And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus (2Tim 3:15).
THE MOTHER OF TIMOTHY was a pious Hebrew. One of her most important duties was to train her children in the careful knowledge of the word of God. The Jewish Scriptures require this of Jewish families. Rabbi Judah says, “The boy of five years of age ought to apply to the study of the sacred Scriptures.” Rabbi Solomon, on Deuteronomy 11:19, says, “When the boy begins to talk, his father ought to converse with him in the sacred language, and to teach him the law; if he does not do that, he seems to bury him.” (Barnes-abbreviated).
HERE IS THE VERSE: And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. (Deuteronomy 11:19)
JESUS QUOTED DEUTERONOMY 6:4-5 as the “great commandment” when replying to a lawyer (Matthew 27:36) Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)
THE NEXT VERSE SAYS: And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
WHEN MOSES WAS TELLING ISRAEL WHAT A GREAT NATION THEY WERE, he warned them: Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; (Deuteronomy 4:9)
THE CHILD WHO KNOWS THE SCRIPTURES HAS A GREAT ADVANTAGE over those who do not know. It’s like, living in a house is an advantage over living in a tent or under a bridge. The auto mechanic with a set of tools has an advantage over the mechanic who works only with his fingers. The Scriptures are about the here and the hereafter. How do you deal with the here or the hereafter without reliable knowledge?
THE PROPHET HOSEA DECLARED: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:6) They did not have knowledge because they had rejected it. They could have had knowledge, but they turned it down and resisted it. It was having repercussions in their children and their country in general. In our country, the Supreme Court outlawed school-sponsored reading of the Bible to tax-funded public-school students, claiming that it was a state-endorsed religion.
IN THAT 1963 RULING, IT UPHELD BIBLE READING for literary and historic purposes. Nevertheless, there has been great abuse of the ruling by school administrations and teachers who either misunderstood the ruling or else used it as an excuse to eliminate it to satisfy their own distaste for the Bible. http://familypolicyalliance.com/issues/2016/09/27/supreme-court-supports-bible-reading-public-schools/
THE SUPREME COURT HAS NEVER RULED AGAINST Bible reading in the home and that’s where the greatest deprivation of children has taken place in their deficiency of Bible knowledge. The Bible commandment to teach the Bible to children was about teaching them at home. There would be no churches for another 1,500 years. (Moses was born about 1492 B.C.)
PARENTS HAVE BEEN RELUCTANT TO TEACH THE BIBLE to their children. Robert Raikes (1736-1811) of Gloucester, England is called the “Father of Sunday Schools.” Children who worked in the coal mines were not learning to read and therefore could not read the Bible. So, churches began to have schools on Sunday afternoons after morning church service to teach children to read and to teach some basics about the Bible.
THE NEGATIVE ASPECT OF SUNDAY SCHOOLS is that parents used Sunday school as a cop-out for not teaching the Bible at home as God instructed Moses and as was done for centuries in dedicated Christian homes. Homes need a “Family Altar” or “Family Devotion” time. Sunday schools are a great thing and Christian Day Schools are a really great thing, but the responsibility for teaching children from the time of Moses forward is on the parent.
IT IS NOT WHETHER THE HOME OR SUNDAY SCHOOL IS BETTER. Both are needed and go together. God has blessed the Sunday school but that was not God’s first choice. After Robert Raikes had such great success with Sunday schools, they became an institution on their own. One practical result was that churches that started Sunday schools grew better than churches that do not.
ACCORDING TO HOSEA 4:6, PARENTS WHO IGNORE GOD'S COMMANDMENT to teach the Word of God to their children are destroying their children. They will not have much of a sense of right and wrong. One of the greatest mission fields of the world is American children. Parents and grandparents can make a big difference in the lives of their children and grandchildren by encouraging the teaching of the Word of God in the home.
IN THE LAST 50 YEARS THERE HAS BEEN A REVIVAL OF BUILDING Christian schools in America. Along with this has come a legal stipulation: loco parentis. (In place of the parent.) Loco parentis means that the parent is the primary custodian of the child. Parents control property and children. Under Socialism, the State is the primary custodian of all children and one way or another owns all the property. In Germany, the NAZI Party seized control of the children and trained them in the image of the State.
MY FOUR CHILDREN, FROM THE TIME THEY WERE FOUR, were raised on this Bible story book by Ken Taylor. We let them carry the book around with them in the house and look at the pictures. (Every page has a four-color picture.) They would sit down and talk to the picture and tell what they could remember of their favorite stories. They called it: “The Baby Moses Book.” It was a great tool of engagement, learning to read words, and for building conversations.
KEN TAYLOR AND HIS WIFE, MARGARET, lived in Wheaton, IL. Ken commuted by train to his job in Chicago. At night he and his wife read the Bible, sang and prayed with their children. They eventually had ten children. For the younger children he wrote short Bible stories on the train on his way to and from work. So, the Bible story book was first produced for his own children. Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
MARCH 27, 2019 – WEDNESDAY
A.M. Joshua 19-20 P.M. Luke: 5:17-39
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
A Good Memory Verse:
Let the words of my mouth, and meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
Song for Today:
Obedience Is The Very Best Way (3:13)
(1st & 2nd Grade -Calv.Ch. School – Southern Pines, NC)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLib9VXMIcc
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