In the Old Testament the education of the children for the Jewish people was one of the most important things that they did. They used every opportunity to train their children in the Lord. During their great feast days the children would play a big part in these celebrations and through these celebrations the children would learn about God’s Law.
One feast that factored very importantly for the Hebrew people was the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of the Ingathering. This was a time to celebrate the giving of the Law of Moses on Mount Sinai.
This celebrated the Jewish people coming to the Mountain and Moses receiving the Law or the Torah.
It was the custom of the Jewish people to start the education of their children at the start of this feast.
A five year old child would be lead from his home at dawn under a cloak. There is some evidence that this educational process may have started at 3 years old. The cloak represented the cloud of lightning and thunder that overshadowed the Israelite people at the foot of Mount Sinai.
The child would be lead to a synagogue or a place where the Rabbi would train the children.
When they arrived at the Synagogue they would receive a slate and on that slate would be written, “Moses commanded us the Torah, may the Torah be my occupation”
The Rabbi would then place honey on the slate and the children would eat the honey off of the words on the slate. The Rabbi would then read the Hebrew alphabet to the child and then they child would repeat.
The Rabbi would then say to the child, “Moses commanded us the Torah, may the Torah be my occupation” and the child would repeat this phrase back to the Rabbi.
The opening day would culminate with child receiving a honey cake with Isaiah 40: 4-5 inscribed on the cake.
The inscription read, ““The Lord God gave me a skilled tongue to know”
They would eat the cake and repeat the words inscribed on the cake. From the very beginning of the Jewish education of a child it was hammered into them that their primary purpose in life was to know God’s Word and to practice it.
When we read Paul talk about his zealousness for the Law in Romans 10 we understand why. This method or something similar would have been what Paul experienced as a child.
2 Timothy 3: 14-16
14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
This verse takes on new life when we realize how Timothy may have been educated in his faith. The sacred writings that Paul is referring to in this passage is the Old Testament. Timothy’s mother and grandmother were the ones that educated him and taught him the Scripture.
The children had ingrained in them passages like Psalm 19
Psalm 19: 8-10
8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart ; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever ; The judgments of the LORD are true ; they are righteous altogether. 10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold ; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
Bet Safar:
This time period that I spoke of for the young child is called Bet Safar and usually goes until they are 9 years old. At the end of this period most Hebrew children would be able recite large portions of the 1st five books of the Bible. Some were able to recite the entire Torah by heart. This may sound extreme to us today but this was the world of Jesus and His disciples.
Bet Talmud:
Progressing on from Bet Safar, it continues from the age of ten on to fourteen. During this time, the student would continue his memorization of the Psalms, prophets, and the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament).
It wasn't uncommon in that day for a good Jewish boy to have the Old Testament memorized by the age of fourteen.
The student would also during this time begin to learn the art of questions and answers. In our western civilization today, we are into information transfer, but in those days, answering a question wasn't quite as direct.
A rabbi might ask a student what is two plus two? Today, we would spout off the answer of four. But back then when a Rabbi would ask what two plus two was, a student might answer with, "What is the square root of sixteen?" In other words, the student would be expected to answer a question with a question. We witness this in the teaching of Jesus many times when he answers the questions of the Pharisees with a question. This was a very common method in Jesus day.
So you see, when we find Jesus in the Temple at the age of twelve (Luke 2), we find him doing just what a boy of his age would be doing, questions and answers with the elders.
Bet Midrash:
At the age of fourteen, the best of the best would continue to apply oral and written law from the Talmud, the Mishna, Sages, and years and years of commentary on the scriptures. Each Rabbi would have their own interpretation of how to live out the Torah. For instance, Honor the Sabbath: One Rabbi might say that you can't go farther than the distance to the synagogue. While another might say you can't go twice the distance to the synagogue, because you have to return home.
You see, you have the law itself and then the Rabbi's interpretation of the rules required to obey the law.
The Rabbi's rules were called his yoke. When you studied under a Rabbi, you took his yoke upon you.
But Jesus came and said His yoke was easy. That He isn't about endless lists of rules and regulations (Matthew 11). You see, when Jesus is speaking, He's not just picking words out of the air; He's speaking as a Rabbi would. When Rabbis spoke, they got into heated, animated debates because these are the teachings of God and a direct reflection of worship.
They believed that the highest form of worship was study and that true study always leads to wonder.
So a Rabbi might ask a student, "What does it mean to honor the Sabbath?" And one student being wrong might answer, "To sit and do nothing and have a boring day."
The Rabbi would passionately respond, "No! You have abolished Torah!" meaning that the student has missed the point.
But another student may respond, "To remember and reflect that we are no longer slaves. That we are brought up from a kingdom of darkness and redeemed by the blood of the lamb. That we take one day a week to remind ourselves that our worth doesn't come from making bricks, but from the one who made us!"
And the Rabbi would then say, "Yes! You have fulfilled Torah!"
And Jesus comes (Matthew 5) and says I didn't come to abolish what you've learned, but to show you what it looks like in flesh and blood.
So, at the age of fourteen, the best of the best, the Harvard and Yale of the Jewish boys took another step. They would become a follower of a Rabbi like Paul would have done with Gameliel. I told you all of this to illustrate the point of how the Jews in Jesus day took deadly serious their call to bring their children up in the Lord.
I believe we can learn some things from this example and model.
As we continue or look at the family and marriage, I would like to propose that the training of our children in the Scripture is one of our primary tasks as parents.
