AUGUST 8, 2022 Numbers 12:11-12 So Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned. Please do not let her be as one dead.” The rabbinical belief is that Miriam was struck with leprosy because her statements about Moses amounted to slandering […]
AUGUST 7, 2022 Numbers 12:3 Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth. In the previous devotion, we spoke of the fact that God hears what we say, and especially when we speak against His purpose and people. Apparently, something was going on between Miriam and Moses’ Ethiopian […]
The Torah tells us to honor our parents. Jewish tradition teaches that, at the very least, this means making sure that our parents are provided for in their old age. The spirit of the law, however, asks us to treat our parents with profound respect:
Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the LORD your God gives you. (Deuteronomy 5:16)
In the modern world, youth counter-cultures have learned to find their own identity by defining themselves in antithesis to the previous generation. Whole generations of human beings are raised to believe that disrespect for parents and disdain for their expectations is the normal and healthy path to individuality and adulthood.
It is not uncommon to hear young people today speak back to their parents, argue with them publicly or reply to them with sarcasm or open exasperation. For believers, this is not acceptable. Our young people need to realize that even contradicting their parents is taboo. Public impertinence toward parents is a grievous sin.
Popular culture portrays it as cool for children and teens to appear autonomous and on a peer level with their parents. Secular teens hate being seen in public with their parents, and accepting parental authority hampers the perception of their coolness. The Bible would call “coolness” pride and haughtiness.
Parents also have a responsibility around this commandment. They need to be careful not to raise disrespectful children who will find it difficult to keep the commandment of honoring them. A parent should not grant any allowance for disrespect.
However, a father cannot teach his child to honor him by demanding honor. Neither can a mother teach her child to honor her by demanding to be honored. Instead, we teach our children to honor us by honoring our own parents and by honoring our spouses.
A parent must never take sides with a child against the other parent. If you feel that your spouse is wrong, take your spouse's side anyway. Do not contradict your spouse in front of the children. Disagreements with a spouse should never be spoken in the hearing of the children.
When your child treats your spouse with disrespect, it is your job to rebuke the child on behalf of your spouse: “Do not speak to your father that way.” “Never speak to your mother like that.”
When a child observes his mother honor his father and vice versa, the child learns the art of honoring father and mother. Only the mother can properly teach a child to honor the father. Only the father can properly teach a child to honor the mother.
Va'etchanan – ו××ª×—× ×Ÿ : “And I besought” Torah : Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11 Haftarah : Isaiah 40:1-26 Gospel : Luke 22:13-38
AUGUST 6, 2022 Numbers 12:1-2 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. So they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. People are amazing. Almost immediately after being witness to so much destruction resulting from doubting God’s […]
AUGUST 5, 2022 Numbers 11:31 Now a wind went out from the Lord, and it brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the ground. In response […]
AUGUST 4, 2022 Numbers 11:25-26 And it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again. But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the […]
AUGUST 3, 2022 Numbers 11:16-17 So the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will […]
AUGUST 27, 2022 Numbers 16:21-22 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” Then they fell on their faces, and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the congregation?” Once again, we see the faithfulness of Moses, not only toward […]
AUGUST 2, 2022 Numbers 11:10-11 Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased. So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You afflicted Your servant?” Anyone who has been involved with ministry any length of time knows that it […]
