“Honour
thy father and thy mother, as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee, so that thy
days are prolonged, and so that it is well with thee, on the ground which
Jehovah thy God is giving to thee.” – Deut: 5:16 [YLT]
NOTE: This is lengthy and intense. Please take your time to review it.
Theme
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live a
long time in the land that Jehovah your God is giving you.” – Ex 20:12
When
does this expire? Literally when parents are no longer living. However, parents
who have died can still be honored by sharing those positive examples set by
your folks that impressed you. Also, expressing gratitude if your parents
provided you with a good family life, a comfortable home, support in areas
needed and food that satisfied your needs all exemplary to your kids and
grandkids. Not every child will have a gourmet cook, nor meals that are always
perfectly balanced for health as a normal routine memory. But if your family
provided for you in ways most of your piers could identify as normal routine
then your parents indeed are deserving of gratitude. Expressing that gratitude,
though your parents are no longer present to hear your praise, still helps your
children to understand and imitate gratitude and of course honor.
How
does this prepare a child? First and foremost, teaching and living honor
towards one’s parents then serves as the basis for honoring their Heavenly
Father (Matt 6:14) [GOD ALMIGHTY] who they cannot see and their Everlasting
Father, Christ Jesus (Isa 9:6). It also prepares each generation to pass on
such sage to subsequent generations thus continuing the concept and actions of
honor. Thusly, benefits in obedience [remember: Honor parents is the first
commandment with a promise] will allow them to live eternally with GOD.
How
are we to do this considering today’s youth? Looking at the current culture it
would seem a goodly number of young ones from birth through adolescents and
teen years are not being taught to ‘honor’ by just about anyone let alone their
parents. In fact, many parents are trying hard to teach their kids ‘parents
just do not have all the answers’ undermining the natural need for kids to look
up to their parents as a trusted source of knowledge and experience. Also, some
public schools have usurped the parental authority by diminishing parent value
through comments like: they’re antiquated where computer skills are concerned,
lacking knowledge about academia all the while supplanting loyalty to their
parents with loyalty to themselves as teachers. The federal government has
proposed plans --in some cases already instituted – to care for kids who make
it to live birth from cradle to grave. In many situations outright stealing
oversight of kids from their parents in just about all situations. It is as if
the youth of today are the ‘possessions’ of the government at a federal, state
and local level and parents merely provide room and board for the after-school
hours. The various governments allow a stipend for the parents care of their
‘wards’ via tax deductions. Of course,
the foregoing paragraph is distilled and is not equally applicable across the
board because some states and local governments i.e., school districts, have
not adopted all the ‘oversight’ other municipalities and states have to date.
So?
Back to the question: How are we to teach our youth ‘honor’ with diminishing
family autonomy?
For
Christian families it is simple: “4 “Hear, O
Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your
soul, and with all your strength. 6 “And these
words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You
shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit
in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise
up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand,
and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You
shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” – Deuteronomy
6:4-9
This
particular family practice is an all-inclusive immersive experience for little
ones. It begins at birth learning to understand who GOD is -- in and to their
lives; learning structure is beneficial; early on learning the concept of honor
be it to their Creator, their parents, their elders, their peers, their family
members and yes to the whole of creation.
While
this practice was initiated back some 3400 years ago, it has not lost
practicality and value throughout the nearly three and half millennia. There
are families all around the world who practice this ‘immersive experience’
daily and who mostly see awesome results. In fact, one does not have to
necessarily use the Bible to see how families in many cultures still manage to
rear their young ones to honor, respect and revere their family members, their
elders, and the human race in general. How much more then should the Christian
never acquiesce this investment in their children to secure their eternal
salvation. If you do not or have not engaged your family in the practice of
teaching your young ones such things that would bring them to understand
‘honor’ it is a blessing to organize, implement and secure the family’s
corporate attention to this end.
What
exactly does it mean to ‘honor’? The Dictionary defines honor: “to regard or
treat (someone) with admiration and respect : to regard or
treat with honor” and “ to give special recognition to : to
confer honor on”. [Merriam-Webster] However, now let’s look at the ‘Biblical’
definitions.
The difference between
‘honor’ in the Hebrew language and in the Greek.
The
Hebrew word in this instance means “to be heavy”. There is no doubt that during
the times this commandment was issued and for millennia thereafter the responsibility
to ‘honor’ one’s parents was no easy task. Yet, we all understand that while we
were incapable of helping ourselves as infants and through our early adolescence,
they too shouldered the responsibility which at times was a heavy task. It’s the
circle of life. This is how we honor our Creator -- who lovingly provided ‘family’
life to secure those innate needs of each family member at a time when they
could not help themselves – lacking certitude in their full independence.
The
Greek word means ‘to have in honor, to revere, venerate’ according to Strong’s.
