Honoring Our Earthly Father

“Honor your father and your mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” -Exodus 20:12, KJV.

The fifth of the Ten Commandments and the first with an expressed promise teaches us that we are to honor both our parents. “Honor” involves love, respect, appreciation, looking up to them and accepting their instruction and leadership.

Parents, in turn, are to lead lives that command our love and respect. Statistics report that there are more than 70 million fathers in the United States today. Many of these are responsible, caring adults and are seeking to rear their children well. But many, however, are what we term in today’s definitions, “Absentee Fathers,” those who have abandoned their children to others’ care. I pray that any father now reading this will examine how well he loves his child (children) and how he is seeking to rear each one in parental love, with goals and initiatives, and certainly in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

A brief history of Father’s Day in America reveals that it was begun in Washington state in the year 1910. It is reported that a lady named Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington talked to her pastor about setting aside a day to honor Fathers as the one in May honored Mothers. Sonora’s mother had died in childbirth, giving birth to her, the seventh child. Her father, William Jackson Smart, had been a Civil War Veteran. When his wife died, he wanted to do the best he could to rear his six sons and the new baby daughter. He kept them together, managed to operate his small farm to make a living, and loved his children and reared them “in the fear and admonition of the Lord.” A day in June was set aside to honor her father and the word was spread abroad by word of mouth and small-town newspapers. President Woodrow Wilson pushed the idea of Father’s Day, as did President Calvin Coolidge. It began to be observed in a more wide-spread area. However, it did not become a nation-wide, consistent observance until President Lyndon Johnson gave his presidential proclamation in 1966 for the day during his administration. Then when President Richard Nixon was in office, he set the day officially as the third Sunday in June and signed that proclamation. Since then, Father’s Day has been observed consistently in America on the third Sunday in June. It is a time when families gather to give tribute to the father in the family, thank him for his leadership of the family, and bestow gifts upon him. Usually in our churches, fathers are asked to stand, and we often hear a sermon both praising fathers and admonishing them to hold high the torch of faith before their children

Like Sonora Smart Dodd, I had a wonderful father who reared his children after their mother died.

My father was not a veteran of any war, but he was truly a veteran as a father. Godly and seeing that his children read and learned the King James Version of the Bible and went to Sunday School and Church regularly, we knew what our father expected of us. His life was not easy, but none of his children embarrassed him or went away from our strict but happy and dependable upbringing. Today, I thank God for a godly father, one who loved each child unconditionally, and taught us how to love others. Praises for fathers such as mine! - Ethelene Dyer Jones. June 17, 2018

The First Commandment

“You shall have no other Gods before me.” -Exodus 20:3 (ESV)

Exodus 20 begins what was later named the Book of the Covenant (see Exodus 24:7). The Ten Commandments are found in Exodus 20:3-17. In their shortened form, perhaps you as well as I memorized them when younger. Not only are they vital for Jewish believers, to whom they were given by God through Moses in either the 1400’s BC or the 1300’s BC, but they have become the foundation of laws for many countries in our world.

On “the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Eypt on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.” (Exodus 19:1). Mount Sinai is believed to be the mountain where Moses saw the burning bush (Exodus 3) and received his call from God to go to Egypt and lead in freeing the Israelites from the bondage of slavery. Now, after ten plagues on the people of Egypt, the Israelites have escaped, they crossing the Red Sea, seeing their enemies destroyed, and finally Moses and his large entourage arrived in the desert area with Mt Sinai stretching upward. Moses was summoned to go to the mountain where God spoke to him, giving him the code of laws which we call the Ten Commandments.

“And the Lord spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Exodus 20:1-2). God identified himself to Moses. No doubt, Moses had no trouble knowing who was speaking to him because he had heard God’s voice before. Was it audible? Did Moses actually hear the voice of God coming out of the cloud that indicated God’s presence? Or was God’s voice vocal, clear, understandable, unmistakable? With Moses’ attention, God identified Himself positively: “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Certainly, with that experience and the escape fresh on Moses’ mind, he was ready to listen again to God’s counsel. This statement from God became a preface to the Ten Commandments and the rest of the law which God would give to Moses to be written down, not only for keeping before the people but to be studied, treasured, followed.

