InExodus 20:12, God gives the Commandment to Moses to “Honor yourfather and your mother, that your days may be long in the land thatthe LORD your God is giving you.”
Thefather and mother referred to here are your parents. Inasmuch as canbe said that more people honor their mother than they do theirfather, we should look to the Bible to discern what is is required ofus as far as honoring our dads go. Some have fathers who areembarrassments, are abusive, who do blatant evil in the eyes of Godand/or, who may want their children to do evil as well. What is theobligation under God for children to honor and respect such parents?
Notethat there is no qualifier in Exodus 20:12. It doesn't say to honoryour father, except when they do evil, for instance. But we asrighteous people are aware that God abhors evil and will punish thoseaccordingly. Whatever we may or may not do, God in Deuteronomy 32:35says “Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when theirfoot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and theirdoom comes swiftly.” We who are righteous have an obligation tohonor the Covenant God has made with the House of Jacob when Hebrought them to the Promised Land. He has given us the Law, whichJesus summed up in two commandments, as stated in passages such asMATTHEW 22:37-40: ““You shall love the Lord your God with allyour heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is thegreat and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall loveyour neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all theLaw and the Prophets.” As anyone who is familiar with the Bibleknows, these two laws may seen simple but they are actually the tipof the iceberg.
So,under Exodus 20:12, we are obligated to honor our fathers even ifthey are embarrassments, are abusive and/or they do blatant evil inthe eyes of God. The Commandment doesn't tell us HOW we are to honorour fathers, but other parts of the Bible gives us things toconsider. Leviticus 19:32 says, “You shall stand up before the grayhead and honor the face of an old man...I am the LORD.” The factthat the old man has lived to be old, shows that he has, at least,maneuvered through all the prats and pitfalls of his life and hasmanaged to avoid God's Wrath, while others who were younger than himhave fallen by the wayside. For this reason alone he is accorded somedegree of respect, if only because he has shown himself to beformidable. He became old for a reason, so anything he tells youshould be seriously considered for he speaks from his own experience.
So,if your father, say, comes across at parties as being somewhat of anobnoxious crank, albeit it a harmless one, it would be out of honorfor him that you do not contradict or mock him. In this regard, wehave Proverbs 30:17 that says, “The eye that mocks a father...willbe picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.”That doesn't sound like something to be trifled with, n'est pas?
Whatif the same father at a party is abusive? Some of us may have fatherswho have referred to our children as good-for-nothings in front ofus, or have referred to us as good-for-nothings in front of ourchildren. If it is enough to make our children cry, that is prettyabusive. We may be conflicted as to what to do. God in Genesis wantsus to be fruitful, and in Deuteronomy 28 He says He will bless us ifwe are careful to obey His Laws. So here we are, devoted to God, andwe raised our children to be devoted to God as well, and here we haveour father being abusive. What can we do without showing himdishonor, knowing that in his life he has managed to live to a ripeold age and as such should be respected under God's Law? The answeris to do nothing but get ourselves and our children out of his way.At that point, he has become like a speeding freight train that wehave no choice but to let pass by and then go on with our lives.
Thenext situation is a bit more complicated. What if your father, whomyou are obligated to honor, tells you to do that which is evil inthe sight of the Lord, assuming it is possible that a man has managedto grow old by enticing others to do evil? Some would feel that's abig assumption, but in this world, anyone who lives is surely capableof committing sin. So, what if he takes you to rob a bank, or tokidnap someone, or to kill someone? It would seem that under Exodus20:12 you are obligated to do what he says. And, in fact, if that wasthe only Law God gave Moses, you wouldn't have much choice in thematter. But God has given us other Laws which we are to abide by,summed up in the first and second commandments of Jesus. We are tolove God with all our heart, soul, might and mind, and we are to loveeach other as we do ourselves. At the end of our lives, we arejudged in terms of the extent to which we have abided by His Laws.
Itwould seem at first glance that we have a contradiction. The Bibletells us not to do evil, yet it also tells us we have to honor ourfathers, and what better way to not honor our fathers if we do not dowhat they tell us to do? It's a contradiction that we cannot getaround. But we do know that God in Genesis has said there willalways be evil lurking in the world and that man is not perfect. Inour lives, we will abide by God's Law but sometimes, in ourimperfections and in a world of sin, we may commit a few of our ownsins. So, we can only leave it in God's hands to determine if on thewhole we have lived righteous lives, but in that regard, we can helpour cause by asking God for forgiveness for the sins we commit. Weneed not know exactly what sins we committed, but we can ask God toforgive us for any sins we have committed. God in fact has providedfor this day.
Leviticus16:29-30 says, “And it shall be a statute to you forever that inthe seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflictyourselves2 and shall do no work, either the native or the strangerwho sojourns among you. For on this day shall atonement be made foryou to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all yoursins.” While Jesus died for our sins, that doesn't excuse us of thesins we commit; if that were so, then why would there be passages inthe New Testament such as 1 John 1:9 which says, “If we confess oursins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanseus from all unrighteousness”?
If onthe whole we have abided by the first and second great commandmentsof Jesus, we are doing well indeed. To the extent that we can, shortof committing other sins under God, we should avoid the sin of nothonoring our fathers as it is stated among the Commandments that Godgave to Moses.
