Someone recently said that the best example we can have is being able to see an example you can relate with. When we are looking for spiritual leadership, we look for things in others that we can relate with and that lend meaning to our own walk with God.
Before you go on, please read:
"A Warning - Straight From My Heart" if you haven't already.
One of the things that I'm sure happens to all of us is that when God teaches us something, we think it is for others. It takes some time to realize that what we are given has many different levels. I am sure you have heard messages that have different meanings to different people, each meaning meeting the needs of different levels of spiritual maturity. It also takes time to realize what God has given us is not only for others, but highly necessary in our own back yard.
"A Warning - Straight From My Heart" if you haven't already.
One of the things that I'm sure happens to all of us is that when God teaches us something, we think it is for others. It takes some time to realize that what we are given has many different levels. I am sure you have heard messages that have different meanings to different people, each meaning meeting the needs of different levels of spiritual maturity. It also takes time to realize what God has given us is not only for others, but highly necessary in our own back yard.
When we share how the Gospel is applied in our lives, we are not only sharing of ourselves, but we are laying down our lives for our brothers; laying it down for their observation and inspection; giving others a gift in letting them relate and apply your lessons to their own lives. We are fulfilling the scripture in Revelation 12:11. We are overcoming by the word of our testimony and are loving not our lives to the death in that what we share is for the edification of others and death to our pride and self-interest.
Recently, I have seen the sin of Achan in my own back yard and God has brought it to my attention.
Our Job as Fathers
As a father and the spiritual leader for my children, it is my job to guide my family in the way they should go. My study of "Kindling the Anger of the Lord" made me well acquainted with the seriousness of the sin of Achan and the penalties of dealing with an Amorite spirit in our camp. Joshua 7:12 is very clear how God feels about anything associated with what the Amorite considers of value.
What I have learned in the life application of my studies came as a surprise and answered many questions; some that I didn't know I had.
In Genesis 18:18-19, God had confidence in Abraham as an example of family and household leadership in that He knew Abraham would command his children to keep the way of the Lord. Because of this, God was able to bring specified blessings upon Abraham's family. We also see a reflection of this in Revelation 12:17 where those which "keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" still have the special interest of God in the end times.
When I stop leading my family to keep the commandments of God, God will no longer be with my family. When dealing with the Amorite, this is what God said in explanation to Joshua when asked...
Joshua 7:12 "Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you."
3 Earmarks of an Amorite
What I have discovered is that where the Amorite spirit is present, it is confirmed by 3 things:
1. There is something that makes a person look good in the eyes of others (a goodly Babylonish garment) First read A Goodly Babylonish Garment in my blog entitled "Kindling The Anger Of The Lord (Part Two)"
2. Betrayal of God's commandments and resulting failure of God's best plan for your life. First read 200 Shekels of Silver in the same blog.
3. Division or sowing discord among brethren (a wedge of gold).
Amorites in my Camp
The Lord brought to my attention a problem in my family that ran a close correlation to the story of Achan and what happened at Jericho. One of my children had stolen a PSP hand-held computer game console from another family when we were invited over for dinner.
1. To the child, it was a goodly thing, something to be desired and it would make the child look good in the eyes of friends. It was valuable to a child with an Amorite spirit in that this thing would impress others and make the child more important and more "cool" than they already were.
2. It was a betrayal of God's commandment to steal and the child knew it. It also betrayed the code of conduct for our family and put the Godly example of our family in jeopardy. Remember, Jesus was betrayed with silver. He was betrayed with 30 pieces of silver. Achan stole 200. 200/30=6.66. 6 is the number of a man in his fallen nature. Man over man over man (666) is where a man is under the curse of Cain has the desire to please the man above him and those under him seek for his approval. It is the mark of a beast vying for dominion amongst others of the same nature; God made animals to do that, but man was not given dominion over a person, that came from curses; the curses of Eve and of Cain.
Genesis 3:16
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Genesis 4:6-7
6 And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
3. It was coveted by the child for the express purpose of separating themselves from among their siblings to gain preferential treatment from their associates, while lowering the esteem of their siblings in the associate's eyes.