This is often the most neglected of families today and we quickly forget that we are called to discipleship.
Discipleship means training I the teaching of our great Teacher Christ.
Are we discipling our children in the Lord? This morning I want to make a few points regarding the Discipling of our children.
I. God expects more from us because of our salvation in Jesus. – Our motivation is because of God’s great love.
God’s grace calls us to change and thankfulness should be manifested in our lives. We look at the examples of the Jews and make a false assumption and say things like, “That was a different time. They don’t have the pressures of the modern world. That is the Old Testament so I will just ignore it and rely on the grace found in Jesus.”
All of these are excuses that people make. When they are confronted with the world of Jesus and how God’s people trained their families and children they make excuses like these.
Hebrews 2: 1-4
1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation ? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.
If God held those under the Mosaic Law accountable, do you not think He will hold accountable those the neglect the great gift of His Son.
We have to examine ourselves to see what our priorities are.
What do you think God’s position would be toward Christians that do not pass their faith on to their children? If it was such a big deal to God’s people for thousands of years why would we in America presume that it should be different for us. Excuses such as being busy or activities don’t hold weight. If something is taking precedence over Church and our life in the Church our children will perceive that better than anyone else. I think we should all look at our week and take account of the time that we spend on activities such as sports, school, TV and compare that to the time that our children are receiving training in the Lord. This is truly a family crisis that we face.
We have a great salvation and we can neglect it in our children of all people.
We must be sure as parents that our children are learning their faith.
II. God will hold us accountable- The Father of the Family
We must model the love of learning the Scripture to our children.
Psalm 1:1-2
1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers ! 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.
Do our children see in us someone that constantly meditates and walks in God’s word? Are we modeling the very thing the God wants us to model to our children.
Children are brutally honest and see through bull. They will watch us and see what is most important to us and what dominates our free time. If they never see us pick up a Bible, lead prayer with them every day or just lead a life of faith in Christ they will draw their conclusions.
God sees the education of children so important that He gives them the command to educate their children before they even enter the Land.
Deuteronomy 6: 6-7
6 "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 " You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
God left up to the families to see to it that the children were saturated in his commandments.
It is the primary responsibility of the Father and also the mother but most of all it falls on the Father.
Ephesians 6: 4
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
How does God feel about the young?
Once Jesus calls a child to Himself to make a point and says this about children:
Matthew 18: 6
6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
This some of the harshest language that Jesus uses and it refers to children. Jesus expects us to take the raising of our children and their training very serious.
We can see an example in Eli as to how this is not to be done.
1 Samuel 3: 12-14
12 "In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 "For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them. 14 "Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever ."
God held Eli responsible for the sin of his sons. Eli’s sons were priests of God and did evil in God’s eyes. Eli’s sin was not to rebuke that sin. God took this very serious and issued a curse on Eli’s house.
III. This task may be unconventional
We live in a fractured world. We live in a time when many times the Mother has to pull the spiritual weight in the family. It may be a grandmother or grandfather that has to step into that role. God makes provision for this and we have examples of this in Scripture.
Deuteronomy 6: 1-2
1 "Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, 2 so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.
In this passage the grandparent is admonished to make sure that the grandchildren fear the Lord.
In an earlier passage I mentioned how Timothy was trained in the Scripture from his youth and Paul points out in 2 Timothy 1: 5
2 Timothy 1: 5
5 For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.
In an unconditional manner, Timothy was raised in his faith by his mother and grandmother. We know that his father was a Greek. And we can infer from the fact that Timothy not being circumcised that his father did not support Timothy’s mother’s Jewish faith. In a pagan world with a pagan husband Lois was able to raise a young man that would be a leader in the early Church and a trusted companion of Paul. It took an effort of Timothy’s mother and grandmother to see to it that he knew his Scripture.
Conclusion:
It comes down to a choice. We must choose the idolatry of this world or the way of the Lord.
Matthew 16:26 - What is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Likewise, what profit are we to our children if we give them all the world has to offer, but they are eternally lost?
Luke 12:15 - Jesus said, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." He then told of a man who obtained great wealth but neglected God (vv 16-21). When the man died, what good did his wealth do him?
The heritage that we will leave behind is our children. What will that heritage say about us?
In Malachi 2 God tells us that one of his main purposes of marriage is that we have godly offspring. Are we doing all in our power to please God in this way?
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
The Way to Follow Jesus - The Gospel of Mark part 2
Ultra orthodox Jews still today form hedges for instance: Israel’s major airline, El Al, recently rejected a plea by ultra-orthodox Jews with a priestly heritage to fly inside body bags. Why would someone want to do this? Ritual law states that a priest who enters cemetery becomes religiously "unclean." A ruling by a prominent rabbi declared that flying over a cemetery was the same as entering it. He suggested body bags as a means of maintaining separation, but abandoned the idea when told by airline security that it would be unsafe. Orthodox priests can now avoid pollution by flying late at night, as the noise levels require night flights to follow an alternate route which doesn’t pass above the cemetery. This type of behaviour sounds bizarre to Western ears, but it harks all the way back to the time of Jesus. The Pharisees too went to great extremes to ensure they observed the Law of Moses.
In the world of Jesus we will come into contact with four sects that were within Judaism of His time.
The Saducees, the Revolutionaries (Sicarii), the Pharisees, and the Essenes.
Each group would have flourished up until the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70AD.
