The commandment to honour your Father and your Mother can be seen as a commadment to honour all authority. It also speaks of a respect for history and tradition.
God himself is the true and ultimate Father.
The king may also be seen as a kind of father of the nation. The state may be an extension of the family.
The pastor is also something of a Father to his people. As Calvin said, you cannot have God as your father without having the church as your mother.
The commandment to honour your parents therefore applies to all of life, not just to the family, but also to the state and church.
Monday, April 27, 2009
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4 comments:
Marc, perhaps you can help me out on this... How would Hebrews of Moses' time have received this command to honour father and mother? Was it to them about all authority, as you've outlined above?
Thanks,
John
Hi John,
Welcome!
Not sure I can help much. I'm afraid I don't really know.
I guess my post depends on thinking about what is meant by "father". I reckon an ancient Hebrew might think ancestor, king, God etc.
Whilst I think your question is a relevant interesting one, I wouldn't say its the only question. I am more interested about what it means for Christian believers like us today.
I've not thought about the commandment much yet but I'm not sure I'd want to say its all about authority, though I do think this is part of it.
Does that help at all? What do you think?
Thanks for that reply. It's something I've wondered about a bit in the past. I guess I was wanting to explore how what it meant to them then relates to what it means to us now. So I was trying to figure out what it did mean to them back then. If honour father and mother means recognising the authority structures that God has ordained within the household, then that very quickly expands to include authority within one's clan, tribe and then the nation. As you say though, it's not just limited to authority.
Maybe someone else can shed some light on what this commandment meant in its original context.
John
Yes, thanks, John, helpful.
I've tried to discuss more generally how we apply the 10 commandments (see labels) and the law of Moses to ourselves elsewhere on this blog such as at:
http://marclloyd.blogspot.com/2007/03/27-theses-on-law-faith-works-obedience.html
I would say we are not under the Mosaic law as Mosaic believers were but that it still has a morally binding authority over us.
Maybe I might come up with something useful on interpreting this particular commandment as I prepare to preach on it in a few weeks time. I'll try to remember to say so here if I do.
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