Revealed in the Law - Commandment 5
Commandment 5 - Human Authority
"Honor your father and mother."
Deuteronomy 16:18-18:22
The core of this commandment is "to establish human authority
as important for making sure that the covenant is preserved."(8.1)
As my relationship with my human parents is imperfect, this commandment has held special interest to me personally and I have spent many years closely studying it and asking God to reveal to me His heart for this commandment. Prior to seminary where I have been given incredible interpretive methods and tools, I was able to mature my understanding beyond how I was taught as a child that this commandment simply meant to obey my parents. While that part is true, it is a very small portion of it actually.
In our childhood, we are to learn obedience first by obeying our human parents. Each person is very unique in how they learn obedience due to their unique rebellious nature and within their equally unique imperfect relationship with each of their parents. We also tend to gloss over the important qualification added by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:1 of "in the Lord" not an unqualified "all things." (I can't resist the urge here to plug the previous post by asking just exactly how can parents know how to raise their children "in the Lord" without knowing His Word and spending time with Him so that He is the source of that wisdom not ourselves?)
But once we become adults we are no longer called to obey our parents in the way of our youth (though some parents have a hard time letting go of this), and the principle transitions to focus on the "honor" part for our human parents. This transition includes the unspoken part of maturing obedience to God that we learned in our youth to our human parents. But what does "honor" mean? I found several examples of this "honor" to mean we are to take care of them when they can no longer do so for themselves (Matthew 15:5-6) (8.2). In this way we are taking care of others, giving special considerations for the family unit.
With the use of insightful interpretative methods and tools and resources, this commandment just blossoms with layers of meaning. On top of what I had found, we see this theme of human authority being expanded from just the parents in Exodus 20:12 to other forms of human authority such as appointing judges in Deuteronomy 16:18-20, the judicial system in Deuteronomy 17:2-13, the king in Deuteronomy 17:14-20, the priesthood in Deuteronomy 18:1-8, and the prophets in Deuteronomy 18:9-22. (8.3) Again taking a moment to reiterate the previous point made in Commandment 1 that human authority is never to supersede that of God's authority.
Deuteronomy adds "as the Lord your God commanded you" to both Commandment 4 and Commandment 5, but only for these two commandments. This addition implies a special connection between the two which Gane concludes that "holy living includes respect for the human and divine originators of our lives." (8.3) To my point in Commandment 2, the emphasis is on respect, not ascribing power to anyone other than God.
In the same way, Deuteronomy also adds "and that it may go well with you" in addition to living long in the land. This adds a positive aspect to the quality of life in the land, not just the longevity in it. (8.4)
Both Gane and especially Hill and Walton make a connection of this commandment to the Sinai Covenant with these words “so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you." Living in the land and certainly having blessings while in the land were main outcomes of keeping the covenant, and also for our good (Deuteronomy 10:13). (8.5)
Hill and Walton add to that by pointing out that it is in the home by our parents' instruction that that we come to know about God and His Law in the first place. All of these named human authorities (parents, judges, king, priests, and prophets) are through whom the covenant would be preserved in Israel. (8.6)
Within the Israelite nation, a theocracy, this worked well. Today most of us do not look to our judges, judicial system or head of state for instruction on God's ways (thankfully, since so many of today's authorities do not follow God's ways). As the old covenant is not continued under the new law of Christ, we see very little direct reference to this commandment in the New Testament, though the principle of respecting human authority especially our parents who God gave us life through (Ephesians 6:2-4) is affirmed in many places.
A particularly rich example from the New Testament is Jesus in the garden the night before His death when He honored His Father (who is also His God!) by submitting to the Father's will and superseding His own human will (Luke 22:42). God the Father responded by sending an angel to strengthen Him (Luke 22:43) to be able to preserve the new covenant that would finally bring salvation to all of us. Jesus also made sure His human mother was well taken care of at His death by establishing a parental relationship with one of His most trusted disciples, John (John 19:26-27). The Apostle Paul also speaks directly about submission to authorities in Romans 13 (Romans 13:1, 7) and Jesus also in Luke 20:25, but it is very noteworthy that these ancient rulers referred to absolutely did not follow God's ways, but God wants us to give them our respect within their domain (government) anyway. We are to be good citizens and follow the laws of the land where we dwell, as long as they do not ask us to personally violate God's Law (there is a big difference between given freedom of choice on an issue and being forced to do something, although even in these circumstances God always makes a way for His people like He did for Daniel as we discussed in Commandment 3).
