Fifth Commandment – Honor Your Mother and Father

Fifth Commandment – Honor Your Mother and Father

Exodus 20: ¹² “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

 

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GOD spoke to Moses and the children of Israel, giving them the Ten Commandments. The first four were about how to have a healthy relationship with GOD.  HIS next commandment was about having a healthy relationship with parents.

 

My Observations:

• Honor means to hold in the highest esteem.
• GOD seems to be addressing a value system that should include more than self.
• GOD does not leave HIMSELF out; rather, HE mentions longevity in the promised land that HE was about to give them.

 

Up until now, I thought this verse was about long life. That is because I would read the verse and stopped reading at “Your days may be long.” I threw away the part that GOD was concerned with. GOD wants peace.

 

When GOD cursed the earth and destroyed the garden of Eden, humans began to fight one another for territory. Physical and passive fights broke out over the tiniest parcel of land that would produce food. Some people would take their parents land, similarly to the Egyptians stealing their animals. The Egyptian culture of stealing was being addressed by GOD.

 

The promised land seemed to be the closest thing to the garden of Eden. Food would grow in abundance. There would be plenty to eat so no one needed to despise their parents, to inherit their sliver of land. The children of Israel  could have their own part of the promised land.

 

GOD was establishing peace on earth in families so that HE would fulfill HIS prophecy of making Abraham a great nation. Through mothers and fathers, JESUS would eventually be born. GOD wants harmonious families and HE promises longevity in the promised land.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about the commandment to honor parents?
• What is GOD saying to you about your part in making a harmonious family?
• What purpose is GOD giving you in spreading peace and harmony?

In loving memory of Preston and Susie Washington.

First Action to Dismantle a Mindset

First Action to Dismantle a Mindset

Exodus 7: ¹⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone.’ ” ²⁰ And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. ²¹ The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

 

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GOD told Moses to tell Pharaoh to let HIS people go. That was the warning. But now it was time for action. GOD told Moses to speak to Aaron. So he did. Aaron took his rod and touched the water in the river and all water turned into blood. Even water in buckets and stone pitchers turned into blood.

 

My Observations:

• GOD gave Pharaoh a chance to let the people go, but Pharaoh’s heart became hard and would not surrender to GOD.
• GOD said to Moses that he would be like GOD to Aaron, so Moses commanded Aaron to strike the water.
• GOD started the process of dismantling a belief system that openly opposed HIM.

 

When GOD made the promise to Noah that HE would not wipe out humans with a flood in the future, I believe HE was also saying HE was going to allow humans to choose HIM as GOD. Unfortunately, some humans saw themselves as god.

 

This belief system existed with the Egyptians. Pharaoh was revered as a god. But the true GOD was dismantling this belief. HIS first action was to turn the life sustaining water into blood. There was no escape. GOD was delivering HIS people from those who had a mindset that they could be a god. HE may have used blood on the first plague to show we need the blood of JESUS to sustain physical life as well as eternal.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses of the action HE took against Pharaoh when turning water into blood?
• Have you taken your eyes off of GOD and placed them in a limiting belief?
• What limiting belief do you have that makes you fear, worry or doubt that GOD can deliver you?

Your Setback is Included in Deliverance

Your Setback is Included in Deliverance

Exodus 5: ¹⁵ Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you dealing thus with your servants? ¹⁶ There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick!’ And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.”

 

¹⁷ But he said, “You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.” ¹⁹ And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, “You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota.”

 

²⁰ Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. ²¹ And they said to them, “Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

 

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Moses and Aaron performed the miraculous signs that GOD would do to the Egyptians and they believed. Many of them had stopped working because of their belief. This enraged Pharaoh, who quickly gave a wild erratic rule to take away their raw material, knowing it would make life more difficult, so he could beat them and make them feel scared of being disobedient.

 

My Observations:

• When Pharaoh realized that he may be losing power, he exerted force to control the people.
• Pharaoh’s cruel punishment made the children of Israel confront Moses and Aaron.
• The children of Israel felt their situation had gone from bad to worse.

 

At one point the children of Israel were crying out to GOD for deliverance. GOD heard their cries and responded with HIS deliverance plan. When the plan was put into effect, the children of Israel were delighted! Unfortunately, they had more suffering to overcome.

 

Their expectation was that GOD would make this happen swiftly and easily. They did not know that GOD’s plan included the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. They only saw the result coming. We feel the same way. When we get the smallest sign from GOD, we rejoice, but possibly fall to pieces when there is a setback, or so we think. GOD has taken into consideration any opposition you and I face. HE is still going to be the deliverance!

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about the cruelty of Pharaoh and the response of the children of Israel?
• Have you ever experienced a setback and wondered if GOD has left you or abandoned the plan HE promised you?
• Can you hold on through the setbacks, knowing that GOD has accounted for them in HIS deliverance?

Deliverance From Pain and Sorrow

 

Deliverance From Pain and Sorrow

Exodus 3: ⁷ And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. ⁸ So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. ⁹ Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰ Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

 

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Speaking in unison, GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON and GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT told Moses that HE has heard the cries of HIS people who are in Egypt. HE then said “I have come down to deliver them.”

 

My Observations:

• All the Hebrews could do is cry out to GOD.
• GOD knew who was doing the oppression, how long they were doing it and when.
• GOD made a promise to Moses that HE would deliver HIS children out of Egypt.

 

Telling Moses that HE heard the cry of the people is one thing, but to tell him, “Okay, here is what I am going to have you do something about it” is another. Moses was not crying out. In fact, he was getting older and was content to spend the rest of his life with his wife Zipporah tending Jethro’s flock.

 

I believe GOD has a time limit on oppression. After the cure HE put on creation and after the flood, GOD allowed free will to take its course. Unfortunately, humans usually do not turn to GOD, rather they seek other humans for wisdom. The Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites, to me, represent various human beliefs that people easily fall into without consulting GOD.

 

Egyptians were oppressing the children of Israel the most. GOD also saw that they would run to other humans that did not have their best interest in mind. Only GOD knew how much HE cared for them and HE decided to send Moses.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about HIS promise HE told him when speaking from the burning bush?
• Are you seeking contentment away from the troubles that other people are facing?
• Are you available to join up with GOD as HE executes HIS plan of bringing HIS people back to HIM?