The Sadducees were in the back pocket of the Romans and were political, rich, and only believed in the inspiration of the first five books of the Bible. They also denied the resurrection of the dead. They Sadducees were the party of the priests on Israel.
The Sicarii wanted to take on the Romans and fight a war through violent overthrow of the government.
The Essenes were a separatist movement that moved into the wilderness and went about trying to purify Judaism. They saw the Temple as so corrupt and out of tough that the best thing to do is to separate and start over.
The Pharisees are one of the most common groups we find in the New Testament and they were a movement of purity.
Their name means to ‘Set Apart’ and were the forefathers of modern day Rabbinic Judaism.
They felt strongly about the Old Law and the Oral Tradition.
They had very intricate rules of fellowship and who you could talk to.
The Pharisees also believed in the Resurrection of the dead.
The Pharisees will plague Jesus throughout His ministry.
Later on in the NT we will meet a very famous Pharisee named the Paul that will called to Christ in His conversion experience.
TONIGHT WE CONTINUE OUR SERIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK AND WE TURN TO MARK 2.
THE PHARISEES WILL PRESENT THREE QUESTIONS TO JESUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS IN THIS CHAPTER AND WE WILL BE ABLE TO FOCUS ON WHO JESUS IS FROM THESE QUESTIONS
THESE QUESTIONS REVEAL WHO JESUS REALLY IS.
I. JESUS IS USHERING IN THE NEW EXODUS AND FREEDOM FROM SIN.
Mark 2: 1-11
1 When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door ; and He was speaking the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. 4 Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. 5 And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 "Why does this man speak that way ? He is blaspheming ; who can forgive sins but God alone ?" 8 Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, "Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts ? 9 "Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven '; or to say, 'Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk '? 10 "But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins "-He said to the paralytic, 11 "I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home."
Most common title of Mark is ‘Teacher’ but we don’t get a lot of what he is teaching in Mark. Mark gives us a lot of detail about Jesus action but not much of what he said.
Roofs of first century houses were like a deck where you could get a breeze during the cool of the day.
There would be steps up the side of a 1st century house to get to the roof.
1st time faith is used in the Gospel of Mark but will be used over and over again.
“He sees their faith”
For Mark – faith is dynamic and is about action – we have in our heart but it comes out in our actions.
He forgives the man’s sins even though this man came for healing. Jesus gives them much more than just healing.
The Pharisees think that Jesus is a blasphemer so Jesus shows them that He has the authority
"Why does this man speak that way ? He is blaspheming ; who can forgive sins but God alone ?"
Mark doesn’t just have miracles but always has a meaning attached to this healing.
Jesus also attaches a word to a healing and the word he uses with this man is ‘RISE and WALK”
Jesus answers this first question from the Pharisees – Who can forgive sins but God alone?
Jesus tells us the purpose of His miracles,
THAT YOU MAY KNOW
This is a direct reference to the plagues.
Exodus 8 and 9 Moses uses these words to Pharaoh –
That you may know
They are the new Pharaoh – The Pharisees are the ones that are locking people up in the bondage of the slavery of sin.
Jesus said of the Pharisees later in Matthew 23-
Matthew 23: 4
4 "They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.
The Pharisee party were the ones that had enslaved Israel. They had returned home from Exile but now their own teachers were the ones that had bound them up in the bondage of legalism..
Jesus gives them the answer they would have never expected. He has authority to forgive sins because He is God and has come to set people free.
Jesus saw His own ministry as a liberation:
Luke 4: 18
18 "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,
He performed this miracle to prove that salvation had come and freedom from sin was on the way. The healing of this lame man was just a sign that the New Exodus was occurring and He was brining in freedom through the power of God.
We can also learn that in the eyes of Jesus the true miracle is forgiveness of sins. That is the most important aspect of working of miracles.
II. JESUS CAME TO SEEK AND SAVE THE LOST
Mark 2: 14-17
14 As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him. 15 And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples ; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. 16 When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, "Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners ?" 17 And hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick ; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
This passage reinforces something from the story of the paralytic. Jesus saw their faith and was moved. In this passage Levi sees Jesus pass by and he gets up and follows Him. When it comes to believing in Jesus it requires a dynamic faith that drops everything and follows.
Tax Collectors – collecting money for the Romans – outcasts of society – Benedict Arnolds of the Jews.
Pharisees- Separated ones – Had many food laws and who you could eat with. The Pharisees used social peer pressure because they did not have the power to enforce the Law. They punished by social pressure.
Jesus calls Levi – Levi becomes a follower of Jesus and has a party. This party is the who’s who of notorious people and the Pharisees are scandalized that Jesus would eat with these people. What was He thinking by eating with the rif-raff of Galilee?
Verse 17 is damning indictment for the Pharisees. They basically were so righteous in their own minds that they didn’t need Jesus.
The very mission of Jesus was to find the lost, no matter where they were and to bring them the message of salvation.
Luke 19: 10
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
This question by the Pharisees as to why he eats with the sinners is answered simply with this verse. Jesus is on a laser focused mission of saving the lost.
If we are called to be like Jesus we must have the same mindset that the social orders of this world cannot infect our mission to those that may be the outcasts of our society.
The outcasts and fringe groups were the very ones that Jesus went directly to in His ministry.
We can also contrast the heart of Levi and his party goers with that of the Pharisees. The Pharisees didn’t need Jesus because they felt they were ‘Good Enough’ without his teaching.
