Training Our Children - Proverbs 22:6

       

Proverbs is a fascinating book and can often seem like a mish mash of sayings all stuffed together, but when you slow down and study the book, mostly written by Solomon and other thinkers and leaders in Israel, there are a number of major themes that run through it that all show us what a wise way of living under the Lord looks like. One of the main themes is to raise and guide children and youth to walk in the way of the Lord. Proverbs is part of the wisdom literature category in the Old Testament. Wisdom literature says that if you do this, normally this is what will happen. It is not a promise or guarantee, but simple practical theology, dealing with basic life and character issues. Jesus emphasizes the same kind of practical theology in his own teaching.

The theme of raising our children to follow the way of the Lord is the most important role of the parents and community. In Old Testament Israel, and throughout Scripture, the entire community is responsible for raising the children and youth to know and follow the Lord. God shaped Israel to always think in terms of “we” instead of “me,” including the responsibility to raise the children to know the Lord. This is why we are developing a meaningful and deep mentoring culture in our church; older members investing in our younger members; echoing Paul’s charge to Titus to teach the older men and women so they can mentor younger men and women. Peter, in 1 Peter 5 writes, "shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock." This is all about being mentors to their flocks, leading them to follow Jesus in their whole lives.

The Webster dictionary defines mentoring as teaching or giving advice or guidance to someone, such as a less experienced person or child. Jesus mentored his disciples and in the Great Commission found in Matthew 28, Jesus told His followers to "make disciples of all nations." Making disciples involves much more than giving people a set of rules to follow: it includes living with them and helping them to grow in Jesus. That is at the heart of what Proverbs 22:6 is getting at.

Solomon tells us to “train children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Another translation is to “start the children on their journey or way,” and this echoes Deuteronomy 6, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” This is a picture of walking alongside our children and talking with them, teaching them about the Lord and how following the Lord works out in our day to day lives, and teaching them how to recognize the presence of God and the Holy Spirit all around us.

In Bethel, the teaching of our children normally begins at home, often right after birth. Parents will often sing to their children, while still babies, singing songs about Jesus; at really young ages, they begin reading their children stories about God, often using children’s Bibles. In Sunday School, the children begin learning more about Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit together with other children, and this continues on in different ways in Treasure Seeker, and Children in Worship and now a new level beginning this fall for those in between Sunday School and Treasure Seekers. GEMS, Cadets, and our youth ministry continue engaging our children at their age level in learning about Jesus and how to live as a follower of Jesus today. The prayer is that as the children learn together, they also experience the blessings and joy of being part of the family of Bethel, knowing they belong and are loved and accepted by Jesus. But at the core of all our instruction is the knowledge that as a church we are here to support and encourage the faith instruction that happens in the home. We are all part of the family of God together, working together to raise our children and youth in the faith. It would be good to hear from parents what you may need to raise your children, and how we might walk alongside you as you to train them up in their journey with Jesus.

Matthew Henry, an older commentator writes on the Deuteronomy passage, “Train up a child according as he is capable (as some take it), with a gentle hand, as nurses feed children, little and often…. A good reason for it, taken from the great advantage of this care and pains with children: When they grow up, when they grow old, it is to be hoped, they will not depart from it. Good impressions made upon them then will abide upon them all their days. Ordinarily the vessel retains the savour with which it was first seasoned. Many indeed have departed from the good way in which they were trained up; Solomon himself did so. But early training may be a means of their recovering themselves, as it is supposed Solomon did. At least the parents will have the comfort of having done their duty and used the means.” I appreciate how he recognizes that each child is unique and to help each child or youth to get to know Jesus in ways that help them, each in their own way, to understand and believe. I also love how he offers the reassurance, that if, or when our children go their own way, that what they’ve learned and seen as children is also often the way they come back to the Lord.

