fathers. (Levit. xxv. 39-41 ; 2 Kings iv. 1 ; Is. 1. 1 ; Matt, xviii. 25.) These judicial enactments have passed away. They serve to prove, however, how intimate in the sight of God is the relation between parents and children. A father's benediction was coveted as the greatest blessing; and his curse deprecated as a fearful evil. (Gen. xxvii. 4, 12, 34-38 ; xlix. 2 ff.)
In the New Testament the duty enjoined in the fifth com- mandment is frequently recognized and enforced. Our blessed Lord himself was subject to his parents. (Luke ii. 51.) The Apostle commands children to obey their parents in the Lord (Eph. vi. 1), and to obey them in all things, for this is well pleas- ing unto the Lord. (Col. iii. 20.) This obedience is to be not only religious, but specifically Christian, as the word Lord, in Ephesians vi. 1, refers to Christ. This is plain because in ch. v. 21, the Apostle says that these specific duties are to be performed s4 in the fear of Christ ; " x because the Lord is always in the New Testament to be understood of Christ, unless the context forbids ; and because especially throughout these chapters Lord and Christ are interchanged, so that it is evident that both words refer to the same person. Children are required to obey their parents in the Lord, i. e., as a religious duty, as p?rt of the obedience due to the Lord. They are to obey them " in all things ; " i. e., in all things falling within the sphere of parental authority. God has never committed unlimited power to the hands of men. The limitations of parental authority are determined partly by the nature of the relation, partly by the Scriptures, and partly by the state of society or the law of the land. The nature of the relation supposes that parents are to be obeyed as parents, out of gratitude and love ; and that their will is to be consulted and re- spected even where their decisions are not final. They are not to be obeyed as magistrates, as though they were invested with the power to make or to administer civil laws ; nor yet as proph- ets or priests. They are not lords of the conscience. They can- not control our faith or determine for us questions of duty so as to exonerate us from personal obligation. Being a service of love, it does not admit of strictly defined boundaries. Children are to conform to the wishes and to be controlled by the judgments of their parents, in all cases where such submission does not conflict with higher obligations.
1 The common text indeed in Ephesians v. 21, has 0eoO, but the authority of the MSS. is so decidedly in favour of XpurroO that that reading is almost universally adopted by editors and commentators.
352 PART HI. Ch. XIX. — THE LAW.
The Scriptural rule is simple and comprehensive. It does not go into unnecessary details. It prescribes the general rule of obedience. The exceptions to that rule must be such as justify themselves to a divinely enlightened conscience, i. e., a conscience enlightened by the Word and Spirit of God. The general prin- ciple given in the Bible in all such cases is, " It is right to obey God rather than man."
The Promise. This commandment has a special promise attached to it. This promise has a theocratical form as it stands in the decalogue, " That thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." The Apostle, in Ephesians vi. 3, by leaving out the last clause generalizes it, so that it applies to no one land or people, but to obedient children everywhere. The promise an- nounces the general purpose of God and a general principle of his providential government. " The hand of the diligent maketh rich," that is the general rule, which is not invalidated if here and there a diligent man remains poor. It is well with obedient children ; they prosper in the world. Such is the fact, and such is the divine promise. The family being the corner-stone of so- cial order and prosperity, it follows that those families are blessed in which God's plan and purpose are most fully carried out and realized.
Parental Duties.
As children are bound to honour and obey their parents, so parents have duties no less important in reference to their chil- dren. These duties are summarily expressed by the Apostle in Ephesians vi. 4, first in a negative, and then in a positive form. " Ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath." This is what they are not to do. They are not to excite the bad passions of their children by anger, severity, injustice, partiality, or any un- due exercise of authority. This is a great evil. It is sowing tares instead of wheat in a fruitful soil. The positive part of parental duty is expressed by the comprehensive direction, " but bring them up in the nurture (TraiScta) and admonition (vovOeaia') of the Lord." The former of these words is comprehensive, the latter specific. The one expresses the whole process of education or training ; the other the special duty of warning and correction. The " nurture and admonition "is to be Christian ; that is, not only such as Christ approves and enjoins, but which is truly his,