As with all of the nineteen points (in 2 Timothy 3:2-5), being disobedient to parents is a prophetic sign of spiritual rebellion and moral decay in these last days. Spiritual rebellion comes first, and then moral decay sets in. And the more one is rebellious, the more he is infected with decay; and they both work toward the sin of disobedience—to God and to their parents.
Now some may ask, why is it rebellion not to obey our parents? Well, for one reason, God has instructed us, ordered us, to obey them (Eph. 6:1-2). And secondly, we should obey them because it is how God designed the family to work—with our parents as the authority figure. Let’s look at two different Scriptures on this subject.
Ephesians 6:1-3
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.
John MacArthur comments well on verse one.
The child in the home is to be willingly under the authority of parents with obedient submission to them as the agents of the Lord placed over him obeying parents as if obeying the Lord Himself. The reasoning here is simply that such is the way God has designed and required it (“right”).1
In verse two, “HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,” is a quote from the Ten Commandments (Deut. 5:16). And the promise is that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you.
Certainly, to honor our parents goes along with obeying them. It is at the heart of it (or the attitude of it). If children don’t obey their parents, it is because they don’t honor them and respect them.
Proverbs 6:20-24
My son, observe the commandment of your father
And do not forsake the teaching of your mother;
21 Bind them continually on your heart;
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk about, they will guide you;
When you sleep, they will watch over you;
And when you awake, they will talk to you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light;
And reproofs for discipline are the way of life
24 To keep you from the evil woman,
From the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
In these Scriptures, in verses 20 and 21, is the command from the parent to the child, to observe (and obey) the father and mother. They are to be so diligent in observing and obeying them (in whatever they told them to do) that they should tie a note of some kind around their neck to remind them of what they were told. Perhaps this reminder was of some Scripture, or some words of wisdom. This wisdom would be for a them a guide, and protection, and teaching, and to keep them from evil; especially the son from the evil woman (a prostitute). Hence, we see that the design of God was that the parents are to be the one in authority over the children as their guide and teacher, whom they must obey so that they will be protected from evil and live long.
1 John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible: (Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2006), John MacArthur’s notes on Ephesians 6:1.