The heart that God looks for is the one that is humble and contrite. There is no room for ‘self righteousness’ in God’s Kingdom.
Psalm 51: 16-17
16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit ; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
III. THE LONG AWAITED WEDDING BETWEEN GOD AND HAS PEOPLE HAS BEEN USHERED IN BY CHRIST
All through the OT we see the theme of the God loving Israel like a husband loves his spouse. God wanted to paint this picture so clear that he commands Hosea to marry Gomer the prostitute to show how Israel had been unfaithful to Him.
The Jews believed that there would be a future event in which God would come as a groom for his people and there would be a day of a great wedding feast.
Mark 2: 18-22
18 John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting ; and they came and said to Him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast ?" 19 And Jesus said to them, "While the bridegroom is with them, the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 "But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment ; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. 22 "No one puts new wine into old wineskins ; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins."
3rd Great question of the Pharisees was why did Jesus Disciples not fast?
"Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast ?"
Pharisees fasted on Monday and Thursday – Weddings were the one exception – 7 days of feasting and you would be allowed to break your fast for those days.
Jesus had come and the great wedding feast of God and his chosen people had begun.
Jesus was the climax of the covenant made with Israel and there was no time to mourn because the Groom was there to bring His Bride Home.
We find this imagery all through Jesus teaching of the idea of the great wedding feast.
In Jewish culture the male would pay a bride price to the family of the bride and then would go back and build onto his family’s home.
The Jewish home was called an insula and many times the son would build onto the family complex.
When the Son’s work was complete the father of the son would decide when the consummation of the wedding would take place and the feast.
When that day came (only the Father knew) the best man of the groom would come and tell the Bride that the time was about to occur. When the Groom came through the city to get his wife they would blow the shofar to announce his coming. This would begin a 7 day period of celebration.
This image of Jewish weddings brings light onto many NT passages.
In John 3: 28-29 John the Baptist tells us he is the best man and he announces the coming of the groom.
Jesus tells us that he goes to prepare a place for us and then will come to receive us. Jesus also tells us that only the Father knows the time of His coming.
We also see at the end of the book of Revelation this wedding feast that will occur when Jesus returns.
In this Chapter of Mark the Evangelist has revealed a great deal about Jesus.
We learned that he is ushering in a New Exodus from sin, has come to seek out that which was lost, and is setting up the marriage of God and his people.
In the world of Jesus we will come into contact with four sects that were within Judaism of His time.
The Saducees, the Revolutionaries (Sicarii), the Pharisees, and the Essenes.
Each group would have flourished up until the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70AD.
The Sadducees were in the back pocket of the Romans and were political, rich, and only believed in the inspiration of the first five books of the Bible. They also denied the resurrection of the dead. They Sadducees were the party of the priests on Israel.
The Sicarii wanted to take on the Romans and fight a war through violent overthrow of the government.
The Essenes were a separatist movement that moved into the wilderness and went about trying to purify Judaism. They saw the Temple as so corrupt and out of tough that the best thing to do is to separate and start over.
The Pharisees are one of the most common groups we find in the New Testament and they were a movement of purity.
Their name means to ‘Set Apart’ and were the forefathers of modern day Rabbinic Judaism.
They felt strongly about the Old Law and the Oral Tradition.
They had very intricate rules of fellowship and who you could talk to.
The Pharisees also believed in the Resurrection of the dead.
The Pharisees will plague Jesus throughout His ministry.
Later on in the NT we will meet a very famous Pharisee named the Paul that will called to Christ in His conversion experience.
TONIGHT WE CONTINUE OUR SERIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK AND WE TURN TO MARK 2.
THE PHARISEES WILL PRESENT THREE QUESTIONS TO JESUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS IN THIS CHAPTER AND WE WILL BE ABLE TO FOCUS ON WHO JESUS IS FROM THESE QUESTIONS
THESE QUESTIONS REVEAL WHO JESUS REALLY IS.
I. JESUS IS USHERING IN THE NEW EXODUS AND FREEDOM FROM SIN.
Mark 2: 1-11
1 When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door ; and He was speaking the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. 4 Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. 5 And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 "Why does this man speak that way ? He is blaspheming ; who can forgive sins but God alone ?" 8 Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, "Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts ? 9 "Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven '; or to say, 'Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk '? 10 "But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins "-He said to the paralytic, 11 "I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home."
Most common title of Mark is ‘Teacher’ but we don’t get a lot of what he is teaching in Mark. Mark gives us a lot of detail about Jesus action but not much of what he said.
Roofs of first century houses were like a deck where you could get a breeze during the cool of the day.
There would be steps up the side of a 1st century house to get to the roof.
1st time faith is used in the Gospel of Mark but will be used over and over again.
“He sees their faith”
For Mark – faith is dynamic and is about action – we have in our heart but it comes out in our actions.
He forgives the man’s sins even though this man came for healing. Jesus gives them much more than just healing.
The Pharisees think that Jesus is a blasphemer so Jesus shows them that He has the authority
"Why does this man speak that way ? He is blaspheming ; who can forgive sins but God alone ?"
Mark doesn’t just have miracles but always has a meaning attached to this healing.
Jesus also attaches a word to a healing and the word he uses with this man is ‘RISE and WALK”
Jesus answers this first question from the Pharisees – Who can forgive sins but God alone?
Jesus tells us the purpose of His miracles,
THAT YOU MAY KNOW
This is a direct reference to the plagues.
