Marriage and the Family Part 4- Train up our children in the Lord

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?