The faith testimony of a classmate just wiped clear my pre-understanding of how we come to faith, and serves as a contemporary expression of this principle. She related how she was raised a devout muslim in Albania by her loving and devout Islamic parents. It was only as she encountered a Christian missionary couple as she was abroad serving those less fortunate than her (God's image at work!) that she witnessed something very special in how they treated each other and others (John 13:35). This difference led her to seek out their presence, and though this couple never "evangelized" her with words about the gospel, their behaviors spoke volumes to her spirit. This sparked a deep curiosity about Christianity that pulled her ever toward it over several years until her heart was finally in a place where the Holy Spirit led her to the truth of Jesus through someone else's evangelism and she was converted into belief in Jesus. God uses our witness every day as seeds in other people's lives whether we know it or not.
God gave my classmate the wisdom of how to share her new faith in an honorable way with each of her parents. She knew she couldn't immediately approach her dad, but she appealed to her mom's love of poetry and wisdom writings so sat and read through the Psalms with her a little a time. God worked through His Word into her mom's heart and eventually she too opened her heart to Jesus. It was a longer process for her dad's heart, but both his wife's and daughter's conversions were a strong testimony that he could not ignore.
So this testimony not only comforts me greatly when I fret about whether I'm teaching my daughter about God well enough (trust Him!), it also greatly increases my compassion for any unbelievers on their faith journeys because we can never know what God has in store for them (this is my classmate in seminary!) or how He will use my behavior to witness to them (Commandment 3). We also see how this story flipped the traditional expression of this commandment upside down in how through the daughter's honor of her parents did the instruction about God and ultimate blessing of belief in Jesus come into their household and thereby keeping the new covenant of the law of Christ preserved in taking the good news of Jesus out to all nations. Surprising, creative, powerful and beautiful! That's our God!
This can admittedly be a tough principle for anyone who has had a broken relationship with their parents. I speak from experience. Seek God's power to help you in progressively achieving what He desires for you in this principle. He will always surprise you with the blessings He has in store for you when you seek to do His will! In my case, God has led me to understand that it is in small words and actions that I can show respect to my parents and take care of them when needed especially as they grow older, without crossing healthy boundaries. The biggest change though came in my own heart as God broke down the barrier of my stubbornness and gave me peace about my relationship with them, which led to minimizing conflicts, which in turn increased their positive responses to me and makes it much easier to continue those small words and actions of respect. They receive my occasional, gentle "no" to requests that stray outside my healthy boundaries when they are surrounded by "yes" answers to their other requests that stay within my healthy boundaries. Less conflicts and more peace has paved the way to many more expressions of love, which is the root of this principle and all the rest of the commandments left to discuss pertaining to humans. "...that it may go well with you..."
This abundant aspect of my life could only be possible through a cyclical progression of my first seeking His Word on relationships with my parents and responding to it and asking His help to power my success (which is only measured by God, not my parents or even me). God is good and He wants to bless me and grow me through these human authorities in my life.
An absolutely essential concluding point here is that God has allowed me to see Him and know Him better through seeking to know His will in my relationship with my parents. I know that without this commandment/principle to make me aware that God cares deeply about this, I would have allowed my relationship with them to deteriorate. But God is also showing Himself to my parents, who are believers, through my actions and how they see that I have changed since I began to deeply study God's Word. This is glorifying God: that God is made known to me and through me. John Piper captured this tenet well when he wrote that God's love labors for us to see Him and know Him and treasure Him rather than make much of ourselves as the focus of His story. (8.7) Loving your neighbor (anyone other than you) is really not about your neighbor, but about you reflecting the glory of God to your neighbor so that they may see Him through you!
Here are a few questions to ponder before you continue:
How is your heart responding to what you just learned?
How have your parents influenced your faith?
How have other people, maybe authority figures, influenced your faith?
How might you want to influence others' faith in a positive way?