Exodus 8 and 9 Moses uses these words to Pharaoh –
That you may know
They are the new Pharaoh – The Pharisees are the ones that are locking people up in the bondage of the slavery of sin.
Jesus said of the Pharisees later in Matthew 23-
Matthew 23: 4
4 "They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.
The Pharisee party were the ones that had enslaved Israel. They had returned home from Exile but now their own teachers were the ones that had bound them up in the bondage of legalism..
Jesus gives them the answer they would have never expected. He has authority to forgive sins because He is God and has come to set people free.
Jesus saw His own ministry as a liberation:
Luke 4: 18
18 "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,
He performed this miracle to prove that salvation had come and freedom from sin was on the way. The healing of this lame man was just a sign that the New Exodus was occurring and He was brining in freedom through the power of God.
We can also learn that in the eyes of Jesus the true miracle is forgiveness of sins. That is the most important aspect of working of miracles.
II. JESUS CAME TO SEEK AND SAVE THE LOST
Mark 2: 14-17
14 As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him. 15 And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples ; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. 16 When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, "Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners ?" 17 And hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick ; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
This passage reinforces something from the story of the paralytic. Jesus saw their faith and was moved. In this passage Levi sees Jesus pass by and he gets up and follows Him. When it comes to believing in Jesus it requires a dynamic faith that drops everything and follows.
Tax Collectors – collecting money for the Romans – outcasts of society – Benedict Arnolds of the Jews.
Pharisees- Separated ones – Had many food laws and who you could eat with. The Pharisees used social peer pressure because they did not have the power to enforce the Law. They punished by social pressure.
Jesus calls Levi – Levi becomes a follower of Jesus and has a party. This party is the who’s who of notorious people and the Pharisees are scandalized that Jesus would eat with these people. What was He thinking by eating with the rif-raff of Galilee?
Verse 17 is damning indictment for the Pharisees. They basically were so righteous in their own minds that they didn’t need Jesus.
The very mission of Jesus was to find the lost, no matter where they were and to bring them the message of salvation.
Luke 19: 10
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
This question by the Pharisees as to why he eats with the sinners is answered simply with this verse. Jesus is on a laser focused mission of saving the lost.
If we are called to be like Jesus we must have the same mindset that the social orders of this world cannot infect our mission to those that may be the outcasts of our society.
The outcasts and fringe groups were the very ones that Jesus went directly to in His ministry.
We can also contrast the heart of Levi and his party goers with that of the Pharisees. The Pharisees didn’t need Jesus because they felt they were ‘Good Enough’ without his teaching.
The heart that God looks for is the one that is humble and contrite. There is no room for ‘self righteousness’ in God’s Kingdom.
Psalm 51: 16-17
16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit ; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
III. THE LONG AWAITED WEDDING BETWEEN GOD AND HAS PEOPLE HAS BEEN USHERED IN BY CHRIST
All through the OT we see the theme of the God loving Israel like a husband loves his spouse. God wanted to paint this picture so clear that he commands Hosea to marry Gomer the prostitute to show how Israel had been unfaithful to Him.
The Jews believed that there would be a future event in which God would come as a groom for his people and there would be a day of a great wedding feast.
Mark 2: 18-22
18 John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting ; and they came and said to Him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast ?" 19 And Jesus said to them, "While the bridegroom is with them, the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 "But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment ; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. 22 "No one puts new wine into old wineskins ; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins."
3rd Great question of the Pharisees was why did Jesus Disciples not fast?
"Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast ?"
Pharisees fasted on Monday and Thursday – Weddings were the one exception – 7 days of feasting and you would be allowed to break your fast for those days.
Jesus had come and the great wedding feast of God and his chosen people had begun.
Jesus was the climax of the covenant made with Israel and there was no time to mourn because the Groom was there to bring His Bride Home.
We find this imagery all through Jesus teaching of the idea of the great wedding feast.
In Jewish culture the male would pay a bride price to the family of the bride and then would go back and build onto his family’s home.
The Jewish home was called an insula and many times the son would build onto the family complex.
When the Son’s work was complete the father of the son would decide when the consummation of the wedding would take place and the feast.
When that day came (only the Father knew) the best man of the groom would come and tell the Bride that the time was about to occur. When the Groom came through the city to get his wife they would blow the shofar to announce his coming. This would begin a 7 day period of celebration.
This image of Jewish weddings brings light onto many NT passages.
In John 3: 28-29 John the Baptist tells us he is the best man and he announces the coming of the groom.
Jesus tells us that he goes to prepare a place for us and then will come to receive us. Jesus also tells us that only the Father knows the time of His coming.
We also see at the end of the book of Revelation this wedding feast that will occur when Jesus returns.
In this Chapter of Mark the Evangelist has revealed a great deal about Jesus.
We learned that he is ushering in a New Exodus from sin, has come to seek out that which was lost, and is setting up the marriage of God and his people.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Marriage and The Family Part 3 - The Husband Must LOVE His Wife
This morning I want to return to our look at the family. Last week we looked at the husband and wife together and focused primarily on Ephesians 5: 33 and pointed out that the Bible commands that the husband should love his wife and his wife should respect her husband.
This morning I want to focus more on the role of the husband and zero in on an issue that would bring completeness to our families.
I want to look at some Scriptural views of the role of the husband in the wedding bond that will help our families.
Ephesians 5: 21-25
21and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
22Wives,be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
There are a few things I would like us focus on from this passage that we did not get to look at last week.
