Shade For the Children
The Spoken Word
To communicate with someone today, we use our phones. Texting or talking to that special someone through email or text is our main form of communication. On increasingly rare occasions, we handwrite a letter and send it through the post office. In ancient times, they did not have cell phones. Cell phones are a newer invention made to help with our oral (spoken) communication. Throughout history, humans have primarily communicated through oral (spoken) means. Writing and reading were considered skills that only the elite had. Our need for oral communication goes back to the start of creation. God, in His covenant documents, which are the scriptures, began correspondence with His creatures first by word of mouth. The first humans were created in His image. He spoke face-to-face, Genesis 2:15-17, cf. Exodus 33:11; Deuteronomy 34:10.
It is because of sin and no longer living in the presence of God that God communicates with His rebellious people through the means of theophanies and dreams, and visions to communicate His will. It was not until Job or Moses that we have a written communication from God. The first five books of the Old Covenant scriptures are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. They were written as a testimony to God’s faithfulness to ancient Israel. This written testimony (nowadays called the Old Testament) shows God’s faithfulness to the promises He had made with their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
In these written messages of the Old Testament, God also set forth His will for His people and what He requires of them. Then, for obeying His commands, there is a rich blessing and communion with Him in the promised land. However, for transgression of His commands, there are devastating curses not unlike the curses that Adam and Eve suffered for their disobedience. These covenant documents were written by Moses, well after the creation of the world. God most often orally communicated to a specific messenger. Here are some references that point us in this direction:
Psalm 34:11, “Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD”.
Proverbs 4:1, “Hear, my son, and attend to my words; for they will prolong your days”.
Proverbs 1:8, “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”
2 Timothy 1:13, “Hold on to the example of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.” (bold for emphasis)
These are just a sampling in the Bible that point to oral instruction of the covenant documents. However, this is only a part of the pattern of how we receive God’s word. The other part of the pattern comes to us in written form.
The Written Word
In the Bible, when God is dealing with His image bearers, He does so through what is called “covenants”. When God made agreements throughout the Bible, in order to aid in the remembrance of the oaths of fealty that were sworn, the Sovereign LORD had the agreements written down in what are called “covenant documents”. Hence, we have the Old Testament or the Old Covenant documents and the New Testament or the New Covenant documents.
Covenants are agreements initiated by God. They establish a special relationship between God and those He initiates the covenant. The covenants establish God as the sovereign LORD and we as vassals. The Sovereign LORD promises to protect and care for every need of His subjects, and we promise to serve, spread our Sovereign’s kingdom, and serve Him faithfully, etc. These covenant promises and stipulations are agreed to, and oaths are taken. If the servants of the sovereign LORD are faithful to their oaths, He will bless them abundantly; if, however, they rebel or break any of the precepts agreed upon, the penalty is severe! The curse of death!
Let us look at a few passages that show us that God’s word is written for our instruction:
Exodus 31:18, “When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.”
Jeremiah 30:2, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.”
Isaiah 8:1, “Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters,...”
2 Thessalonians 3:17, “I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write"
Philemon 19, “I, Paul, write this with my own hand.”
2 Peter 3:16, “He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (bold for emphasis)
Summary
As we have just seen, God communicates His will and purpose for us in speaking and then in writing. This is the pattern we see before us from the Old and New covenant documents. It is how we have received what we now call the Bible (See Hebrews 1:1-2). Today, we have the completed form of God’s will and purpose in written form. God communicates to us today through our Bibles when we open and begin reading. We aren’t reading a work of fiction, or a work of the imagination, or observations of humanity. When we read the Bible, we are reading God’s covenant documents for His image bearers. Equipped with everything we need in the covenant documents, the Sovereign LORD has spoken and written down for us; we can and are able, through the illuminating of the Holy Spirit, to follow and serve Him faithfully as we grow in knowing our God by the study of His covenant documents. A crucial part of reading and studying God’s covenant documents is passing them on to the next generation and equipping them to follow their LORD. The next article in this series will look closely at the covenant documents and what they say about training the next generation.
Purpose
With this second article, we want to encourage all God’s people to be reading and studying God’s Word, and to be doing this individually and with your families. To encourage parents with children to be worshiping together, and how, through the hustle and bustle of your everyday lives, you can have meaningful worship and be training the next generation to know and love Him! Many may say at this point we just don’t have the time, Dad is at work by 6:00 am and does not get home until 6.00 pm or later. When he gets home, he is completely exhausted! Mom’s schedule is not much different from Dad’s. We just do not have time!
First, we must search the covenant documents of God to find the answers. No matter what those answers might be! Then seek in every way possible to conform to those God ordained standards. Second, we and you need to acknowledge the time restraints on our lives and seek to prioritize those things most important and essential.
