The Ten Commandments: #5 - Honor your Parents

We summarize the true substance of each of the commandments which we have been discussing one commandment at a time at our Deep Dive studies.

The FIFTH COMMANDMENT: Exodus 20:12, "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you."

The following are the flavors of what this commandment really means based on our cross-reference examples of how it is obeyed and how it is disobeyed.

• (Exodus 20:12) - Promise of long life. Violation has the OPPOSITE consequence!
• (Deuteronomy 5:16) - Promise of quality of life Violation has the OPPOSITE consequence!
• (Ephesians 6:2) - First commandment with a promise focusing on the words of Deuteronomy 5:16 Violation has the OPPOSITE consequence!
• (Leviticus 19:3-18) - Love neighbor starts with love of parents. You can never claim to love your neighbor if you do not honor your parents regardless of who they are or have been.
• (Deuteronomy 21:18-21; 27:16; 1 Timothy 1:8-10) -  Dishonoring parents is as bad as murder in the eyes of God and is cursed Violation has PERMANENT consequences!
• Matthew 15:3-9 – Traditions of men; rationalizations why we exempt ourselves from obeying this commandment.
• (Proverbs 1:8-9; 6:20-23) – Learning from God-fearing parents provides wisdom and integrity
• Proverbs 19:26; 23:22,25; 28:24; 30:11-14,17 – Specific situations
• Matthew 10:34-39; Luke 14:26 – Hate your father, mother? Yes, you can never love anyone or anything above God, even yourself! This is also an application of the very first commandment.

The command fine print results in the following applications:

• “Our Father….” Honoring our earthly father is both an application and practice of honoring God.
• Galatians 6:10 - Loving earthly family has the same mindset as loving the family of God or the "household of faith". Highlights consistency in mindset and practice.
• John 13:34-35 - Loving the family of God on an individual and corporate basis is one of the loudest, if not the loudest, witness to the world that we are God's special people!