Paul begins this argument for marriage with an exhortation to mutual submission of Christians one to another in the fear of Christ.
The word for Submission comes from the Greek term Hypotasso
Hypo – hyperdermic needle – under
Tasso – to place in order
This term is of military origin, and originally meant to put one under the command of a leader.
This word is in the Middle voice in this passage which specifically means that it is something that you do to yourself.
In other words, this mutual submission for Christians one to another is a choice that we make. We choose to put another person’s needs before our own needs.
This is something that cannot be forced on an individual. Paul describes this attitude that we should have one for another in Philippians 2.
Philippians 2: 2-4
2 make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; 3 [doing] nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself; 4 not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
We see this type of leadership in the upper room when Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. For us to be the type of leader that Christ was we must be willing to humble ourselves to the point of putting others needs before our own.
Paul brings our view of fellow Christians to its pinnacle with his discussion of Christians being the very intersection of Heaven and Earth.
I Corinthians 6: 19-20
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own ? 20 For you have been bought with a price : therefore glorify God in your body.
This should give us a supreme view of other Christians. We should view each other as something very special. The very vessel of God’s Spirit is how we should view our fellow Christians.
As husbands this is the model of leadership that we need to focus on.
Many men use this passage in Ephesians to their own peril by using it to bludgeon their wives about submitting to their every will. Paul’s argument is very intricate and is built upon many layers. Before we can talk about the submission of a wife to her husband we must lay the groundwork of how that should happen in the context of Christian marriage.
I believe that this situation works out best when men do what Christ has called them to do.
In Paul’s argument on marriage in Ephesians 5 there are 144 words in his instructions to the men and only 47 in his instructions to the women.
His instructions to the men are much more challenging than what he has laid out to the wives.
Before we can understand God’s command to the wife to be subject to her husband, we must back up and look at the man’s responsibility.
REAL LOVE FOR OUR WIVES:
HUSBANDS LOVE YOUR WIVES AS CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH
I) LOVING A CREATION OF GOD – LOVING OUR WIVES FOR ‘WHO’ SHE IS
To understand this type of love that we are called to we must change our view of who our wives are in God’s sight.
I remember doing a really bad picture for my Grandmother and she put it in a really nice frame and put it on her wall. I was around 5 years old and she kept that picture up for as long as I can remember. That picture was a creation of mine. She showed the picture honor because she held the creator of the picture in the highest esteem.
God’s crowning creation was the woman and she was given to the man for his support and help. How we treat that gift and crowing achievement is a direct reference to what we think about God.
God as the Creator is reflected in His creation and when we mistreat one that was made in His very image.
Our attitude begins with realizing WHO she is in Christ.
An example can be taken from our passage that we have used in Ephesians 5. Paul the apostle begins the first 3 chapters with Ephesians by telling the Church at Ephesus, WHO they are in Christ.
Words Paul uses for the brethren at Ephesus are the following: predestined, chosen, redeemed, sealed in Him through the Spirit, thankful for them, alive in Christ, God’s workmanship, etc.
Paul paints a majestic view of who the Ephesian brethren are before he gives them one single command. We don’t see Paul command the Ephesians anything until the 4th chapter of this book.
We must realize WHO we are first before we can start to have a great marriage and family.
We have to realize that everyone in that family is ultimately a child of God and we are to be good stewards of those children and wives that God has given us to watch over and nurture.
II) LOVING TO THE POINT OF BEING WILLING TO DIE TO SELF
How much did Christ love the church?
John 3: 16
16"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
John 15: 13
13Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
The greatest type of love is the kind that would pay the ultimate sacrifice for the object of our love.
Whenever we view human sacrifice to save the life of a human we have strong feelings. There is something deep in our bones that tells us that people are worth something. We have to have that type of love for our wives to the point that we would die for them if the situation called for it.
Christ loved the Church so much that He laid down his own life. The love of a husband must be so great that he is willing to lay down his life for the his wife and family.
III. LOVING TO THE POINT OF SHARING ALL THINGS WITH OUR WIVES
1 Corinthians 7: 3-4
3 Let the husband render unto the wife her due: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. 4 The wife hath not power over her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power over his own body, but the wife.
Song of Songs 6:3
I have become my beloved and my beloved is mine
No secrets in the marital bond, but all is shared in the open. We are completely united in our purposes and what we do.
Marriage must be a place where TRUST reigns supreme. A secret life is not acceptable in the marriage bond.
Marriage should reflect our bond with God.
God originally wanted to man to be one with him in a family bond. We were made to be his children. It is one thing to be created but it is in an entirely different thing to be begotten of God.
God wants us to hide nothing from HIM.
We live in a world that wants to carve up our private life and our public life. Many men want to have private business that they keep from their wives but this is not the Christian view or the Biblical view.
We hear people say, “That politician’s private life has nothing to do with how he runs the country but is his own business.” That is an insane statement if your really think about it. In our families we have no private life apart from our mate. As the Song of Songs tell us “WE BELONG TO EACH OTHER”
Our own bodies belong to each other. We should be of such one mind and one will that we can have a place of total trust in which mutual respect reigns supreme.
IV. OUR LOVE SHOULD BE SO GREAT IT TRANFORMS OUR WIVES
At the end of our lives and we stand before Christ, will Christ be able to look at our families and see that our love transformed our families.
The love that God calls us to have is a type of love that transforms the object of that love.
AGAPE love is the type that is self-giving and builds up the object of that love.
