Teaching These Words

Part 1: Teach

Many parents are practically obsessed with making sure their children are successful. People will move to another area to be near a school they think will give their child a better edge in life. Some set aside money to be sure the child will be able to college or have a trust fund. Many of us have life insurance so that our children will be taken care of if our life was cut short.

There are camps and classes and training for just about anything a child may show interest in, and we will pay the fees to be part of those activities and spend many evenings driving to and fro, and setting our calendars around the kids scheduled activities, and for many people, that means the family gathering, or the church takes back seat to those important activities, because we well ourselves that the thing we must do is to set our children up for success.

Yet, for the believer, our minds should be continually be set on the things above, not the things below. Our outlook should be an eternal outlook, not a temporary one. Our generation is not the first to have has this overwhelming concern for our children’s success. But really, we must ask ourselves if this apparent concern for the children is truly unselfish. Is it not sometimes the parents who seek to leave a legacy, so they work to build more and more wealth? Or the parent will tell themselves that the hours they are working, so that the family is left without a parent present for most of their growing up years, that parent will tell themselves they are doing it for the children. And yet, the thing the children really need the most is not to be left with wealth, but to be shown the way to live, and to live eternally.

Socrates noticed in his day that parents would work to build wealth, but in the end, they were abandoning their children. He said: “Fellow citizens, why do you turn and scrape every stone to gather wealth and take so little care of your children to whom one day you must relinquish it all?”

And so it is that in today’s church, parents are doing what parents have done for all of human history, they are forgetting what is most important, and focusing on things that will not last, and often we do this to the detriment of our children. This morning we are going to consider the next verse in the passage we have been on the past several weeks;

Deuteronomy 6:7 ESV

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.

We must remember the context of this verse. This is Moses speaking, and he is a prophet and priest, speaking for God himself to the people of Israel. This is a command that is from the very heart of God. It is not a suggestion or some sort of idealism that we should all try to attain, it is a command. An imperative. Every follower of God is to do this. Moses says this in the middle of a speech where he has repeated the ten commandments and the greatest commandment. Let’s look at the full context:

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 ESV

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

We discussed last week about verse 6, these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. We talked about the patterns of the world, and how the church in many cases has adopted the accepted practices of the world in how we teach our kids. One of the biggest issues is the outsourcing. We have an entire world system in which for most people, nearly anything their kids learn is not from a parent or family member, but from a paid professional or an internet search.

How many of us go to YouTube to learn how to do something? There is nothing wrong with this, of course, but many kids are not even given some basic life skills at home, and so they are constantly searching for answers on how to do something. This may be concerning enough when the child leaves home and doesn't know how to wash their clothes or cook any food or manage money, but how much more concerning should it be to a Christian parent to think that their child has left the home, and even after years of church attendance, still does not understand the basics of their faith, or learned how to discern between truth and lies?

How many children leave the home and encounter strange doctrines, and because they were not solidly grounded in the truth, they are deceived and follow a false teacher, who can tickle their itching ears?

I’ve watched a lot of videos on YouTube that expose false teaching and error, and I have heard some people say that this sort of ministry, focused on calling out errors in the church, is so negative, and not a good focus for someone to be in ministry, and yet Paul and Jesus warned again and again of false teachers, those wolves in sheep’s clothing. In fact, in nearly all of Paul’s letters to the various churches, he warned of false teaching. Early church fathers had councils and meeting in order that the church come out strongly against heretics and their teachings. The warnings in scripture are plentiful that there will be those who twist the words of God, just as the serpent in the garden did.

Paul commanded Timothy to preach the word; Why? because there will be plenty of teachers who appeal to the lusts of people, so those who can preach the truth must continue to be a witness for the truth:

2 Timothy 4:1–5 ESV

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

There is a compare and contrast in this passage to be sure. There are several imperative words in this passage that Paul command Timothy:

Preach: proclaim in a prophetic way the truths of God’s Word. Why do people say they hate to be preached to?

Be ready

Reprove: means to bring conviction. People who are reproved will hopefully feel convicted over their sin

Rebuke is more direct.

Exhort, that is to encourage, to spur on.

And the other imperatives are Be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Again, those imperative words in this passage are Preach, be ready, reprove, rebuke, exhort, be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work, fulfill your ministry.

And wedged right in between all those commands is a reasoning for those commands: 2Tim4.3-4

2 Timothy 4:3–4 ESV

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Paul is writing this to Timothy. Timothy is pastoring a church. Timothy is to preach, and do all those other things in the church, why? because the time is coming (really that time is already here) when people will not endure sound teaching, they will accumulate teachers who won’t preach to them but tell them comforting words. Like the prophets Jeremiah rebuked who told the people there would be peace and prosperity when the reality was they were being prepared for exile, so today teachers do not love people enough to tell them the warnings and commands of scripture but have figured out that if you want to win the crowd, and the TV show, and the book deals, you want to give them their best life now.

