The Fifth Commandment (No. CB074)

The paper The Ten Commandments No. CB017 is the summary paper which should be reviewed prior to this series on each of the commandments. It includes a general overview of the purpose of God’s Laws and a brief description of each of the commandments.

Introduction

God the Father always existed; He knew all and created all things. He was able to plan and organize things perfectly. God created a family that is made up of spiritual and physical beings. God extended His creative capacity to people by allowing us to have children and bring up the children in God’s way of life. (For more information about the family of God see The Creation of the Family of God (CB004) and Lesson: The Creation of the Family of God (CB004_2).) As we study the Fifth Commandment we will see the importance God places on the family in relation to all aspects of life. The family unit is as a family of sons, and daughters of God, both spiritual and physical. The creation was based around the family and the family is the basis of society and the backbone of the country. When we break down the family unit, we also break down the backbone of our country. We are all part of a family within the Plan of God.

As you remember from the first four papers in this series, the First Great Commandment focuses on the four aspects of God: who the One True God is, placing nothing before the One True God, using the name of God correctly, and when we worship the One True God. 1Corinthians 15:34 tells us it is to our shame not to know the one true God; it is our responsibility to learn, and live God’s way of life.

1Corinthians 15:34 Come to your right mind, and sin no more. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. (RSV)

The Fifth Commandment is the first of six commandments that falls under the “Second Great” Commandment which teaches us to love your neighbor as yourself. The fifth commandment is found in Exodus 20:12.

Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you. (RSV)

The first four commandments focus on how we learn to honor God the Father throughout our lives. Some of those same concepts then carry forward to the fifth commandment which teaches us to honor our physical parents. Likewise, once we learn to honor our parents/family, we can expand that to the remaining commandments which focus on loving our neighbors.

What does honor mean?

Honor means regard with great respect, hold in high esteem, have high regards for. In the fifth commandment, we see we are to have great respect for our parents and hold them in high regard. We can honor our parents by doing what is asked of us, following their guidelines, and allowing them to teach and guide us as children. We take time to be with them and help out when it's needed. We show them love and kindness and we honor them in the way we listen to them, talk to them and treat them. We behave well to them and to others. We treat them in the way that we would want to be treated. We are truthful when we talk to our parents and are able to ask for forgiveness when we make mistakes. We value their feelings and thoughts and demonstrate this when they are present and when they are not present. In almost every aspect of our lives we can learn to honor our parents. When our parents can trust us to do what is right, no matter where we are or what the situation is then we are honouring our parents.

The importance of teaching and obeying

From Deuteronomy we learn that our parents are told to teach their children the commandments at all times.

Deuteronomy 6:7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (RSV)

Our parents are acting in the place of God on Earth to bring up their children in His way of life. When we are little, we learn to honor and obey God by and through the way we honor and obey our parents. Just like we show God we love Him by keeping his commandments (scripture), we can also show honor to our parents when we obey their rules. That is why in the New Testament, we see the simple direction for children to obey their parents.

Colossians 3:20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. (RSV)

In English, obey means to comply with or follow the commands, restrictions, wishes, or instructions. We need to be obedient when our parents ask or tell us to do or not to do something. We should not argue with our parents. For instance, we should be willing to help with chores we are given to do and be able to have a good attitude. Much like God’s commandments, our parents' rules and guidelines help us to learn independence and show us how to function in society.

Remember, our parents are acting in the place of God on Earth. How would we treat God if He asked us to do something or if He corrected us?

The only commandment with a promise

The fifth commandment is the first and only commandment that contains a promise. We are told that when we honor our father and mother, our days will be long in the land that God gives to us. Deuteronomy expands the same concept of being blessed for keeping the fifth commandment.

Deuteronomy 5:16 “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the Lord your God gives you. (RSV)

Here we also see that God does not lie and if He promises to extend our life and care for us because we honor our father and mother, He will do that. There are also numerous scriptures that tell us what happens to individuals that chose not to honor and obey their parents.

We know early on in life our parents care for us, yet as we age and our parents age, it is our responsibility to care for our parents. We again see this bridge from the fifth commandment to loving our neighbor. Not only do we serve as a help to our parents, we serve as a light to the world as we care for aging or infirmed parents. God does not give us more than we can handle and He will always provide for us as we care for our parents.

Can parents make every decision for their children?

Of course our parents can not make every decision for us. Because God and our earthly fathers love us, they correct and discipline us if and when necessary. They do not want anything negative or bad to happen to us. They want us to have happy and productive lives, but they cannot make the decisions for us. Our parents are to help us learn to want to make the right choices. When we are babies or very little, it is our parents’ responsibility to keep us safe, but as we get older we need to be the ones making more and more of the right choices.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (RSV)

The responsibility initially lies with the parents to train the child in the ways of God, yet as the child matures, the child assumes more and more responsibility and also answers to God for their actions.

Does the fifth commandment only apply to our parents?

Does the word “parents” mean just our physical parents?

The fifth commandment also covers our relationships with people who are older than us or in charge, such as teachers, grandparents and older people in our neighbourhood. We must first and always obey God. Should some adult ask us to do something that we know breaks God’s Law we should not do it.

The fifth commandment can also apply to all things we should be doing in a relationship to glorify and honor our heavenly father, God. This is why the fifth commandment is the bridge to the Second Great Commandment. We know God the Father is in charge of all, created the spirit beings and is the first to truly start a “family”. This family expanded to the physical realm with the angels being messengers to human beings and helping care for and protect human beings. At a point in the future when sin is put away from the earth, all beings will be spiritual and will truly all be united in the family of God.

When we are talking and learning about the fifth commandment, we see that from the love of our parents we learn the love of God. We also learn and practise the respect we give our parents as a basis for us to respect and love God who is spiritual.

Physical, Spiritual and Pure undefiled religion

A very simplistic way to view the Bible is from the physical we learn the spiritual. So it is with our family. We learn of the love of our Mum and Dad and we then learn of God’s Love. Even if our parents are not perfect, since no person is perfect except for Jesus Christ, we are to love our parents and honor and respect them.

In today's world, sadly a lot of people are making wrong choices and clearly breaking God’s Commandments. At times, children need to be removed from their parents due to abuse or neglect, yet God the Father knows all things and He becomes the father to fatherless.

Psalm 68:5 “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. (RSV)

Deuteronomy 10:18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.

Here we see God will provide for those that do not have a good physical dad and mum to care for them.

We also see the concept of caring for orphans and widows. We see that if there is a need we all are to help the fatherless. At times, people become fathers and mothers to those that are not their biological children and we even help out the fatherless and widows with our tithes during the third year.

James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (RSV)

Deuteronomy 14:29 And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

God’s aim is to show orphans love, mercy, care, and protection, and because these children are essential to Him, they should be essential to us. Here again we see the concept of God as the perfect Father over all His creation and caring for each individual.

Summary

We have learned that the fifth commandment is the first and only commandment with a promise. It is through obeying and honoring our parents we learn of the love and guidance God gives to all His creation. God’s way is perfect and as we follow His way of life we are blessed

Proverb 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (RSV)

The Fifth Commandment

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