This is the type of love that God loves us with. It is the type of love that took Christ to the cross for our sins.
2 Corinthians 5: 14 tells us that the love of Christ controls us.
1 Corinthians 13: 6
6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth ;
The love we should have for our wives is the type that wants what is ultimately best for them. If our love is not drawing them closer to God then it is selfish love. If we can’t live a Godly life for ourselves then we should at least do so for families.
The love we have must be the type that drives us to be the spiritual leaders of our families. The men should be the ones that make sure our families are assembled for worship each time the church assembles. It is the men that must drive the spiritual direction of our families. If our wives are making sure the family and children are at church we have some serious soul searching to do. At the best we are not spiritually where we should be and at worst we are not the man God created us to be.
V. OUR LOVE FOR OUR WIVES SHOULD REFLECT THE LOVE GOD HAS FOR THE WORLD
Our children and wives should have a good picture of who the Heavenly Father is by looking at us. The view of Fatherhood that our children will draw when they read Scripture will come from us. When they read that God is their heavenly Father they will not understand the word ‘Father’ unless they can draw on their experience of having earthly fathers.
We can see this is so important we when we look at the Biblical view of marriage and the view of God’s relationship with man as intertwined and very similar.
For example, God made 4 promises to Israel in Exodus Chapter 6 when He was going to lead them out of bondage. God ultimately wanted to call Israel back into His Family and become their Father. He wanted Israel to be His son.
Those four promise God made were the following:
1) I will take you out – out of Egypt or out of bondage
2) I will rescue you
3) I will redeem you
4) I will take you to me
These four promises were very important and God referred to Israel throughout Scripture as his Bride.
The most striking fact about this is that when the Hebrews got married these same four promises were repeated by the husband to his wife.
The Hebrew wedding ceremony carried very deep symbolism. The man was basically telling his wife that he would reflect the Heavenly Father to her and bring a little of Heaven into her life.
Another important act that the Hebrews did in their wedding ceremonies was being married under the CHUPPAH.
The CHUPPAH was a canopy that the married couple would stand under during their marriage ceremony. This canopy was the man’s prayer shawl placed on four poles.
This canopy represented God’s presence that went with the Israelites throughout the wilderness wanderings.
This canopy signified that this marriage will be a place where Heaven and Earth intersected. A place where God’s presence would be known.
The question we have to ask ourselves as husbands is, “When we come home do we bring Heaven or Hell home to our family?”
Would our wives see our contribution to our families as God’s presence or the presence of something much worse. Do our children and wives see God’s presence come into our family because of how we behave and conduct ourselves.
This morning I want to focus more on the role of the husband and zero in on an issue that would bring completeness to our families.
I want to look at some Scriptural views of the role of the husband in the wedding bond that will help our families.
Ephesians 5: 21-25
21and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
22Wives,be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
There are a few things I would like us focus on from this passage that we did not get to look at last week.
Paul begins this argument for marriage with an exhortation to mutual submission of Christians one to another in the fear of Christ.
The word for Submission comes from the Greek term Hypotasso
Hypo – hyperdermic needle – under
Tasso – to place in order
This term is of military origin, and originally meant to put one under the command of a leader.
This word is in the Middle voice in this passage which specifically means that it is something that you do to yourself.
In other words, this mutual submission for Christians one to another is a choice that we make. We choose to put another person’s needs before our own needs.
This is something that cannot be forced on an individual. Paul describes this attitude that we should have one for another in Philippians 2.
Philippians 2: 2-4
2 make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; 3 [doing] nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself; 4 not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
We see this type of leadership in the upper room when Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. For us to be the type of leader that Christ was we must be willing to humble ourselves to the point of putting others needs before our own.
Paul brings our view of fellow Christians to its pinnacle with his discussion of Christians being the very intersection of Heaven and Earth.
I Corinthians 6: 19-20
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own ? 20 For you have been bought with a price : therefore glorify God in your body.
This should give us a supreme view of other Christians. We should view each other as something very special. The very vessel of God’s Spirit is how we should view our fellow Christians.
As husbands this is the model of leadership that we need to focus on.
Many men use this passage in Ephesians to their own peril by using it to bludgeon their wives about submitting to their every will. Paul’s argument is very intricate and is built upon many layers. Before we can talk about the submission of a wife to her husband we must lay the groundwork of how that should happen in the context of Christian marriage.
I believe that this situation works out best when men do what Christ has called them to do.
In Paul’s argument on marriage in Ephesians 5 there are 144 words in his instructions to the men and only 47 in his instructions to the women.
His instructions to the men are much more challenging than what he has laid out to the wives.
Before we can understand God’s command to the wife to be subject to her husband, we must back up and look at the man’s responsibility.
REAL LOVE FOR OUR WIVES:
HUSBANDS LOVE YOUR WIVES AS CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH
I) LOVING A CREATION OF GOD – LOVING OUR WIVES FOR ‘WHO’ SHE IS
To understand this type of love that we are called to we must change our view of who our wives are in God’s sight.
I remember doing a really bad picture for my Grandmother and she put it in a really nice frame and put it on her wall. I was around 5 years old and she kept that picture up for as long as I can remember. That picture was a creation of mine. She showed the picture honor because she held the creator of the picture in the highest esteem.
God’s crowning creation was the woman and she was given to the man for his support and help. How we treat that gift and crowing achievement is a direct reference to what we think about God.
God as the Creator is reflected in His creation and when we mistreat one that was made in His very image.
