Why Do People Take Jesus’s Name in Vain? A Message for Resurrection Day
With Resurrection Sunday approaching I have been thinking a lot about Jesus and how wonderful he is. Every time I picture that stone rolling away, I get chills up and down my spine. After being tortured on the cross for hours on end, the Son of God was buried in the grave, but then, he rose on the third day.
By the way, the majority of Christian churches celebrate “Easter”— (I prefer Resurrection Day as Easter is a pagan word from the goddess Ishtar)– on March 31 this year (2024), but that is not the Hebrew biblical calendar date. Actually, Passover begins at sundown on April 22, 2024 because that is Nissan 14 on the biblical calendar. The feast of Passover will last for a week, ending at sundown on April 30. The Feast of First Fruits is what the Bible calls Resurrection Day and this will fall on April 27, 2024. I’m not saying this to be legalistic, but rather so you know that people may be celebrating Passover and “Easter”– Resurrection Day at different times. Messianic Jews who believe Jesus is the Savior will likely celebrate it at the appointed time on the biblical calendar, which is the April 22-30 dates. Some Gentiles will do this as well. The time you choose to celebrate is up to you— obviously the most important thing is to take time to observe Jesus’s amazing resurrection.
Jesus is the only one who was holy enough to die on the cross for our sins. He committed no sin himself, and therefore he was a perfect sacrifice. He is the TRUTH, THE WAY AND THE LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through HIM. He is the mediator between humans and God. Salvation is found in no other name.
Read that line again.
Salvation is found in no other name.
Even though God came to earth as a man and died for our sins on the cross, the entire world is obsessed……..and I mean obsessed, with cursing his name.
When I say cursing his name, I am talking about cursing (profaning) the name of JESUS CHRIST.
Years ago, you would hear people profane God’s name by saying Oh my….. and then the word God. Or they would say the word God and then follow it with a curse word that starts with a D. (You know which one I’m referring to). That is bad enough. But to be clear, the word “God” is not the Lord’s personal name. That doesn’t make it right or good to use the word God in a profane way. However, keep in mind that when someone uses the word “God,” they could be referring to any god. Again, that’s because the word “God” isn’t the Lord’s personal name. It’s a word people use to refer to God, so as I said before, it’s not good to do this. Also, the Lord knows who a person is referring to when they curse.
Times have changed and people are still cursing.
But now they are using a more specific, holy name.
For the last five years I have noticed this disturbing trend. Society and culture have made the name Jesus Christ a negative slur, or a word they tag onto any curse word that flies out of their mouth. People have gone from using the word God with their curses, to profaning the specific name of Jesus Christ.
This trend is exploding on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Hulu and just about all movies and series that are part of media networks. If you don’t believe me, just sit down one night and turn on a few random movies or shows. Wait and see how long it takes for you to hear someone curse Jesus’s name.
I am telling you—- IT IS OUT OF CONTROL. Many times, I have to turn off the show because it gets so offensive. What’s really horrible is that the queen mother of all curse words is used with Jesus’s name as well. You know which one I’m referring to. That’s right, the F word. It happens over and over again. Honestly, I rarely find a show these days that doesn’t profane the specific name JESUS at least a few times.
Growing up I didn’t hear as much cursing on TV, but if I did, actors/actresses would use curse words and insert “God”—- again, that’s NOT GOOD. This trend increased significantly as I got older. But now, the media, TV and Hollywood have gone full speed ahead using Jesus’s name as their new “go to” for cursing.
IT IS EVERYWHERE
I have never heard anyone curse Mohammad’s name.
I have never heard them curse Buddha’s name.
I’ve never heard anyone cursing the Yogi gods of Hinduism, or the millions of Indian gods.
I haven’t heard them curse Zeus, or Athena, or Jupiter, or even Satan!
But they curse Jesus all day long.
This isn’t just happening in the media realm. When I’m out and about, I listen to people talk. Again, the trend is no longer to say, “Oh my” and then the word God. Now they are using the specific name Jesus.
WHY DOES THE WORLD DO THIS?
IN FACT, WHY ARE THEY STEPPING UP THEIR GAME BY USING THE PERSONAL, HOLY NAME OF JESUS CHRIST ON A REGULAR BASIS?
Of course, Satan loves all this name calling because he knows that Jesus is the only truth! Out of all the little gods out there, Jesus is the only one who brings salvation to humanity. In fact, Jesus’s name (Yeshua in Hebrew) actually means SALVATION.
Technically, when people curse the personal name of Jesus, they are cursing SALVATION.
That is just plain sad because they don’t realize they need a Savior.
Satan, and those who follow him, know their time is short. As things continue moving closer and closer to Jesus’s return, it makes sense that the world would start cursing his name more frequently. After all, atheists and non-believers do not see Jesus as the way to salvation. Many are just plain hostile to Him.