Thefather and mother referred to here are your parents. Inasmuch as canbe said that more people honor their mother than they do theirfather, we should look to the Bible to discern what is is required ofus as far as honoring our dads go. Some have fathers who areembarrassments, are abusive, who do blatant evil in the eyes of Godand/or, who may want their children to do evil as well. What is theobligation under God for children to honor and respect such parents?
Notethat there is no qualifier in Exodus 20:12. It doesn't say to honoryour father, except when they do evil, for instance. But we asrighteous people are aware that God abhors evil and will punish thoseaccordingly. Whatever we may or may not do, God in Deuteronomy 32:35says “Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when theirfoot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and theirdoom comes swiftly.” We who are righteous have an obligation tohonor the Covenant God has made with the House of Jacob when Hebrought them to the Promised Land. He has given us the Law, whichJesus summed up in two commandments, as stated in passages such asMATTHEW 22:37-40: ““You shall love the Lord your God with allyour heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is thegreat and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall loveyour neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all theLaw and the Prophets.” As anyone who is familiar with the Bibleknows, these two laws may seen simple but they are actually the tipof the iceberg.
So,under Exodus 20:12, we are obligated to honor our fathers even ifthey are embarrassments, are abusive and/or they do blatant evil inthe eyes of God. The Commandment doesn't tell us HOW we are to honorour fathers, but other parts of the Bible gives us things toconsider. Leviticus 19:32 says, “You shall stand up before the grayhead and honor the face of an old man...I am the LORD.” The factthat the old man has lived to be old, shows that he has, at least,maneuvered through all the prats and pitfalls of his life and hasmanaged to avoid God's Wrath, while others who were younger than himhave fallen by the wayside. For this reason alone he is accorded somedegree of respect, if only because he has shown himself to beformidable. He became old for a reason, so anything he tells youshould be seriously considered for he speaks from his own experience.
So,if your father, say, comes across at parties as being somewhat of anobnoxious crank, albeit it a harmless one, it would be out of honorfor him that you do not contradict or mock him. In this regard, wehave Proverbs 30:17 that says, “The eye that mocks a father...willbe picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.”That doesn't sound like something to be trifled with, n'est pas?
Whatif the same father at a party is abusive? Some of us may have fatherswho have referred to our children as good-for-nothings in front ofus, or have referred to us as good-for-nothings in front of ourchildren. If it is enough to make our children cry, that is prettyabusive. We may be conflicted as to what to do. God in Genesis wantsus to be fruitful, and in Deuteronomy 28 He says He will bless us ifwe are careful to obey His Laws. So here we are, devoted to God, andwe raised our children to be devoted to God as well, and here we haveour father being abusive. What can we do without showing himdishonor, knowing that in his life he has managed to live to a ripeold age and as such should be respected under God's Law? The answeris to do nothing but get ourselves and our children out of his way.At that point, he has become like a speeding freight train that wehave no choice but to let pass by and then go on with our lives.
Thenext situation is a bit more complicated. What if your father, whomyou are obligated to honor, tells you to do that which is evil inthe sight of the Lord, assuming it is possible that a man has managedto grow old by enticing others to do evil? Some would feel that's abig assumption, but in this world, anyone who lives is surely capableof committing sin. So, what if he takes you to rob a bank, or tokidnap someone, or to kill someone? It would seem that under Exodus20:12 you are obligated to do what he says. And, in fact, if that wasthe only Law God gave Moses, you wouldn't have much choice in thematter. But God has given us other Laws which we are to abide by,summed up in the first and second commandments of Jesus. We are tolove God with all our heart, soul, might and mind, and we are to loveeach other as we do ourselves. At the end of our lives, we arejudged in terms of the extent to which we have abided by His Laws.
Itwould seem at first glance that we have a contradiction. The Bibletells us not to do evil, yet it also tells us we have to honor ourfathers, and what better way to not honor our fathers if we do not dowhat they tell us to do? It's a contradiction that we cannot getaround. But we do know that God in Genesis has said there willalways be evil lurking in the world and that man is not perfect. Inour lives, we will abide by God's Law but sometimes, in ourimperfections and in a world of sin, we may commit a few of our ownsins. So, we can only leave it in God's hands to determine if on thewhole we have lived righteous lives, but in that regard, we can helpour cause by asking God for forgiveness for the sins we commit. Weneed not know exactly what sins we committed, but we can ask God toforgive us for any sins we have committed. God in fact has providedfor this day.
Leviticus16:29-30 says, “And it shall be a statute to you forever that inthe seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflictyourselves2 and shall do no work, either the native or the strangerwho sojourns among you. For on this day shall atonement be made foryou to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all yoursins.” While Jesus died for our sins, that doesn't excuse us of thesins we commit; if that were so, then why would there be passages inthe New Testament such as 1 John 1:9 which says, “If we confess oursins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanseus from all unrighteousness”?
If onthe whole we have abided by the first and second great commandmentsof Jesus, we are doing well indeed. To the extent that we can, shortof committing other sins under God, we should avoid the sin of nothonoring our fathers as it is stated among the Commandments that Godgave to Moses.
