Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

Fathers play a critical role in the lives of their children: they are called by God, their Creator, to be teachers (Proverbs 1:8, 22:6; Ephesians 6:4), providers (1st Timothy 5:8), disciplinarians (Proverbs 13:24), and living examples of God (2nd Corinthians 3:2–3).

Father’s Day is a great day to reexamine fatherhood as it is presented in the Bible, and an opportunity to connect with the biblical examples of what fatherhood is meant to be in family lives today and every day.

1. Noah - A righteous man surrounded by wickedness

Key verse: “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:8)

The story of Noah is one of the most familiar in the Bible. The earth and all the people in it had become corrupt - wickedness had taken over, the earth was "filled with violence," and the people whom God created were hardened toward him (Genesis 6:5, 11) - grieving him to the point that he "regretted that he had made man on the earth" (v. 6).

So, God determined to "make an end of all flesh" and "destroy them with the earth" (vv. 12–13). At God’s command, Noah set forth to build an enormous ship of massive capacity exactly as God instructed. He gathered the materials. He built the boat. He loaded the animals. He stocked the ship with food and supplies. Onlookers thought he had lost his mind.

But that’s the flannel graph version of the story.

There is a powerful lesson in the story of Noah about the measure of a man (or woman) of God.

God chose Noah out of all the people of the earth because he knew the condition of Noah’s heart. Tucked away among verses about wickedness and coming destruction, Scripture says that "Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8). Later in Genesis 7:1, God says He has "seen that [Noah is] righteous before me in this generation." Noah was just, blameless among the people of his time, and "walked with God" (Genesis 6:9). In short, Noah was faithful to God because he trusted God.

By faith he:

Trusted in God’s warning of what lay ahead
Protected his family
Prepared the ark just as instructed

And because of his obedience, God saved Noah, his wife, three sons and three daughters-in-law, and from that small faithful crew, He repopulated the earth.

Centuries later, the writer of Hebrews would highlight Noah’s character: "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith" (7:1).

Noah kept his eyes on God despite the evil temptations and depravity all around him. He protected his family, remained faithful to his Creator, and carried out what God tasked him to do. The story of Noah’s ark is more than a popular children’s story - it carries a profound lesson about how one person’s steadfast faith can impact generations.

The historical lesson is that God blesses and protects those who listen to and obey Him.


2. Joseph - An earthly father with a divine task

Key verse: “And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.” (Matthew 1:19 NASB)

Joseph was the committed man betrothed to Mary and father to the child Jesus, who was not biologically his own (Matthew 1:18). The Bible doesn’t provide very much information about Joseph - just a few vital references.

However, from what is written, it is evident that Joseph possessed a priceless character trait too often absent. Consider what is known.

1. He obeyed God unswervingly.

Several times Joseph received a visit from the angel of the Lord in a dream, who instructed him to do something difficult. He was commanded to stay with Mary, pregnant with a child not his own, and later instructed to flee with her and the child into Egypt. Note his steadfast obedience:

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (meaning God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus." (Matthew 1:22–25, emphasis added)

"Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.' And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt.'" (Matt 2:13–14, emphasis added)

A few years later,1 Joseph experienced two more dreams - one informing him it was safe to leave Egypt (vv. 19–21) and another instructing him where in Israel he was to settle: "in the Galilee" (v. 22). All four times he obeyed without question.

2. He was a righteous man - despite facing humiliation from within his own people.

Though he did not intend to stay with Mary after learning of her pregnancy, his plan to send her away stemmed from a compassionate heart that wanted to protect her. Observe Matthew 1:19:

"Joseph her husband,2 being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned [to send her away secretly." (Matthew 1:19)

The CEB translation says Joseph didn’t want to "humiliate" her and so decided to "call off their engagement quietly." His righteousness was in regarding his observance of the law (Deuteronomy 22:13–31; Luke 1:6), and though there are a few ways this verse could be interpreted, some commentators felt Joseph - as a conscientious Torah-observant Jew - would affirm his zeal for the law by making her a public disgrace. (By law, he could have legally divorced her for her supposed apparent "indecency" [Deuteronomy 24:1]).

Yet Joseph chose to protect her reputation.

3. He loved Jesus.

Consider the familiar story of Jesus' childhood in Luke 2:47–50. Mary and Joseph had started their return home to Nazareth from Jerusalem after Passover but quickly realized that Jesus was not with them. They return to Jerusalem to find Him sitting among the teachers in the temple, listening and asking questions (v. 46). Mary said: "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you in great distress" (v. 48) - to which Jesus replied: "Did not you know I had to be in my Father’s house?" (v. 49).

Jesus corrects Mary and refers to his true Father, a critical point in the story. But the deep concern Joseph experienced when he couldn’t find his adopted Son whom God had entrusted to him is praiseworthy.

Though it’s unlikely Joseph lived long enough to see Jesus’ public ministry develop (this is the last time the Bible mentions Joseph, and Scripture doesn’t record any further information concerning Him), God chose this man of integrity to be the earthly father to his Son Jesus3 - this behind-the-scenes, yet, mountainous task was one that Joseph embraced.

What is the point? God honors integrity.


3. Jethro - Moses' bold father-in-law who gave wise counsel

Key verse: "What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone."
(Exodus 18:17–18)

Jethro is one of those characters in the Bible often glossed over - yet his involvement in his son-in-law’s life - and in the life of the nation of Israel - was paramount.

