What is the purpose of training our children, and should be doing it?
ANSWER:
Genesis 18:19 ~ "For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Yahweh, to do justice and judgment, that Yahweh may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him." The purpose of training our children is so that they will guard Yahweh's ways, and do justice and judgment.
Deuteronomy 6:1-2, 7, 20-25 ~ "Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which Yahweh your Elohim commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it; that thou mightest fear Yahweh thy Elohim, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command thee; thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life: and that thy days may be prolonged. And thou shalt 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. And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, ‘What mean the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments which Yahweh our Elohim hath commanded you?' Then shalt thou say unto thy son, ‘We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt, and Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And Yahweh showed signs and wonders upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: and He brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which He sware unto our fathers. And Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our Elohim, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. And it shall be our righteousness if we observe to do all these commandments before Yahweh our Elohim, as He hath commanded us." The role of parents is to faithfully obey Yahweh, always remembering Him, and to diligently teach their children the same way, that they may live forever.
Deuteronomy 11:18-21 ~ "Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart, and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking 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. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which Yahweh sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth." His Torah is to fill our minds and actions, even when we are disciplining. We are to be pointing our children towards life eternal.
Psalm 127:1 ~ "Except Yahweh build the house, they labor in vain that build it; except Yahweh keep the city, the watchmen wake but in vain." We cannot be building and watching our homes and children on our own: we must have Yahweh's help.
Proverbs 22:6 ~ "Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old, he will not depart from it." We have to train them with the future in view.
Proverbs 22:8 ~ "He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity, and the rod of his anger shall fail." If we are simply acting out of anger, with a poor outlook and frame of reference, we are going to fail miserably.
Sirach 30:1-8 ~ "He that loveth his son causeth him oft to feel the rod, that he may have joy of him in the end. He that chastiseth his son shall have joy of him, and shall rejoice of him among his acquaintances. He that teacheth his son grieveth the enemy; and before his friends he shall rejoice of him. Though his father die, yet he is as though he were not dead, for he hath left behind him one that is like himself. While he lived, he saw and rejoiced in him; and when he died, he was not sorrowful. He left behind him an avenger against his enemies, and one that shall requite kindness to his friends. He that maketh too much of his son shall bind up his wounds, and his bowels will be troubled at every cry. An horse not broken becometh headstrong; and a child left to himself will be willful." Training of our children all starts with love. Do we love our children enough to correct them?
Proverbs 13:24 ~ "He that spareth his rod hateth his son; but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." Do we really love our children?
Exodus 20:5-6 ~ "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. For I, Yahweh thy Elohim, am a jealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments." Our manner of life will effect many generations to come. We need to choose whether we are going to make a negative affect on our posterity, or a Scriptural and positive one.
Deuteronomy 30:19-20 ~ "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore, choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live, that thou mayest love Yahweh thy Elohim, that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him, for He is thy life, and the length of thy days, that thou mayest dwell in the land which Yahweh sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them." The promise which Yahweh gave unto Abraham and Isaac and Jacob was a promise which was for their children. Let us live in such a way that our children might inherit Yahweh's promises.
Acts 2:39 ~ "For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off; even as many as Yahweh our Elohim shall call." Yahweh uses parents as one means of calling children into the fold.
Proverbs 23:12-19 ~ "Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge. Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou strikest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt strike him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. My son, let thine heart be wise, and my heart shall rejoice, even mine. Yea, my reins shall rejoice when thy lips speak right things. Let not thine heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of Yahweh all the day long. For surely there is an end, and thine expectation shall not be cut off. Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way." We must constantly be in the fear of Yahweh, training our children so as to deliver them from eternal death.
Proverbs 22:15 ~ "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." Correction makes our children wise.
Ephesians 6:4 ~ "Fathers, provoke not your children, but train up in the nurture and admonition of Yahweh." We are not to be provoking, but nurturing. When we do not nurture Yahweh's truths in the hearts of our children, we are provoking them to sin.
Colossians 3:21 ~ "Fathers, provoke not your children, lest they be discouraged." We ought to guard against constantly discouraging. There are times where it is necessary to discourage certain things, but we should also be sure to provide lavish encouragement where appropriate as well.
Malachi 4:5-6 ~ "Behold, I will send you Eliyah the prophet before the great and dreadful day of Yahweh. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." A parent's heart must be set lovingly on his / her children, and draw their hearts to willingly bond with their parents. We are to be trainers of blessing, not of cursing.
1 Timothy 3:4-5,12 ~ "[A bishop then must be] one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. For if a man known not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the assembly of Yahweh? Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well." Our families are our first and most important mission fields.
Isaiah 8:18 ~ "Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh hath given me are for signs, and for wonders in Israel: from Yahweh of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion." Our children have a purpose in life. Let us nurture that purpose, and culture their hearts accordingly. 3 John 4 ~ "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." The jubilation of seeing each child walking in the truth surpasses all earthly joys. Isaiah 59:21 ~ " ‘As for Me, this is My covenant with them,' saith Yahweh: ‘My Spirit that is upon thee, and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of the seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed,' saith Yahweh, ‘from henceforth and forever.' " Our job is to pass on Yahweh's Spirit and Word to the next generation.
Sirach 7:23-25 ~ "Hast thou children? Instruct them, and bow down their neck from their youth. Hast thou daughters? Have care of their body, and shew not thyself frivolous toward them. Marry thy daughter, and so shalt thou have performed a weighty matter; but give her to a man of understanding." Good parents guide, instruct, and guard their children all the way through.