How might God be drawing you to restore or grow your relationship with your parents?
How does this change your understanding of "love your neighbor" and God's glory?
Previous Posts:
Commandment 4
Commandment 3
Commandment 2
Commandment 1
The Decalogue (The Ten Commandments)
Some Background
In our childhood, we are to learn obedience first by obeying our human parents. Each person is very unique in how they learn obedience due to their unique rebellious nature and within their equally unique imperfect relationship with each of their parents. We also tend to gloss over the important qualification added by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:1 of "in the Lord" not an unqualified "all things." (I can't resist the urge here to plug the previous post by asking just exactly how can parents know how to raise their children "in the Lord" without knowing His Word and spending time with Him so that He is the source of that wisdom not ourselves?)
But once we become adults we are no longer called to obey our parents in the way of our youth (though some parents have a hard time letting go of this), and the principle transitions to focus on the "honor" part for our human parents. This transition includes the unspoken part of maturing obedience to God that we learned in our youth to our human parents. But what does "honor" mean? I found several examples of this "honor" to mean we are to take care of them when they can no longer do so for themselves (Matthew 15:5-6) (8.2). In this way we are taking care of others, giving special considerations for the family unit.
With the use of insightful interpretative methods and tools and resources, this commandment just blossoms with layers of meaning. On top of what I had found, we see this theme of human authority being expanded from just the parents in Exodus 20:12 to other forms of human authority such as appointing judges in Deuteronomy 16:18-20, the judicial system in Deuteronomy 17:2-13, the king in Deuteronomy 17:14-20, the priesthood in Deuteronomy 18:1-8, and the prophets in Deuteronomy 18:9-22. (8.3) Again taking a moment to reiterate the previous point made in Commandment 1 that human authority is never to supersede that of God's authority.
Deuteronomy adds "as the Lord your God commanded you" to both Commandment 4 and Commandment 5, but only for these two commandments. This addition implies a special connection between the two which Gane concludes that "holy living includes respect for the human and divine originators of our lives." (8.3) To my point in Commandment 2, the emphasis is on respect, not ascribing power to anyone other than God.
In the same way, Deuteronomy also adds "and that it may go well with you" in addition to living long in the land. This adds a positive aspect to the quality of life in the land, not just the longevity in it. (8.4)
Both Gane and especially Hill and Walton make a connection of this commandment to the Sinai Covenant with these words “so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you." Living in the land and certainly having blessings while in the land were main outcomes of keeping the covenant, and also for our good (Deuteronomy 10:13). (8.5)
Within the Israelite nation, a theocracy, this worked well. Today most of us do not look to our judges, judicial system or head of state for instruction on God's ways (thankfully, since so many of today's authorities do not follow God's ways). As the old covenant is not continued under the new law of Christ, we see very little direct reference to this commandment in the New Testament, though the principle of respecting human authority especially our parents who God gave us life through (Ephesians 6:2-4) is affirmed in many places.
A particularly rich example from the New Testament is Jesus in the garden the night before His death when He honored His Father (who is also His God!) by submitting to the Father's will and superseding His own human will (Luke 22:42). God the Father responded by sending an angel to strengthen Him (Luke 22:43) to be able to preserve the new covenant that would finally bring salvation to all of us. Jesus also made sure His human mother was well taken care of at His death by establishing a parental relationship with one of His most trusted disciples, John (John 19:26-27). The Apostle Paul also speaks directly about submission to authorities in Romans 13 (Romans 13:1, 7) and Jesus also in Luke 20:25, but it is very noteworthy that these ancient rulers referred to absolutely did not follow God's ways, but God wants us to give them our respect within their domain (government) anyway. We are to be good citizens and follow the laws of the land where we dwell, as long as they do not ask us to personally violate God's Law (there is a big difference between given freedom of choice on an issue and being forced to do something, although even in these circumstances God always makes a way for His people like He did for Daniel as we discussed in Commandment 3).
