Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20060906.htm

EXODUS: FUNCTIONING WELL IN A HOPELESS GROUP ASSIGNMENT
Part II: God's Sustainment Of Israel In The Wilderness Amid Humanly Helpless Trials
I. Aligning With God's Moral Order: The Ten Commandments
1. The First Five Commandments: Loving God With All Of One's Being
e. Commandment Five: Honoring God's Home Model As The Key To Civilization Blessings
(Exodus 20:12)
  1. Introduction
    1. Social scientists try to determine the causes of the rise and fall of civilizations to discern lessons for the improvement of mankind's welfare, Edward McNall Burns, Western Civilizations , 6th ed., p. 24.
    2. Well, God in the fifth commandment reveals His view on the cause of civilization's success as follows:
  2. Commandment Five: Honoring God's Home Model As The Key To Civilization Blessings, Ex. 20:12.
    1. In review on the Ten Commandments, we Christians are no longer under the jurisdiction of the Mosaic Law's Ten Commandments, for we are dead to the law in our position in Christ, Romans 7:4a with 3:23.
    2. Nevertheless, that Law is intrinsically holy, just and good (Romans 7:12), so the Christian will live up to the righteous standard of that Law as he is filled with the Holy Spirit, Romans 8:3-4! Thus, we view the Ten Commandments to note the standard of righteousness we will attain in life as Spirit-filled believers.
    3. Thus, we view Commandment Five: Honoring God's Home Model As The Key To Civilization Blessings:
      1. When God commanded the people of Israel to honor their parents in Exodus 20:12a, He promised a reward for keeping that command, the promise of a long life on the land the Lord gave them, 20:12b.
      2. Now, other Scriptures reveal that other nations are given their lands by God as well, Deut. 2:4-5, 9, 12.
      3. Indeed, God sets the boundaries of the world's nations, and the ages in which they function, Acts 17:26.
      4. Well, the promise behind the call to honor one's parents applies even to the Church era, Eph. 6:1-3, so a righteous Christian will honor his parents if he expects to have a decent and long life on the earth as a contributor to the longevity of the human civilization of which he is a part!
      5. In view of these facts, we view the fifth commandment, the key to the welfare of human civilizations:
        1. Children are to honor their birth parents, their father and their mother, not some other kind of marital union: thus, (1) the model God set in creation is the model God blesses in civilizations. He made one man and one woman for each other, forming Eve from Adam's rib so that Adam would view Eve as his permanent spousal partner, Genesis 2:20-25. (3) Hence, the foundation upon which a home is to be built whose civilization God blesses is one where the marriage partners forming the home comprise a heterosexual, monogamous and permanent marital union.
        2. That such a union is to be permanent implies that there is to be no updated redefinition of that union. Gay, lesbian, polygamous, adulterous, bestial or other deviant arrangements or activity are forbidden if the civilization involved seeks God's blessing of longevity, cf. Leviticus 18:20-25.
        3. The fact that children are to honor their parents implies there is to be a healthy relationship between adults and children, Ex. 20:12. As pederasty is very destructive for children, it is strictly forbidden.
        4. No time limit is given for honoring one's parents, so the civilization God blesses is one that values and supports the welfare not only of its children, but also of its aging population, Exodus 20:12.
        5. The fact that aging parents are to be perpetually honored implies the honor of even deceased parents, so God blesses that civilization that respects the honorable precedents in its social order that were set by honorable ancestors, a respect for the wisdom and decisions of antiquity, Exodus 20:12.
        6. That God holds children responsible to honor their birth parents to have themselves a long life on earth shows the need to honor one's physical roots if he would live a physically wholesome life.
Lesson: The civilization God blesses is one where, out of reverence for God Who created the order, the children of a heterosexual, monogamous, permanent marital union to which all human sexual activity is limited perpetually honor those parents.

Application: To contribute to the welfare of world civilizations, may we by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit uphold God's Biblical order for marriage as a heterosexual, monogamous, permanent bond to which all human sexual activity is limited and where the children perpetually honor their parents!