Tobit 4:5-6, 19 ~ "My son, be mindful of Yahweh our Elohim all thy days, and let not thy will be set to sin, or to transgress His commandments: do uprightly all thy life long, and follow not the ways of unrighteousness. For if thou deal truly, thy doings shall prosperously succeed to thee, and to all them that live justly. Bless Yahweh thy Elohim alway, and desire of Him that thy ways may be directed, and that all thy paths and counsels may prosper: for every nation hath not counsel, but Yahweh Himself giveth all good things, and He humbleth whom He will, as He will; now therefore, my son, remember my commandments, neither let them be put out of thy mind." Let us train our children so that the face of Elohim will be turned towards them, and so that they will have the true success and wealth which are found in Him alone.
Genesis 18:32-33 ~ "And [Abraham] said, ‘Oh let not Yahweh be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten [righteous] shall be found [in Sodom and Gomorrah].' And [Yahweh] said, ‘I will not destroy it for ten's sake.' And Yahweh went His way, as soon as He had left off communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned unto his place." Obviously, it was Yahweh's will for Sodom and Gomorrah to be destroyed. However, it is very sobering to realize the incredible effect that one righteous family could have had. If Lot had loved his children enough to train them in Yahweh's ways, there would probably have been ten righteous: Lot (Gen. 19:1), his two unmarried daughters (19:8), at least two married daughters and two sons-in-law (19:14), most likely then at least two grandchildren, and his wife (19:15). We can make a monumental difference in the world by faithfully shepherding our families.
2 Samuel 7:16 ~ "And thine house and thy kingdom shall be stablished forever before thee; thy throne shall be stablished forever." O let our homes be established forever. Proverbs 27:11 ~ "My son, be wise, and make my heart glad...." All of us should stop and consider: "How can we help our children to be wise?"
2 Esdras 2:15 ~ " ‘Mother, embrace thy children, and bring them up with gladness; make their feet as steadfast as a pillar; for I have chosen thee,' saith Yahweh." We are to train and rear our precious charges with genuine love and gladness. Yahweh has chosen fathers and mothers to do a mighty task for Him. Parenthood is a noble calling.
2 Esdras 1:5 ~ "Go thy way, and shew My people their sinful deeds, and their children their wickedness which thy have done against Me, that they may tell their children's children." Our training should extend to many future generations. We need a vision of not merely warning and teaching our sons and daughters, but also of passing it on to their sons and daughters, and them passing it on to their children and grandchildren in turn.
Psalm 34:11 ~ "Come, ye children; hearken unto me, and I will teach you the fear of Yahweh." Let us lovingly draw our children to learn of Yahweh.
Psalm 78:1-7 ~ "Give ear, O my people, to my Law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known: and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a Law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children, that the generation to come might know them, even the children that should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children; that they might set their hope in Elohim, and not forget the works of Elohim, but keep His commandments." The blessings of faithfully passing the truth down from generation to generation are outstanding.
Psalm 22:30-31 ~ "A seed shall serve Him; it shall be accounted to Yahweh for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare unto a people that shall be born, that He hath done this." Let us declare His righteousness.
Joel 1:3 ~ "Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation." This is a very beautiful and continual cycle of training. This is what we are commanded to do. If He commanded it, we can do it.
Exodus 12:24-27 ~ "And ye shall observe [the Passover] for an ordinance to thee, and to thy sons forever. And it shall come to pass when ye be come to the land which Yahweh will give you, according as He hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass when your children shall say unto you, ‘What mean you by this service?' That ye shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of Yahweh's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses.' " Yahweh has delivered our houses. Let us keep it that way.
Deuteronomy 4:6-10 ~ "Keep therefore and do [Yahweh's statutes and judgments], for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' For what nation is there so great, who hath Elohim so nigh unto them, as Yahweh our Elohim is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this Law which I set before you this day? Only, take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons. Specially the day that thou stoodst before Yahweh thy Elohim in Horeb, when Yahweh said unto me, ‘Gather the people together, and I will make them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children." Our "greatness" is found in Yahweh alone, and it will quickly vanish if we fail to teach our children of Him. Look at Israel's history. Over and over again she has forgotten to impress upon her children the ways of Yahweh's truth, and over and over again she has been plundered and carried away into captivity, as she even now is.
Joshua 4:5-7 ~ "And Joshua said unto them, ‘Pass over before the ark of Yahweh your Elohim into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying ‘What mean you by these stones?' That ye shall answer them, ‘That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the Covenant of Yahweh; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off.' And these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel forever." We must pass on the memorials of Yahweh's greatness.
Isaiah 44:3-4 ~ "For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring, and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the water courses." Let us give our children a rich heritage of Yahweh's blessings, that they might spring up as willows.
Joshua 24:15 ~ "And if it seem evil unto you to serve Yahweh, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the idols which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the idols of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh." It is essential that our entire families commit themselves to Yahweh, from their youth up (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
2 Timothy 3:14-15 ~ "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. And that from a child thou hast known the set-apart Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Messiyah Yahshua." Are we doing our part to be sure that our children are thoroughly familiar with the set-apart Scriptures, and have a pure and steadfast belief in Him?
2 Timothy 1:5 ~ "When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice: and I am persuaded that in thee also." Our children's faith depends largely upon the example of faith that we set for them.
Psalm 71:16-18 ~ "I will go in the strength of the Sovereign Yahweh; I will make mention of Thy righteousness, of Thine only. O Elohim, Thou hast taught me from my youth, and hitherto have I declared Thy wondrous works. Now also unto old age and gray hairs, O Elohim, forsake me not, until I have shewed Thine Arm unto this generation, Thy power to every one that is to come."