Ephesians chapter 6, part 1

We have reached the last chapter of Ephesians. This begins with a command to children to obey their parents in the lord. The readers are told to "honor their mother and father." It was commanded in the Old Testament as part of the 10 commandments. It is supposedly the first command with a promise. The promise claims that if you do this it will go well with you and you will enjoy a long life. What it doesn't say is that you will enjoy a long life because you won't be stoned to death, which was the penalty for disobedient children. (Deuteronomy  21:18-21) The penalty for dishonoring parents was to be cursed, as opposed to blessed. (Deut. 27:16) So, this is not just a sweet promise that obedience brings good things.  This is a veiled threat. As we see from the Deuteronomy passages, even adult children are considered to be under their parents' authority.

Also, is this a universal command? There have been some pretty despicable parents throughout history, asking children to do despicable things. Should those parents also be obeyed? This question is usually side stepped by saying the phrase "in the lord" covers that. For some christians, it is only necessary to obey in god approved ways. Plus, also leaves a loophole for  christian children of atheist parents to refuse to obey even benign requests.

Verse 4 command fathers to not exasperate their children. What exactly does that mean? Other translations say do not make them angry, provoke them to wrath, or irritate them. Any one who has had children could tell you that it practically impossible to not exasperate a child at some point in its life. Children are not famous for their reasoning abilities. In place of the exasperation, the parent is to provide the training and instruction of the lord. This will keep the child from being exasperated? I have yet to hear anyone explain this passage in a clear way, and I have seen plenty of children irritated by the church's teachings.

 A reminder here: Paul was not a parent, but he is giving advice to parents? He also was never a husband or a wife, yet he gave advice to them, as we saw in the last chapter. He set himself up as an authority on how to properly do life. Did no one question his authority? If he actually went around the middle east telling people how to live and telling them he was sent from god, he had some hubris. (He may not have even written this letter.)  It seems to have been convincing enough to thousands of people because some form of Pauline inspired christianity has lasted almost 2,000 years. If it is true that he landed in jail for what he taught, it's not hard to see why he was considered disruptive.