“You shall have no other Gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3). The first commandment declares unequivocally that Yahweh expects and demands total and exclusive covenant loyalty. There are no other Gods to worship save those conceived in the minds of those who would make an image or otherwise put up some entity to worship and follow. Monotheism, the worship of one God, is the only practice to be exercised by Moses and the Children of Israel, and yes, people everywhere are to take this first commandment from God as the exclusive way to worship. “Before me,” might mean, not just “ahead of God,” or “superior to God,” but worshiped “alongside me,” or “in addition to me.” In the creation account, God had made His identity as the one and only God known. In Egypt, with the plagues, Almighty God had displayed His power and superiority to the so-called gods of Egypt. Now, Moses and the Israelites were to demonstrate the power, love and supremacy, in keeping with God’s promise years before to Abraham that He would make him “Father of many nations,” and that Abraham’s seed would be as the sands of the seashore. And tied with that promise, the command to take the knowledge of the Lord to all peoples. And an important lesson for all peoples to learn: “You shall have no other Gods before me” (the first commandment). An important task for the Israelite people was to make the one true God known. God speaks this command with authority and expects obedience from those who love, worship, serve and follow Him. “The Lord is God; there is no other besides Him” (Deut 4:34, 39. TLB).

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for giving us the Ten Commandments that are a guide for how we should live, vertically in relationship to you (Commandments 1-4) and horizontally in relationship with our fellow man in the society in which we live (Commandments 5-10). And we begin on the right road with You by recognizing You, Sovereign Lord, Creator, Savior of all who believe and accept Your Truth, Love, and sacrifice for sin. Help us so to live that we may reflect Your love and sovereignty in our lives. Amen. -Ethelene Dyer Jones. 10.08.2017

Joys Come as a Result of Honoring Forebears

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”: -Exodus 20:12 (ESV)

The fifth of God’s ten commandments given to Moses for the Israelite people, and for us, who also study, love and seek to follow God’s commandments, teaches us that we should honor parents. Honor means to treat with respect due to their position and role. It means, while we are young, obeying them. And when we grow into adults, to continue to honor and respect them and to love and care for them. This commandment is the only one of the ten with a specific promise: “that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” This means not “just a long life,” (although that is inherent in the promise), but it can mean, too, a life that is filled with God’s presence and favor.

I am a member of Old Unicoi Trail Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. Twenty years ago, on August 17, 1997, I became a charter and a founding member of that newly-organizing chapter (formed on that day) to serve the areas of Towns, Union and Fannin County in the mountains of North Georgia. I transferred my membership from the Tomocheechee Chapter, NSDAR, Clarkesville, where I had become a new member of National Society Daughters of the American Revolution in 1992. I had traced my ancestry back to John Ingraham of South Carolina, one of three of my ancestors (the other known ancestors serving in the Revolution were John Henry Stonecypher, Jr., Stephen Souther, and Bluford Elisha Dyer, Sr.). Daughters of American Revolution chapters throughout America seek to honor ancestors, and are patriotic and service organizations, not only honoring those who have preceded us but serving the needs of people in a compassionate and caring way in the present. The twentieth anniversary celebration of Old Unicoi Trail Chapter, NSDAR, recalled highlights of two decades of service to our area and highlighted some accomplishments the chapter and its members had made, always with the aim of service to others..

At the celebration meeting of the Old Unicoi Trail’s twentieth anniversary, two were presented awards: the “American Women in History” recognition by National Society, Daughters of American Revolution. Mrs. Shirley Carver Miller, wife of former Governor of Georgia and U. S. Senator, Mr. Zell Miller, was honored at the meeting for her outstanding work with adult education throughout Georgia, and the adult-learning centers that assist interested adults to earn their high school diplomas through the GED (Georgia Educational Development program). And I, Ethelene Dyer Jones, also received the “American Women in History” award for my work in preserving history through my historical preservation work and writing (five books based on local and area history and newspaper columns over a long period of 27 years, with a large percentage being on area history topics).

