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Chariot
January 2007 -
Norm Wakefield This month we'd like to offer to our Chariot readers a new message from Norm, for free, entitled Honoring Marriage. The message can be downloaded for free at: http://www.spiritofelijah.com/indivmp3/honor346/index.php God's
Blueprint for the Family - Part 4
God's people
were poised to enter into the Promised Land. Their leader, Joshua, knew
God's plan for blessing His people. Forty years earlier, God commanded the
men to keep their hearts turned to God and teach His Word to their
children daily. He promised to bless them. Generations would fear Him,
their days would be prolonged, it would go well with them, and they would
multiply greatly (Deut. 6:1-4). Surely the warning of God also rang in
remembrance: Don't be like the people in the land. Don't let your hearts
go after other gods, your work, or your possessions.
But the majority of the men had not listened! Many worshipped the
same idols their fathers had, and others collected gods along the journey.
Surely they shouldn't test the Lord by trying to displace the inhabitants
of the land while holding on to their idols. Joshua knew what had to be
done: Remind them of God's command and call them to repentance. Thus
Joshua, whose heart was turned to God and his children, did.
Now, therefore, fear the LORD
and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your
fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. If it is
disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today
whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were
beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are
living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD (Joshua
24:14-15).
As you read the rest of Joshua 24, you notice the men responded
favorably to Joshua's charge, saying they would serve the Lord. However,
Joshua knew these men. They had already been stiff-necked toward God's
commands, and he had no reason to believe they wouldn't resist again. So,
he warned them of the consequences of turning to other gods, called them
to put away their gods, and raised up a pillar of stones as a witness against
them that they said they would serve the Lord. Home-based discipleship is vital.
We find a sad and insightful commentary in Judges 2. The men of
Israel pretended one thing at "church," but did another thing at home. As
long as Joshua and the elders of his generation lived, the men of Israel
served the Lord. That means they offered the prescribed service in the
tabernacle, however, after Joshua and the elders died, the truth of what
was happening in their tents bore fruit.
...All
that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose
another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work
which He had done for Israel. Then the sons of Israel did evil in the
sight of the LORD and served the Baals, and they forsook the LORD, the God
of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and
followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around
them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the LORD to
anger (Joshua 2:10-12).
What was missing that caused an entire generation of sons to become
idolatrous fathers? Home-based discipleship. That generation of fathers
was not turned to God and to their children. They went through the motions
at church, but at home they failed to teach and exemplify love for God and
His Word on a daily basis. Probably, they also compromised and set up
their idols again behind closed tent flaps. Consequently, that generation
of religious people produced rebellious sons and provoked God's anger. No
home-based discipleship, no blessings for Israel! God's heart, blueprint,
and promises remain the same. God kept His promise
Let's fast-forward several hundred years. During this time, the
kingdom of Israel was divided into Judah and Israel. Both nations provoked
the Lord and finally, after much patience and long-suffering, God kept His
Word: He wiped Israel off the face of the earth! The King of Assyria was
God's tool to accomplish this tragic event in history. It wasn't a pretty
scene. Multitudes of fathers and sons were killed, carried off into exile,
or left as slaves to be ruled by foreigners.
The men of Israel had not feared the Lord, nor had their days been
prolonged, nor had it gone well with them, nor were they multiplying
greatly. The opposite had occurred. Why? Now this
came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the LORD their
God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of
Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and they had feared other gods and walked in the
customs of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of
Israel, and in the customs of the kings of Israel which they had
introduced. The sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right
against the LORD their God (2 Kings 17:7-9).
The very things God warned them not to do, they did! Additionally,
the blueprint God gave them for home-based discipleship was ignored. It is
evident they didn't believe God's Word. The following insights catch my
attention and I think are worthy of our consideration today. The fathers were afraid of being different from their culture.
Fear of being different, weird, or rejected is powerful. However,
God's Word clearly calls His people to be different. We should expect
rejection from those around us when we don't go with the flow of our
culture. They followed the customs introduced by the kings of Israel
(worship the golden calves erected in Dan and Bethel). Who are the kings
today who introduce customs in our culture?
Stewart Briscoe, teaching on Psalm 2, identified the kings here in
the US represented by four powerful sites. 1.
Madison
Ave representing advertising. 2.
Wall St.
representing financial investments and acquisition of wealth. 3.
Nashville
representing the music industry. 4.
Hollywood
representing the powerful entertainment industries. (I would include
professional sports in this category.)
These kings in the US are extremely powerful as they dictate the trends
and lifestyles of our culture. People are afraid of these kings! To not
walk in lock step with them is to risk rejection and poverty. What
influence do the kings have in your life and home? I recommend you lead
your family in a discussion and write down the answer to the previous
question. To what degree do those customs displace or disrupt home-based
discipleship according to God's plan? Discuss what would happen if an
entire generation of religious people allowed these kings to rule in their
homes. God
is faithful to send His prophets.
