Obedience Gives Hope To Longevity
Paul’s reference of the fifth
commandment in Ephesians 6:3 reflects his belief that obedience to the law
brings the blessing of long earthly life and disobedience will shorten life and
bring death. Paul would come to this
conclusion by looking back at Moses and the giving of the law, with its
blessing and curses, and Moses’ first sermon in Deuteronomy before entering the
promise land.
The law was given to teach Israel
how to dwell with a holy and righteous God.
God had already saved Israel and redeemed them for himself. Therefore, the law was not a means of
salvation. Their eternal salvation was
one that was given by faith in Yahweh and ultimately His provision of the
promised Messiah; namely Christ.
However, the longevity of their
temporal life was directly correlated with their obedience to the law. If
Israel obeys the law and keeps Yahweh’s statutes, then He would remove all
dangerous animals from the land and no sword would pass through them. They would pursue their enemies and they
would prevail over them. Yahweh promised
to multiply them and make them fruitful (Leviticus 26:6-9). Israel’s obedience to the law ensured they
would receive life and prosperity.
Nevertheless, Moses warns the people
that if they did not keep the law that they would be put out of the land and away
from the presence of God (Leviticus 26:33).
He also warned in Leviticus 26:16 that if they did not keep the law that
Yahweh would bring terror on them— wasting disease and fever that would cause
their eyes to fail and their life to ebb away.
To disobey the law was to ensure devastation and death for Israel.
Paul alludes to this in the text in
a couple of ways. First, he leaves out
the last phrase, “The Lord God is giving you” tagged at the end of both Exodus
20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16. Paul does
this because he is universalizing the text to apply to the church. The land is no longer the place where God
dwells. Through the work of Christ, God
dwells in the hearts of men (Ephesians 1:20-23; 2:21-22; 5:18). Also, the word for land could also be
interpreted “earth” which would then make the verse read, “…that you may live
long in the earth;” which I believe is a truer reading of the meaning of the
text.
Understanding this principle, Paul
then applies it to the Ephesian church, specifically to the family context. His primary target is aimed at the children
of the family. He tells them to obey
their parents because the Lord has put them in a position of authority to act
as the mediator of his will, and to obey your parents is to obey the Lord. Your obedience is a mark of your presence
with the Lord. Obeying the Lord always
brings the blessing of life.
A secondary target could be towards
the parents, particularly the fathers.
The reference to the Exodus 20:12 and its connection to Deuteronomy 6,
would send a signal to the scope and depth of instruction that must take place
in discipling ones children. In
Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Moses presented the people with the scope and sequence of
instruction to be given to children.
Fathers were to repeat and teach the law in every aspect of human
life. This principle would easily carry
over to the church as well.
Two Final Considerations
There are two things left to deal
with in this text. First, what does Paul
mean when he says that it is the first commandment with a promise, and second,
is Paul trying to implement the law in this text? I will deal with these concerns in the order
mentioned above.
It could be argued that the second
commandment bears a promise in that God offers his faithful love to a thousand
generations to those who keep his commandments.
However, this is not so much a promise as it is a description of God’s
character. We see the same kind of
description in Exodus 34:6-7, when Yahweh passes before Moses. Yahweh shows Moses His glory and describes
Himself to Moses as a compassionate and
gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth, maintaining
faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and
sin. But He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of
the fathers’ wrongdoing on the children and grandchildren to the third and
fourth generation.[1] Yahweh is merely describing who he is as God
in the context of the law.
As far as the second concern goes, I
do not believe Paul is trying to implement the law in this text. First of all, early on in the letter he had already
stated that Christ made no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed
regulations (Ephesians 2:15). Paul would
not want to put up a barrier that has already been torn down by Christ. Second, the law does serve the church in that
it provides many normative principles to the Christian life. Paul uses the law
in other places in the New Testament to give the church a normative principle
to follow; for example Gal 5:14, “For the entire law is fulfilled in one
statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Normative principles are morals or values that
can be applied to the life of the Christian as a way of manifesting the “good
works which God as prepared ahead of time” (Ephesians 2:10). Because Christ has fulfilled the law and its
demands, these principles are not commands expressed in regulations (Ephesians
2:15).
Conclusion
In the book of Ephesians, the
apostle Paul gives a beautiful picture of how the God the Father is bringing
all things under the supreme rule of Christ.
Through His Son life is given to sinners, dead in their trespasses, and
the Spirit is given to dwell in the hearts of both Jew and Gentile, working to
manifest the same kind of love and unity that is found in the Trinitarian
relationship. This unity is not confined
to individualism, or the church as a gathered body, but is also seen in the
home of every believing family.
Every member of the family testifies
of their value of the supreme glory of Christ by their obedience to the Father
and to one another. Children are not
exempt from this. Children are not to be
left on the periphery of the gospel, but are to be trained and brought up in
the instruction of the Lord; in hope
that they will enjoy God’s presence in Christ, and not only enjoy the blessing
of long life on earth, but in eternity as well.
The only way children can do this is if their parents are faithful in
teaching them the glorious things of Yahweh and His Son Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is vital that both parents and
children cooperate with each other in the discipleship process so that they
will be able to adequately testify of the supreme value and glory of Yahweh.
[1] Obrien,
Peter T. The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letter to The Ephesians.
Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999.
No comments:
Post a Comment