As I received the distinguished award, I felt unworthy of the honor, but at the same time glad and thankful that I had honored the memory of my ancestors who had fought for America’s freedom, and others since that Revolutionary War period who had stood firmly as patriots and builders of a free nation where we can exercise our freedoms to work and develop an even stronger nation. As I received the award, I was grateful to my own parents for how they had reared me, and my thanks reached back to John Ingraham and other ancestors who had been willing to fight for the freedoms we still enjoy today. “Honor your father and your mother,” a commandment with a promise, indeed.

Prayer: Thank you, God. Your word is true and righteous altogether, being fulfilled to succeeding generations of those who love and follow Your precepts. Amen. -  Ethelene Dyer Jones 08.20.2017

Honor Your Mother

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” -Exodus 20:12 (ESV)

The fifth commandment is often termed “the first commandment with a promise.” Indeed, it is the only one of the Ten Commandments with a specific promise attached. Those who respect and honor their earthly father and mother are promised long life in the land the Lord gives them. Remember that Moses received the Ten Commandments not long after the Israelites escaped Egyptian bondage. They were looking forward to soon settling in the Promised Land.

God commanded them to honor parents. “Honor” is a word meaning to treat with respect and dignity, love and deference, and to provide for parents’ needs and look after them in their old age. Both parents are to receive this preferential and loving treatment. Today, when we observe a day set aside to honor mothers, we will consider ways in which we can honor mothers.

Studying the history of Mother’s Day, we learn that the ancient Greek and Roman culture had a specified time to honor mothers. In America, a movement was begun in 1905, led by Miss Anna Jarvis of West Virginia, to honor mothers in general by honoring her own mother who had just died and who had cared for wounded soldiers, both Union and Southern, during the Civil War. In 1908, Miss Jarvis set a day of celebration in the St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, Virginia, a church now noted as the one starting the International Mother’s Day. Even though a proposal to have an annual Mother’s Day lost in both Senate and House in 1908, by 1911 enough interest had been generated so that observances were held in most all the states. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation declaring the second Sunday in May as a national day to honor mothers. The day has been observed since that date throughout the United States.

Paul the Apostle repeated the fifth commandment in Ephesians 6:2. Also, the Apostle, writing to his ‘son in the gospel,’ Timothy, had these words about honoring mothers: “But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household, and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.”

When a mother is given honor and respect, Proverbs 31:28 states that “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.”

Love of children for the mother and love of the mother for her children is a vital concept in God’s plan for families. In this modern day, we have seen a wide departure from biblical admonitions to honor mother and for a mother to love and rear children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The words written by Dr. B. B. McKinney (1886-1952) and put to “The Christian Home’ tune also composed by Dr. McKinney is a prayer. May we pray it sincerely and earnestly for a return to God’s ways for the home and for honoring mothers:

“God give us Christian homes!

Homes where the mother, in caring quest,

Strives to show others Your way is best,

Homes where the Lord is an honored guest;

God give us Christian homes;

God give us Christian homes.”

-Ethelene Dyer Jones 05.14.2017

A Day for Rest and Worship

“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. “ –Exodus 20:8-11 (ESV)

In the first statement of this commandment recorded in Exodus 20:8-11, a reason for rest on the seventh day of the week is in remembrance of God’s resting after He had completed creation. For the second listing of the commandment about the Sabbath, see Deuteronomy 5:12:14. In it a reason for keeping the Sabbath is in remembrance of the Israelites’ deliverance from Egyptian bondage. In the wilderness wanderings, it was forbidden that the people gather manna on the seventh day but that they gather enough on the sixth day to last for two days. It is interesting to note that a system of working six days had already been established by the time the Ten Commandments were given. This was as God had done in creating the heaven and the earth and all within them. On the seventh day God rested. It was beneficial that man, too, rest on the seventh day. The seventh day became a day of worship as well as a day of rest. 

 

Leviticus states that a ‘holy convocation’ (for worship) was to be declared for the Sabbath day.  Thus worship began to be observed on the Sabbath Day. In the New Testament we read that Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath Day to worship: “And He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read” (Luke 4:16). Also in the New Testament, we learn that Christians began to observe the first day of the week as a day holy unto the Lord and for worship, in commemoration of the Resurrection of the Lord on the first day of the week: “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked to them…” (Acts 20:7a). “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day,” wrote John in Revelation 1:10a.

