Author Thread: When Your Children Ask
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When Your Children Ask
Posted : 28 Jan, 2016 10:01 PM

When Your Children Ask



Deuteronomy 6:20-25 NLTse "In the future your children will ask you, 'What is the meaning of these laws, decrees, and regulations that the LORD our God has commanded us to obey?' (21) "Then you must tell them, 'We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand. (22) The LORD did miraculous signs and wonders before our eyes, dealing terrifying blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people. (23) He brought us out of Egypt so he could give us this land he had sworn to give our ancestors. (24) And the LORD our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day. (25) For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the LORD our God has given us.'



Did you ever notice the fact Moses addressed the younger generation who witnessed those events as children. Moses was teaching people he knew since they were very young. People who had to admit, they needed direction. People who couldn't possibly claim to know everything. Is that the people we should be looking for? Or is there a spiritual message there for us?



To understand the spiritual message, we first have to do what? By now you should know the answer to that question. We have to understand the physical aspects of the story. This requires us to look at the release from Egypt through the eyes of a child.



Image being a little child living as a slave in Egypt. Would it ever seem normal for a child to grow up seeing their fathers abused and beaten, worked to death everyday? If you were born into such a situation, would it seem normal to walk around hungry everyday? Would you think that's the way the world is supposed to be when you see your sisters and mother raped by guards? Would you grow up accepting a world where people are whipped to death, or hung, and their bodies displayed as warning? Or would you dream of a better world?



If you did dream of a better world, where did that vision and dream come from? If you never knew bondage and the worst living conditions you could image all your life, where did those visions come from?



Some people may claim, those visions and dream came from observing the Egyptians, especially the upper class. The class that portrayed themselves as gods. Is that where dreams and visions come from? Do they originate from oppressive groups doing whatever they have to do to fulfill their dreams. Even when that includes oppressing people in the worst imaginable ways? Or is there another source of those dreams?



Did God ever leave Israel, or was He always with them since the day they were born, promising them a better life in their own land? We know it was God when we know the story about Moses and how it related to every Israelite born in captivity. God was with all of them on different levels, just like He is with each of us now. God is always with everyone, on their own levels.



God may not be able to reach radical militants in the world today on the same level He reaches you, but make no mistake, He is with them, and working as hard and fast as He can to change their hearts. Didn't God give Pharaoh a long list of chances to change? God even spoke to Ahab a few times. God sent prophets to militants in Israel as well as Judah during the years they were divided. Before Israel marched in Jericho, God was there preparing people. He could only reach one family, but God told Israel to accept them like they were His own people.



The younger generation looked at those events in Egypt as children. They didn't know what was happening, so they didn't place self made judgments on them. They asked their parents what was happening. Some parents offered explanations. Others admitted, they didn't know. Some even pointed their children to God, using the opportunity to teach their children to pray, and listen to God. And don't forget, some Egyptians left with Israel, and they brought their children with them.



Children wondered about those things they say, and often lay awake at night listening to God's quite responses in their minds. It was the same voice telling them about a better life in a land He had prepared for them. Children are often better at hearing God's voice than adults based on the simple fact, they aren't worried about telling other people the answer. They tend to keep it in themselves until it one day seems to just slip out. At that moment, they tend to catch adults off guard, and often amaze them. Or at least make them think. Some times, that's they way God works.



Many of those children had answers inside themselves for years. Some of the things they learned in Israel shaped their lives in ways they couldn't explain. In ways we find difficult, or impossible to explain. But changes did occur. Not in all of them, but some of those children who were no adults, and ready to see their childhood dreams come true.



It is an experience you have to live through on your own, but rest assured, God has been trying to touch you in the same way, with visions and dreams of a Promised Land. Not the physical land, but the real spiritual Promised Land. Can you see it? Do you dream of it? What is the vision God gave you?



What about those miraculous deeds and events God put in your life to free you from your life of bondage? How did you look at them? How did you question those events in our life? Did you try to explain them away based on your understanding? Did you ask someone to explain them to you based on their limited understanding? Did you ever think about asking God what those events mean?



