God has children, not grandchildren ∙∙

God has children, not grandchildren ∙∙

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. – Ephesians 6:4

Deuteronomy 6:5-7

 5 You must love the LORD your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength.

 6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind,

 7 and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up.

I was pretty taken aback when I discovered during a graduate class on the History of American Higher Education that the primary purpose of America’s earliest colleges was to educate Christian ministers. Does this surprise you? There was no separation of church and state. The states directly supported the churches in their religious efforts.

Interestingly, the original cornerstone of Harvard College, America’s first college, states:

“After God had carried us safe to New England and we had builded our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God’s worship, and settled the civil government, one of the next things we longed for and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate to posterity, dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches when our present ministers shall lie in the dust (1636)”.

Congregationalist ministers founded Yale University on October 16, 1701, to fight growing liberalism at Harvard. It was eventually named in honor of Elihu Yale, a prosperous merchant and financial contributor. Their objective was that “Youth may be instructed in the Arts and Sciences who through the blessing of God may be fitted for Publick employment both in Church and Civil State.”

Students were required to “live religious, godly and blameless lives according to the rules of God’s Word, diligently reading the Holy Scriptures, the fountain of light and truth; and constantly attend upon all the duties of religion, both in public and secret.” Prayer was a requirement. Furthermore, every student was instructed to “. . . consider the main end of his study to wit to know God in Jesus Christ” and “to lead a Godly, sober life.”

That generation’s unwavering faith and grand aspirations did not endure beyond their time. Faith, salvation, and spiritual growth are not inherited traits. A major responsibility of parents is to pass the Truth on to the next generation. Ultimately, every child must make their own choice regarding belief. However, fathers must guide them in understanding the Truth.

Ephesians 6:4 Fathers . . . bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.

REFLECT & PRAY

How much truth were you exposed to growing up? How did you respond to it? When we enter this life, we are given the solemn opportunity to discover and accept the Truth. Life on Earth is temporal, and it lasts only for a short time. Eternity lasts forever.

Father may I faithfully pass on the Truth You have revealed in Your Word to those I love and care for.

INSIGHT

The book of 1 Samuel tells the tale of Eli, the high priest, and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. This narrative serves as a somber reminder of the severe repercussions that can arise from parental responsibility gone wrong, resulting in dreadful, lethal outcomes. The Aaronic priesthood was hereditary It was typically passed from father to son. Eli utterly failed to impart the core beliefs about the Father to his sons. Eli’s sons never entered into a personal relationship with the Father.

1 Samuel 2:12 The sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD.

At the time of these events, Eli was 98 years old, and his eyesight was failing. His once authoritative figure had diminished considerably. Eli had become a pathetic figure. He was an absent father and, worse, an absent priest. As a father, he was far too permissive and overindulgent. He was negligent. He did not instill the values and the knowledge they needed for faith. Essentially, He more or less let his sons run the family business, the sacrificial system of the Tabernacle. Predictably, Hophni and Phinehas exploited their father’s lax oversight and absenteeism, leading to dire consequences.

The lives of Eli’s sons are an object lesson of the consequence of parental negligence. They were essentially thugs and acted like gangsters. Because they could, they used their positions of power and unjustly took from people sacrificial offerings. While the Law of Moses prescribed boiling, their personal taste ran toward barbecue. They demanded that the meat be roasted. If people resisted and dared object, they simply took what they wanted by force (1 Samuel 2:11-17). To make matters worse, they were emboldened to reach new depths of debauchery and wickedness. They sexually abused and seduced female workers who served alongside the priests and Levites (1 Samuel 2:22, Exodus 38:8).

In due course, Eli became aware of his sons’ misdeeds. It seems that even in ancient Israel, voices raised against injustice and abuse found a way to be heard, much like the #MeToo Movement of the 21st century, albeit without the aid of platforms like Twitter. Confronted with these unsettling tales about his sons’ wickedness, what did Eli do? He reached out to his strong-willed and rebellious boys. Eli was blunt and asked them, “Why do you keep sinning?” (1 Samuel 2:23). It was too little and too late.

Eli’s sons had no idea they were not merely mistreating people and sinning against them; they were also sinning against the Father, the Lord God Almighty. Eli told them to stop. He warned them, “If someone sins against another person, God can mediate for the guilty party. But if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede?” (1 Samuel 2:25).

But Hophni and Phinehas simply blew Eli off and disregarded his warning. They felt invincible and were getting away with murder and saw no reason to quit. Who was going to stop them? They never thought for a moment what the Father, the living God, might intervene. They soon found out.

Hophni and Phinehas had pushed the Father too far. He had had enough. Judgment was coming. The Father sent a man of God to deliver His message. First, Eli’s house would no longer serve as priests before the Lord. His entire line would be cut off from this sacred privilege. Second, to prove that this prophecy would be fulfilled, Hophni and Phinehas would meet their end on the same day (1 Samuel 2:34).

The Father sent the Philistines to carry out His sentence. A battle ensued, and Hophni and Phinehas were both killed. But worse, the Ark of God was stolen and carried off by the Philistines. A messenger brought the horrific news to Eli. Eli was deeply anguished when he received news of his sons’ deaths. But the word of the Ark’s capture devastated him. Overwhelmed by sorrow, Eli fell backward from his chair, broke his neck, and met his own tragic end.

The removal of the Ark of God from Israel was tragic. It’s akin to someone carrying off the Statue of Liberty and shipping it back to their own country. The Statue of Liberty symbolizes the core values of America. It stands for much of what America is all about. The American identity is tied to it. It represents the American identity and serves as a beacon of unity.

But the Ark of God was more than a symbol; the Ark of God was the place where the Father’s glory dwelt. When the Ark was taken, the glory of God was removed as well. For the first time in living memory, the Father’s visible presence was missing from Israel. A child, a grandson of Eli, was born. The grief-stricken mother named her child Ichabod, meaning “no glory.” His name made a statement and asked a profound question: “Where is the glory?” The glory had departed!

This all transpired due to the negligence of a weak, passive, absent father. Eli had overly indulged his children. They had grown up without discipline. As a result, they became estranged from the Father. They knew not the God of the Bible.

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, he will also reap.

Hosea 8:7 For they sow the wind and they reap the whirlwind.

You reap what you sow,

More than you sow, and

Later than you sow (Charles Stanley).

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 7-08-1

© Dr. H 2023