Why did the observance of the Sabbath become so burdened down with “thou shalt nots” for Jewish worshipers? The observance of the Sabbath became somewhat the heart of the law. Prohibitions became burdensome. Some, like tying and untying a knot (as work) were enforced, and others as well were added to what was permitted and not permitted. By Jesus’ day, the practice of keeping account of Sabbath rule-breaking was so prevalent that Jesus was prompted to say: “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28). This occurred after his disciples, hungry on the Sabbath, plucked some grain from a field they passed and were criticized. Lest anyone think they were “stealing,” as well as plucking grain (working) on the Sabbath, the Deuteronomic law allowed for anyone hungry to gather enough grain from a field to assuage hunger (see Deuteronomy 23:25). 

 

What shall we say of the Sabbath as it relates to Christian practice? Sunday, the first day of the week, is observed as a day of rest and worship. We are to consider the day set aside for the work of the Lord and for gathering in assembly to study God’s word and worship. Our society has made work on Sunday almost a necessity and a way of life. We ought to seek a time to set aside for worship and a day to rest. Hebrews 4:1-11 speaks of the Sabbath Day as a foretaste of the heavenly rest to come when we are gathered into the eternal kingdom. We should say with conviction about Sunday and the day of corporate worship: “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord” (Psalm 122:1). -Ethelene Dyer Jones 09.20.2015

Honor Your Father—Father’s Day and Every Day

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” –Exodus 20:12 (ESV). “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. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” –Ephesians 6:1-4 (ESV).

Today is Father’s Day, a day set aside to honor fathers, to remember the significant role of a father in the rearing and admonition of children, and a time for genuine appreciation for the influence of a godly father.

Oh, that all children everywhere could experience the joy and blessings of having a godly father to guide them. For those of us fortunate enough to have had such an influence in our rearing, today is a day of thanksgiving for this blessing from God. From such an earthly father children begin to learn the love and characteristics of the Heavenly Father. I had a hard-working, humble father, one who loved his children and his God. Such a legacy is transferred from one generation to another. I was fortunate to have had a husband who exemplified the commandment that honored his father and mother. He, likewise, was an honorable father, one who brought our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and did not “provoke them to anger” but loved and guided them. Today, on Father’s Day, I recall with joy this legacy of honoring a good earthly father. I appreciate deeply the influence and far-reaching spiritual benefits of what it means to have had a good father and to have been married to one who loved and instructed his children. Thanks be to God for fathers thus imbued with God’s calling to their noble task, a representative on earth of God the Father.

-Ethelene Dyer Jones 06.21-2015.

Honoring Fathers

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”  Exodus 20:12. ( ESV).

“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.  Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.” –Colossians 3:20-21 (ESV).

     The fifth of the Ten Commandments and the first with an expressed promise teaches us that we are to honor both our parents.  “Honor” involves love, respect, appreciation, looking up to and accepting the leadership of the one honored.  And of course, parents are to lead lives of respect and honor.  Children are to obey parents.  But parents are to live in such a way that children can respect them.  Parents are not to provoke children or cause them to be discouraged because they set such high goals children have difficulty measuring up to expectations.

     Did you know there are some 70 million fathers in the United States?  Many of these are responsible adults and are seeking to rear and support their children well.  But many, unfortunately, are “absentee fathers” who have abdicated—or never accepted—responsibility for children’s upbringing.

     Looking into the history of Fathers’ Day celebrated the third Sunday in June in America shows that Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington suggested a day to honor fathers in 1910.  She wanted to respect the memory of her own father, William Jackson Smart, a Civil War Veteran who reared six children, herself and five brothers as a single parent after the death of his wife and their mother.  Mrs. Dodd suggested to her pastor that a day be set aside to honor Father’s much as the one in May for Mother’s Day.  Father’s Day in America was observed on June 10, 1910 in Spokane, Washington.  The day was supported somewhat by Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Calvin Coolidge.  In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a Father’s Day proclamation, but it was not until 1972 under President Richard Nixon that Father’s Day was set by signed proclamation to be held the third Sunday in June.