Did you ever sit down to examine a series of events to see where they were leading? Come on now, didn't God use a series of events in Egypt to get them out of bondage? Then what makes you think your release can boil down to a single event? There has to be a series of events. Most likely a lot more than twelve.



Look at how Moses constructed the summation in this chapter. This is where breaking it down into sections helps.



"In the future your children will ask you, 'What is the meaning of these laws, decrees, and regulations that the LORD our God has commanded us to obey?'



First we have to understand the question. Is understanding more than reading? When we ask what a law means, what are we asking? We naturally formulate a personal opinion about every law. Admit it or not, we do it everyday. Look at a speed limit. Some think a little faster is okay. Other feel fine going a lot faster than the posted speed limit. And some people just don't care. The same is true with taxes. Some are honest, other cheat a little, and some people don't pay at all. And there are some who have specific laws written so they don't have to pay any taxes at all. There will always be more opinions and exceptions than there are laws.



So what does it mean when children ask about God's laws and commandments? Moses used the example of children so we would see another important aspect of a priest. Ask the simple question like a child would. Why would a child ask about any law? They intend to follow that law.



Unlike adults, children don't have a tendency to question laws in an attempt to get around it. Face it, adults are great at modifying laws to benefit themselves. Children tend to observe and question to obey.



Now it's time to look at the response to the question.



"Then you must tell them, 'We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand. The LORD did miraculous signs and wonders before our eyes, dealing terrifying blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people. He brought us out of Egypt so he could give us this land he had sworn to give our ancestors.



This has got to be the strangest answer to any question about the God's law, or any law. What would Egypt have to do with answering a question about God's law and commandments? This is going to take some thought and prayer.



Based on how we looked at a child's view of Egypt, the answer is obvious. When parents explain the MEANING of God's laws, there can only be one answer. So we don't turn out like those oppressive people in Egypt. God didn't want them creating their own religion, or religions, like they had in Egypt to control people. Come on now, use a little common sense. Egypt had a long list of different religions. Each of those religions were very prosperous. Those magicians or so called, religious leaders were on the top of the food chain, or close to the top. God didn't want any of His people copying any aspect of religion from Egypt.



God also wanted them to avoid undue, unregulated, generally human greed, often referred to as motivation. Today we call it free enterprise while hiding hiding excessive greed under a cloak of democracy. People go as far as calling it freedom.



There were a lot of things God didn't want people carrying out of Egypt. Every on of those lessons should point back to treating people the right way, with total respect and dignity. This should be common sense, but is it?



Do children learn to mistreat, oppress, and hate others from birth, or is it an acquired skill? So why do you think God told them to explain what those laws meant? So their minds would be on what is right, and not on trying to turn themselves into Pharaohs, and their neighbors into slaves. God had one more part to His lesson.



And the LORD our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day. For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the LORD our God has given us.'



There is a blessing involved. But how many people take the initiative to bless others? Where does that skill come from? Is helping people and acquired skill from birth? Look at children. In the proper environment, child have a built in intuition to help. They can't help it. Helping is in their nature. Why? Children are looking for approval and crave acceptance. Isn't that a basic description of a child? What makes us forget those lessons? What makes us forget all those good attributes God gives us at birth?Now we can see why the younger generation was present to listen to that lesson. And we can see, we've always had the skills to follow those commandments, and want to please God.

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CarlAHartwell

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When Your Children Ask
Posted : 30 Jan, 2016 07:46 PM

Very interesting Brother.



Matthew 18:4



Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.



Mark 10:15



Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.



Clearly the Lord intends us to be, in some ways at least, like children, It's definitely a good thing for us to humble ourselves, as children so naturally and necessarily do. Especially when it comes to asking about the reasons God has taken us through the path from our own personal Egypt. Sometimes we can make the mistake of simply assuming that God wanted us to learn something in particular and end up missing something else.



I think prayer and fasting helps, also perhaps accepting that we just cannot know all the whys and wherefores all the time and that God will let us know in his own time.



Again, thank you for sharing Brother, may Gods continued blessing and grace be upon you and yours.

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