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Showing posts from October 8, 2026

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Browse at Your Own Pace

Begin wherever your curiosity leads. The studies will be here when you’re ready. When I shared my first Matthew study on Facebook today, I mentioned that I planned to post daily, though I might not share every post on Facebook. As I continue setting up this blog, I’ve realized that what matters most to me is making my past studies available for anyone who wants to explore them. For now, I’ll be adding posts to my heart’s content as I work through those studies. Some days that may mean one post; other days it may mean several. I’ll continue reading through and preparing each one before sharing it. There is no need to keep up with everything as it appears. This blog is becoming a place you can browse at your own pace—begin with a book, a question, or a study that interests you, and follow from there. The Bible Books page gathers studies by book, while Study Threads helps connect topics that travel through more than one book. The labels on individual posts also bring related material to...
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69. Ten Commandments: Honor, Life, and the Household of God

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother Our examination of the fifth commandment has followed a connected pattern: life given, relationships established, instruction received, and honor expressed through faithfulness. Exodus 20:12 names both Father and Mother and attaches a promise concerning life in the land Jehovah gives. As we gather the study together, we keep YHWH (יהוה), His provision, and our response at the center. Read Exodus 20:12, ASV. Preserve the Relationships Galatians 4 describes God sending His Son, believers receiving adoption, and the Spirit of His Son entering their hearts. The same chapter identifies Jerusalem above as our mother and believers as children of promise. Read Galatians 4:4–7, 26–28. Revelation presents the Bride, the Lamb’s wife, through the vision of Jerusalem. Alongside Galatians, this has guided our examination of the Bride and the maternal relationship. We preserve the roles rather than treating Bride, Mother, and children as interchang...
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68. Ten Commandments: The Mother, Her Children, and Their Witness

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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 fai...
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67. Ten Commandments: Sons, Heirs, and the Image of the Son

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother As we follow Father and Mother through Scripture, the language of sons, children, and inheritance brings the spiritual relationship into focus. We must consider how that relationship begins, whose instruction guides it, and what those receiving life are becoming. God Sends His Son—and the Spirit of His Son Galatians 4:4–7 describes God sending His Son so that those under the Law might receive adoption as sons. Paul then explains that God sends the Spirit of His Son into their hearts, crying out to the Father. Keep the relationships before us: God sends, the Son redeems, the Spirit enters the heart, and the recipient is identified as a son and heir. The Father and Son remain distinguishable throughout. Read Galatians 4:4–7. Later in the same chapter, Paul identifies Jerusalem above as our mother and describes the brothers as children of promise. Father, Mother, and children therefore belong within our examination of spiritual life a...
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66. Ten Commandments: Keep the Instruction That Leads to Life

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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 pass...
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65. Ten Commandments: Honor Without Closing Our Ears

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother Recognizing more than outward appearance requires a willingness to listen. If we decide beforehand how God’s instruction must reach us, we may dismiss what we have not yet examined. As we continue studying Father and Mother, we carry forward the roles of giving life, teaching, nourishing, and guiding. Honor involves our response to that instruction. Do we receive correction, or only welcome what agrees with us? Instruction Must Be Received Proverbs 6:20–23 brings the father’s commandment and the mother’s teaching together. The instruction is to be retained, bound to the heart, and carried through daily life. It guides, guards, and speaks; correction belongs to the way of life. Read Proverbs 6:20–23. This asks more of us than acknowledging a title. We must consider whether we are allowing the instruction to shape us. If I claim to honor the source of life while refusing correction, what am I actually honoring—God’s instruction or my e...
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64. Ten Commandments: Recognizing More Than the Outward Appearance

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother Honoring a relationship requires recognizing it. Our examination of Father and Mother therefore includes how we hear, what we see, and whether our expectations prevent us from receiving what God reveals. Knowing someone’s outward circumstances does not necessarily mean we understand the work taking place through them. Knowing the Family, Yet Missing the Source In John 6, people question Jesus’ statement that he came down from heaven because they know him as Joseph’s son and know his father and mother. Jesus responds by directing attention to the Father who draws people to him. He connects coming to him with hearing and learning from the Father. Read John 6:41–45. Their familiarity with his family had become part of their objection. Jesus directs them toward a relationship their objection had not accounted for. Recognition must remain open to what God makes known beyond what we assume we already understand. Hearing Words of Life Later...
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63. Ten Commandments: Honor Revealed Through Our Response

