HONOUR THY FATHER AND MOTHER
Thursday – March 16, 2017
Greetings once again from The Three Minute Word publications. Thank you Jesus for another day to love (be obedient to the Scripture) and move the Kingdom of God forward in the earth. Thought you might want to see a little more snow from the huge February storm in Maine. This picture is taken in Oakland Maine and the man you see over the snowbank is my brother-in-law pulling snow off the garage. Now I will pick up our Bible Study from the Book of Ephesians and we are moving into the sixth chapter.
Ephesians 6:1-4 (KJV)
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
2 Honor thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)
3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
The Apostle Paul is still on the general topic of submission but it is clear that the relationship of parents and children is much different than husband and wife. The word ‘obey’ conveys the meaning of being under one to whom you must listen to and do as they bid or command. The law of higher power will still apply here as well as other situations. By way of refreshing, a higher power, is one which aligns with the will of God. Recall there are three types of Law which are present in the Bible. First is moral law which is unchanging immutable forever. Second is civil law which is changeable with time and circumstance and can be set and altered by civil authorities so long as it does not violate the laws of God. Third is ceremonial law which since Calvary is for remembrance only. So, if the parent tells their child to steal something, to lie about something, or abuse the child sexually, mentally, or physically these are violations of God’s laws and the child is not bound to obey.
Next we come to the familiar command to ‘honor thy father and mother’. The point is made here that this is the first commandment with a promise. Much like the commandment to tithe comes with a promise of opening the windows of Heaven. In the case of honoring our father and mother the promise is for a long healthy and prosperous life. Seems worth the effort.
Deuteronomy 5:16 (KJV)
16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Just like obeying and submitting in our preceding studies we are not obligated to violate the laws of God when we honor others including our parents. Of course there are persons who have been raised in horrible circumstances abused by their parents and this idea of honoring is really hard to swallow at first. Of course this can occur the other way around where the child abuses the parent, which certainly did not honor the parent. If any have been abused by their parents, perhaps were the abusing parent, or abused your parents, forgiveness is the first step. Forgive the one who abused you, forgive yourself if you were the abuser, stand before God in repentance agreeing with Him about the seriousness of the matter. If possible give or ask forgiveness of the other person as led of the Spirit. Sometimes this can be very healing for the abused person and of course the abuser.
Let’s take a moment and explore this word ‘honor’ before we move on. When we are little up to age 12-13 we are to obey and following this we are to honor our parents. The word ‘honor’ and ‘glory’ are associated and the take away is to value. We are to value our parents. Things or persons which we value we treat far differently than things or person who we do not value. Of course we should value all persons.
Like it or not we are on the earth following one steamy night in the bedroom. We did not ask to be here, and we did not pick our parents, however we are privileged to be here in the image, likeness and of like kind with God with a future that is unfathomable in its goodness and wonder in Christ Jesus. Understand this, when we honor our parents we prolong our lives in prosperity on the earth. This honoring of our parents honors God and puts us in a better position to do our part for the Kingdom of God in the earth until our race is run. If any of us did not honor our parents and now they are gone we can make it right before God and clear that out of our way and from between us and God.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
