God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother
“Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee.”
— Exodus 20:12, ASV
The commandment holds together Father, Mother, honor, life, and the land God gives. As we bring our study’s connections together, each part deserves its place.
YHWH (יהוה) is the giver. The commandment directs our response. Its promise concerns life in what He provides.
Keep Both Before You
Proverbs 6:20–23 places the father’s commandment beside the mother’s instruction. Both are to be retained and bound to the heart. Their teaching accompanies the child through walking, sleeping, and waking.
This is continuing guidance. Instruction must remain with us after the moment we first hear it. Read Proverbs 6:20–23.
Our study has followed Father and Mother through the roles of life, teaching, nourishment, and care. Acknowledging one while disregarding the other leaves part of that relationship unattended.
The passage then explains what this guidance protects against: the seductive voice that draws someone toward unfaithfulness. The movement matters—instruction retained, life guarded, competing desire resisted. Read Proverbs 6:24–32.
Mother and Children Remain Distinguishable
Paul identifies Jerusalem above as our mother and describes believers as children of promise. The mother and the children belong within the same relationship, but their roles remain distinguishable. Read Galatians 4:26–31.
Alongside our Bride study, this helps preserve the pattern we have been following: union, fruitfulness, and children receiving life and instruction.
Ephesians 5 describes Christ giving himself for her, cleansing her through the washing of water with the word, and presenting her to himself holy and blameless. He also nourishes and cherishes her. These actions carry forward our Bride study: his loving care prepares the Bride, while we continue to distinguish her role from the children’s. Read Ephesians 5:25–32.
Honor responds to that care by receiving its purpose and living accordingly.
The Promise Accompanies Responsibility
When Paul returns to the commandment, he writes:
“HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER”
— Ephesians 6:2, LSB, excerpt
The capitalized wording points back to the commandment in Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16. Paul retains its promise and also addresses the responsibility of fathers to bring children up through faithful instruction. Read Ephesians 6:1–4.
The household therefore involves both receiving instruction and giving care. Authority carries responsibility toward those being nourished and taught.
Live According to the Life Received
Romans 8:12–17 brings life, conduct, the Spirit, adoption, and inheritance together. Paul contrasts living according to the flesh with putting its deeds to death by the Spirit. Those led by God’s Spirit are identified as God’s sons. Read Romans 8:12–17.
This keeps our Born Again Study connected to the commandment. Receiving life brings an ongoing responsibility to follow its guidance.
To honor Father and Mother, we must carry the instruction into our choices. The question becomes personal: Am I retaining what leads to life, and allowing it to shape how I live?
Threads to Follow
The whole commandment: Keep Father, Mother, honor, life, and inheritance together.
Faithful allegiance: Follow the contrast between instruction that guards life and desire that draws us away.
Care within the household: Preserve nourishment and responsibility as we prepare for Orphans and Widows.
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
Comments
Post a Comment