practice integrity? Why confess and exalt the Most Holy Name? Why pray? Why the Great Commission? Why refrain from blasphemy?” It was then that the Lord made me read what Mark Kinzer wrote:   

Just as our words can destroy human relationships, so our words can destroy our relationship with the Holy Lord. Conversely, just as our words can build up and strengthen human relationships, so they can build up and strengthen our relationship with God and other people’s relationship with God. (Taming the Tongue, p. 128)

While reading Kinzer, it dawned on me what the real Commandment No. 3 is: Use the power of the spoken word to build and firm up a LOVE-relationship with God. Also, it dawned on me what the real Commandment No. 9 is: Use the power of the spoken word to build and firm up LOVE-relationships with your neighbors.

This blog lists the two commandments accordingly.