The Promise of the Fifth Commandment
Bro. Smith: Some are anxious to know your views on the promise of the fifth commandment; whether it has special reference to the world to come, or whether it applies here, in this present life. L. Huber. Answer. If we go back to the time when the commandments were given, and read the fourth commandment, it might seem as if the promise of the fifth commandment had special reference to the Israelites then journeying to the land of Canaan. We are however shielded from such a conclusion by the reference which Paul makes to the fifth commandment in Eph. vi, 2, 3. He there calls it "the first commandment with promise;" thus bringing the promise over into this dispensation, and referring it to those who are Israel through Christ. Says the fifth commandment, "That thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Says Paul, "That thou mayest live long upon the earth." Paul's language thus becomes a sort of commentary on the fifth commandment. It shows that the land which the commandment says the Lord will give his people is the earth; and reasoning back again from Paul's language to the commandment we learn that it has reference to the earth at a time when it shall be given to God's people; for it is "the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." But the earth in its present state is not given to the people of God. If it was, there would be no room for that glorious time predicted by the prophet Daniel when the saints shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom under the whole heavens. Dan. vii, 18, 27. When the Saviour says "The meek shall inherit the earth," he refers to the future. To the same we believe the commandment also has reference. And this view is confirmed by a glance at the followers of God in past ages, who of course would have been the recipients of the promise if it had reference to this life. But we find that they have not been thus distinguished, while in many instances their days have been violently cut short by the hand of persecution.