Father’s Day — Honoring Dad.
Why honor dads?
Why is that this is so important to God? I think it’s obvious. God is a father. Even Jesus is called Eternal Father. God is a father, and He is a mother. And the Father, the Son and Spirit all interact with creation accordingly.
God created everything. And especially man, His children.
To help us understand and appreciate Him, he created us like Him, whereby in our way, we make children, and we are responsible for them and trying to shape them to become grown people who make good choices and honor God.
If we learn to honor Mom and Dad, we learn at the same time to honor God.
So why? Why should we honor Dad?
First, and remember we talked about this last month when we asked and answered the question, why honor moms?
We are commanded to honor Dad and it began in the Old Testament, in the 10 Commandments.
Exodus 20:12
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Kabad: to be heavy, weighty, grievous, to be hard, rich, to be honorable, to be glorious, to be burdensome, to be honored.
This is the idea of value, it is heavy, it’s hard, it’s weighty, not a little bit of gold, but so much you can’t carry it. It’s not just any diamond, it’s the Koh-i-Noor, the Sancy Diamond.
They can’t even place a value on these diamonds, they are so rare and desired. They are priceless.
So kabad your dad and mom, so that your days may be long in the land.
And in Hebrew, that’s some – days
day, time, year
day (as opposed to night)
day (24 hour period)
as defined by evening and morning in Genesis 1
days, lifetime (pl.)
So this is referring to the days of the one obeying the command, and it says, by honoring your father and your mother your days, see the plural?
Days when plural and in the context means your lifetime on earth may be long. Now this says that your days may be long in the land which the Lord has promised to you, meaning it’s to Israel, and it’s a reference to not being exiled or having life cut short.
So we don’t have to do it right? Wrong!
Then Jesus reiterated the command, and even clarified it.
Matthew 15:4-6
For God commanded, ”Honor your father and your mother,” and, ”Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.” But you say, ”If anyone tells his father or his mother, ’What you would have gained from me is given to God,’ he need not honor his father.” So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.
Now, how did He clarify it? He said there’s no excuse for not doing so. There’s no excuse.
So the command is: Honor your father and mother, but He calls them out.
He says, you tell the people, if anyone tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is given to God, then you don’t have to honor them.
Now what he was saying is that this is sin, and wrong, and what I’m saying is this, if Jesus says that claiming that what their parents were due was given to God does not nullify this command, then nothing does. There is no higher cause.
Right? Given to God trumps everything, every possible cause, but, it does not trump God’s call to honor father and mother.
He also established that another way you honor is financially. In fact, failure to help out as you’re able with your parents in true financial need is a sin.
This is echoed by Paul,
Look at 1 Timothy 5:7-8
7 Prescribe these things as well, so that they may be above reproach. 8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
The command to honor your father and mother is further reiterated in the New Testament.
Ephesians 6:1-3
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.
There is no question that this command was not negated, having been reiterated in the New Testament. So Jesus upholds it and clarifies it, now Paul upholds it, and illustrates it. What does it look like? For one, obedience. It includes and is primarily shown with obedience. And look, the consequences remain the same: that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land (on the earth).
So children are to honor Dad.
And we asked, remember: How long do we have to do this? Let’s start with as long as he’s still here, at least.
Proverbs 23:22
Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
If being commanded to isn’t enough, God gives more motivation.
Why honor Dad?
For your good —
Proverbs 1:8,9
8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction
And do not forsake your mother’s teaching;
9 Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head
And ornaments about your neck.
Hearing and not forsaking, meaning you hold to them and when you do, it adorns you in the most noticeable way, it makes you classy. People will say wow, that a class act! Look at him, look at her! You can tell they are people of excellent breeding. Not because of how they look, but because of how they act.
Proverbs 13
13 A wise son accepts his father’s discipline,
But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
If you don’t accept Dad’s work to shape you, with discipline and such, you become a scoffer.
What’s that?
Luwts (loots) means —
- to scorn, make mouths at, talk arrogantly
- (Qal)
- to boast
- to scorn
- (Hiphil)
- to mock, deride
- (Hithpalpel) to be inflated, scoff, act as a scorner, show oneself a mocker
- (Qal)
You’re essentially saying, my dad is an idiot, he’s a fool, he’s wrong, and worse. And when you say it about your dad, you say it about your God.
Proverbs 3
The Rewards of Wisdom
3 My son, do not forget my teaching,
But let your heart keep my commandments;
2 For length of days and years of life
And peace they will add to you.
When you commit yourself to your dad’s teaching, to keeping it, length of days, years of life, and peace they will add to you.
You’ll have more years of peaceful life if you do, as opposed to fewer years filled with anxiety.
Proverbs 6
20 My son, observe the commandment of your father
And do not forsake the teaching of your mother;
21 Bind them continually on your heart;
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk about, they will guide you;
When you sleep, they will watch over you;
And when you awake, they will talk to you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light;
And reproofs for discipline are the way of life.
If you pay attention to Dad, purposefully, working at it, you will have guidance, protection, direction, a lamp, light, and reproofs for discipline will help keep your way right.