The PSP became an accursed thing because of what it did to our family and it was my job as the spiritual leader for my family to rid the camp of the accursed thing. It was also my job to follow Abraham's example in Genesis 18:19.
Genesis 18:19
19 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.
As parents we are supposed to train our children as in
Proverbs 22:6
6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
When I discovered the trespass in my family (Joshua 7:1), my first reaction was that of anger. I suppose that would be the natural reaction of any parent, but I was also concerned in how to handle it according to what I knew from the Bible. I knew how serious the offense was, and how Achan and everything he had had to be destroyed to turn the Lord from the fierceness of his anger in Joshua 7.
1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel.
24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
I also knew I was dealing with a child, so there had to be some mercy and grace in the mix. I was ready to come down on the child hard, but decided to pray for guidance and sleep on the problem for a few nights. I woke up a few nights later with four words pulsing in my brain,
"Don't Eat The Remnants !"
This made me think back to Revelation 12:4, 17.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The Lesson
When God told me "Don't Eat the Remnants !", I was supposed to remember that it was a Godly seed in which God is interested. The children are what is important, so I must take care to nurture them, not destroy them. It made me see my child in a new light. The child was not the enemy, it was my job to care for, nurture and to train this child in the way they should go.
Genesis 18:19 Fathers have an incredibly important responsibility. God knew that Abraham would command his children and his household after him. Abraham had to set the example to keep the way of the Lord and to do justice and judgment, but why did God have confidence in Abraham?
God had confidence in Abraham because He knew Abraham. God had spent the time with Abraham and got to know him, God nurtured a relationship with Abraham and taught Abraham by example how to do justice and judgment. James 2:23 tells us that Abraham was called the "friend of God".
This is how fathers are to command their children and households. "Lead by example and nurture relationships". A father must develop a love relationship with his children for them to accept and pass on the vision, the keeping of God's commandments and the testimony of Jesus Christ (qualifications for being a remnant in Revelation 12:17).
A father cannot be just a law-giver, have little to do with the lives of his children and expect obedience. A man can cause his child to shun the relationship between them and run the other way when he neglects their "nurture and admonition in the Lord". If this happens, the child's viability as a "Godly seed" is in jeapordy. They are in danger of being gobbled up and will therefore not be able to produce for the Lord. The entire crop is eaten up and there is nothing left to plant for the next generation. The glory of the Lord filling the earth stops right there with you. So, how glorious is your example of Godliness?
Ephesians 6:4
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Matthew 13:3-9 talks about the parable of the sower and what can happen to a Godly seed. Fathers, don't let your "fowl" attitude pluck the life of God out of your children.
Your child must first consider your relationship valuable to be able to consider that your ideas have value. A relationship is just not one-way...it has give and take, a mutual benefit for both.
Ephesians 6:4
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Matthew 13:3-9 talks about the parable of the sower and what can happen to a Godly seed. Fathers, don't let your "fowl" attitude pluck the life of God out of your children.
Your child must first consider your relationship valuable to be able to consider that your ideas have value. A relationship is just not one-way...it has give and take, a mutual benefit for both.
Children are wonderful thermometers. God designed them with built-in qualities that give parents time to learn how to get it right. Kids start out trusting, loving, believing, having faith that their parents can do anything and make anything better.
1At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
... but things can change as we get older. What we sometimes experience as a teenager can introduce the opposite of trusting, loving and believing.
As parents, to keep our children's hearts, we must choose our children's diets wisely. They will become what we feed them. Just as a plant, we can spend time with them, water them with our attention, feed them the good things from God, keep them weeded, give them plenty of light (understanding), protect them from harmful elements (especially when they are young) and in time can expect a healthy plant that can give bountifully, meeting the need of many and produce after it's own kind. Psalm 1:3
In the case of my child, it took a few days of re-building a love relationship before the child was ready to take correction.
Also, as in the case of Achan, the child did not admit the sin until singled out from among the others. This is the way of the Amorite spirit. It cannot "swear to it's own hurt" and is therefore incompatible with God.
Psalm 15:1,4
1 Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? 4 ...He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.)