The faith testimony of a classmate just wiped clear my pre-understanding of how we come to faith, and serves as a contemporary expression of this principle. She related how she was raised a devout muslim in Albania by her loving and devout Islamic parents. It was only as she encountered a Christian missionary couple as she was abroad serving those less fortunate than her (God's image at work!) that she witnessed something very special in how they treated each other and others (John 13:35). This difference led her to seek out their presence, and though this couple never "evangelized" her with words about the gospel, their behaviors spoke volumes to her spirit. This sparked a deep curiosity about Christianity that pulled her ever toward it over several years until her heart was finally in a place where the Holy Spirit led her to the truth of Jesus through someone else's evangelism and she was converted into belief in Jesus. God uses our witness every day as seeds in other people's lives whether we know it or not.
God gave my classmate the wisdom of how to share her new faith in an honorable way with each of her parents. She knew she couldn't immediately approach her dad, but she appealed to her mom's love of poetry and wisdom writings so sat and read through the Psalms with her a little a time. God worked through His Word into her mom's heart and eventually she too opened her heart to Jesus. It was a longer process for her dad's heart, but both his wife's and daughter's conversions were a strong testimony that he could not ignore.
So this testimony not only comforts me greatly when I fret about whether I'm teaching my daughter about God well enough (trust Him!), it also greatly increases my compassion for any unbelievers on their faith journeys because we can never know what God has in store for them (this is my classmate in seminary!) or how He will use my behavior to witness to them (Commandment 3). We also see how this story flipped the traditional expression of this commandment upside down in how through the daughter's honor of her parents did the instruction about God and ultimate blessing of belief in Jesus come into their household and thereby keeping the new covenant of the law of Christ preserved in taking the good news of Jesus out to all nations. Surprising, creative, powerful and beautiful! That's our God!
This can admittedly be a tough principle for anyone who has had a broken relationship with their parents. I speak from experience. Seek God's power to help you in progressively achieving what He desires for you in this principle. He will always surprise you with the blessings He has in store for you when you seek to do His will! In my case, God has led me to understand that it is in small words and actions that I can show respect to my parents and take care of them when needed especially as they grow older, without crossing healthy boundaries. The biggest change though came in my own heart as God broke down the barrier of my stubbornness and gave me peace about my relationship with them, which led to minimizing conflicts, which in turn increased their positive responses to me and makes it much easier to continue those small words and actions of respect. They receive my occasional, gentle "no" to requests that stray outside my healthy boundaries when they are surrounded by "yes" answers to their other requests that stay within my healthy boundaries. Less conflicts and more peace has paved the way to many more expressions of love, which is the root of this principle and all the rest of the commandments left to discuss pertaining to humans. "...that it may go well with you..."
This abundant aspect of my life could only be possible through a cyclical progression of my first seeking His Word on relationships with my parents and responding to it and asking His help to power my success (which is only measured by God, not my parents or even me). God is good and He wants to bless me and grow me through these human authorities in my life.
An absolutely essential concluding point here is that God has allowed me to see Him and know Him better through seeking to know His will in my relationship with my parents. I know that without this commandment/principle to make me aware that God cares deeply about this, I would have allowed my relationship with them to deteriorate. But God is also showing Himself to my parents, who are believers, through my actions and how they see that I have changed since I began to deeply study God's Word. This is glorifying God: that God is made known to me and through me. John Piper captured this tenet well when he wrote that God's love labors for us to see Him and know Him and treasure Him rather than make much of ourselves as the focus of His story. (8.7) Loving your neighbor (anyone other than you) is really not about your neighbor, but about you reflecting the glory of God to your neighbor so that they may see Him through you!
Here are a few questions to ponder before you continue:
How is your heart responding to what you just learned?
How have your parents influenced your faith?
How have other people, maybe authority figures, influenced your faith?
How might you want to influence others' faith in a positive way?
How might God be drawing you to restore or grow your relationship with your parents?
How does this change your understanding of "love your neighbor" and God's glory?
Previous Posts:
Commandment 4
Commandment 3
Commandment 2
Commandment 1
The Decalogue (The Ten Commandments)
Some Background
Introduction
I encourage respectful and edifying dialog. All comments are subject to approval.
Last updated: July 30, 2018
I encourage respectful and edifying dialog. All comments are subject to approval.
Last updated: July 30, 2018
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I encourage respectful and edifying dialog, though please know that all comments posted are subject to approval.