Howdy!
Starting a new set of questions this week. We are moving to what is called the second table of the law. To summarize the way Jesus does “…to love your neighbor as yourself”. All this is to say that while all ten are a part of the word given to Moses by Jehovah on the Mount Sinai and are of equal value, in some sense they do have a small functional difference to who they are related to. The first four to God, and the rest to fellow men and women. We live in a time where distinctions are routinely transgressed, ignored, and wrecked. To say things the catechism does like, superiors and inferiors is as nails on a chalkboard in modern culture. Yet we need to remember that we walk by faith and not by sight. The Church should give zero cares to what the wider world thinks about the way God Almighty has ordered His creation. If they don’t like it? Tough. In my opinion the Church spends way too much time concerned with how the unbeliever responds to what the Bible teaches. You either submit to nature or face its wrath. As we get into these statutes today the big question that will need answered is what kind of hierarchy exists among the Lord’s people, and how does that affect real life?
Before we get into all that here are the Q/A’s for this week:
Q. 63. Which is the fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment is, Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Q. 64. What is required in the fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment requires the preserving the honor, and performing the duties, belonging to every person in their several places and relations, as superiors, inferiors, or equals.
The best place to go to understand what the Catechism is teaching is to go to what the Apostle Paul says about the commandment in Ephesians 6:1-9:
Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.
In those words we see exactly the teaching of the catechism, or perhaps better said there we see how the catechism reflects the Bible. There are hierarchies. Fathers/Children, Boss/Employee, and King/Subject. Those who are called Superiors have a responsibility to those styled Inferiors and vice versa. It is not a question of value or worth, but of role and place. Children are to listen to Parents, and Parents are to care for and shepherd Children. The same form follows both employment and the civil sphere as well as the Church. It is a simple rubric to understand. No one is allowed in accordance with the commandment to selfishly lord their authority over someone else. Likewise the person in the lower position is not permitted to act anarchic towards those in charge. The 5th Commandment is all about order, through which comes blessing and peace. One of the great misunderstandings of our age is the idea that freedom means the right to do whatever you want. I am not a libertarian and I don’t believe the Scriptures to promote libertarianism as we understand that term. The Non-Aggression Principle is a good idea in theory. However, the main problem with it is not that is wrong, the issue is that it is not applied wide enough.
Let’s go to an example: Why should men not commit adultery? Because the 7th Commandment says no? Yes, but think more broadly about it in the context of the 5th Commandment. What is the responsibility of the husband to the wife in regards to hierarchy? First of all, the husband as the head of the household, as the Patriarch, is to love his wife as Christ loves the Church. The husband therefore is to serve the wife in his headship. That means leading by example in the way he controls himself around people of the opposite sex, and in general. It also means that he devotes himself to the care of his wife for her fruitfulness. There is an old saying happy wife, happy life. What makes a godly wife happy? A husband who places her first in his life. Not in a subservient, beat down way, but through the way he plans and organizes the home in order to make her life as a wife possible and in a way that shows her a place of importance in his life. The reason why David committed adultery with Bathsheba is because he was neither doing his job as king nor husband. His lack of leadership and actions as a Superior led to sin, multiple deaths, and disruption for thousands of others. As human beings we are tied together in ways we don’t always appreciate. Our sin is never alone, and it is never individual. That’s part of what we have to understand about the bigger picture of the 5th Commandment. More is expected of the man who is in charge, because he’s responsible for all who are under his authority.
As our walk through the law expands we will get deeper into how the interrelation of all of life is good, and why the role of hierarchy is so important to order in our society. I used a “p” word above that has become a “bad” word in today’s world, even in the Church. I bring it forward unapologetically. Have some people used it poorly and made it toxic in some ways? Sure. Just because there are those who use it wrongly doesn’t mean we should never use it. The Bible is Patriarchic. It is that way for reasons Paul mentions in 1 Timothy 2:12-13. We’ll expand that in later questions, but this is a good place to stop today.
Here is a little more:
https://purelypresbyterian.com/2018/04/02/why-did-christ-only-mention-the-second-table/
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church