The Purpose of parenting
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And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”
Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.” And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” And he said, “I am.” And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the child’s manner of life, and what is his mission?” And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe.”
Introduction
Introduction
This sermon not about the narrative, but about the comments of Monoah, how they reflect on parenting
Families are one of the most critical building blocks of society, irrespective of religious understanding
Was challenged by convo during the week - caused to reflect on priorities of families; notice that pre-Fall we have:
Purpose
Covenant
Relationship
Family - thus I believe that HUGELY important
The state of families and parenting at the moment
Different views of parenting - generational
Broken families
Superficial families
I am not perfect as a father, so this message is not from a place of success
When you look at society, how do families in general look?
How was your relationship with your parents, and how it is now?
How does depression etc affect parenting?
Text analysis
Text analysis
No proper kingdom yet - a time of evil -
No proper kingdom yet
Times of judges there to rule
Monoah and wife - name not mentioned, unable to conceive - highlight FLOURISH ministry
Notice the prominence of Monoah and the father’s role
“The angel of the LORD” is the pre-incarnate Christ - ,
Instruction to raise child as Nazirite:
Person who was either chosen or consecrated for life or for a set period of time to complete a vow to God. The Nazirite (Nazarite) devoted himself to self-imposed discipline in order to perform some special service ().
Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Tyndale Reference Library (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 939.
Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Tyndale Reference Library (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 939.
The key focus on this text for today lies in:
8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.”
12 And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the child’s manner of life, and what is his mission?”
,
What are some of the other accounts in the Scripture which records God giving children to barren women?
Read . What do you think would have meant to Monoah and his wife that the child they were blessed with was to be set aside for God’s purpose?
The purpose of parenting
The purpose of parenting
1. To encourage a love for God
1. To encourage a love for God
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 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. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deut 6.4
I have been told that parents need to flirt in their marriage as a model for their children
So, when children look at us, do they see a deep love for God?
Must recognise that we must model and speak about God’s love, but we cannot grow it - only God can do that
Do not be too eager to determine the salvation of your children
2. To build a Christ-like character
2. To build a Christ-like character
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Ephesians 4.11-
This text is speaking from a church context, but what is important for the church is important for the family
There is a tension when forming character, because we believe that the Gospel fuels character strength
But developing character, even if we are not sure about their salvation, good character helps avoid a lot of social evils
But understand that true Christian character depends on a heart change only brought about by God
3. To engender a commitment to the commission
3. To engender a commitment to the commission
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Gen 1.28
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matth 28.
I am convinced that is the pre-Fall version of the Great Commission
Purpose is a big buzz word, even for adults
These two verses establish the purpose for everyone
Can we, as adults, see how our lives are contributing to the Great Commission?
John Wesley and saving
Missions and holding the rope while people go down the well - everyone is involved
4. To prepare for independence
4. To prepare for independence
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Gen
My first night alone - was not ready
Judges 1431-3
How many teens are ready for the world? Can they:
Do a basic budget?
Know how to change a tire?
Know how to operate a credit card?
Able to wake up and be accountable?
Slow-plow parenting
What are some of the goals you have for parenting? Explain why these are important to you.
Are there other purposes you see in Scripture?
How should these purposes in parenting affect one’s marriage?
When parenting fails
When parenting fails
1 Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.” 3 But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”
Unacceptable to marry a Philistine - see reference
Samson killed a lion, then set up a riddle, I assume, with some Philistines for a reward
15 On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?” 16 And Samson’s wife wept over him and said, “You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?” 17 She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted, and on the seventh day he told her, because she pressed him hard. Then she told the riddle to her people.
Judges 14.15-17
His wife influenced him to reveal his secret (this is a trend)
Samson becomes an enemy of the Philistines
15 And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16 And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. 17 And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands.
Judges 16.15-
Samson ended up blinded and enslaved
Although God used the situation, God did not author the weaknesses apparent in Samson
We can appreciate the narrative on both the Gospel level and as a warning to us as parents
Can you think of other examples in the Bible where people have failed to properly raise their children?
Where are some areas you have failed as a parent?
Redemption for parenting
Redemption for parenting
Society and the church is littered with people who have failed, or perceived themselves to have failed, as parents
Broken marriages are on the rise, also contributing to dysfunctional parenting
Some parents and children have animosity and unforgiveness
This is not even taking into account issues such as depression and the mental side etc
I do not have the time here to address how God heals
God forgives and God is enough
Forgive and receive forgiveness
Kill pride and seek counselling
How does the Gospel provide redemption for parents who failed?
How does the Gospel provide grace for broken marriages?
Are there families you could pray for?
Application
Application
Church
Acknowledge the crisis across the board and understand the responsibility of those with the Gospel to intervene - As I said, marriages and parenting was given pre-Fall, thus I believe that it is UBER significant
To the older generation, be careful at how you criticise the younger generation’s parenting efforts
To the younger generation, kill the pride that stops you from listening to the older generation
Start praying for this issue, and for specific families, until you have a burden of where you can serve
Get involved in our youth programmes - chat to Warren or myself
Get involved in HBC
Parents:
Pray for your kids - understand the important of the Gospel for them and in them
Parents to get kids to work with devotional
Parents to get to know Gr teacher at Sunday school
Get involved in HBC
ws
Parents to get to know Gr teacher at Sunday school
Romans 1.18-32
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.