Our children and youth often learn more and better through example. How we live and follow Jesus usually has a bigger impact on them than classroom teaching. They watch us more closely than most of us realise, and how we live and react to life is noticed by them, and often imitated in their own lives. If you have a temper and show it regularly, if you are critical all the time and regularly criticize the church or leaders or governments, if you are proud and talk down to others, if you easily reject those whose opinions or beliefs are different than yours, if your lifestyle is centered on yourself and your wants, if you wrestle with addictions, but also if you’re kind and generous, quick to forgive and offer grace, whether you’re their parent, relative, teacher, church counselor, leader, or family friend, our children and youth watch you and will take their cues on how to live from how you live. Part of why Jesus came was to show us how we are to live; much of his teaching was on what it looks like to be his disciples; culminating with giving his life on the cross for us so that our sins are forgiven and we are reconciled with our heavenly Father. Our response is to repent and believe in Jesus, imitating Jesus as Paul reminds us that this is what he does in his own life, 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

In our world today, we help our children and youth to recognize the presence of God in their lives, asking questions like “where have you come from,” and “where are you going.” We help them to tell the stories of their lives in order to see how the Holy Spirit is there with them in all the moments of their lives. We remind our children that the Lord comes looking for us. The Holy Spirit works in our hearts to get us to seek God and Jesus; but it’s always the Good Shepherd who begins our journey to him by first coming to find us. Helping our children, our young people, and even ourselves to ask good questions is often more important than giving answers. Questions set us off on journeys and adventures to see what God is doing, to look for where the Holy Spirit is working in the world around us and in our own lives and hearts. Andrew Root takes this an important step further. As we teach our children and youth to recognize the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in and around them, Root writes, “Sending our people out to recognize events of ministry, to hear God calling them not to something but to someone—at work, in their neighbourhood, and so on—moves them into an open take in the immanent frame. In other words, it helps them see God.”

Training our children to ask questions, to be curious about the world around us is important to help them learn more about who God is and how he’s present in the world. Inviting them to join us in exploring where we see the Holy Spirit at work, inviting them to join us in serving in the church and on our community, inviting them to try new things in order to discover where the Holy Spirit is leading them are all important parts of training our children to become engaged followers of Jesus.

It's been an exciting watching a number of our young adults stretch themselves to go serve in different countries, to study how God is at work in different cultures, learning to share their faith through going deeper into the story of God and his people, and into their own stories of how God has been shaping them and growing them. Watching a number of our youth step up and serve in our soccer camp, using their passion for sports and knowledge of Jesus to build relationships with children in our community and sharing the Gospel story was exciting, especially as I watched adult volunteers investing in and mentoring our youth so they could play an active role in ministry here.

We have the privilege and joy of training our children and youth in the knowledge and way of Jesus. May the Lord bless us in the year ahead as we walk this journey together.

Yahweh – Destroyer of Evil, Restorer of Creation - Nahum 3

     

Here’s a quick refresher of the first 2 chapters of Nahum. Years ago, in the time of Jonah, when Nineveh was warned of God’s warning of judgement, they repented and God withheld his punishment. Nineveh had responded with humility, sorrow, and repentance, but as we mentioned last week, Nineveh quickly returned to its barbaric and wicked ways and it seems as if God had no response at all, at least until now. Nahum’s vision began with showing why God is moving again against Nineveh, and how God is going to move against Nineveh. In the culture of the time, it shows the Assyrians that Nineveh’s gods cannot protect her. Yahweh, Judah’s God, is more powerful, no earthly empire can stand against Judah’s God. We don’t battle the powers by ourselves, the Lord battles for and with us.

The Lord gives Nahum a glimpse in his vision of what the punishment of Nineveh is going to look like. It’s going to look a lot like the carnage and destruction Nineveh had brought onto so many other nations. Nahum sees, “The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels, galloping horses, and jolting chariots! Charging cavalry, flashing swords, and glittering spears! Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses—all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft.” The Lord’s justice is going to be harsh and hard. Her evil is going to be dealt with by the God of justice who allows evil to survive for only a time before holding the perpetrators of evil and injustice responsible.

The Lord is slow to anger, but he also doesn’t leave the guilty unpunished. In Nahum, this is about an empire, but this is the comfort and hope that we hold onto for today as well. For those who have had to flee their country due to persecution or violence, the refugee’s hope is that God will hold those responsible for the persecution and violence responsible. For those who have been hurt through domestic violence, who have been violated by someone else and are working through the hurt and brokenness it, these are cries to God to hold those who hurt and destroy others to be held accountable.

Nahum reveals that the Lord is going to shame Nineveh; to bring them to their knees by revealing who they really are and how their actions have shaped their identity and character. “I am against you,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame. I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle.” Nineveh’s compared to a prostitute chasing after power and wealth, selling herself and her soul. The Lord will shame her in public so all the nations will see what the consequences of unfaithfulness and wickedness is. This vision of Nahum is more for Israel than for Nineveh, calling Israel back to faithfulness to God since Israel keeps chasing after the gods of the other nations; willing to sell themselves to fill all their desires and lusts.