The Godless Leaders of this World
Additionally, the globalists and leaders of the world are not Bible believing Christians. Most are either atheists, or adhere to New Age beliefs. Some of them even believe the government should function like a god. They are hostile to Christianity because it is the only religion that addresses sin and professes salvation through Jesus Christ. It is the only religion that genuinely teaches people to change their hearts and their lifestyles so they can be more like Jesus.
Secular leaders (especially globalists) are fine with any religion that ignores sin, or fits in with their current “One World” narrative. They have absolutely no problem with a society that curses Jesus’s name. In fact, movies and TV, as well as those influencing the educational systems, are bankrolled by organizations and government entities that want Jesus to become nothing more than a name for people to throw around on a whim. They want him demoted. This is why the switch has been made to profaning Jesus’s personal, holy name in film, books and everyday language.
You must understand that language is one of the first things that communist leaders change when they want to control the thinking of their people. Language changes thought and thought changes action. This is being done right now on a grand scale with all sorts of words.
Yet just the very fact that people never curse any other god shows that deep inside, THEY KNOW JESUS IS THE TRUTH, THE WAY AND THE LIFE.
Jesus reminds unbelievers of their sinful nature and how they need to turn to Him in order to be cleansed and free. But like Lucifer, whose pride caused him to fall from heaven, they refuse to let the truth penetrate their hearts. Thus, they quickly curse the truth instead of the lies that have deceived them.
IF ONLY PEOPLE KNEW HOW WONDERFUL THE NAME OF JESUS REALLY IS…. Of course, Jesus and God are one, along with the Holy Spirit. To know Jesus is to know God.
Recently, I read a book by Messianic Rabbi Kirt Schneider called To Know Him by Name. The book reveals the names and titles of God so that believers will understand who God and Jesus are, and how we should see them.
Below are some of the names used for God in the Bible and what they reveal about Him.
ELOHIM
The Hebrew word Elohim is not a personal name, but more of a title. It comes from the word EL, which is translated as GOD. Even pagan nations used this word EL to refer to their gods. In order to distinguish the one, true God of Israel, the Hebrews decided to add other words to the EL. They used words like EL SHADDAI, which means God Almighty, or EL ELYON, which translates as God Most High.
ELOHIM is actually the plural form of EL. When IM is added to the end of a Hebrew word, it becomes plural.
When God is referred to as ELOHIM, it does not mean that there is more than one God. Rather, it points to God having many dimensions. He has relationships within himself. Moreover, God has a relationship with Jesus, who was there in the very beginning. The Trinity is comprised of Father God, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
We see this in Genesis 1:26-27
“Then God said, ‘Let US make man in OUR image, according to OUR likeness’…God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
“In the beginning the Word (JESUS) already existed. The Word (JESUS) was with God, and the Word (JESUS) was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.”
The title ELOHIM also tells humanity that God is the CREATOR of the universe and his Son Jesus was there with him when he did it.
Sadly, public school systems teach that the universe was created through an impersonal force called evolution. Thus, God is denied as the Creator. The lie of evolution is perpetuated in movies, TV, media and even in the National Parks, museums and attractions.
It’s no wonder that God’s name, specifically Jesus’s name, is being cursed. He is not revered as the Creator of the universe who was there at the very beginning. By the time kids get through a public-school education, they have come to believe that the universe has no Creator. Because of this, their identity, and Jesus’s identity, is skewed.
God (Jesus) created mankind in His image. Male and female, he created them.
If humans don’t believe this, they lose the true sense of who they are. Now we can see why so many young people think they were born in the wrong body, or believe they are the wrong gender. On social media I have heard people within the LGBTQ community cursing Jesus’s name— why? Because they don’t believe Jesus created them in the first place.
EL ELYON- GOD MOST HIGH
Another name used for God in the Bible is El Elyon. This means he is the HIGHEST, MOST EXALTED ONE. Furthermore, it means God (Jesus) has authority over absolutely everything! The pagan, counterfeit gods that are exalted by the New Age Movement, Satanism and the false religions of the world have no real power. Yes, demonic forces behind these gods can cause problems, but they are under the feet of God (Jesus). They can only do what God allows them to do and only for an allotted amount of time.
The atheists, Gnostics, transhumanists, evolutionists, New Agers and godless rulers in this world do not acknowledge Jesus as the High, Exalted One (El Elyon). Thus, they believe that either MAN or some “little gods” (which are really demons/or Nephilim) are in control. They believe that they have the power to change humanity, or to steer it where they want it to go.
These kinds of leaders, rulers and influencers will do their best to enact policies that limit a person’s religious freedom, particularly when it relates to Jesus. The laws will be discriminatory toward Christians. They will even try to change the language of people so they don’t speak openly about Jesus being the MOST HIGH. Instead, they will condone and popularize cursing His holy name.
