We visited proverbs similar to these proverbs when we studied the first chapter of Proverbs in November 1997.

For Proverbs 1:8,9 reads,  My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

Now this instruction presupposes that the father and the mother will instruct within the confines of and in obedience to the Word of God.

The father and the mother of these proverbs will bring the son God’s word, not their own, for their own word will indeed be faulty, concluding in results not desired.

Their word apart, from the Word of God, is built upon a heart that is deceitful and desperately wicked and will give faulty results to child rearing.

But the Word of God gives authority to parents.

It gives authority to conduct child rearing according to the Word of God.

Parental authority is not unlimited, as it is limited by the Word of God.

It is clear that God intends for children to be under the authority of their father and their mother.

It is clear that parents are given authority by God and that parents are to exercise that authority for the ultimate benefit of their children.

Today we see that many children are being raised in homes where they are the authority over their parents.

Parents take orders from their children.

For their little children are placed upon a pedestal of royalty and listened to and questioned as if they were a king.

Parents listen intently to the words of their little child to determine what they want to wear, what they want to eat, when they want to go to sleep, where they want to go to school?

Many parents abdicate their God given authority in favor of the latest child rearing fashion of the day.

Instead of being decision makers for their little children they simply become question askers, facilitators to see to it that their child is served in every way the child desires.

If you want to get a small glimpse of Hell, peek into a home where parents do not exercise their God given authority.

Not using the authority that God gives is probably the greatest perversion (a turning from truth or propriety) that there is.

We are so disgusted and so turned off about sexual perversion but where is the disgust about authority perversion that is so rampant around us and within us?

It is impossible to believe in a rule of law within our country while we rear children without a rule of law.

But this passage in proverbs makes it clear where God places authority regarding the rearing of children.

Commandment is to come from the father and law is to come from the mother.

Commandment and law are to be so prominent in the home that they are to be felt as a binding about the heart and so felt as they were necklaces about the neck.

Commandment and law are to be impressed in such a manner as to always be prominent in the life of the child.

Commandment and law are to be as an overcoat worn in the harsh winds of winter.

Commandment and law are to be a comfort and a protection to the child for the child knows not how to go out or to come in and must have a father and a mother who will command them.

A child left to himself, which means a child without commandment and law, will bring his mother to shame.

Now it appears from this passage that there is a division of labor, a division of authority, presented here.

There is a function which the father is to perform and there is a function which the mother is to perform.

Each is important to the proper rearing of children.

One is not better than the other, for God has ordained both.

These functions are described by the words commandment and law.

This difference was revealed early on in my family by an incident that took place when we visited my in-laws with our young children over 30 some years ago.

At the dining table my son was fussing and carrying on and crying.

His grandfather immediately spoke out in no uncertain terms, NO CRYING AT THE TABLE.

All sound was cut short! Crying ceased.

Eyes and ears turned to Grandpa.

The commandment had been spoken! NO CRYING AT THE TABLE!

No other words were given to amplify the command, No explanation of why crying was not to be permitted, no excuse for crying was to be accepted.

The simple command of no crying at the table was sufficient to express his will.

Now that the commandment was given, what was required?

Well, obedience was required.

Hadn’t Grandpa spoken? Wasn’t he the elder at the table?

Wasn’t his commandment to be honored?

The standard had been given in clear, precise and exact terms.

There was to be no crying at the table.

The commandment was known.

Now, law had to be made to insure that the commandment was followed.

Commandment and law.

Father had to see to it that the commandment was upheld in high honor.

There was to be no argument with Grandpa, but only compliance.

It had to become the father’s commandment, not only in Grandpa’s house but in father’s house.

Mother now had to see to it that the command was obeyed.

She could not stand the shame of a child left to himself.

Training had to take place prior to dinner time.

Chastisement measures had to be known.

An evacuation plan of a crying child, if all else failed, had to be in force.

For Grandpa had issued the command, NO CRYING AT THE TABLE!

And that command still is in force at Opager tables!

Commandment is given and law is made in order to obey that command.

That is the division of labor, or the division of authority that is expressed in this passage.

That same division of authority shows itself in our country.

The constitution is the commandment and all laws of this country have to be enacted within the confines of the constitution.

Good laws always promote the constitution.

Similarly the legislative branch makes laws and the executive branch carries out the dictates of the laws.

I saw this division of authority in the military between the Commanding Officer and the Executive Officer.

The Commanding Officer has a biblical name.

He is the one to give commands and the executive officer sees to it that the sailors obey and execute those commands.

The executive officer does not have his own agenda, he does not have his own set of commands, but has the agenda of the Commanding Officer to see about.

The Commanding Officer position is generally above the day to day operation of the ship or the base with the Executive Officer position taking care of the daily details.

He operates on delegated authority from the Commanding Officer only.

There can only be one head for only a monster has two heads.

The division of labor or authority in the home is an important division and well defined by the scriptures.

But Satan is busy successfully erasing that division by blurring the lines between the father and the mother.

Only when both parties in the home perform their God given roles will successful child rearing result.

Do it God’s way or be faced with disaster.

God uses the words commandment and law in this passage.

These words come from two different Hebrew words, Mitsvaw and Torah, mitsvaw meaning a command and torah meaning a precept or statute.

These words are close in meaning but there appears to be subtle differences in their order.

First a command, then a precept or statute arising from the command.

First a constitution, then laws making that constitution effective.

But all laws are to be based upon the commands of the constitution and legislators are not to have an agenda apart from the constitution.

That same division of labor is to be in the home and each party in the home is to make sacred that division of labor.

That division is to be valued and guarded as precious.

Change in that division must be considered as rebellion against God’s plan for the home.

The father is to assume his part and should not interfere in the mother’s part, nor vice versa.

Each doing their biblical duty in accordance with God’s constitution, the Holy Bible.

And remember God’s constitution has no amendments now, nor will it ever have!

So this son is to keep or guard the father’s commandment and to not forsake the law of his mother.

The word forsake means to pound or smite.

It means to beat out or expand or disperse.

It means to thrust off or reject or cast off.

The word forsake here indicates acts of rebellion against his mother’s law.

He is not to forsake or rebel against the law of his mother.

This indicates that if there is to be a battle it will start with the mother.

The mother is the first line of defense if there is to be a battle.

So the mother’s role is paramount.

Her only safety is to see to it that her law is in conformance with the father’s commandment which is based upon the Word of God.

His agenda is her agenda.

I remind you that the scripture talks about a biblical father and a biblical mother.

The scripture presents the standard. And it is our responsibility to get in line with the scripture.