Tuesday – July 26, 2016
The time has come for the Tuesday Word of the only living God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the one who cut The Blood Covenant that brought The Word in the flesh into to earth to redeem us from the curse of sin. We call His name Jesus, the One by Whose name we are also called. Today the Lord has me reminding us all to pray for the many governments of the United States not just the Federal Government. He also wants us to pray for our neighbors to the north, the Canadians, and today I am highlighting the Province of Quebec. Above you will see the map locating the Province of Quebec within Canada. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) Now back to our study of Colossians.
Colossians 3:20-21 (KJV)
20 Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.
The Apostle Paul is speaking to the children, generally those twelve or less as well as the parents as to what they should expect from their children. More importantly what does God expect from them and their children? The word obey here is different then what we have been looking at before regarding each of us submitting one to the other which is a voluntary and Godly act. Obeying has to do with hearing and doing: to hear under (as a subordinate), i.e. to listen attentively; by implication to heed or conform to a command or authority: – hearken, be obedient to, obey according to Strong’s Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary. Let me remind each of us that we are talking about lawful acts in the sight of God.
Romans 13:1 (KJV)
1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
If a parent says; go next door and steal the dog, the child is under no obligation in the sight of God to carry out that illegal command. Remember that we including children are to be subject to a higher power, powers that are ordained (intended or designed) of God. Stealing the neighbor’s dog is not a design or intention of God. We are all familiar with the Ten Commandments. The fifth commandment instructs us all as to our posture toward our parents all the days of their lives and beyond. Five is a number of the Holy Spirit, God Himself will help us to obey this commandment.
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.
To honor is significantly different from obeying. A child before bar mitzvah (males) or bat mitzvah (females) (age of 12-13) is to obey and honor, thereafter the command is to honor our parents. That is not to say that following the instruction (command) of a parent when you are fifty is wrong. It seems to me there is but a very fine distinction between honoring and obeying. Obeying is required without understanding whereas honoring is with understanding. We honor any person because we value them. That is why people including many in Church do not honor God or His Word, they do not see the value. Honor is a higher level of obeying, or submission.
Colossians 3:21 (KJV)
21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.
One final thing concerning our text is the use of the word “Fathers”. This may refer to more than the child’s immediately antecedent male. According to the Complete Word Study Dictionary the etymology is uncertain of this word father but generally refers to a man who may be a progenitor, ancestor, father, mentor, or model. We fathers are not to exasperate the children in our care least they become overwhelmed and become discouraged. That would be like our Heavenly Father showing us all the things we need to learn and correct in our lives all at once.
By Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