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother Our examination of Father and Mother has followed life, teaching, nourishment, and fruitfulness. These relationships bring responsibility: what does receiving produce in us? Scripture develops that question through the ground receiving rain, the treatment of those sent, and the judgment described by Jesus. What Grows from What Was Received? After its warning about falling away, Hebrews 6 describes ground drinking the rain that repeatedly falls upon it. Useful growth receives blessing; ground producing thorns and thistles faces burning. The imagery carries the discussion of receiving into its outcome. What has been given is followed by an examination of what grows. Read Hebrews 6:4–8. The chapter then recognizes love shown toward God’s name through service to His people. It encourages continued diligence, faith, and patience. Love becomes visible in the response to what was received. Read Hebrews 6:9–12. The Bearer and the One Represe...
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62. Ten Commandments: Receiving the Word and Recognizing Its Source

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother Our examination of honor has followed life, instruction, and the responsibility of receiving. We now consider how a person’s response to those God sends relates to the One whose word they carry. Receiving Those Sent Jesus tells the disciples he is sending that receiving them means receiving him, and receiving him means receiving the One who sent him. The passage preserves a relationship extending from the disciples, through Jesus, to his Father. It also includes the simple act of offering a disciple a cup of cold water. Recognition becomes visible through care. Read Matthew 10:40–42. Earlier, Jesus tells these disciples that, when brought before authorities, the Spirit of their Father will speak in them. The people speaking and the source of what is given remain distinguishable. Read Matthew 10:19–20. This continues an important thread in our study: the bearer carries what comes from the source. Jesus Identifies the Source of His Tea...
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61. Ten Commandments: Receiving Life and Keeping Holy

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother Our examination of Father and Mother concerns life, teaching, nourishment, and the responsibility of those who receive. This brings us to the Holy Spirit. Receiving life from God begins a relationship in which the truth received must continue to guide our walk. Pentecost: The Gift Received At Pentecost, those gathered are filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter explains that the exalted Jesus received the promised Holy Spirit from the Father and poured out what the people were witnessing. The account preserves the Father, the Son, the gift, and its recipients. Those who receive the message subsequently devote themselves to teaching, fellowship, prayer, and care for one another. Read Acts 2:1–4, 32–42. Within our study, we connect this receiving with coming alive by the Spirit. Romans 8 develops the relationship between the indwelling Spirit, life, and being led as God’s children. Read Romans 8:9–14. Receiving and continuing belong togethe...
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60. Ten Commandments: Dishonor, Death, and Forgiveness

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother The promise attached to honoring father and mother speaks of life. Scripture also gives a serious warning concerning speaking evil of them. As we examine that warning, we must preserve what each passage says about the offense, its consequence, and forgiveness. Jesus Repeats the Warning In Matthew 15, Jesus places the command to honor father and mother alongside the instruction that whoever speaks evil of either is to be put to death. He then challenges a tradition that allows someone to withhold resources that could benefit a parent by declaring them devoted to God. Read Matthew 15:3–6. Both father and mother remain within the warning. Religious language cannot make disregard for God’s instruction faithful. Jesus continues by addressing honor offered with the lips while the heart remains far from God. The examination reaches beneath what people claim into what their conduct reveals. Read Matthew 15:7–9. What Jesus Says About Forgiven...
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59. Ten Commandments: Life in the Land God Gives

