"Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages" (Exod. 2:9). The New Testament tells us that "Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning" (Rom. 15:4). With this in mind, may we "learn" as we consider some Old Testament scriptures, and may we be stirred in our souls as to our responsibility toward those who have been committed to our care!
The Lord said of Abraham, "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him" (Gen. 18:19). May we as parents strive to order our lives and our households so that our children will "keep the way of the Lord."
There is much instruction in the Word with regard to parental responsibility. But it is only when parents know the truth themselves that they will be able to teach their children. We read in Isa. 38:19 that "the father to the children shall make known Thy truth." Along the same lines is the statement in Deut. 6:6,7:"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:and thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." A constant testimony to the children will bear fruit. Likewise, Deut. 11:18,19 puts upon the parents the responsibility of laying up the Lord’s words in their own hearts and souls, and teaching them unto their children.
Moses said to the elders of Israel, "And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? that ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses" (Exod. 12:26,27). Similarly, we read in Deut. 6:20,21,23:"When thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded you? then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. . . . And He brought us out from thence, that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He sware unto our fathers."
The twelve stones taken out of the midst of the Jordan and pitched in Gilgal were to be a sign among the Israelites, that when their children asked their fathers in time to come, "What mean these stones?" they were to let their children know of the mighty hand of the Lord which dried up the waters of Jordan, "that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever" (Josh. 4:21-24).
The Lord had promised to His servant David, "There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as thou hast walked before Me" (1 Kings 8:25).
May God graciously grant to us all the needed wisdom to teach our children, and to live before them in such a way that they might learn aright the ways of the Lord.
FRAGMENT "Job . . . rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings … for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned. . . . Thus did Job continually" (Job 1:5).
Job feared lest his children would sin against God or forsake Him in their hearts. He was so deeply conscious of the weakness of human nature that, even when he did not know of any particular sin, he interceded on their behalf before God. Every thoughtful parent knows there are times and places when their children may be more influenced to yield to temptation. A praying parent will do what Job did.