What stories are parents to continually tell their children?
(Gen. 3:8; Deut. 6:1-25; Prov. 1:8; Matt. 1:18-24; Luke 1:26-38) Blog Oct. 04-10, 2020
Prepared by Richard A. Marin: Present Truth PO Box 700, Fallbrook CA 92088-0700 USA
REVIEW: In the natural surroundings of the Garden of Eden God began the education of our first parents. Through manual employment, governmental responsibilities, and divine instruction they were preparing for the day when their happy estate would become permanently secure. They were given perfect freedom to follow God’s instruction or to choose another course. That course was a knowledge of evil and was limited to only one tree in the garden. After Adam and Eve chose to eat the forbidden fruit God provided a Substitute for their disobedience in order that by faith and obedience they might be restored to their original freedom and innocence. Loving obedience is the foundation for all true education. Every other education pales into insignificance if we do not receive Christian education, for God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit have made and redeemed us and only they know how to direct our paths.
The Eden School (Gen. 1:26-29; 2:15, 22-25; 3:2-3, 8; 4:1-7; Job 22:21; Luke 3:38)
1. How do we know that Eve had been instructed by God? Because she quoted God when replying to the serpent.
2. What evidence do we have that God gave Adam and Eve detailed instructions on how to live? By the words of Genesis 1:28-30 & 2:15-18 & 24.
3. What time of day was it customary for God to visit and teach Adam and Eve? In “the cool of the day” after their daily work ended & they could ask questions about the day & listen uninterrupted.
4. What style of education did God use with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day? That of talking (instructing) while walking because our minds retain truth better when the long bones & muscles are exercised.
5. What superior knowledge were Adam and Eve privileged to receive in their daily communion with God? That of God’s nature, character, & observable actions.
6. What should we learn from the fact that Adam was the son of God? That like God we are responsible for educating our own children.
7. What makes the education that parents give to their children especially effective? The fact that the educators are also the providers of the student’s every need, just as God is the provider of our every need.
8. What does Cain’s choice of an offering tell us about the education his parents gave him? That although he was instructed that only a lamb was acceptable for a sin offering he was free to disregard the education his parents had given him.
9. What subjects of education given to our first parents are mentioned in Genesis 1-3? Nutrition, Biology, Government, Physical Education, Communication, Genetics, & Origins.
Jesus’ Education (Prov. 1:8; Matt. 1:18-24; Mark 6:3; Luke 1:26-38, 46-55: 2:21-24, 52; Eph. 4:15; 6:4; Heb. 5:8)
10. What type of parents were Joseph and Mary? Joseph was a just man who maintained close communion with God & obeyed God’s commands. Mary was curious & submissive to God’s instructions, willing as a pure virgin to marry an older man who already had six motherless children, & humble while rejoicing in God’s salvation. They both had studied the Scriptures diligently & took God’s instructions through Moses seriously.
11. Was Jesus born with the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures already in him? No, rather he learned of them from his parents, from personal study, & from his Heavenly Father for Luke records that he “increased in wisdom and in stature.”
12. How did Jesus’ education and employment as a carpenter prepare him for ministry? It strengthened his body, taxed his mind, & taught him patience & perseverance.
13. What demonstrates that Jesus learned the Holy Scriptures well even though he did not study in the School of the Rabbis? His ability to continually quote them accurately & to consciously fulfill their every prediction at the proper time.
14. What all-important ability must Jesus’ parents have possessed in order to pass their knowledge and experience on to him? The ability to communicate in love what they knew.
Education According to Deuteronomy 6 (Deut. 6:1-25)
15. According to Deuteronomy 6:1-3, what is the purpose of education? That the students might learn to practice (do) what they are taught thus brining long life with strength.
16. Why does Moses emphasize that our God is ONE Lord? To emphasize that God’s will is always consistently the same & not changing with every whim of a myriad of gods.
17. According to Deuteronomy 6:5, what is the underlying basis for receiving instruction with benefit? Love for the teacher.
18. What methods of instruction does Moses encourage parents to employ? Those of speaking their instruction in the home, when walking or traveling outside the home, & when going to bed & when rising; by putting their instruction into practice before their children, by memorizing God’s Word, by placarding the truth around the home through its furnishings, structure, & décor; by remembering to do this even when prosperity & good days abound; & by living in harmony with God’s instruction s to them & continually taking care not to arouse God’s jealousy by going after other gods.
19. What stories are parents to continually tell their children? The stories of God’s great acts in history fulfilling his every promise & of the deliverances & mercies he has brought in their own experience.
20. What is God’s purpose (and that of godly parents) in giving his children all his instruction and Commandments? It is for the children’s GOOD – by doing what God enjoins we live righteous lives which God can bless.