Today we look at Commandments 3 and 4 from the listing given in the Book of Common Prayer. If an attempt is made to categorise the commandments, it will be noted that the first four have to do with our relationship with God, while the rest are imperatives about the way we relate to others.
Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.
The ambit of this commandment is a lot wider than at first appears. It prohibits not just swearing but also the misuse of religious language through profanity. The adjective profane, comes to us from the Latin ‘pro’ and ‘fanum’ which means "in front of" or "outside the temple". The original meaning referred to things not belonging to the church, e.g. "The fort is the oldest profane building in the town, but the local monastery is older, and is the oldest building," or "besides designing churches, he also designed many profane buildings".
The word "profane" and "profanity" has therefore come to describe a word, expression, gesture, or other social behavior which is socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, desecrating, or showing disrespect. Other words which are commonly used to describe profane language or its use include: curse, pejorative language, swearing, expletive, oath, bad word, dirty word, strong language, irreverent language, obscene language, choice words, blasphemous language, foul language, and adult language.
The original meaning of the term was restricted to blasphemy, sacrilege or saying God's name (or an identifier such as "Lord" or "God") in vain. A difference arose whereby profanity represented secular indifference to religion or religious figures, while blasphemy was a more offensive attack on religion and religious figures, and considered sinful.
In Colossians 3.8 we read, “But now you must get rid of all such things — anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive or filthy language from your mouth.” If we look at this abusive or filthy language we will find that in most languages words that would be considered profane, or swear words, fall into three categories. (As I used to say to my Religion classes at school – we will not be having any examples, thank you!)
The first are the words which are those about the Supernatural – these words either use words for God, or words which refer to God’s actions or characteristics.
The second category is made up of those words which describe body parts and substances which come out of our bodies.
The third category consists of those words related to a wide range of sexual activity.
There are many theories about why people swear. All too often an excuse is made that although a swear word is used, its meaning is not being referred to. My retort to that would be that people would quite easily use words such as ‘wastepaper basket’ as a swear word if there was no reference to meaning. It is worth our while remembering that injunction from Paul letter to the Colossians – ‘get rid of filthy language from your mouth.’
Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day. Six days shalt thou labour and do all that thou hast to do; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.
The topic of the Sabbath, and our keeping of it has been an area of argument in the Christian church for many centuries. Although God's rest on the seventh day, which we read of in Genesis 2:3 did foreshadow a future Sabbath law, there is no biblical record of the Sabbath before the people of Israel had left Egypt. Nowhere in Scripture is there any hint that Sabbath-keeping was practiced from the time of Adam to that of Moses.
The Scripture makes it quite clear that Sabbath observance was a special sign between God and Israel. In Exodus we read, “The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested”.
In Deuteronomy 5, Moses restates the Ten Commandments to the next generation of Israelites. Here, after commanding Sabbath observance in verses 12–14, Moses gives the reason the Sabbath was given to the nation Israel: “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day”.
God's intention in giving the Sabbath to Israel was not that they would remember creation, but that they would remember their Egyptian slavery and the Lord's deliverance. There were certain requirements for Sabbath-keeping: A person placed under that Sabbath law could not leave his home on the Sabbath, he could not build a fire, and he could not cause anyone else to work. A person breaking the Sabbath law was to be put to death.
An examination of New Testament passages shows us four important points:
1) Whenever Christ appears in his resurrected form and the day is mentioned, it is always the first day of the week.
2) The only time the Sabbath is mentioned from Acts through to Revelation it is for evangelistic purposes to the Jews and the setting is usually in a synagogue. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:20, “to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews”. Paul did not go to the synagogue to have fellowship with, and build up those there. He went for one reason; to convert those who would listen. There is a lesson in there for us in these days of inter-faith meetings.
3) Once Paul states in Acts 18, “from now on I will go to the Gentiles”, the Sabbath is never again mentioned, with one exception.
And 4) instead of suggesting adherence to the Sabbath day, the remainder of the New Testament implies the opposite. There is no obligation for the New Testament believer to keep the Sabbath, and a careful study of the New Testament will show that the idea of a Sunday “Christian Sabbath” is also unscriptural. There is the one exception mentioned before. “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” We find that in Colossians 2:16–17.
Historically there has been some claim that a mandate by Constantine in A.D. 321 “changed” the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Again a look at the New Testament text will help us. On what day did the early church meet for worship? Scripture never mentions any Sabbath (Saturday) gatherings by believers for fellowship or worship. However, there are clear passages that mention the first day of the week. For instance, Acts 20:7 states that “on the first day of the week we came together to break bread.” In 1 Corinthians 16:2 Paul urges the Corinthian believers “on the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income.” This collection must have been linked with the Sunday worship service of the Christian assembly. Historically Sunday, not Saturday, was the normal meeting day for Christians in the church, and its practice dates back to the first century.
So, we can conclude that the Sabbath was given to Israel, not the church. The Sabbath is still Saturday, not Sunday, and has never been changed. The Sabbath is part of the Old Testament Law, and we know from Scripture that Christians are free from the bondage of the Law. Sabbath keeping is not required of the Christian—be it Saturday or Sunday. The first day of the week, Sunday, the Lord's Day, according to Revelation 1:10, celebrates the New Creation, with Christ as our resurrected Head. We are not obligated to follow the Mosaic Sabbath—resting, but are now free to follow the risen Christ—serving. The Apostle Paul, in the letter to the Romans, said that each individual Christian should decide whether to observe a Sabbath rest, “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind”. We are to worship God every day, not just on Saturday or Sunday.
On Sundays we recall the new creation inaugurated by the Resurrection of Christ. The teaching of the church is that those who claim to be Catholics are obliged to assist at Mass on Sunday.
May God bless you in your application of these commandments in your life.
