Honor Thy Father and Mother

This week at the Daily Manna my postings will focus on the 5th commandment of the ten commandments: Honor thy father and mother. Ephesian 6 contains a passage that gives insight into the 5th commandment: “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” (Exodus 20:12). Ephesians 6:2 points out this significant difference between this command and the others thus far when he says that this commandment is the “first commandment with promise.” It’s in the promise that the Lord gives us a clue into the meaning of this commandment and how it applies to our attitude and conduct in several important areas.

• In the binding of family relationships.
• In the stability of social order in this world.
• In the flourishing of the human family from generation to generation.
• And in the realization of the blessings of spiritual progression now and in eternity.

The first area we apply this commandment is the most obvious, namely that God has commanded “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.” (Ephesians 6:1) This is an application of obedience to the authority under which we live in this world. First, is that of our parents, whom God has given us directly, but the commandment is more than just simple obedience to parents, it sets up an expectation that God has for us to live in order within our society.

This submission to authority continues to be explained in Ephesians 6 in two ways, what we owe to those in authority over us and what those in authority owe to God in their conduct toward their subordinates. Both ideas tell us something about the need for authority in general, and how our submission to authority blesses our lives as it activates the promise that our days will be long upon the land the Lord has given us.

Note that the first relationship of authority highlighted in Ephesians 6 is that of parent and child. First, the child is commanded to “obey your parents in the Lord,” and then the parent is commanded: “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4) This holy relationship is melded together in the sincere striving of both child and parent to honor and reverence the Lord and his teachings as they uphold their roles and duties in the family. This important clarity places this commandment in order with the commandments given previous to it, that we Love God first and that God have our first allegiance and reverence. Commandment five is like a bookend to the first five commandments that deal solely with reverence for and faith in God and our attitudes and actions related to the love we bear God.

The family is of God, and as such it is the foundational institution of society and societal order, all other social order flows out from the sacred family unit as it is organized by God and operates under His laws and authority. The principle of obedience and honor to parents, and parents executing their duties to their families in honor to God, extends to how we act in other relationships of authority. This connection is made in Ephesians 6 when following the proper orientation of authority and duty in the family the scripture continues as such:

“Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men.

“And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.

– Ephesians 6:5-9

Taken together the commandment to honor thy father and mother sets up conditions of social order that holds together the fabric of society and becomes a binding blessing that allows human life on earth to flourish. This human flourishing and family fidelity is at the center of God’s purposes for his children while in this mortal sojourn. The family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children, and it is God’s will that we “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.” For God has said that if it is not so then he will “come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 4:6)

Central to God’s plan was our need to receive physical bodies and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize our divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The earth was created for this purpose and families were organized for this purpose, first with marriage between a man and a woman, and then with the first command to be given to them together, to multiply and replenish the earth. Therefore, the human family and our duties therein are essential to our spiritual progression and the whole of creation was made with this purpose in mind. It is no wonder then that great promises and great warnings are connected to our faithfulness in honoring our family duties. If we do, not only will our days be long upon the land which God has given us, but our generations will be strong in perpetuity until the Lord comes again. But if we allow these binding ties to loosen and break, if the hearts of parents and children, of generation to generation, are not turned toward each other in the Lord that this great creation will be cursed.