Honor your father and mother." This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, "things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth." Ephesians 6:2
In Exodus 20, the people of Israel were given ten instructions to follow by God. These instructions are what we now refer to as the Ten Commandments. In giving these instructions, God was telling the Israelites His ten most important rules for daily living. Included on this list was commandment number five: "Honor your father and mother" (Exodus 20:12). If this was included in the list of the ten most important instructions for the Israelites to follow, clearly, honoring our parents must be extremely important to God.
Years and years after the book of Exodus was written, the Apostle Paul wrote about this commandment from God in Exodus 20:12. As he wrote about this commandment, he provided more clarification and information about it. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:2-3, "Honor your father and mother. This is the first commandment with a promise: 'If you honor your father and mother, things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.'" In a few short verses, Paul explained how followers of Jesus are to act and why they are to act this way. "Honor your father and mother," he wrote (Ephesians 6:2a). We do not use the word honor very often in our vocabulary, so it would be good for us to define the word. Webster's Dictionary defines honor as "to regard or treat (someone) with admiration and respect." In other words, to honor our parents is to show respect to them and treat them with value. Next, Paul teaches us why we are to honor our parents. He teaches that the command to honor our parents has a promise attached to it: "that things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth" (Ephesians 6:2). This promise Paul quotes here is given in Exodus 20:12. Now, this does not mean a long life in number of years, but it refers to the quality of years we live. It means that we will live fuller, more joyful, and more peaceful lives if we honor our parents.
Did you know that this instruction from God to honor your parents came with a promise of a fuller life if you follow it? While this is definitely a benefit, it is not meant to be our main motivation for following this instruction. Our reason for obeying should be that God commanded it, and we want to obey and honor Him by our obedience. Will you choose to follow this instruction and honor your parents or those who are like parents to you today?
Think about your parents or those who are like parents to you today. What can you do to honor them, showing love and respect? Take time today to reach out to your parents or those who have become like parents to you. Call them, offer to get them groceries, ask them how you can best help them today. As you reach out to them, let them know that you love them today.
Then God gave the people all these instructions:
“I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.
“You must not have any other god but me.
“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.
“You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.
“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
“Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
“You must not murder.
“You must not commit adultery.
“You must not steal.
“You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.
“You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”
When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram’s horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear.
And they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!”
“Don’t be afraid,” Moses answered them, “for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!”
As the people stood in the distance, Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.
