Honor Your Parents

I was reading in Jeremiah this morning and came across the story of the Rechabites in chapter 35. The context of this story is the continued disobedience of the people of Judah and Jerusalem despite being given clear instructions through the prophets. However, the Rechabites were unique in that they demonstrated a lifelong commitment to the instructions of their father, Jonadab.

8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9 and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, 10 but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. (Jeremiah 35:8-10 ESV)

God valued this honoring of their parents and made a promise to this family that He would preserve them despite all the disaster that would come to the land where they live.

18 But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, 19 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to stand before me.” (Jeremiah 35:18;19 ESV)

Now, this is a promise to a particular family in time, but it demonstrates the principle of the value that God places on honoring your parents and the process of discipleship. The parents instructed the children, and the children obeyed their instruction.

In my sermon last Sunday, I talked at length about the importance of education as discipleship, but I didn't really talk about the responsibility of the children to honor their parents. Really, though, that is a very important part of the process of cultivating a God-honoring culture. The 5th commandment lays out that children need to honor their parents so that their days may be long in the land given to them. If children grow up with an attitude that their parents are simply killjoys that are to be tolerated until they can break free, then all of the foundational truths needed to withstand the flood of humanism will not help them. The probability is great that they will depart their parents' house with a different view of the world.

We see in our own culture how rebellion is glorified. Foolishness and rebellion has been a problem for all of us since birth, and more and more, rebellion against authority and the previous generation has been presented as "cool" or desirable in the media. When we glamorize rebellion and then remove the conduit of influence for parents by shipping them off to the state schools to be discipled by the state, then we have no expectation that children will do anything but rebel against the world view of mom and dad. The encouragement to rebel goes in direct opposition to the expectations of the 5th commandment. Such encouragement would be like encouraging the children of the wise builder of Luke 6:48 to leave the well built house to go live with the foolish builder of verse 49 during the flood. The obedience to the truths of Scriptures which protect is left behind, and a great ruin in their lives ensues.

Back in Jeremiah 35, God made a point of demonstrating His valuing generational faithfulness by promising to preserve them, just as the 5th commandment says. Even when we aren't perfect in what we teach or how we parent, this chapter gives me hope that our focus on restoring parental influence, dicipleship and home education is pleasing to God. When God looks at our culture and sees a people who do not incline their ear and listen to Him (Jer 35:15), my hope is that he will see a community like ours and be pleased.