In this morning’s reading Leviticus 5:1 shook me to my core. It’s not that I’ve not read it before, it was more like this time it read me.
And if a soul sin , and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.
We had just talked about swearing and using God’s name in vain at the Jail on Sunday. We even read through the Ten Commandments to get it straight. And here it was . . . if you hear swearing, you are guilty.
One of my sons once told me “Leviticus rocks” while going through that class at Word of Life. To me it had mostly been dry, priestly procedures so I had to ask about this new revelation. The bottom line – no matter how hard we try to be clean and guiltless before God, it’s impossible. For the priests, even unknowingly brushing your foot against a dead bug made them unfit to serve – and how would they know?? The certainty of uncertainty forces us to depend on the mercy of God.
So learning that even hearing swear words was somewhat of a slap in the face. I felt like Isaiah: Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Isaiah 6:5
We hear them everywhere – on the street, on the job, on the phone, tv, movies, music, the list goes on and on. To some degree there’s no avoiding it. I had to think back over the times I heard my Lord’s name used wrongfully and how it affected me. And I had to repent of the iniquity I bore in even hearing my God and my Savior maligned in that manner.
And I had to consider why swearing, i.e., using any part of the Trinity’s name lightly is wrong.
1. It usurps God’s authority. Of course we know that anybody using God’s name wrongfully in no way displaces the authority of heaven . . . except in that person’s heart at that moment.
2. It makes false presumptions about God’s character.
I’m sure there are other reasons, but those are the two big ones for me.
Consider Shelomiths’s son. She was a Hebrew woman married to an Egyptian man who left Egypt with Moses. We’re not told how old their son was, but at some point after the Ten Commandments he swore using God’s name. The conclusion of that matter shook the Hebrews to the core much like Pearl Harbor or 9/11 shook the national mindset of our country. The young man was executed by stoning, you might say by Levitical rocks, literally. The Jews became so protective of God’s name that it’s pronunciation was lost to the general population and only passed down from one high priest to the next as he lay dying. That’s pretty serious. To this day orthodox Jews who fear God will not write out the word “God” as I’m doing here.
The big question I face is “Where to now?” How am I to respond? What will I do if someone misuses my Lord’s name in my presence?
The easy answer is to avoid people and situations where that could happen. There’s merit to that. There are many places and situations to be avoided. Avoiding people though? No – people need Christ, and how can our feet be beautiful (Romans 10:15) if we run from them instead of to them? There’s one idea, one glimmer of possibility that has come through this, and that’s to use the situation should it arise. As a follower of Christ I should be offended to hear my Lord’s name taken in vain, but rather than express personal insult, confront the offender in genuine love and humility for their own good. People don’t care how much you know but they do know how much you care. So love the sinner – open a dialog to present the gospel, to present Christ to them. It may be the very reason that God, in His sovereignty and providence had you in a Leviticus 5:1 opportunity to begin with.