The Israelites were camped below Mount Sinai, sustained on daily portions of quail and manna. Moses’ father-in-law and priest of Midian, Jethro, observed Moses’ non-stop daily activities - judging disputes between his people from morning to night without delegating responsibilities. There were so many disgruntled people that Scripture says "the people stood around Moses from morning till evening" (v. 13). This was a chaotic scene!

Jethro watched all this with concern and asked: "Why are you doing this? Why are you the only judge? And why do people come to you all day?" (v. 14), to which Moses replied, "The people come to me to inquire of God; when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws" (vv. 15–16).

Moses was headed for burnout, and Jethro couldn’t stand by and watch. He said:

"What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do.

Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace." (Exodus 18:17–23)

Certainly, Moses could have ignored his father-in-law and continued alone in judging between the people, and likely ended up exasperated and exhausted. But he didn’t - he humbly listened and acted on Jethro’s wise counsel. The next verse becomes the hinge for what would lead to the "strategy for Israel to govern itself" :4

"So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said." (v. 24)

Moses listened to God’s wisdom (mediated through Jethro - an outsider to Israel), chose wise elders from among the fledgling nation, and established them as leaders (or "judges") over the people. They heard the minor disputes, while Moses decided only the most critical cases - and God’s redemptive work for Israel "expanded into the work of justice among his people."5

The story of Jethro and Moses is a beautiful example of God’s intention for the body of Christ working together, each person using the gifts God, the Holy Spirit has given, as Paul teaches in 1st Corinthians 12. God has "so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another" (vv. 24–25).

God gives believers different responsibilities as suited to them, as part of the body of Christ, to protect the individual from burnout and to accomplish the work required in order for His plan to progress.

Scripture quotes are from the ESV.

See Matthew 1:19.
Alan McNeile wrote that: “A betrothed girl was a widow if her fiance died and whether the man had ‘taken’ her to his house or not. After betrothal, therefore, but before marriage, the man was legally her ‘husband’ (Genesis 29:21; Deuteronomy 22:23).” He continued, “An informal canceling of betrothal was impossible: the man had to give the woman a writ and pay a fine” (Alan McNeile, The Gospel According to St. Matthew, p. 7–8).
“In Matt 1:21, the angel of the Lord commissions Joseph to issue Jesus’ name: ‘For she will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus, for he himself will save his people from their sins.’ In first-century Judaism, the act of naming a child acknowledged the child as one’s own (and why Jesus would be called ‘Son of David.’ Son of David is a reference to Joseph’s legal lineage to the throne of David.” (See Luke 2:21; cf Genesis 16:11; Isaiah 7:14.) David Guzik, study guide for Matthew 1, 2013.
John D. Barry, Lexham Bible Dictionary, “Jethro” (Bellingham, WA), 2016.
https://www.theologyofwork.org/old-testament/exodus-and-work/israel-at-the-red-sea-and-on-the-way-to-sinai-exodus-1317-1827/the-work-of-justice-among-the-people-of-israel-exodus-181-27
Adaptation - blog.logos.com

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

As I’ve often said that the Bible is our own personal Instruction Manuel. It is written for all ages, male and female, intelligent and not so intelligent, rich and poor! God loves us all and we each have the opportunity to fulfill his plan for us through our devotion to him and faith.

Fatherhood is such an important aspect of a man’s life. The Bible used these men to teach the importance of the responsibility of being a Father and the responsibility of being a son that respects and listens to a Father.

I was blessed with a loving Dad that loved the Lord and taught me to trust him and what is taught in the Bible. We lived a very simple life but I was given a solid foundation that has helped me in my journey of life, by both my Dad and Mom!

Thank you for sharing, Zemirah!

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

You were indeed blessed, TexaCan,
in a way that so many of our nation's children no longer are. Precious memories cannot be stolen or repressed.

My Father was the most trustworthy man I ever knew; he met my Mother in church when he was sixteen, she was thirteen. Neither of them ever dated anyone else, and after marrying in their twenties, they were married for over fifty years.

They're with our Lord now. Perhaps they'll meet and escort bahmer and his family around heaven.

As a child, I took my Christian parent's love for granted. They were always there, always loving, always responsible, always dependable.

They always displayed the mark of true Christianity, self-sacrificial giving - of their time, their wisdom, their possessions, and they never hesitated to share the reason: to glorify and obey their God and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, in love.

You're so right about the Bible being written for everyone, for it is a one-of-a-kind Holy Book of Supernatural origin. When the publishers adopted the diversity craze, and started printing Men's Bibles, Women's Bibles, Children's Bibles, Policeman's Bibles, Grandmother's Bibles, Nurse's Bibles, etc., etc., etc., years ago, it was superfluous.

The Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and written down for every man, every woman, every child of every ethnicity; it need only be in their respective language to be understood by those who are seeking God, for He protects His word.

If they are seeking God, He has promised He will be there. (Jeremiah 29:13)

When God, the Bible and prayer were acknowledged and honored in the nation's schoolrooms, there were no school shootings, their were no drugs in school, and reverence for God extended to respect for parents, teachers, policemen, and others in authority.

Now, to our nation's great detriment, there is little if any respect for anything or anyone, including themselves, and instead of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, children are being taught there are seventy two genders, and they need but to choose one, and it will be made a reality for them through surgery, hormones, etc., courtesy of the Federal government's largess... (taxpayers money).

For those who decline anything that radical, they may still choose their own pronouns, by which they must be addressed or referenced.

The only thing that can overcome such radical brainwashing are God worshiping, Bible reading parents at home, especially a teaching, loving, disciplining Father.