Sunday
May 14
1. FAR-REACHING IN SCOPE
a. Whom is our respect for the fifth commandment designed to encompass? Exodus 20:12; Leviticus 19:32; Hebrews 13:17.
“Parents are entitled to a degree of love and respect which is due to no other person. God Himself, who has placed upon them a responsibility for the souls committed to their charge, has ordained that during the earlier years of life, parents shall stand in the place of God to their children. And he who rejects the rightful authority of his parents is rejecting the authority of God. The fifth commandment requires children not only to yield respect, submission, and obedience to their parents, but also to give them love and tenderness, to lighten their cares, to guard their reputation, and to succor and comfort them in old age. It also enjoins respect for ministers and rulers and for all others to whom God has delegated authority.”-Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 308.
b. Why is the fifth commandment so beneficial for us? Ephesians 6:1, 2.
“This, says the apostle, ’is the first commandment with promise” (Ephesians 6:2). To Israel, expecting soon to enter Canaan, it was a pledge to the obedient, of long life in that good land; but it has a wider meaning, including all the Israel of God, and promising eternal life upon the earth when it shall be freed from the curse of sin.”-Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 308.
Monday
May 15
2. A CHALLENGE BEFORE US
a. What sobering points must we realize about this commandment? 2 Timothy 3:1, 2.
“Our youth profess to be among those who keep the commandments of God, and yet many of them neglect and break the fifth commandment; and the rich blessing promised to those who observe this precept, and honor father and mother, cannot be fulfilled to them. Unless they repent of their sin, and reform their practices and character through the grace of Christ, they will never enter into the new earth, upon which they may live eternally. Those who do not respect and love their parents will not respect and honor God. Those who fail to bear the test, who fail to honor their God-fearing parents, fail to obey God, and therefore cannot expect to come into the land of promise.”-The Youth’s Instructor, June 22, 1893.
b. When and with whom does success in this commandment begin? Malachi 4:5, 6.
“The poor little children are thought not to know or understand a correction at eight, nine, or ten months old. They begin to show stubbornness very young, and it is cherished and nourished by their parents until these evil passions grow. . . .
“I saw that you were rearing children to be cut down by the destroying angel unless you speedily turn square about and be faithful to your children. Think you God can cover or hide and preserve children whose iniquity He hates? No, never. God hates the passion, evil tempers, etc., manifested by unruly children. He cannot save them in the time of trouble. They will be eternally lost. Parents, negligent, unfaithful parents, their blood will be upon you. . . .
“Parents, it is your duty to have your children under perfect subjection, having all their passions and evil tempers perfectly subdued. I saw that if they were carried to the house of God, they should be made to know where they are, . . . where God meets with His people. They should be kept quiet, from all play and running about. . . .
“Parents, correct your children. Commence while they are young, when impressions can be made early and their evil temper subdued before it takes deep root and is strengthened with their strength.”-Manuscript Releases, vol. 9, pp. 321-323.
Tuesday
TuesdayMay 16
3. ABRAHAM AND ISAAC
a. What can parents today learn from the paternal care of Abraham? Genesis 18:19.
“It is because the home training is defective that the youth are so unwilling to submit to proper authority. I am a mother. I know whereof I speak when I say that youth and children are not only safer but happier under wholesome restraint than when following their own inclinations. Parents, your sons and daughters are not properly guarded. They should never be permitted to go and come when they please, without your knowledge and consent. The unbounded freedom granted to children at this age has proved the ruin of thousands. How many are allowed to be in the streets at night; and parents are content to be ignorant of the associates of their children. Should a limb be broken or fractured, parents will try every means that love or wisdom can suggest to restore the afflicted member to soundness. This is right, it is their duty; but the Lord requires that still greater tact, patience, and persevering effort be employed to remedy blemishes of the soul.”-Atlantic Union Gleaner, September 6, 1905.