Our attitude begins with realizing WHO she is in Christ.
An example can be taken from our passage that we have used in Ephesians 5. Paul the apostle begins the first 3 chapters with Ephesians by telling the Church at Ephesus, WHO they are in Christ.
Words Paul uses for the brethren at Ephesus are the following: predestined, chosen, redeemed, sealed in Him through the Spirit, thankful for them, alive in Christ, God’s workmanship, etc.
Paul paints a majestic view of who the Ephesian brethren are before he gives them one single command. We don’t see Paul command the Ephesians anything until the 4th chapter of this book.
We must realize WHO we are first before we can start to have a great marriage and family.
We have to realize that everyone in that family is ultimately a child of God and we are to be good stewards of those children and wives that God has given us to watch over and nurture.
II) LOVING TO THE POINT OF BEING WILLING TO DIE TO SELF
How much did Christ love the church?
John 3: 16
16"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
John 15: 13
13Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
The greatest type of love is the kind that would pay the ultimate sacrifice for the object of our love.
Whenever we view human sacrifice to save the life of a human we have strong feelings. There is something deep in our bones that tells us that people are worth something. We have to have that type of love for our wives to the point that we would die for them if the situation called for it.
Christ loved the Church so much that He laid down his own life. The love of a husband must be so great that he is willing to lay down his life for the his wife and family.
III. LOVING TO THE POINT OF SHARING ALL THINGS WITH OUR WIVES
1 Corinthians 7: 3-4
3 Let the husband render unto the wife her due: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. 4 The wife hath not power over her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power over his own body, but the wife.
Song of Songs 6:3
I have become my beloved and my beloved is mine
No secrets in the marital bond, but all is shared in the open. We are completely united in our purposes and what we do.
Marriage must be a place where TRUST reigns supreme. A secret life is not acceptable in the marriage bond.
Marriage should reflect our bond with God.
God originally wanted to man to be one with him in a family bond. We were made to be his children. It is one thing to be created but it is in an entirely different thing to be begotten of God.
God wants us to hide nothing from HIM.
We live in a world that wants to carve up our private life and our public life. Many men want to have private business that they keep from their wives but this is not the Christian view or the Biblical view.
We hear people say, “That politician’s private life has nothing to do with how he runs the country but is his own business.” That is an insane statement if your really think about it. In our families we have no private life apart from our mate. As the Song of Songs tell us “WE BELONG TO EACH OTHER”
Our own bodies belong to each other. We should be of such one mind and one will that we can have a place of total trust in which mutual respect reigns supreme.
IV. OUR LOVE SHOULD BE SO GREAT IT TRANFORMS OUR WIVES
At the end of our lives and we stand before Christ, will Christ be able to look at our families and see that our love transformed our families.
The love that God calls us to have is a type of love that transforms the object of that love.
AGAPE love is the type that is self-giving and builds up the object of that love.
This is the type of love that God loves us with. It is the type of love that took Christ to the cross for our sins.
2 Corinthians 5: 14 tells us that the love of Christ controls us.
1 Corinthians 13: 6
6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth ;
The love we should have for our wives is the type that wants what is ultimately best for them. If our love is not drawing them closer to God then it is selfish love. If we can’t live a Godly life for ourselves then we should at least do so for families.
The love we have must be the type that drives us to be the spiritual leaders of our families. The men should be the ones that make sure our families are assembled for worship each time the church assembles. It is the men that must drive the spiritual direction of our families. If our wives are making sure the family and children are at church we have some serious soul searching to do. At the best we are not spiritually where we should be and at worst we are not the man God created us to be.
V. OUR LOVE FOR OUR WIVES SHOULD REFLECT THE LOVE GOD HAS FOR THE WORLD
Our children and wives should have a good picture of who the Heavenly Father is by looking at us. The view of Fatherhood that our children will draw when they read Scripture will come from us. When they read that God is their heavenly Father they will not understand the word ‘Father’ unless they can draw on their experience of having earthly fathers.
We can see this is so important we when we look at the Biblical view of marriage and the view of God’s relationship with man as intertwined and very similar.
For example, God made 4 promises to Israel in Exodus Chapter 6 when He was going to lead them out of bondage. God ultimately wanted to call Israel back into His Family and become their Father. He wanted Israel to be His son.
Those four promise God made were the following:
1) I will take you out – out of Egypt or out of bondage
2) I will rescue you
3) I will redeem you
4) I will take you to me
These four promises were very important and God referred to Israel throughout Scripture as his Bride.
The most striking fact about this is that when the Hebrews got married these same four promises were repeated by the husband to his wife.
The Hebrew wedding ceremony carried very deep symbolism. The man was basically telling his wife that he would reflect the Heavenly Father to her and bring a little of Heaven into her life.
Another important act that the Hebrews did in their wedding ceremonies was being married under the CHUPPAH.
The CHUPPAH was a canopy that the married couple would stand under during their marriage ceremony. This canopy was the man’s prayer shawl placed on four poles.
This canopy represented God’s presence that went with the Israelites throughout the wilderness wanderings.
This canopy signified that this marriage will be a place where Heaven and Earth intersected. A place where God’s presence would be known.
The question we have to ask ourselves as husbands is, “When we come home do we bring Heaven or Hell home to our family?”
Would our wives see our contribution to our families as God’s presence or the presence of something much worse. Do our children and wives see God’s presence come into our family because of how we behave and conduct ourselves.
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