God’s Image Study • Commandment 3: God’s Name
Our previous post asked what we attach to God’s name. Now we must examine the source of the words we place beneath that authority.
When I say that God has spoken, taught me, or directed me, I am making a claim about Him. That claim deserves careful examination—including when it comes from my own mouth.
A person can speak without being sent
In Jeremiah, God says:
“I did not send these prophets,
But they ran.
I did not speak to them,
But they prophesied.”
— Jeremiah 23:21, LSB
Their activity did not establish their commission. They were speaking, but God denied being the source.
Verse 16 identifies visions originating in their own hearts. Verse 22 describes what standing in God’s council would have produced: His words being heard and people turning from evil.
This requires us to examine both the message and where it leads. Does it call us to heed God, or reassure us while we continue resisting His instruction? Read Jeremiah 23:16–22.
Using His name does not establish His approval
Jeremiah 23:25–27 describes prophets speaking lies in God’s name while leading people toward forgetting His name.
Both things appear together: they invoked His authority, yet their message led people away from Him. Remembering YHWH (יהוה) therefore involves attending to the One whose name we speak. Read Jeremiah 23:25–28.
Could I repeat God’s name while allowing my own desires to determine what I say He wants?
Test the spirit behind the claim
First John 4:1 instructs believers to test the spirits, explaining that many false prophets have gone into the world.
A spiritual claim is something to examine. Confidence, familiarity, and the strength of an experience do not remove that responsibility.
John continues by addressing what is confessed about Jesus Christ and whether the apostolic testimony is heard. His instruction gives substance to testing; it does not leave us with the question of whether a message feels convincing. Read 1 John 4:1–6.
This examination belongs in our own lives as well. Am I listening carefully, or accepting a message because it agrees with what I already want to believe?
Jesus identifies the source of his teaching
In John 7:16–18, Jesus identifies his teaching as coming from the One who sent him. He contrasts seeking personal glory with seeking the glory of the sender.
The relationship remains clear: the One who sends, the one sent, and the teaching received. Read John 7:16–18.
That gives us another question to carry into our study: whose honor does my teaching seek? Am I helping someone attend to God, or making their agreement with me the measure of their faithfulness?
Love remains part of the examination
First John 4 moves from testing spirits to loving one another. Verses 7–8 connect love with being born of God and knowing God. Verses 20–21 expose the contradiction between claiming to love God and hating a brother. Read 1 John 4:7–8, 20–21.
This keeps our earlier examination of 1 Corinthians 13:1–3 before us. Speech, knowledge, faith, and sacrifice must be examined in relation to love. Read 1 Corinthians 13:1–3.
Before attaching God’s name to my words, I must be willing to examine their source, their truthfulness, and the way I treat those who hear them.
Threads to Follow
Remembering His name: What happens when a name is replaced with a title?
Receiving and speaking: How does John 12:49–50 describe the relationship between the Father’s command and Jesus’ words?
Hearing and doing: How does obedience reveal whether we are attending to the instruction we claim to honor?
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
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