Merriam’s
Dictionary defines ‘venerate’ “to regard with reverential respect or with
admiring deference “. There is little room to ‘wonder’ what it means to honor
our parents when reading this definition. In summation, while it can be a heavy
responsibility no matter the age no matter the circumstances regarding our parents
with reverential respect is still our GODly joy .
Linking Old and New
The
link between the Old [Hebrew] and New [Greek] Testaments regarding the
Commandment to Honor the Father and Mother
“For
God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He
who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’” – Matt 15:4 ß New Testament
“And he
who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.” – Ex 21:17
“‘If
there is any man who curses his father or his mother, he should be put to death
without fail. Since he has cursed his father or his mother, his own blood is
upon him.” – Lev 20:9 ß Old Testament
“Children, obey
your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor
your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with
promise: 3 “that it may be well with you and you
may live long on the earth.” -- Eph 6:1-3
ß New Testament
“Children,
obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.” –
Col 3:20 ß New Testament
The Link between Obedience/disobedience to the Command
Because
Bible studying/reading Christians anticipate certain prophetic realities they
are not surprised to see in the western culture an utter break down in family life
and family values. Because western culture has been groomed for many decades to
put one’s self first, to go for what makes you happy, to just ‘do it’
regardless the consequences, and because the focus is on ‘me’ there is no room
to show deference to anyone else, least wise our parents, or worse even, to GOD
their very CREATOR. The Christian church is not immune from any of the culture
attitudes. The contagion of ‘me-ism’ permeates the culture and it takes great discipline
and personal integrity to focus on honoring others rather than one’s self. Yet,
we cannot deny the realities of the epoch decades of continual degradation of
the sense of ‘others’ before ‘self’ as it manifests itself in literally death
dealing fashion.
Check
out the prophetic words below and understand this is not a comprehensive analysis
published in some white paper form nor is it a collection of headlines from various
news sources. In fact, it was written approximately two thousand years ago to
provide a bit of insight to Bible readers what they may witness when the ‘last
days’, or, as Jesus’ disciples referenced in their query of HIM for ‘sign of
HIS coming, AND of the end of the world’. If we look at #1 below, there is a
natural flow of one component into the next. Within the ‘me-ism’ or ‘’the
lovers of themselves’ we find symptoms of that love and the ‘natural’ flow to
its inevitable end. Included are those who manifest a ‘form of godliness’ but deny
its power. Now you can read that two ways…they have a veneer of godliness but when
you look at it there is nothing there; or, their form of godliness when trying
to attribute or define it they quickly refer to the “Universe” or ‘some higher
power’ or ‘self/their personal spiritual feelings’ but are loathe to refer to
the GOD of the Bible. Either way, it is definitely part of the perilous times
and loving themselves. #2 below, perhaps
the most alarming here in the USA: …’many will be offended, will betray one
another and will hate one another’. Is this not in full unabashed display in every
form of communication in the USA? Scary still, is what will eventually
transpire…’because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.’ Lastly,
#3 below, there is no one immune to the peril, even intimate family members will
rise up and cause another family member their death.
IF
YOU DO NOT NOW TEACH YOUR CHILDREN GOD’S WORD ABOUT HONOR then it is altogether
likely that both you and your family will be statistically likely to witness
the abysmal reality of life after GOD is removed as the unifying source of civility.
Prophetic statements for a specific era
1.
“But
know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For
men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving,
slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors,
headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having
a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn
away! “– 2 Tim 3:1-5
2.
““Then
they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by
all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many
will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then
many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And
because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”
– Matt 24:9-12
3.
“Now brother
will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and
children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.” –
Mark 13:12
How Parents must set the example
“Fathers,
do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.” – Col 3:21
Strong’s defines Provoke: ‘to stir
up, excite, stimulate, to provoke’
“And you,
fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the
training and admonition of the Lord.” – eph 6:4
Here it specifically advises a father
not to ‘incite to anger’ in his children but to train and counsel their
children based on admonition of the Lord.
“He
called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And
he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little
children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever
takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”
– Matt 18:2-5
©Lightwritingmatters
2015
Bibles Designations
ASV
-- American Standard Version
KJV
– King James Version
NIV
– New International Version
NWT
– New World Translation
YLT
– Young’s Literal Translation
DISCLAIMER:
The thoughts published on this blog, in total, are the opinions, thoughts and
considerations of the writer/author of every post published. It is assumed that
research by the reader will lead the reader to their own conclusions. It is not
the writer’s intent to make a judgment of anyone but to allow GOD’s Word to do
what it does. “For the word of GOD is alive and active. Sharper
than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and
spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the
heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from GOD’s sight. Everything
is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give
account.” – Hebrews 4:12 [NIV]
