Commandment #5  Honor Your Father and Mother

Exodus 20:12

1.  Shift in focus.  Next to the worship and awe of God Himself, He values the family.  As the family goes, so goes the country.  So many of our social ills can be traced to the demise of the American family.

2.  God again shows we are inherently selfish.  Every commandment has had with it either a carrot or stick or both.  This one has a carrot.

3.  Does NOT say "Love".  But honor.  Many do not have "lovable" parents.

(I, for one have a mother who has never, never said "I love you.")  Honor and Love are different.

4. Why don't we honor our parents? "If you knew my mother, father…." Yet, Deu. 20:9, says if a son curses his parents, he shall be put to death.