The Fifth Commandment
By Jim Murriner
Ex 20:12 "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
The first four commandment tell us how we are to relate to God. The last six tell us how we are to relate to one another.
This particular commandment tells us how we are to relate to authority.
The first in the second part of the ten commandments begins with the primary source of all human authority, the family.
Ge 2:21 "And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 "And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man."
23 "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."
24 "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Mt 19:3 "The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?"
4 "And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,"
5 "And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?"
6 "Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
7 "They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?"
8 "He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so."
God did not just create two people and let them live their own individual lives apart from one another, He placed them together as husband and wife. God at the very beginning of mankind created only individuals, but created a family unit.
We are told here in Ex.20;12 to "honor" our parents. The word "honor" comes from a word meaning "be of great weight". In Lev. 19:3 we are told to fear our parents, and the word here also means to "be scared" , "be terrified"
Le 19:3 "Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God."
God in His word gives us great promises for those who will honor their parents. We see some of these promises in Prov.1:8-9
8"My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:"
9 "For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck."
Obedience unto our parents makes us look very good, The Lord here in these verses tells us that obedience is like a beautiful ornament hanging around our neck.
We have another of God's promises for those who will honor their parents in Prov.3:1-4.
1 "My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:"
2 "For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee."
3 "Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:"
4 "So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man."
Prov. 7:1-3 tells us that we honor our parents by listening and paying heed to the instructions of our parents.
Pr 7:1 "My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee."
2 "Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
3 "Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.
We are to pay attention to the laws and instructions and teaching of our parents, because that attention will produce a broadly beneficial condition for the child that pays attention.
The concept of honoring our parents is one that begins with recognizing their position as ruler and authority.
This honoring our parents does not end when we become adults, though we are to leave father and mother and cleave unto our spouse, we are not to neglect our parents or disrespect them.
ITim. 3-8 sheds some light on this.
3 "Honour widows that are widows indeed."
4 "But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God."
5 "Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day."
6 "But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth."
7 "And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless.
8 "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
We are never to think about or speak of our parents in a light hearted or foolish way, but only with great respect.
Mt 15:3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?"
4 "For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
5 "But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
6 "And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
Pr 20:20 "Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.
Another meaning for the word which is translated "curseth" here in the King James Bible is "tifles".
We then are never to laugh at or mock our parents, but honor them, and hold them in high regard.
In our generation today parents are permitting their children to mock and ridicule them, and act as if it is normal behavior.
Parents, if you permit your children to laugh at you and to mock you, or to sass you, you then are breaking this commandment. If you tolerate back talk, and mocking, you as a parent are breaking the fifth commandment and teaching your child to violate one of the basic words of God.
Pr 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Pr 23:13 "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die."
It is a serious thing to break these commandments, and even more serious to teach others to break them.
Mt 5:19 "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
It is very obvious that we have not kept this commandment always. We are then found to be sinners, and Romans 6:23 reminds us that there is a penalty for sin.
Ro 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The death spoken of here is, eternal death in Hell.
There is a need then for all to trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ to get us to Heaven.
Ro 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"
24 "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