These are echoes to the purity laws found in Leviticus given after God freed Israel from slavery to Egypt. The purity laws are given to the people to remind them that they are in a covenant relationship with Yahweh and expected to keep themselves pure for Yahweh. Yahweh commits himself to a devoted relationship with his people. The image of this relationship is like that of a husband and wife. This is the point behind the marriage of the prophet Hosea to unfaithful Gomer where the Lord keeps telling Hosea to take his unfaithful wife back as a symbol of Lord’s unconditional love for his people. Paul picks up on this in his letter to the Ephesians, comparing Jesus’ relationship to the church as a groom who loves his wife sacrificially and is making her holy through his love.

The imagery of warfare and water come up again and again in Nahum’s vision. The vision is fulfilled just a few years later. Historian Michael Barrett tells us, “Nineveh fell to a Medo-Babylonian coalition in 612 BC. The Babylonian Chronicle describes a two-month siege against Nineveh that was ultimately aided by the flooding of the Tigris, which enabled the Babylonian forces to breach Nineveh’s seemingly impregnable defensive walls. Likewise, Nahum links Nineveh’s fall to a flood indicating that the prophet was predicting precisely what Babylon would do.” Another commentator writes, “Traces of dams (“gates,” or sluices) for regulating the supply are still visible, so that the whole city could be surrounded with a water barrier (as referred to in) Nahum 2:8 (Nineveh is like a pool, and its water is draining away, “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back”) …. The moats or canals, flooded by the Ninevites before the siege to repel the foe, were made a dry bed to march into the city, by the foe turning the waters into a different channel: as Cyrus did in the siege of Babylon [Maurer]…. there was an old prophecy that it should not be taken till the river became its enemy; so in the third year of the siege, the river by a flood broke down the walls twenty furlongs, and the king thereupon burnt himself and his palace and all his concubines and wealth together, and the enemy entered by the breach in the wall.”

In the Sunday School room, they have Psalm 20:7 on the wall, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” Nineveh depended on their chariots and horses, but the Lord proves more powerful than their chariots, horses, or gods. The Babylonians, whom the Lord uses to defeat Nineveh, divert the water from the river Tigris away from the moat, allowing their army to march against Nineveh on dry ground. We hear echoes to when the Lord creates a path through the sea on dry ground for the Israelites to walk to safety and then uses the water to crush the might of Egypt. Egypt trusted in their might, believing the Red Sea has defeated Israel, until the Lord defeats them using the water of the sea against them; Nineveh trusts in the Tigris to protect them until it doesn’t.

Nahum reminds Nineveh and Israel of the fate of the city Thebes, “Are you better than Thebes, situated on the Nile, with water around her? The river was her defense, the waters her wall. Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were among her allies. Yet she was taken captive and went into exile.” Yahweh is warning them to be careful about what or who they put their trust in; unless it’s the Lord, it’s likely to fail you at some point. The Lord won’t fail us. We see the Lord’s commitment to us in Jesus coming to join us here on earth and reminding us of the Father’s commitment to us; calling and inviting us to follow him and come close to the Father. Jesus engages Satan and his powers in a battle that we’re so often unaware of, a battle for our hearts, minds, and souls. Revelation, another vision, gives us a picture of Jesus as a warrior going up against the beast, the dragon, and Satan, the unholy trinity, and defeating them and throwing them into the lake of fire.

Jesus comes to save us from the oppression of sin and the chains that sin wraps around our hearts, minds, and souls. Just as Israel was drawn to the gods of the nations around them, and these gods kept failing them and leading them into slavery and oppression, in the same way we are drawn to the gods of our time and the promises they make to free us and bring us riches, pleasure, power, and acceptance, and yet they always fail us at some point, leaving us to deal with the brokenness, the hurt, the rejection, and the feelings of hopelessness and defeat. Jesus calls us to place our trust and faith in him and the Father. To help us with this and experience his healing and restoration, Jesus gives us his Spirit to comfort us, to guide us to Jesus, and remind us of his promises of forgiveness from our sin.

Nahum is all about warfare and punishment, yet it is only a small part of the gospel story. Because of the brokenness, violence, and wickedness that came into the world through sin, Jesus comes to battle it, but for the purpose of restoring what our sin has twisted. In another vision later on, John in Revelation 21 gives us a picture of this is going to look like. Revelation, “Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”  He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.”

In the middle of all the hard of life, we look to Jesus who brings hope and new life. Trust in him.