The Responsibility of Parents

Articles

Kevin Heaton
10/15/23 - The Zephyrhills Beacon

In Deuteronomy 11, Moses gave important instructions to the parents of the nation of Israel. Notice what he said in 11:1-7 - "You shall therefore love the LORD your God and keep His charge, His statutes, His rules, and His commandments always. And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the LORD your God, His greatness, His mighty hand and His outstretched arm, His signs and His deeds that He did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land, and what He did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots, how He made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD has destroyed them to this day, and what He did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place, and what He did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel. For your eyes have seen all the great work of the LORD that He did."

Moses started out by clarifying to them that he was speaking to THEM and not their children. Why? Because the parents had experienced bondage, pain, and sorrow. They had seen the great works of God that had brought about their salvation from Egypt. They had experienced all the tests that God brought upon them in the wilderness and had discovered the consequences of sin. They knew the great love and care of God, as well as His clear judgment and great wrath. Their children had not known or seen or understood all of these things.

Moses revealed to them their responsibilities. Deuteronomy 11:18 - "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." The first thing they were to do was serve God themselves! They were to make sure that their hearts were right with God and that their focus was on obeying Him. As parents, they were to show themselves an example of faithful obedience to God.

Deuteronomy 11:19-20 - "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..." Moses then told the parents that their duty was to teach their children. Their children had not experienced all the trials and temptations that they had. They would have to be taught about the sins of the world and God's judgment. They would have to be encouraged by the history of God's great love and wonderful power. The only way the children would know was by the teaching of their parents. And notice how Moses instructed the teaching to be done. Not passively or on occasion. Not when they could get around to it and find time. It was to be ever before them, constant, & diligently done.

In the end, God's promise was this: Deuteronomy 11:21 - "that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth." If the parents were faithful to God and taught their children to be faithful to God, then God was going to bless them both with a life beyond any other people on the face of the earth at that time.

The words of Moses are still vital for parents to understand today. First, parents are to serve God and prove themselves an example of godliness and faithfulness. Secondly, they are to teach their children about the ways of the world and the judgments of God, as well as His mercy and love. To borrow from the words of Paul in Romans 10:14, "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without" their parents?