Post by LDM on Jun 21, 2010 3:52:04 GMT -5
olsuit.wordpress.com/2009/04/12/the-meaning-of-honor/
”Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”
Text: Exodus 20:12
Theme: Honoring Parents / Importance of Family
The Dictionary defines the word “honor” in the following way: “to regard or treat with honor or respect; to confer honor on.” And “respect” is given this description: “an act of giving particular attention; high or special regard.”
And so, in a rather formal, wooden way, we have an elementary understanding of what it means to honor another or, in this case, to honor our father and mother.
But is this all that God means when He commands honor for parents? Wonderful as Mother’s Day” and “Father’s Day” are, was making two days in three-hundred and sixty-five a time of condescending speeches, sentimental greeting cards, and hurried meals at mother’s house the “honor” He would have us show? Further, when we have done all that is done on a day such as this, may we then sit back and congratulate ourselves with a “Well, now! That’s done for another year!”?
The Meaning of Honor
Kabad (“Honor”)
1. The Hebrew word translated with our English word “honor” carries a wide variety of meanings. It is a complex word, one not easily understood without some thought.
2. The Hebrew dictionary says it means “to be heavy, be weighty, be grievous, be hard, be rich, be honourable, be glorious, be burdensome, be honoured.”
The Hebrew Concept
1. The Hebrews had a highly developed code of honor. This was due to the teaching of Scripture. And the Scriptures nowhere bestowed greater importance on human relationships than on the duty of children to their parents. Listen to a few of these verses:
2. This attitude was infused into the New Testament, as well, God putting it there to instruct us of our duty to our parents and grandparents. Here are but a few examples:
The “Exceptions”
1. Invariably, when we study this subject, someone will say – “Yes, but you don’t know how sinful, how wicked, how mean my parents were” — (as if this destroys the whole command to honor one’s parents).
2. If you are one of those who have written the word “unless” into the command…(making it now read, “Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother…UNLESS…”) you’re not going to be very happy with God. Because, while we are taught to obey our parents in everything that is good, and in nothing that is bad, we are never given permission to dishonor – to treat as nothing or to forget – our parents. Not even when they do something unwise or harmful.
The Example of Solomon
a. Solomon had a lot to say about how children are to treat their parents. And among his writings was this verse found in Proverbs 19:26… “He who mistreats his father and chases away his mother is a son who causes shame and brings reproach.” And Solomon lamented the fact that “There is a generation that curses its father, And does not bless its mother.” [1]
i. Now, you might ask whether Solomon lived according to what is written in the books of the Bible attached to his name?
b. Turn with me to 1 Kings 2:12-25. (Read the story of Solomon and Bathsheba’s unwise request.)
12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was firmly established. 13 Now Adonijah, the son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. Bathsheba asked him, “Do you come peacefully?” He answered, “Yes, peacefully.” 14 Then he added, “I have something to say to you.” “You may say it,” she replied. 15 “As you know,” he said, “the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as their king. But things changed, and the kingdom has gone to my brother; for it has come to him from the LORD. 16 Now I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me.” “You may make it,” she said. 17 So he continued, “Please ask King Solomon- he will not refuse you- to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.” 18 “Very well,” Bathsheba replied, “I will speak to the king for you.” 19 When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king’s mother, and she sat down at his right hand. 20 “I have one small request to make of you,” she said. “Do not refuse me.” The king replied, “Make it, my mother; I will not refuse you.” 21 So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given in marriage to your brother Adonijah.” 22 King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well request the kingdom for him- after all, he is my older brother- yes, for him and for Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah!” 23 Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if Adonijah does not pay with his life for this request! 24 And now, as surely as the LORD lives- he who has established me securely on the throne of my father David and has founded a dynasty for me as he promised- Adonijah shall be put to death today!” 25 So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he struck down Adonijah and he died.
i. Notice the respect Solomon has for his mother.
ii. Notice that, even when disallowing her foolish request for Adonijah he continues to treat her with utmost respect.
iii. What might Solomon have said to Bathsheba if he was not the kind of son who perpetually honored his mother?
Please click the link at top of post to read the rest of the article.
”Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”
Text: Exodus 20:12
Theme: Honoring Parents / Importance of Family
The Dictionary defines the word “honor” in the following way: “to regard or treat with honor or respect; to confer honor on.” And “respect” is given this description: “an act of giving particular attention; high or special regard.”
And so, in a rather formal, wooden way, we have an elementary understanding of what it means to honor another or, in this case, to honor our father and mother.
But is this all that God means when He commands honor for parents? Wonderful as Mother’s Day” and “Father’s Day” are, was making two days in three-hundred and sixty-five a time of condescending speeches, sentimental greeting cards, and hurried meals at mother’s house the “honor” He would have us show? Further, when we have done all that is done on a day such as this, may we then sit back and congratulate ourselves with a “Well, now! That’s done for another year!”?