Sometimes, it might seem like God–El Elyon– has stepped back from our world while he lets the atheists and godless agendas take over. After all, if he’s the MOST HIGH, why does he let them have their way?
The time is coming when God’s fullness, justice and righteousness will fill the earth. He will do away with evil agendas and the people behind them. Those who curse HIS name will eventually face the music and they will be the ones who are cursed.
EL SHADDAI
This title of God means GOD ALMIGHTY, but it also refers to a God who meets all of our needs. Whether it’s food, shelter, a job, good health, a loving relationship, or a particular outcome for a situation, God is the one who can provide all these things according to His will.
If you think about it, lots of times, when people curse God or Jesus’s name, they are angry about something that didn’t go well for them. Perhaps a certain need wasn’t met, or they were not happy with a certain outcome. In frustration, they will say “Oh……. !!!!!”
They don’t say “Oh Muhammad!”
They don’t say, “Oh Darwin,” or “Oh spirit guide!”
Instead, they say… Jesus or God! This reveals that somewhere inside they KNOW Jesus (God Almighty) is the provider. They aren’t cursing Buddha about their situation because they know he can’t provide anything!
I AM
This name- I AM– is an interesting one.
God revealed His name to Moses by saying he was called I AM.
Exodus 3:13-15:
Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”
And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ “
Moreover, God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.‘”
God calls himself “I AM” in the Old Testament. But when we get to the New Testament, we see Jesus referring to himself as “I AM” as well.
The Gospel of John records Jesus (Yeshua) making seven I AM statements
Imagine if people believed all these statements! Do you think they would be profaning Jesus’s name? No, they would not. Instead, they would take great care to revere it and use it in an appropriate way.
So far, I’ve shown you some titles for God, but I haven’t shown you his personal name.
Many people will say that God’s personal name is YAHWEH- they get this by taking the four letters that make up his name —Yud Hey Vav Hey— and then inserting vowels in between.
Technically, there are no vowels in Hebrew so this is problematic. Vowels were inserted between the letters of God’s personal name so people could pronounce it. But those four letters are unpronounceable – some biblical scholars say this was purposefully done so God’s personal name couldn’t be profaned.
There are some ancient Rabbis who say that the way to speak God’s personal name was given to them, and then it was written in the Talmud—but no one knows for sure if the pronunciation they described is correct. Nonetheless, the letters themselves have great meaning.
See the letters below of God’s personal name. As I said before, the Bible does not show any vowels between these letters and that’s why the pronunciation is uncertain.
The letters YUD HAY VAV HEY go from right to left in the picture above……..
YUD/YOD
The letter YUD (Yod) is the smallest letter on the right. All Hebrew letters have number values assigned to them. This is not done by chronological order, as there are only 22 letters, but the number values range from 1 to 400. Each number is very meaningful and symbolic.
YUD (Yod) has the number value of ten. This points to the Ten Commandments which God gave man to live by.
Even though YUD (Yod) is the smallest letter, it is found more than any other letter in the Hebrew scriptures from Genesis to Malachi. It is actually called “the atom of all consonants” and all the other letters of the Hebrew alphabet begin with the form of the YUD (Yod).
All Hebrew letters have pictographs and meanings associated with them. In the case of YUD (Yod), the picture is an ARM or HAND. I find this amazing because the Bible always mentions God’s mighty hand when referring to his power and works. God’s mighty hand placed the plagues on Pharoah, set the Israelites free and parted the Red Sea. God’s hand and arm are mentioned all through the scriptures and it always points to his sovereignty, strength and control over everything on the earth. It makes sense this letter would be at the very beginning of his name.
Interestingly enough, YOD is a small letter, but it points to POWER.
How do you get power from something so small?
Well, God does mighty things with the small and humble. The Bible tells story after story about God using the weak to do amazing things!
This is GOD’S WAY. God’s own name shows the attribute of humility and how through weakness, one can be made strong.
HAY- HEY
The second and fourth letter of God’s personal name is HAY (HEY), also written HEI-
This letter has a number value of five. I find this interesting because biblically, five is the number of grace. Here we see the letter HAY two times in God’s name. God’s ultimate act of grace was sending his Son Jesus to die for our sins.
The pictograph for HAY (HEY) shows arms raised up giving praise. In ancient Hebrew it also indicated “Behold.” The Hebrew word Hallelujah means “to praise God” or “praise to the king.” The root word of Hallelujah is hallel, which is spelled by using the letter HEY.
God deserves all praise and glory so of course this letter would be in his name!!!! It’s too bad that many people do not understand this. If they did, they wouldn’t be cursing his name, or Jesus’s name.