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother The fifth commandment joins honor with a promise. We must follow both parts: the response required and the life described. Father and mother are named together, and the land is identified as something God gives. The Gift and the Walk Deuteronomy repeats the command to honor father and mother, connecting it with prolonged days and well-being in the land YHWH (יהוה) gives. Read Deuteronomy 5:16. At the chapter’s conclusion, Moses again connects walking in God’s instruction with life, well-being, and continued days in the land. The gift and the responsibility belong together. Israel is called to live faithfully within what God provides. Read Deuteronomy 5:29–33. This recalls the question carried through our Sabbath study: Having received, how do we continue? The Promise Remains in Paul’s Instruction Ephesians repeats the commandment and its promise while addressing children’s obedience to their parents in the Lord. Paul then addresses h...
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58. Ten Commandments: The Pair, the Union, and the Household

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother Our examination of Father and Mother brings us back to the pair and the relationships that develop through their union. The fifth commandment names both. Our wider study asks us to follow how Scripture connects their roles with life, care, and fruitfulness. Preserving the Wording in Genesis Genesis 1:27 moves through “him,” then male and female, then “them.” Verse 28 follows with God’s blessing and His instruction to be fruitful and multiply. Read Genesis 1:26–28. Our God’s Image Study has kept this pair in view. We are following the developing pattern: One → pair → union → fruit → many. That pattern brings several passages into conversation. Each contributes details we must preserve as we examine the whole. The Two Become One Genesis 2 describes the woman being formed from what God takes from the man’s side and being brought to him. The account then speaks of a man leaving father and mother, joining his wife, and the two becoming on...
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57. Ten Commandments: Christ and the Life He Gives

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother Our previous post followed Jerusalem above as our mother. We now turn to the fatherhood language associated with the promised son in Isaiah. As we examine these relationships, we must preserve the source of life, the authority entrusted, and those who receive. The Son and His Government Isaiah 9:6 describes a child born and a son given, with government upon his shoulders. Among his titles, the LSB reads “Eternal Father,” commonly rendered “Everlasting Father.” The following verse describes enduring government and peace, upheld through justice and righteousness. It identifies the zeal of YHWH (יהוה) of hosts as accomplishing this. Read Isaiah 9:6–7. Within our examination of Christ, we follow this fatherhood language alongside his care, rule, and work of bringing life. We must also listen to his own explanation of his relationship with the Father. The Father Gives; the Son Gives Life In John 5, Jesus explains that the Son acts accord...
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56. Ten Commandments: Jerusalem Above—Our Mother

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother “But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.” — Galatians 4:26, LSB As we examine the command to honor father and mother, Paul’s words give us an explicit spiritual relationship to follow. He names a mother, identifies her as Jerusalem above, and describes her as free. We must retain each part as we examine the surrounding passages. Motherhood, Promise, and Freedom Paul compares Abraham’s two sons and the women who bore them. He explains the account allegorically through two covenants, distinguishing birth according to the flesh from birth through promise. Present Jerusalem is described as enslaved with her children. Jerusalem above is free. Paul then identifies his readers as children of promise, corresponding to Isaac. Read Galatians 4:21–31. Motherhood here carries meaning concerning origin, belonging, and inheritance. The relationship involves how the children are brought forth and the condition into which they belong. Pa...
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55. Ten Commandments: Father’s Commandment, Mother’s Teaching

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother Honoring father and mother brings us into a relationship with instruction. Proverbs asks the son to retain what both provide, then follows that instruction into the heart and the daily walk. Held Together Within the Heart Proverbs 6:20 names the father’s commandment and the mother’s law, with the LSB footnote also giving instruction for law. Verse 21 directs the son to bind them continually upon his heart. Both are retained. The passage then describes guidance while walking, protection while sleeping, and speech upon waking. Read Proverbs 6:20–22. There is a detail worth noticing: where the LSB reads “they” in verse 22, its footnotes preserve the literal “she.” The instruction is presented as an active, accompanying presence. This feminine wording deserves attention as we follow the imagery of teaching and wisdom through Scripture. Lamp, Light, and Life Verse 23 connects commandment with a lamp, law or instruction with light, and d...
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54. Ten Commandments: What Does It Mean to Honor?

