God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother
“Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
— Luke 7:35, LSB
Jesus’ words preserve a relationship: Wisdom and her children. The children bear witness to her. As we continue examining Father and Mother, this brings instruction, response, and recognition together.
What Do the Children Reveal?
Before this statement, Luke describes different responses to John’s ministry. Some acknowledged God’s justice, while others rejected God’s purpose for themselves.
Jesus then describes a generation dissatisfied with both John and the Son of Man. John’s abstinence drew an accusation; Jesus’ eating and drinking drew another. Their different conduct became grounds for rejection.
Against those accusations, Jesus places Wisdom’s vindication through her children. Their response bears witness to the wisdom others dismiss. Read Luke 7:29–35.
This asks us to consider what our own response reveals. Does instruction from God produce understanding and faithful conduct in us, or do we continually find reasons to refuse it?
Mother and Children: Preserve the Relationship
Proverbs directs the child to retain the mother’s instruction alongside the father’s commandment. That teaching guides, guards, and speaks into daily life. Read Proverbs 6:20–23.
Galatians identifies Jerusalem above as our mother and the brothers as children of promise. Read Galatians 4:26–28.
Placed alongside Luke’s words about Wisdom, these passages develop the maternal pattern we have been following: instruction given, children responding, and the relationship becoming evident through its fruit.
We retain Mother and children in their respective roles as we carry this comparison forward.
Different Activities Within the Same Account
Psalm 68 also deserves careful attention. Verse 11 describes a great company of women proclaiming good news. Verse 12 shifts to:
“And she who remains at home will divide the spoil!”
— Psalm 68:12, LSB, excerpt
The plural proclaimers and the singular description have different activities. The wording moves from announcing victory to sharing its provision.
We should preserve that movement when examining the passage alongside our study of the household. The singular expression can describe a representative woman; identifying her further requires the wider comparison. The wording itself gives us roles and actions to follow rather than erase.
The Word Has a Source
Isaiah’s invitation to come near and hear includes this declaration:
“and now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and his Spirit.”
— Isaiah 48:16, ASV, excerpt
Here again, we must attend to the source, the sending, the Spirit, and the call to hear. YHWH (יהוה) remains central to the relationship being described.
For our examination of Father and Mother, honor involves receiving what comes from God and allowing that instruction to shape our lives. Wisdom’s children bring the question into view: What does the way I live reveal about the instruction I follow?
Threads to Follow
Wisdom and her children: Follow the connection between instruction, response, and vindication.
Distinct roles: Retain Mother, children, proclaimers, and the one distributing provision as we examine their relationships.
Honor expressed: Bring recognition and understanding into faithful conduct.
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
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