And those who accumulate these teachers who will tell them nice things, they will turn away from listening to the truth. And how many of us, who grew up in the church have seen many people wander away for this very reason?

The danger of false teaching is just as dangerous when Jesus warned people, just as dangerous as when Paul warned, and so today those who call out the false teachers indeed have a valuable ministry. And it saddens me that people who should know better, and frankly many pastors who I am friends with, do not concern themselves with precision when it comes to teaching doctrine and the bible, and when they see someone point out serious error in the teaching of some current popular preacher, they will rebuke not the false teacher, but the one who pointed it out, because they have a mean ministry, all they do is point out error. Why don’t they do something more positive?

Yet, isn't that often how we learn? Not only by learning the right way, but having the wrong way pointed out, and then explaining the wrong way and why it is wrong in light of the truth? I know people who I think are solidly orthodox, yet when you point out the bad teaching they will say that is the wrong focus, look at the good things that false teacher also does, so stop focusing on the negative.

And perhaps now you are thinking to yourself that the preacher today has digressed beyond the passage, I thought we were in Deuteronomy? But I have said everything here so far to drive home this very important point, that there must be no mild thoughts, no flippantly throwing away the command to teach our children to the best of our ability the things of God.

The basic lies of Satan haven’t changed much, but his methods have grown more sophisticated since the garden. When we release our children into the world, they will encounter lies. They will encounter people who would take delight in destroying their souls. Look at the hate towards children in our world. Abortion, mutilating kids who have been told they should not be satisfied with how they were born, telling them that all preferences are equal, there is no moral standards, you can do what ever you want. Not only that, but everyone ought to support everyone else, no matter how depraved their preferences are!

I believe the USA is now a post-Christian nation. You would have a hard time today arguing that Judeo-Christian principles are the driving force in our country. maybe 50 years ago and longer than that there was a solid framework, that even believers adhered to societal norms that had a background in Biblical truths. But it is not the case anymore, and the sooner the church realize that, the better. If you think just one more election and things will get better, you need to disabuse yourself of that thinking. There is no Christian party. Many of the politicians still use language they know will get them Christian votes, but then they do nothing to promote moral values. They talk about it and do nothing. They act outraged but do nothing.

Church, it is time for us to realize this nation is not a Christian nation. But in the church, we do not need to fear this. Christians throughout the history of the church have thrived and the church seen growth in some of the darkest times and in some of the most threatening environments. A modern example is China, where despite the control of the government, and how they track all their citizens, they cannot stop the exponential growth of the church.

We are in dark times. Could God turn things around? Of course he could. He will do whatever He has predestined to take place. But we can’t live our lives as though the world is going to suddenly become a place of morality. I don’t say this at all so that we all leave here shaking our heads and acting defeated. I say this because we need to be motivated more than ever to give our children, and every believer, the foundations of faith they need to go out into this world. Who among our children may not be the next one God uses to light an entire region on fire for him?

And so we are to teach them diligently, these words, to our children. And we must realize that what we spend time doing, what we spend time talking about, has much effect on them. If you are the type of person who dreams a lot at night, what do you dream about? Often you dream about the things you thought about during the day.

So when should we teach these things, when should we talk about them? ALL THE TIME! When you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise. Do you see what is being said here? We don’t live in the same environment as the ancient Israelites, but we can apply this easily to ourselves.

When you sit in your house and when you walk by the way encompasses all the geographic areas you may find yourself in. Whether you are inside or outside, you should be talking about these things. When you walk by the way and when you lie down, you would talks about these things. This represents the range of physical movement. Whether you are a body at rest or a body in motion, you are to talk about these things. Finally, we are given the parameter of time. When you lie down and when you rise.

The talking about these words, the commands of God, the people are to do it wherever they are geographically. They are to do it no matter if they are moving or standing still, and they are to do it at all times. This is the living out of verse 5: Deut6.5

Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

What is one way to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might? By talking about the things of God whether you are inside or outside, up or down, and no matter what time of day it is. As long as you are awake, you should be thinking about, contemplating, talking about, the things of God. And if you are doing it at all times awake, guess what you will probably be dreaming about as well?

By the way, this is not the first time the people have received a command like this:

Exodus 13:9 ESV

And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.

Exodus 13:16 ESV

It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

And it isn’t the last time either:

Deuteronomy 11:18–20 ESV

“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,

Why is the Bible so repetitive with so many ideas and concepts? Because these are things that are important.

And if we do our part as parents, our children will be more likely to adopt the ways of understanding that God has ordained for His people.

Proverbs 6:20–22 ESV

My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.

