Proverbs 1:8-9 - Heeding Godly Authorities

Proverbs 1:8-9 - ⁸ Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching,
⁹ for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.

Message: Heeding Godly Authorities: There is value in both father and mother

Time: It seems that Proverbs was written and then compiled sometime between the tenth and sixth centuries B.C. Proverbs was probably written during the reign of Solomon, 971-931 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying: 

Hear, My son
The reader here is addressed with parental kindness and also authority. These words are to be heard, so they need to also be said. The father is to be present in the son's life. He is to speak and be giving instruction. The ambition or goal of the father is not simply to be a buddy or a pal, but to be an instructor and teacher. I was thinking today that my son's highest ideal is often pleasing himself or pleasing his children. My son has difficulty seeing too far in the future. I must watch out for him. I must give him information and guidance that he possibly doesn't see or he see's, but does not place much priority on it. 

Forsake not
Do not forsake or reject or neglect the teaching or the law of the mother. The father here instructs. The mother lays down the rules that are to be followed. The father gives instruction to those rules.  Children need to value their parents words, especially those that take the time to say something.  

Adornment
To the Israelite's mind no signs or badges of joy or glory were higher in worth than the garland round the head, the gold chain round the neck, worn by kings and the favorites of kings. Thus, the words of a father and the teaching of a mother, yield, when followed, the highest worth in the kingdom or time or place. 

In going through the 10 commandments with people, my friend often has noted with people the placement of the commandment, "Honor your father and mother" and where it sits in relation to the other commandments. It is the first commandment for those commandments that speak of relationships a person has with others. It precedes murder, lying, stealing, coveting, adultery. Before any of those commandments is the call to honor your father and mother. It is, as if, those words are heeded then the rest of the commandments are not needed.

Promise: Hear and do not reject your parents.