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother The commandment names both father and mother. Our next question concerns what we are instructed to give them: honor . What does that word require of us? How does it become visible in our response to those named? Giving Weight to the Relationship The Hebrew command in Exodus 20:12 is כַּבֵּד — kabbēd , from the root כבד , associated with weight and heaviness and also used for honoring. In this command, its sense is to honor. Giving weight to someone’s place in our lives helps us consider the instruction: their significance should be reflected in how we treat them. Hebrew word reference: H3513. Both father and mother receive that instruction’s attention. We should carry both forward as we examine the relationships Scripture develops. Honor Includes Listening Proverbs 6:20–23 places the father’s commandment beside the mother’s teaching. The son is instructed to keep them close. Their guidance accompanies walking, sleeping, and waking; i...
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53. Ten Commandments: Honor Your Father and Your Mother

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 5: Father and Mother “Honor your father and your mother” — Exodus 20:12, LSB, excerpt We return to Exodus after our Bridegroom and Bride Study, carrying forward the relationships we have been examining: life, union, teaching, nourishment, and fruitfulness. The fifth commandment names both father and mother. As we begin, we must preserve both—and pay attention to the promise that follows. Both Are Named Exodus 20:12 connects honoring father and mother with prolonged days in the land YHWH (יהוה) gives. Notice the relationships within the sentence: father and mother are honored, the recipient is addressed, and God gives the land. Honor, life, and the place God provides belong together. Read Exodus 20:12. We will follow each part carefully. What does honoring involve? How does Scripture develop the roles of father and mother? Why is the promise connected to life in the given land? Instruction from Father and Mother Proverbs tells the son to keep his father’s...
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22. From Bridegroom and Bride to Father and Mother

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Inside the Mind — Where the Word Leads God’s Image Study | Study: Bridegroom and Bride Our study began with blood at the feet and the declaration of a bridegroom of blood. Following the surrounding words and actions brought us through cleansing, voice, light, union, dwelling, and children. We now return toward the command to honor Father and Mother. Preserve the beginning Genesis moves from “him” to male and female, “them,” followed by blessing, fruitfulness, and multiplication. Genesis 2 brings watered ground, dust, breath, woman, and union into the unfolding account. Genesis 1:27–28 , 2:6–24 Our developing landscape follows: One → pair → union → fruit → many. We retain the wording before deciding its wider scope. The pair and those related to them Across the passages, the relationships remain important: king and queen with companions; Bridegroom and Bride with a friend; wife and invited guests; mother and children; Spirit and Bride calling others. Psalm 45:9–15 , John 3:29 , Revelati...
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21. What the Mouth Reveals — Honor, Accusation, and the Spirit

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Inside the Mind — Where the Word Leads God’s Image Study | Study: Bridegroom and Bride Honoring father and mother brings words and actions into the same relationship. Jesus’ warning about speaking against the Spirit gives us another passage to compare: how does the mouth respond to the source of life and its work? The surrounding events must remain visible. Honor and reviling Jesus places the command to honor father and mother beside the prohibition against cursing them. He then confronts a tradition used to withhold their support. Mark 7:9–13 The Greek word translated “curse” means to revile or speak evil of. It is stronger than ordinary disagreement. Greek kakologeō The death penalty cited concerns that particular offense. We should distinguish it from every possible failure of honor. Yet the surrounding conduct also matters: religious words are being used to excuse neglect. What happens before the Spirit warning? Jesus heals a man whose affliction has prevented sight and speech. The...
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20. Honor and First Allegiance — Father, Mother, and Christ

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Inside the Mind — Where the Word Leads God’s Image Study | Study: Bridegroom and Bride The command joins honoring father and mother with life in the land given by YHWH (יהוה). Jesus also places allegiance to himself above family. How do these teachings belong together? Honor and the given land Exodus names both parents and connects their honor with prolonged days in the given land. Exodus 20:12 Father, mother, child, life, and inheritance therefore belong within the command’s setting. Our wider study asks how this family relationship also carries a shadow of receiving life, instruction, and care from God. Christ comes first Jesus says that loving father or mother more than him makes a person unworthy of him. The same applies to son or daughter. Taking up the cross and following him accompany the teaching. Matthew 10:37–39 The passage establishes an order of allegiance. Honor cannot require replacing Christ with a parent’s authority. The difficult question is how to remain faithful to C...
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