Eugene Merrill pointed out that the importance of verse 6, these words shall be on your heart, is the driving forces of verse 7:

Deuteronomy ((3) Exhortation to Teach Them (6:6–9))

6:7 So much so is this the case (to have these things on our hearts) that the covenant recipient must impress the words of covenant faith into the thinking of his children by inscribing them there with indelible sharpness and precision (thus the piel of šānan).90 The image is that of the engraver of a monument who takes hammer and chisel in hand and with painstaking care etches a text into the face of a solid slab of granite. The sheer labor of such a task is daunting indeed, but once done the message is there to stay. Thus it is that the generations of Israelites to come must receive and transmit the words of the Lord’s everlasting covenant revelation.

In the handbook on Deuteronomy, we see the importance in all of this of repetition:

A Handbook on Deuteronomy 6:7

Teach … diligently: this translates a Hebrew word that seems to mean “repeat,” or “say again and again”; this meaning is reinforced by the following shall talk of them. NRSV translates “Recite them … and talk about them”; REB has “repeat them … and speak of them,” NJPSV “tell them … and keep on telling them.” Any of these is a good model for the translator to follow.

When you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way: this means while at home or away from home, which includes, of course, the whole time. The following when you lie down and when you rise is also a way of including the whole day, either “when you are asleep and when you are awake” or TEV “when you are resting and when you are working.” (These two constructions are a figure of speech called “merism,” in which the two opposites include the whole subject.) Provided that such repetition is good style in a language, the translator should certainly follow the Hebrew.

So home or away from home, morning and evening, working or playing, parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, spiritual fathers, spiritual mothers, friends, all people in the faith, are called to be part of this constant reminding of ourselves of the things of God. We must remember as well this was a primarily oral society. Most people did not have the scrolls to go to, so repeating the things over and over was like putting them into the library of their mind.

Today, we have all these reference books, commentaries, word study resources, and so we are less reliant on our own memories. Most kids programs may have a verse or two a week to memorize. But kids are far more capable than we often give them credit for. They can understand something of the sermon, they can memorize, when properly motivated, in ways that put most adults to shame. We did Bible Quizzing in South Dakota, and there were some junior high kids who would memorize and entire book of the Bible in one school year! Even younger kids could learn 3-4 verses per night, if they had help.

But here is what we discovered. Some kids in our bible quizzing program didn’t have anyone at home to help them learn the verses. So for those kids, on Wednesday nights, we would help them the best we could, but without someone at home encouraging that memory work, they could not keep up with kids who had someone at home to help them practice each night.

Any teacher will tell you the same thing: it is evident when a child has support at home to reinforce their learning. A child with no help will usually struggle more to learn and retain. How many of Christians can quote more movie lines than they can quote scripture? And how about the kids? They can quote all kinds of lines from movies, books, and so on, but can they quote some scripture?

They can tell you the entire background and history of their favorite book series, but can they tell you much about the Bible? As I close, I want to close in a positive way, because I know that all of us probably feel on some level we didn’t do enough, or haven’t been committed enough to train our kids in the faith. Let us feel that conviction, because it is God’s kindness through his discipline that brings us to repentance. So if you need to feel some amount of shame or grieve over your shortcomings, by all means, do not dismiss this readily.

But the beauty of the cross is that we don;t need to remain in our guilt and shame. We can confess and believe and strive to do better. And you here at Oasis Church are being given a wonderful opportunity. When we begin D6 next Sunday, we will be working together to remedy our shortcomings and move forward into a new season of making disciples. We want to make disciples of our children, but also the world around us is in desperate need of the gospel.

I also mentioned last week and want to mention again this week, that I am aware that this focus on teaching children may cause some of you to feel like you aren’t a part of it. Please do not think this. If you don;t have children at home either because you never had children, or because your children have grown up and moved on, you still are part of this. A healthy church is like a healthy family. I remember with such fond memories as a child going to my grandparents house on a holiday or a birthday. There we all gathered, from the babies up to the grandparents, all together.Every family has some different individuals. Some of us were normal and some were more or less normal, but there we gathered, to enjoy each other and celebrate.

Every child benefitted from interactions with the grandparents. We learned something from them about life, or some skills, or maybe some work ethic. And they benefitted from us as well. They got to love us, pass on that knowledge, feel their importance in our lives. In the church, likewise, we have people from all ages that need to come together and worship as one, and we want everyone involved. So come and join us in this effort. We want everyone there. You may not be a father or mother, but you can be a spiritual father or mother. You may not even be married, but you may end up being like an uncle or aunt or a cousin or brother or sister to others in this family.

AS I close, Kevin has prepared a video for us to watch to help us prepare our hearts for D6. So I will close in prayer and as we watch this video together, let us be prayerful and ask God for his help and his blessing on our new ministry as we do it together.