Other God's Names, a no, no!
Emails & Questions
Commanded not to Speak the Name of Other Gods
Q: Aren't we commanded not to use other gods names? Reading, "And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth" (Exo 23:13) And, "Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof." (Isa 42:10)
A: Mentioning the names of other gods? Certainly a good practice
and we can see, from the verses you quoted, that this is His warning to a people who have
sworn themselves to Him -- but, knowing the weakness of the flesh, would this
be possible?
The key to understanding what is being said -- in the KJV quoted the word, "circumspect", is better translated into the modern languages as "invoke" or "to invoke", as in worship -- calling on any other name in prayer or for assistance or to lay praise. Then, in such things do not let the names of other gods, that are no gods at all, cross your lips.
The ideal would be that no one would ever
mention or say the name of any other god -- is that the aim?
No, not really, think about it. The message is about worship
-- to worship with the lips -- our Sacrifice is recognized as
the Fruit of our Lips -- Heb 13:14; 14:2. Again, think about
it -- throughout the Old Testament record we find the mention
of other gods and about other gods and people selected as
prophets with the names or partial names of other gods --
Moses, name, for example is an Egyptian name -- Thutmoses, a
man god. Abraham, Ab, as in Aba or Father, Rah am, or Rah the
one. Father Rah the one. It is not about the name, it is
about the worship and if mentioning the names as in worship,
that is what is forbidden. Other examples: Elohim, is a term
used by the people of Canaan, and El was a god that existed
before Israel/Judah began using that name and the same for the
name, Baal. This is why some in the Hebrew Roots movements
are in arguments with each other over the use or not the use
of terms like LORD, lord, god and El or Elohim or Baal, etc.
Very righteous, indeed, but they are missing the point. We
will one day have a new and pure language but for now, YaHshua
had to give us a freedom by which we could move through the
world without hiding in caves, which would extinguish our
light, His light. There is only one name that matters, above
all other names -- John 20:31, Php 2:9&10, Eph 1:21, a
name that belongs to both the Father and the Son -- all
others, by comparison, are just chatter. Peace, Dan