The Standard
Proverbs
When someone mentions the book of Proverbs, what is your first thought or reaction? Many would say, “I love Proverbs, it has 31 chapters, that is perfect for me, I can read a chapter a day for the whole month!”, or “wisdom, lots of practical wisdom!”, or some women might say, “I want to be like the Proverbs 31 woman!”, these are all good things that can be said of this wonderful covenant document, named Proverbs. However, would you be surprised to learn that it was written to one of King Solomon’s sons? And that the phrase, “my son,” is said as many as 23 times? Also, for instructing that son on how to live wisely in the fear of the LORD? The style of writing in proverbs, adages and pithy sayings is employed for instructing his young son in a way that he can understand and memorize and remember what he is teaching him. This is further strengthened when we understand that the phrase “my son” can be translated, “my student”. If parents understood their sons and daughters to be their students, to teach, guide, and instruct, what a positive and lasting impression would be the result?
Digging Deeper
If then Proverbs is written to instruct and pass on wisdom to a son in a salient and memorable manner, then looking into some of the topics that this talks about with his son is worth perusing. Here are just a few of the topics:
Fearing God and pursuing wisdom (Proverbs 1:7, 4:21-22, 14:23)
Contrasting discipline with laziness and sloth (Proverbs 10:4, 12:24, 21:5
How to avoid sexual immorality and the adulterous (Proverbs 5:1-14, 6:24-35, etc.
The use of money for good and evil (Proverbs 10:15,16, 14:20, 17:8,23, 22:7, etc.
These topics are by no means all the subjects the king instructs his son (pupil) in, but even if a father and mother were to begin having that ongoing, never-ending conversation with their children (students) on those, it would be a great beginning!
Let us just consider a few verses from the bible that point us in this direction:
Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Deuteronomy 6:7, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, 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.”
Ephesians 6:4, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord”
Looking a little closer to Ephesians 6:4, the phrase, “discipline and instruction” carries with it the meaning of “educate and exhortation”. Parents are truly their children’s first teachers or instructors with the command of God from His word to educate and exhort them in the Lord. The curriculum is written and published by God. He teaches us His people all that He requires of us and then instructs us to be teaching and training our covenant sons and daughters.
How do we do this?
As we have seen above, God speaks to his people and then instructs his chosen men to write what He has spoken. As parents use the same formula. Look at Deuteronomy 6:6-7 again:
“These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts. And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up"
It seems to be telling parents to have an ongoing, never-ending conversation with their children about God’s word! I would propose that this conversation does NOT end when your children are grown and no longer living with you. Wisdom from God is eternal and ageless, and your adult children will need that guidance even more as they navigate their adult years and have children of their own.
Family worship
This is the written part of the formula. Here are some helpful items to be used in family quiet time.
Reading of the scriptures. Our Bibles contain chapters and verses, which are helpful in breaking up the scriptures into readable sections. We recommend reading 1-2 chapters when you sit down with your family. It should take about 5 minutes to read the chapters.
Write a few questions to aid your family in thinking through what you read. Have them think about the reading throughout the day and bring back their answers. This aids in the ongoing, never-ending conversation.
Sing or listen to songs, hymns, and spiritual songs. For those who cannot play a piano or musical instrument, smartphones are a very useful tool to play the song you wish to sing.
Prayer. A helpful acronym is C A T S: Confession, Adoration, Thanksgiving, and Supplication or petitions.
Catechism. This item is very helpful and useful for the family to understand and comprehend in a succinct way the major doctrines of the Christian faith. More on the catechism below.
This is not an exhaustive list of items to have in family time with the Lord, but are essential elements to include.
Final Thoughts and Application
In the New Testament scripture Luke writes two volumes to his brother Theophilus, see Luke 1:1-4, Acts 1:1-3. In those passages, Luke tells his brother (and us) why he is writing to him. Luke explains to Theophilus that he can know for certain that the instruction he had received was true and accurate. Noteworthy is that the word translated “instructed” in Luke 1:4 is the word we derive “catechism” from, and its meaning is “to teach orally”. Another important figure of the New Testament who is said to have been catechized is Apollos, Acts 18:24-25:
“Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed (catechized)in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, ...”
If someone reading is not familiar with the word catechism or catechize, it is a simple way of using questions and answers to instruct young and old alike. It breaks the doctrines of the scriptures into bite-sized chunks that are easier to grasp and remember. See the footnote below for recommended catechisms that can be used to help you!
Are you having the ongoing, never-ending conversation with your children and spouse? We have written to encourage and hopefully show that a 15-20 minute family worship is doable. If you have been overwhelmed with life, and maybe even become discouraged, take heart and be of good courage, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are watching and waiting for your return, and like the father in the parable of the “prodigal son” will celebrate your return and you will enjoy God’s unmerited love, grace and affection once more!