The Meaning of Honor
Kabad (“Honor”)
1. The Hebrew word translated with our English word “honor” carries a wide variety of meanings. It is a complex word, one not easily understood without some thought.
2. The Hebrew dictionary says it means “to be heavy, be weighty, be grievous, be hard, be rich, be honourable, be glorious, be burdensome, be honoured.”
a. The concept is of something or someone who cannot easily be dismissed. Like a huge boulder in the road, it is something we must make allowance for; Like a heavy weight, it is pressing upon our thoughts; Like something glorious, we have a sense of awe or reverence for the person or thing.
b. Honor is, therefore, the exact opposite of thoughtlessness and neglect. It conveys a sense of enormous importance to the thing to which it is given. It was an expression of value and worth.
The Hebrew Concept
1. The Hebrews had a highly developed code of honor. This was due to the teaching of Scripture. And the Scriptures nowhere bestowed greater importance on human relationships than on the duty of children to their parents. Listen to a few of these verses:
a. Leviticus 19:3 ‘Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God’
b. Deuteronomy 27:16 ‘Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
c. Proverbs 1:8 My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother;
d. Proverbs 20:20 Whoever curses his father or his mother, His lamp will be put out in deep darkness.
e. Proverbs 30:17 The eye that mocks his father, And scorns obedience to his mother, The ravens of the valley will pick it out, And the young eagles will eat it.
2. This attitude was infused into the New Testament, as well, God putting it there to instruct us of our duty to our parents and grandparents. Here are but a few examples:
a. 1 Timothy 5:4 But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable before God.
b. Matthew 15:4 “For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’”
c. Ephesians 6:2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise:
The “Exceptions”
1. Invariably, when we study this subject, someone will say – “Yes, but you don’t know how sinful, how wicked, how mean my parents were” — (as if this destroys the whole command to honor one’s parents).
2. If you are one of those who have written the word “unless” into the command…(making it now read, “Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother…UNLESS…”) you’re not going to be very happy with God. Because, while we are taught to obey our parents in everything that is good, and in nothing that is bad, we are never given permission to dishonor – to treat as nothing or to forget – our parents. Not even when they do something unwise or harmful.
a. The command to honor one’s parents is what Bible scholars refer to as a “constitutional” command. It never expires and is always binding.
b. But what does the Bible have to say about parents who are less than perfect?
The Example of Solomon
a. Solomon had a lot to say about how children are to treat their parents. And among his writings was this verse found in Proverbs 19:26… “He who mistreats his father and chases away his mother is a son who causes shame and brings reproach.” And Solomon lamented the fact that “There is a generation that curses its father, And does not bless its mother.” [1]
i. Now, you might ask whether Solomon lived according to what is written in the books of the Bible attached to his name?
b. Turn with me to 1 Kings 2:12-25. (Read the story of Solomon and Bathsheba’s unwise request.)
12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was firmly established. 13 Now Adonijah, the son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. Bathsheba asked him, “Do you come peacefully?” He answered, “Yes, peacefully.” 14 Then he added, “I have something to say to you.” “You may say it,” she replied. 15 “As you know,” he said, “the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as their king. But things changed, and the kingdom has gone to my brother; for it has come to him from the LORD. 16 Now I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me.” “You may make it,” she said. 17 So he continued, “Please ask King Solomon- he will not refuse you- to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.” 18 “Very well,” Bathsheba replied, “I will speak to the king for you.” 19 When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king’s mother, and she sat down at his right hand. 20 “I have one small request to make of you,” she said. “Do not refuse me.” The king replied, “Make it, my mother; I will not refuse you.” 21 So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given in marriage to your brother Adonijah.” 22 King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well request the kingdom for him- after all, he is my older brother- yes, for him and for Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah!” 23 Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if Adonijah does not pay with his life for this request! 24 And now, as surely as the LORD lives- he who has established me securely on the throne of my father David and has founded a dynasty for me as he promised- Adonijah shall be put to death today!” 25 So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he struck down Adonijah and he died.
i. Notice the respect Solomon has for his mother.
- Though he is the king, yet he rises up when she enters the room.
- He bows before her in the presence of his servants and courtiers.
- And causes her to be seated in a throne at his right hand – the place of highest honor.
ii. Notice that, even when disallowing her foolish request for Adonijah he continues to treat her with utmost respect.
iii. What might Solomon have said to Bathsheba if he was not the kind of son who perpetually honored his mother?
- He might have resorted to contemptuous speech and hateful accusations.
- He might have thrown up to her the unwholesome stories of her past. (She had, after all, committed adultery with King David and had even kept silent when he had murdered her first husband so that they two might be together.)
- But Solomon does not fail to treat his mother Bathsheba honorably even as he refuses to grant the petition his scheming, power-hungry, step-brother Adonijah had sent through her.
Please click the link at top of post to read the rest of the article.