HEY is supposed to be pronounced like the sound of a breath (just like the H sound in English). This makes sense because God breathed life into man (into Adam). Life itself- the breath of life—comes from God. The Holy Spirit is also likened to a breath. In effect, the Holy Spirit is God speaking to us.
VAV
The third letter of God’s name is the VAV. This letter has a number value of six, which is known as the “number of man.” Of course, God created man. The pictograph for vav is a tent peg, nail, or hook. The Tabernacle used lots of tent pegs and hooks. This is where the Israelites would worship God before the Temple was built.
A hook or nail holds things together. We know that God holds the world together. Even more telling is that God’s Son—Jesus—was nailed to a cross for the sins of the world.
All the letters of God’s name point to the fact that he is mighty, powerful, miraculous, full of grace, worthy of praise, the creator of man, and his son was nailed to a cross to save mankind.
Nonetheless, his name, and especially his Son’s name, are profaned and cursed. But one day, every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess, that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.
First, we see the YUD (YOD) again- the smallest letter of the alphabet– (just like in God’s name)—-
We already know what this letter means. Of course, we can add that Jesus became small (like man) when he came down to earth. He had to become sin in order to die for mankind and save humanity.
SHIN
Next we see the second letter from the right, SHIN-
With a number value of 300, one thing that comes to mind is the small army of 300 that Gideon had when he defeated over 100,000 strong men. This is a picture of using something weak (small) to do something miraculous. This goes back to my point a second ago—Jesus came down to earth as a man, leaving his home in heaven to become “small.” Yet, by doing this, he claimed victory over the enemy through the cross. Another fact of note is that the Ark which Noah built was 300 cubits long.
As a pictograph, SHIN represents teeth or fire. This points to the all-consuming power of God, as well as judgment. One day we will all stand before Jesus— we will receive everlasting life, or everlasting shame. If we have received Jesus as Lord and Savior, we do not need to fear “teeth” or “fire” because we are declared innocent by His blood. If we have rejected him, we will face judgment.
Hebrew Today says, “The first letter of the word שָׁלוֹם (shalom) peace is shin. The ש is also the first letter of the word שַׁדַי (shadai) which is one of the names of God.”
Jesus is called the Prince of Peace and the only way true peace will come to the world is when he sets his feet on the Mount of Olives and rules from Jerusalem.
VAV
The third letter is a VAV- we also saw this in the letters of God’s name— it has the number value of 6 (the number of man).
We know Jesus was with God in the beginning when the universe was created, as well as when God breathed life into man. Jesus was nailed to a cross for mankind’s sins.
AYIN
The last letter of Jesus’s name is AYIN. This letter has a number value of 70, which is ten sevens. The number of completion (7) is multiplied by 10. Seven is also the number of perfection. Seventy refers to the nations of the world.
Jesus is the King of Kings over all nations. He will rule the earth one day with perfect, complete justice.
The pictograph for this letter is an eye or fountain— it symbolizes knowledge, insight and perception. Ayin definitely represents Jesus because all knowledge and wisdom- particularly spiritual understanding–comes from him.
In the New Age Movement, it’s taught that humans need to awaken their “third eye,” so they can receive hidden knowledge. The third eye is a pagan idea rooted in connecting with demonic entities that disguise themselves as benevolent spirit guides who can give wisdom to humans.
Jesus’s name contains the AYIN because he is the source we must go to for guidance, knowledge and discernment.
In today’s world, people turn to everything but Jesus for guidance and discernment. When humans lean on their own understanding, they end up in a bad place. And when that happens, they curse Jesus’s name instead of their bad choices.
I’ve only shown you some of the names of God/Jesus. But the main point I wanted to get across this Resurrection season, is that the name of God is HOLY. The name of JESUS is HOLY.
Though it’s disturbing to hear both God and Jesus’s names being profaned on a regular basis, the truth is that every time we hear this, we can be certain that Satan knows his time is short.
Satan is desperate to demote Jesus to a mere curse word.
Well, I’ve got news for him!
SATAN, YOUR TIME IS VERY, VERY SHORT!
THE KING OF KINGS WILL RETURN AND NO LONGER WILL HIS NAME BE PROFANED.
SATAN, YOU WILL END UP IN THE LAKE OF FIRE, WHILE JESUS CHRIST, THE HOLY ONE, RULES THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM AND THEN, THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH…….FOREVER.
The next time you hear someone cursing Jesus’s name, say a prayer for them. Likely, they have no relationship with Jesus. Pray they would know Jesus as the Holy God who saves them! Pray they would know that the one they are cursing is actually the ONE WHO TOOK THE CURSE OF THE LAW OFF THEIR BACKS.
“But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.‘”
The Trumpet Blast 