“Parents, unless you know that their surroundings are unexceptionable, do not permit your children to go into the streets after nightfall to engage in outdoor sports, or to meet other boys for amusement. If this rule be rigidly enforced, obedience to it will become habitual, and the desire to transgress will soon cease.”-Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 63.
b. In what two experiences does Abraham’s son, Isaac, beautifully shine as a refreshing example of belief in the fifth commandment? Genesis 22:1, 2, 9-11; 24:2-4, 7, 66, 67.
“Isaac was the victim, the lamb to be slain. Had Isaac chosen to resist his father’s command, he could have done so, for he was grown to manhood. . . .
“Isaac at first heard the purpose of God with amazement amounting to terror. He considered the matter fully. . . . He comforted his father, by assuring him that God conferred honor upon him, in accepting him as a sacrifice. . . . He encouraged the almost nerveless hands of his father to bind the cords which confined him to the altar.”-The Signs of the Times, April 1, 1875.
Wednesday
May 17
4. PART OF THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT
a. In what aspect of life do the young seem to most often resist parental guidance-and at what varied consequences to themselves? Judges 14:1-3, 20; 2 Corinthians 6:14.
“Young men and young women associating together, having weak principles and but little faith and devotion, become easily infatuated with each other and fancy they are in love. Their constant attention to one another soon has its influence, and spiritual things are not appreciated. . . . It is due their parents that they consult them in so important a step, and that they be aided by the experience and mature judgment of their parents. The young men or young women do not look beneath the surface; they see each other under the most favorable circumstances, and do not detect those traits of character which the mother, in her earnest interest for her son or daughter, sees, and knows will make or mar the happiness of those she loves.”-Selections From Testimonies to the Managers and Workers in Our Institutions, pp. 40, 41.
“A young man who enjoys the society and wins the friendship of a young lady unbeknown to her parents does not act a noble Christian part toward her or toward her parents. Through secret communications and meetings he may gain an influence over her mind, but in so doing he fails to manifest that nobility and integrity of soul which every child of God will possess. In order to accomplish their ends, they act a part that is not frank and open and according to the Bible standard, and prove themselves untrue to those who love them and try to be faithful guardians over them. Marriages contracted under such influences are not according to the word of God. He who would lead a daughter away from duty, who would confuse her ideas of God’s plain and positive commands to obey and honor her parents, is not one who would be true to the marriage obligations.”-The Review and Herald, January 26, 1886.
b. Having experienced the bitterness of self-willed choices in marriage, what sound advice was the writer of Proverbs inspired to declare? Proverbs 15:20; 19:26; 30:17.
Thursday
May 18
5. IN THEIR SUNSET YEARS
a. What reveals Jesus’ attitude toward His earthly parents? Luke 2:51; John 19:25-27.
b. What earnest appeal does the Lord likewise extend to each of us? Proverbs 23:22.
“How can a son or daughter be willing to leave father or mother on the hands of strangers, for them to care for! Even were the mother an unbeliever, and disagreeable, it would not release the child from the obligation that God has placed upon him to care for his parent. Would that there were but few who would utterly ignore the duty that is due from a child to his mother. Alas! that there are so many who never bestow a thought upon their parents, except it be that they may gain some advantage from them. Many care not whether their parents are comfortable or uncomfortable. Their conduct reveals them to be thankless children, and their ingratitude is ‘sharper than a serpent’s tooth.’ Their indifference to their parents imbitters the life of father and mother, and brings down their gray hairs in sorrow to the grave. Through selfishness, self-love, unkindness, they have created an unwholesome atmosphere about their souls, and steeled their hearts to all good, until they are utterly loveless and unfeeling. . . . But how bitter will be the close of the life of such children! They can have no happy reflection in their old age, for they will reap as they have sown.
“The thought that children have ministered to the comfort of their parents is a thought of satisfaction all through the life, and will especially bring them joy when they themselves are in need of sympathy and love. Those whose hearts are filled with love will regard the privilege of smoothing the passage to the grave for their parents an inestimable privilege. They will rejoice that they had a part in bringing comfort and peace to the last days of their loved parents.”-The Review and Herald, November 15, 1892.
Friday
May 19
PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTION
1. Have I come short in obeying the fifth commandment? How can I improve in this area?