Did God explode in His wrath suddenly? Do you think the men of
Israel were surprised at the wave of destruction? They shouldn't have
been. God extended His grace and mercy many times through the years.
Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and
every seer, saying, "Turn
from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all
the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My
servants the prophets."
However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers,
who did not believe in the LORD their God. They rejected His statutes and
His covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings with which
He warned them (2 Kings 17:13-15).
Picture a man resisting another man pushing against his head.
Muscles tighten, head tilts against the push, and jaw and teeth set. Such
was the heart attitude of the men of Israel against God, His messengers,
and His blueprint: home-based discipleship. Sons become like fathers.
For generations stiff-necked fathers raised stiff-necked sons.
Unbelief led to rejection of God's blueprint and they ignored God's
warnings. Reading further in 2 Kings 17 we notice how low these men sank
in their regard for family. Sons and daughters were sacrificed to idols
for financial gain. They fell for the lie that the worship of fertility
gods and goddesses held more hope of prosperity than worshipping God and
believing His promises (2 Kings 17:17). "So the LORD was very angry with
Israel and removed them from His sight" (18).
Learning and teaching this lesson to men should be an important
goal of equipping men. You can't call out your sons to be something you
aren't. Your heart direction will impact your children. If your heart isn't
turned toward God and your children, they will deduce that God's Word
doesn't really matter. Once they arrive at that conclusion there's only
one path left to follow: selfish ambition and pleasure. I recommend again
that you lead your family in a discussion of my conclusion. Why is that
the only path left to follow? Is love for God and His Word that
important? God's
blueprint of home-based discipleship hasn't
ever been revised.
One of the prophets God sent to Israel was Malachi. The last words
of his little book reveal the heart of God for His people: That they would
ultimately turn their hearts to Him and to their children. After hundreds
of years, one thing was sure: Without God's Spirit indwelling men, their
hearts will not turn to God and to their children. So God promised He
would send the Spirit of Elijah to make it happen. That's grace! God
providing what He requires of men so they might be blessed. Here's what
God promised. Remember
the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I
commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I am going to send you
Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the
LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the
hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite
the land with a curse (Malachi 4:4-6).
Notice God pointed them back to the blueprint given in Horeb (Deut.
6). He promised to send someone who would accomplish in the hearts of men
what they couldn't do naturally. Five hundred years later, just prior to
the birth of God's Son, a forerunner was born, John the Baptist, of whom
it is written, "It is he who will go
as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN
THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the
attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the
Lord" (Luke 1:17).
The Spirit of Elijah and the Holy Spirit are one in the same! God
gives us the Holy Spirit, so we might know the heart of the heavenly
Father. His ministry within us is transformational, not only in our lives,
but in the lives of our children. God's plan remains as dear to His heart
today as it did 3200 years ago. His promises are still good for men who
believe and apply. Generations may be impacted.
God intends to impact generations through us fathers. As we lead
our wives and children to see the wisdom of God's Word and its relevance
to our lives, He blesses them. Our sons become fathers who will do the
same thing because He will keep His promises.
...So
that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to
keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the
days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. O Israel, you
should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and
that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers,
has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey (Deuteronomy
6:2-3). Would
you like to be on the Elijah Ministries Prayer Team? The backbone of Elijah Ministries is the prayer team who
pray diligently for God to turn the hearts of men to Himself, their
wives, and their children. Before I leave to speak, I send out a prayer
team invitation to those who will intercede for God to work for His
glory in us as a team for the Kingdom. Not only is it a blessing to
those whom I speak and myself; but it is also a reminder to the team
about the direction of their own hearts. If you would like to enter into
the labor together with me, you may go to my website and click on "Prayer
Team".
If you haven't visited our website, www.spiritofelijah.com,
please stop by sometime. You'll find: * Resources to equip you and your family * Previous Chariot articles * Norm's speaking schedule *
Free MP3 downloads * Various pages translated and available in Spanish * An online store to purchase resources and make tax-free contributions by credit card
The article above is a part of the Equipping Men series. The series is available on both audio cassette, CD, VHS and DVD. This and other resources, including all past issues of the Chariot, are available at http://www.spiritofelijah.com.
I invite you to be a part of the
moving of the Spirit of Elijah in your church, community, and the world.
How?
1.
Send this article to other men or families that you know would
benefit from it. You might inform them of the previous articles
available on-line at our website.
2.
Share resources from the Spirit of Elijah Ministries with others.
If Equipping Men or Rising to the
Call have been a blessing to you, then you know it will be
beneficial to others. Either share your resources, tell them about the
resources, or purchase a set or two as an investment in their lives. 3. Share with others what you have learned and put into practice in turning your heart to God, your wife, and your children. If God has done this in you, then He wants to affect others through you.
4.
Join the Elijah Ministries email prayer team and make
intercession for others that their hearts would be turned in revival to
the Lord, their wives, and their children. This can be done on-line at www.spiritofelijah.com.
Norm
Wakefield 01.07
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