Obey

Today I am delving deeper into the word "obey" which might help in a quest to understand God's Word and His deep mysteries, with which we need the help of God's Holy Spirit. The root of "Obey" is Latin with the first part, 'ob', meaning 'to' and giving the sense of 'leaning into'. The second part is 'oboedire/obaudire' meaning 'to listen to, give ear or hearken to'. If we are as one with another, as one flesh (see Matthew 19:5), we would instinctively want to move close to hear the other and that, in the original sense, is what is meant by "to obey'. That is a wonderful aspiration rather than one we could possibly be offended by or be opposed to, when the wife is instructed, in Ephesians 5:22, to obey her husband. Also, the husband is to love the wife unceasingly and fully (verse 25). Again, we could baulk at that instruction but that is how Jesus loves us - His bride, His Church, His Body. Obedience to God overrides obedience to authorities which are not under God. For instance Peter and the apostles continued with Jesus's ministry after He had died, despite being told not to by the Roman authorities. They declared, "We must obey God rather than human beings!". Similarly, in the Old Testament, the Egyptian Pharaoh instructed the midwives to kill baby boys as soon as they were born. The midwives didn't follow that instruction and God accordingly blessed them (see Exodus 1:15-20). To obey God is to listen to Him, the one Who loves us unconditionally and unceasingly. Trust and Obey.