     I honor my own father, J. Marion Dyer.  Like Sonora Smart Dodd’s father, my father lost companions to death and reared children by both his first and second wife after their deaths.  He manifested great faith, love, patience, endurance and example.  I am the beneficiary of a godly father.  I was married to a man who became an exemplary father to our children, seeking to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  Fortunate are we who have the legacy of a good home and a father worthy of honor. 

     Dr. B. B. McKinney, noted hymnologist of the last century, wrote this prayer in his hymn entitled  

“God Give Us Christian Homes”: 

               “God give us Christian homes!

                 Homes where the father is true and strong,

                 Homes that are free from the blight of wrong,

                 Homes that are joyous with love and song,

                God give us Christian homes!  God give us Christian homes!”

      May his words be our prayer for this Father’s Day.  And Happy Father’s Day, all you wonderful fathers who might read this, and all of you who read and think about the influence of your own father.  Thank God for godly fathers.  –Ethelene Dyer Jones  06.15.2014.

Thoughts about God (H, I, J, K, L)

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” –Genesis 1:1 (ESV)

“I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” –Revelation 21:13

Continuing to use the alphabet in an effort to learn more about God’s character and nature, we proceed today with the letters H, I, J, K and L.

H – He is God, high over all, who chooses to make His habitation in the hearts of those who hallow His name and honor Him.  He is holy.  He is honored among the people who love him.  Yes, He is honored in all the earth. Even though nations and people go their own ways and fail to honor and exalt Him, He remains the most high God.  He is!

I – He is an inviting God.  “Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your soul.”  (Matthew 11:28).  He is the great I am.  He is interested in my welfare.  He invites me to rest in Him.

J – He is the great Joiner, bringing together those who should be joined in like pursuits and joint projects.  He is just in His ways.  He is a jealous God: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3).  He brings justice and judgment.  Always, He is just a prayer away.

K – His knowledge fills heaven and earth.  He is all-knowing.  He is kind and tender-hearted.  He keeps that which is committed unto Him.  He is the keeper of His people.

L – He is Love.  His loving kindness is present in the morning and at noon, in the evening and in the night watches (see Psalm 39:7-12).  He created the sun for the day’s light and the moon and the stars for the night’s light.  His presence lingers like His love and His light.  He longs after His children like a Father for his children.  His long arm extends to lift up and to make level when the long journey is leading into difficult places.

Praise be to God!

Honoring Fathers

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12, ESV).

     The fifth of the Ten Commandments and the first with an expressed promise teaches us that we are to honor both our parents.  “Honor” involves love, respect, appreciation, looking up to and accepting the leadership of.  And, of course, parents are to lead lives “worthy of respect.” 

     Did you know that there are some 70 million fathers in the United States?  Many of these are responsible adults and are seeking to rear their children well.  But many, unfortunately, are “absentee fathers” who have abdicated—or never accepted—responsibility for children’s upbringing.

     A little history of Father’s Day shows that Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington suggested a day to honor fathers in 1910.  She wanted to respect the memory of her own father, William Jackson Smart, a Civil War Veteran who reared six children, herself and five brothers, as a single parent after the death of his wife and their mother.  She suggested to her pastor that a day be set aside to honor fathers, much as Mother’s Day.  That was done first in Spokane in 1910.  The day was pushed somewhat by President Woodrow Wilson and by President Calvin Coolidge.  It was not until 1966 that President Lyndon Johnson signed a Father’s Day presidential proclamation. Then in 1972 President Richard Nixon made Father’s Day officially the third Sunday in June by proclamation.

     Like Sonora Smart Dodd’s father, my own dear father lost companions to death and reared two “sets” of children after their mother’s death.  He manifested great faith, love, patience, endurance and example, and I am the beneficiary.  I am so grateful for a godly father. 

     Dr. B. B. McKinney, noted hymnologist of the last century, wrote this prayer in his hymn, “God Give Us Christian Homes”:  “God give us Christian homes! /Homes where the father is true and strong,/Homes that are free from the blight of wrong,/Homes that are joyous with love and song,/God give us Christian homes!/God give us Christian homes!”  May his words be our prayer for this Father’s Day!  And Happy Father’s Day—all you wonderful fathers who might read this!  -Ethelene Dyer Jones  06.16.2013