Before we get to today’s article, I just want to mention that am writing from the perspective of a man that has experienced many of the challenges of which I write…. and those spiritual battles continue daily. The articles are implications of what it means to obey the commandment to raise your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. They require some reflection and are particularly for Christians who, as Peter would say, are diligently seeking to confirm their calling and are making every effort to supplement their faith. Said more succinctly, serious Christians. If you know other believers who desire to walk more faithfully with the Lord, please forward an article to them and tell them to sign up for future articles. Thanks so much!
Before we endeavor to answer the questioned posed, I want to mention that I do have an actual strategy for the articles and podcasts that I do weekly. Sure, there are some things that happen in my life that prompt me to write about them in any given week, but for the most part, I am setting the groundwork for what is coming in the months ahead.
In the most recent articles, I have done a brief survey of the state of the culture, the church, and parenting in America. My intention was to show you how desperate the world is for Christ (and doesn’t know it), how dangerous this world is for our children and grandchildren, and how little we are prepared to engage in the war for souls. I believe that it is fair to say that we are far too comfortable in our versions of the Christian life and because of that, I am writing to create a sense of urgency that compels us to be sober and take action- action that usually requires change.
But what I don’t want to convey is a sense of hopelessness, or sinful anxiety, or even discouragement. No, we know that our God rules and reigns from His throne and He has promised to never leave or forsake us. So, the attitude should be one of concern for our souls, our children’s souls, and for that matter, all of the nations. And those legitimate Gospel concerns should drive us to God’s truth for the answers to how we should live in light of our current situation and for the glory of God.
One more thing before I get to the point of today’s post. I pretty much haven’t done anything to promote this CherishEphesians64 ministry, but today I am going to ask you for your help. That is, if you have found these posts to be helpful and true, would you share them with friends and family? This is a great time to do this because we are going to spend the remainder of the year getting into the meat of what the Bible says about raising our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Yes, that is Ephesians 6:4!
And who is this for? Everyone who has children and everyone who will likely have children in the future. I think of all of the mistakes that I made raising my children prior to my conversion and how much better it would have been for my marriage and my children if I knew and applied the truth of God from the beginning! I am also giving a shout out to the parents who have adult children and may soon become grandparents. You need to be involved, too! We must learn to think generationally because as we will see from the Bible, God thinks generationally.
The best way to get the weekly post or listen to the podcast is to sign up. That can be done in one of three ways. You can email me the request to put an email on the email list (Mike@CherishEphesians64.com), or you can sign up at the bottom of every article, or you can click here: http://eepurl.com/h9GliX
Ok, let’s move on to the big question for today: Where Are The Bible’s Instructions To Raise Children? Well, if you scour the Bible for verses that prescribe how to raise children, you will note a couple of things. First, the word, “children” is used throughout the Bible and it does not always mean children. You will find that the Bible cites the children of Israel, the children of God, little children, children of Abraham, children of the flesh, children of the devil, children of darkness, children of light, and children of man- none of which is addressing actual young people. So yes, God uses the word children, but He uses it as a way to describe adults as a reflection of who or what they represent.
The second thing you will learn is that the New Testament has almost zero instruction on how to raise children in obedience to God’s instructions. Here are the only two verses that directly address Christian parenting:
Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged (Colossians 3:21).
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4).
Both verses were written by Paul and while the first part of each verse is almost identical and is commanded in the negative, it is only the Ephesians 6:4 that commands a positive action- to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
How can this be? How can God inspire the entire New Testament and say almost nothing about raising children? Is it an indication that that children are not important to God? Of course not! So, where are the commands and precepts? They are in the Old Testament! The greatest detail for God’s way of raising children is in the book of Deuteronomy and those commands are supported (as we will see) in Leviticus, Exodus, Joshua, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, and the Psalms. We also have quite a bit of helpful instruction in the Proverbs, although the writings there are not commandments.
The fact that the details for raising children are located in the Old Testament may be a problem for those Christians who do not give the Old Testament the same weight as the New Testament. How should we think about that? Well, books have been written about this topic, but I’m just going to make several brief points:
- While it is clear that the New Testament gives us a greater revelation of God’s plan of salvation for His people, it is also true that all of the elements of New Testament revelation can be found in the types and shadows in the Old Testament. It is in the Old Testament that God teaches us about the Passover Lamb, the mediation of a covenant, the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sin, and so on. The Old Testament gives foundation and depth to what God shows us in the New Testament.
- The Jewish Christians in the New Testament were still learning about God in the Old Testament because the New Testament had yet to be written. Note Paul’s writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:5 where he speaks of generational faith teaching which had to be based on the Old Testament: I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.
- We will be spending a good bit of time in Deuteronomy, and is quoted more than 50 times in the New Testament; a number exceeded only by the Psalms and Isaiah.
- What did Jesus think about the Old Testament? He read from the Old Testament scrolls in the synagogue. He quoted from the Old Testament and after His resurrection and walking on the road with two men to Emmaus, the Bible says, And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:27).
- How pertinent is the Old Testament for the New Testament Christian? Paul writes in Romans 15:3, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
If we accept that the teaching about raising children is given in the Old Testament, it is logical to conclude that when Paul wrote to the Ephesian church, he had all that God had already said in the Old Testament as the context for the command to raise the children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. And if God’s concern for children is to be measured by the Old Testament writings, we will see that children are an incredibly important part of God’s plan for His people for all times.
In fact, I do not think that we fully appreciate the seriousness of God’s intentions. They are mentioned in the Garden (“Be fruitful and multiply”), are absolutely necessary to the promises to Abraham (“I will multiply your offspring as the stars are in heaven”) and are the subject of both great blessings as well as terrible curses. We will read of children being fed or starved, slaughtered, sacrificed to idols, eaten, fatherless, and unrighteous. It is notable that two of the greatest acts of wickedness recorded in the Bible were Pharaoh slaughtering babies to find Moses, and Herod slaughtering babies to find Jesus.
I’ll leave you with one final thought about God and how He thinks about children. In the verses that I am about to read to you, it seems to me that Jesus is not only talking about people other than parents who might cause a child to sin, but His words would apply to parents as well.
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. 18:1-6
Next time, we will begin our journey through the Old Testament to learn about God’s commands on parenting. In the meantime, be sober.
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Last modified: February 24, 2023
