THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT by E. J. Hibbard

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 25, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 52.

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT.

By E. J. Hibbard

HONOR thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

In the first four commandments, we have our relation to God clearly set forth; in the last six, our proper relation to our fellow-man. And the sum of it all is, that we love the Lord our God with all the heart, and our neighbor as ourself. It is but natural, therefore, that our duty to fellow-man should be defined, beginning at the first point possible, that of our relation to father and mother.

The true parent, in his relation to his children, is akin to God. For has not the Lord used this simile again and again, to convey to our minds, in some measure, His love and care for us? “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.” “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.” In this last quotation, the Lord selected the most improbable thing which could, in this world, be thought of, in order to show for us His unfailing love. Only in cases of extreme sickness, or of famine, prolonged and cruel, have mothers (true ones, I mean) forgotten their nursing babes, that they have not had compassion on them. Therefore the quotation is not given to show the unfaithfulness of a mother, but the exceeding faithfulness of our God. Yet, as noted above, He chose the tenderest ties of earth in order to make a comparison which we could comprehend. Again: “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” The most improbable thing which could be imagined, that a father or a mother should forsake a child. Altho dishonored, disgraced, trodden under foot; yet the tender, yearning heart of a true father or mother will follow an erring child to prison, to the dungeon, to the very gallows; despising the shame of it all, that they may snatch him from ruin, or show him the way of life.

In that home where poverty reigns, the last crust is given to the famishing child, while the parent suffers on. In case of danger or accident, the parent’s body is thrown, at the risk of life, between the child and harm. Privation, want, sacrifice, poverty; all these are cheerfully endured by parents, that their children may be educated and trained for usefulness in life. Known only to God are the heart-yearnings of the real parent for the child. The parents themselves can never know the depths. As I contemplate these things, all that is within me responds to the command, “Honor thy father and thy mother.”

How may we honor them? First of all, by our conduct. “A wise son maketh a glad father.” As the world weighs matters, the child who makes his “mark” honors the parents most. He who in college secures class honors; he in public life who is promoted in civil or military office, is honored by the world; and his glory reflects credit on the ones who begat him. When a certain young American captain succeeded in capturing the Filipino chieftain, who did not read of the triumph of that aged father and mother on the farm in the homeland? Yet this sort of honor pales into nothingness in comparison with that of which the commandment speaks.

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right. ‘Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise.’” Parents who are “in the Lord” never ask of their children anything which is not of the Lord. That is, their only regulations and requirements are those already laid down by the Lord. To obey a parent “in the Lord” then, is only to obey the Lord. And since “obey your parents in the Lord” is used in apposition with “Honor thy father and mother,” it would be a stupid mind which could not see that the obedience is the honor.

In this, as in all other matters pertaining to human life, we have a perfect example in Christ, our Saviour. To some who were reviling Him, He said, “I honor My Father, and ye do dishonor Me.” You will remember that He had no earthly father; so that the Father of whom He speaks, must be the heavenly Father. How did this Son honor the Father? “Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do; for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” “I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.” “I can of Mine own self do nothing; as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just; because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me.” And through the psalmist He said, “I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart.” That was the secret of it all—the fact that God’s law was within His heart. And that, we have seen, is the very work which is promised us in the “new covenant.” We have also seen that God’s law is His life. It is His Spirit. Therefore Jesus could say, “The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.”

“The law is spiritual; but I am carnal.” Therefore I, of myself, can never obey the law. But the fruit of the Spirit,—“Against such there is no law.” The Holy Spirit only can fulfil a spiritual law. Therefore, only he who is filled with the Spirit can possibly fulfil the law.

But Jesus had an earthly mother; and it was just as natural for Him to fulfil every duty due her, as it was to fulfil His Father’s will. And why so?—Because His duty to her was part of His Father’s will. He could not have slighted her in the least possible way without displeasing the Father—without grieving the Holy Spirit with which He was filled from the womb. In His last expiring agonies on the cross, He did not forget her. “When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple standing by, whom He loved, He saith unto His mother, ‘Woman, behold thy son!’ Then saith He to the disciple, ‘Behold thy mother!’ And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.”

It is therefore evident that a provision for their temporal wants is included in the honor due our parents. Why not? If we were to provide for them a century of time, we could not more than feebly repay their intense love and untiring watchfulness and care for us, ere we knew aught of danger, or had a thought of care.

In these days of Christ on earth, the selfish heart of man, tho professing to obey God, had found a way to evade this temporal honor due to parents. But it met the open rebuke of the Master. (See Matthew 15.) Said Christ in conclusion, “Well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoreth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me.” Thus, in dishonoring the parent, their honoring of God was only of the lip, not of the heart. How apparent it is, then, that one can not disregard one of God’s commands without breaking the spirit of them all. It is thus that if we “offend in one point, we are guilty of all.”

“Honor thy father and thy mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” In Exodus, it says, “Upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” But there is no conflict here, since “the meek shall inherit the earth.” When shall this be? “When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.” “We according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” The measure of our dwelling there, will be the measure of eternity.

The violation of this commandment is a sign of the age. “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents.”

The parent’s part in this command is found in these words: “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” How few parents of this kind there are, or how many, the Lord only knows. One would think they were not common. “The nurture and admonition of the Lord!” Nurture means nourishment, food, nursing, painstaking and careful training. This means more than physical food and bodily caretaking. “Admonition;” the daily and hourly living and teaching of the Word of the Lord. Having done this, the parent is clear before God. If we have not done this, then a heart-felt confession to God, and to the children so dreadfully wronged, will do much to start us in the right direction. Then, the beginning of a life in harmony with this advice will do all that is possible on the parent’s part to correct the past.

However, after all has been done in accord with the Word of God, yet some may go astray. Is not the Almighty Father the best trainer of children in the world? And did not His first-born of earth rebel against Him? In later years, He said, “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord hath spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me.” So let that parent who has done, and is still doing, all that heaven permits for the salvation of His children, not despair if the worst is realized. He has done all he could. And let not that child, who, in order to obey God, is obliged to disobey a parent who is out of harmony with

God, think that he is disobeying the fifth command. Your life of obedience to God is a far greater honor to your parents than obedience to them which would involve disobedience to God. “Obey your parents in the Lord.” Not long ago, a young man told me that his father was continually reproving him for keeping God’s holy Sabbath at a loss financially to himself. He wrote his father in reply: “When I was smoking, drinking beer, gambling, attending theaters and other places which are worse, you never reproved me. Why do you continually do so now? Would you rather I would return to my old life of shame? Would I thus honor your name more than I do now?” The dart struck home. That father did not reply to these questions.

In which way do you think he honored the father most?

E. J. HIBBARD.