Proverbs 15
5 A fool rejects his father’s discipline,
But he who regards reproof is sensible.
6 Great wealth is in the house of the righteous,
You won’t be a fool, you will be sensible, and you will have the wealth promised for the wise and the righteous.
Proverbs 20:20
20 He who curses his father or his mother,
His lamp will go out in time of darkness.
If you curse your dad, you will head into darkness without a lamp. It’s the beginning of a treacherous calamitous journey.
Why honor Dad?
For his good.
Proverbs 10
10 The proverbs of Solomon.
A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.
We want our dads to be proud of us, to be pleased with us, to be happy with us. It’s natural.
Proverbs 17:21-23
21 He who sires a fool does so to his sorrow,
And the father of a fool has no joy.
If you act the fool, you bring sorrow to dad and take away his joy.
Proverbs 23:22-26
22 Listen to your father who begot you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell it,
Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And he who sires a wise son will be glad in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.
26 Give me your heart, my son,
And let your eyes delight in my ways.
Your dad will greatly rejoice. Your dad will be glad in him (pride). Mission accomplished, and what did it take?
Listening to your dad, loving your mom, obtaining truth, obtaining wisdom and understanding, being righteous, trusting your dad, and delighting in his ways.
Assuming those ways are God’s ways. God, who is the Father of fathers and of all children.
Proverbs 29:3
3 A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad,
But he who keeps company with harlots wastes his wealth.
Loving wisdom makes Dad glad — proud. It makes him happy, pleases him. See?
Why honor dads?
For what they do.
They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and entered the room where the child was.
Dads intercede for their children.
Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.“
Dads turn to God for their children’s good and well-being. They seek their best.
And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.
We often speak of Mary’s response to Jesus as He grew, but here we learn it’s not just mom, but stepdad too. Amazed and proud of their son. Can you imagine? Joseph watching this unique child, God Himself, in their midst, growing in stature. Amazing everyone, including them. Dads are proud of their kids. Even Jesus’ stepdad was.
When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.“
Dads protect their kids and help them. They care deeply if there could be anything wrong.
While he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.
Dads overlook the worst situations to try to help their children. They want them back. They keep trying.
Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?
Dads provide. They provide what’s really needed and good for their children.
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?
Dads are a model for us to better understand the perfect Father, God Almighty. Here is the assurance of the the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
God is our daddy, our loving protecting caring papa, where we can find comfort and safety in His huge powerful arms.
For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.
God sometimes fills in the gaps by providing fathers (and mothers) through the gospel of Christ. I had that, and I’ve been that. I pray you all will too, that God will so equip you that you can fill in the those crucial roles in the lives of some people who desperately need them.
“And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty.
God is our father, make no mistake, which is exactly why He calls us to honor them. They represent His true and perfect fatherhood, and even motherhood.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.
The tie is meant to be so incredibly tight and strong between parents and children, because it speaks of Him and us, so powerful that only your meeting your spouse and beginning to fulfill that role yourself is strong enough to break it.
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Fathers are incredibly influential, for good or bad, God even has to warn us to use it for good. But when it is, wise, obedient faithful children are the result.
But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father.
Fatherhood is the example of dedication, people want to please them to know they have made them proud, and they try hard to do it. Again, watch out, dads, it is so powerful it can also lead to ruin.
“giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.“
Fathers try to take care of the their chidren’s future.
For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
Fathers want the very best for their children, like God the Father and His Son. God fully blessed Jesus the Messiah to make sure He was properly rewarded for His faithfulness and lost nothing and gained everything.
Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart.
Dad’s influence can utterly defeat a child. Use that power to encourage and build up and inspire.
just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children.
Fatherhood is the example of how to be with those in your sphere of influence. Exhorting encouraging and imploring for their good! Positive input!
Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you;
Fathers should direct their children’s paths to Christ.
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace . . .
Fathers want comfort hope and grace for their children.
[Honor Widows] Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to the younger men as brothers,
Sometimes fathers get it wrong and need to be approached about it. When done, it is meant to be an appeal, not a rebuke, which became the model for how we in the church should treat our elderly.
It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Fathers are meant to discipline their sons for their good, and God the Father does it perfectly treating us like sons needing correction.
Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
We learn from honoring dads to honor and appreciate and obey God, the Father of all.
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
God provided the best. Good. Not evil, not bad. Dads provide the best they can. The Father of lights shows the way.
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Fathers have compassion and teach their children to help those in poor conditions or distress.
For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased.”
Imagine Jesus in the flesh, having laid aside the use of His divinity, hearing these words from His father, “in whom I am well-pleased.” What a wonderful gift, assurance, pride and approval. Wow, take note, dads!
[ Children of God Love One Another ] See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Fathers show their children love. If they follow the Father of all. Real love that acts.
How should we honor dads?
- Obey him
- Speak well of him
- Live a good life
- Provide for him
- Listen to him
- If he follows Christ, follow him
- Be wise
- Don’t curse him
- Don’t mock him
- Don’t rob him
- Don’t strike him