by Tad Lindley
The Hebrew Bible, commonly referred to as the Old Testament, has 613 commandments. Perhaps you are more familiar with the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20, but Jewish scholars have studied the word and found that there are actually 613 commandments. Of that long list, only three of them specifically promise longer life as a benefit. Do you know what they are?
#1: Honor your father and your mother
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12) For most of us, our parents were the first authority figures in our lives. I hope that you had parents that loved God and loved you, but what if they didn’t, do we still have to honor them?
Interestingly, there is no escape clause in this scripture. Some of you readers have had parents who were violent, mentally, ill, selfish, and/or addicts. What does the Bible teach us in those situations, do we still have to honor them? We do not have to look past the commandment itself for the answer: we honor them, because God commands us to. We may not be able to honor their behaviors and their life choices, but we honor them for their position as our parents. And if we do that, we will live longer than we would otherwise. It is a promise from God.
Beyond our mom and dad
The godly principle of honor goes far beyond our parents. Romans 13:7 says, Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. We are called to honor those in authority over us, parents, bosses, kings, etc. An extreme example of honoring your parents comes from the life of King David. Before he was king, his father-in-law who was the old king, attempted to murder him multiple times, and yet David continued to honor him. When given the chance to retaliate by killing his father-in-law and king, David chose instead to honor him. (I Samuel 24).
#2: When you are egg hunting
It is likely that you did not realize that some of the 613 commandments deal with bird hunting, but there are several that do. One of them even promises a longer life to those who obey it, let me share that with you. If you happen to find a bird’s nest in a tree or on the ground, and there are young ones or eggs in it with the mother sitting in the nest, do not take the mother with the young. You may take the young, but let the mother go, so that you may prosper and enjoy a long life. (Deuteronomy 22:6-7 NLT)
The gray swans
This is also why when I come upon a family of swans in the fall, I don’t shoot the parents, only some of the gray ones. Like many of the Old Testament commandments, this one may not make immediate sense. The Bible does not have to make sense to us, though. There are hundreds of things that we use every day that we do not fully understand, for instance electricity and the cellular telephone. When it comes to scripture, we may not understand why the Lord has commanded something, yet through faith we know that it will work on our behalf if we obey.
#3: Honest weights, the short life span of drug dealers
In every grand jury case that I have sat on in which drug trafficking was the crime, the alleged drug dealers were also disobeying Deuteronomy 25:15, You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you (NIV). Way back before the legalization of marijuana, one-gram packages when confiscated by the troopers, typically came back from the crime lab as 0.97 grams or 0.91 grams. I have never sat on a case where the drug dealer was selling honest grams. They were never overweight, always underweight. And yet the evidence from the Bible is so certain, being honest in business increases your life span. And so that is one of the reasons that drug dealers live shorter, you probably know all the others.
Quality not quantity
Of course what really matters is the quality of life, not the number of years we live. Who wants to live to a hundred if that life is miserable. And while these commandments I have presented you today, promise that we will live longer by doing them, what about living better? That promise comes with Jesus. In the New Testament he sums up his purpose in coming and dwelling among men: I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). There is no greater way to live than to be born again the way Jesus taught Nicodemus: born of the water and of the Spirit (John 3:1-7). Obeyed Acts 2:38, friend, you are missing out. Yes I want you to obey the commandments and live longer, but even moreso I want you to obey Acts 2:38, and live better!
Reverend Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.
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