Third Commandment

The third commandment, contemplating God's name, may be the most misunderstood of all. This commandment covers the quality of our worship.

Many think the Third Commandment merely prohibits profane speech. In reality, it regulates the purity and quality of our worship of the great God.

Many think the third commandment deals only with euphemisms and swearing, but it goes much deeper. It regulates the quality of our worship and glorifying God.

In the the Third Commandment, God's name describes His character, attributes, and nature. If we bear God's name, we must reflect His image and His character.

The prohibition against taking God's name in vain is the least understood commandment. When we bear God's name, we are to bear His character and nature.

John Ritenbaugh reminds us that the Sabbath is a memorial to the awesome creative power of Almighty God, a period of time God purposefully sanctified and set apart for the benefit of mankind, a time God shifted His creative effort onto an even more awesome. . .

God, not man, created, sanctified and memorialized the seventh day Sabbath from the time of creation, intending that man use this holy time to worship God.

At creation, God sanctified only one day, the seventh, as a day of rest. At Sinai, He again sanctified it as a holy day, tying it to creation and freedom.

The Sabbath is a special creation, a very specific period of holy time given to all of mankind, reminding us that God created and is continuing to create.

The fifth commandment stands at the head of the second tablet of the Decalogue, which governs our human relationships. It is critical for family and society.

Richard Ritenbaugh, referring to an email from someone who had stretched the meaning of the second commandment to condemn the use of all paintings, photographs, or sculpture, shows that Scripture is replete with examples of artistry in both the Tabernacle . . .

Names not only identify but they also arouse associations—sometimes good, sometimes bad. David Maas explains the biblically, a person's name held his reputation, a thing to be guarded and enhanced through godly living.

To appropriate the name of God means to represent His attributes, character and nature. Our behavior must imitate Christ just as Christ revealed God the Father.

John Ritenbaugh insists that God must be considered in a class apart. Incomparable, and unapproachable in the sense that there is nobody anywhere that even comes close to being like Him (Exodus 15:11). Our responsibility as the Israel of God is to reveal t. . .

John Ritenbaugh picks up with the account of Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem shortly before His crucifixion, an event which fulfilled prophecies and significantly dramatized Jesus Christ's messiahship. The crowds welcoming Jesus, while looking for a p. . .