November 18, 2012 Volume
II Issue 9
Do
not move the ancient boundary which your fathers have set. Proverbs 22:28
I’m sure that this passage has the
connotation of physical geographical boundaries but I strongly believe that God
is referring to much more in the text.
In our day the boundaries and
foundations of society are eroding rapidly. Here are a few examples with links
to startling articles and information. (I’m not necessarily endorsing
everything on these websites – they are meant for illustrative purposes only).
·
Banning
of Judeo-Christian standards and speech – rejection of the 1st
Amendment to the US Constitution
·
Redefining marriage – rejection
of the basic foundation of society
·
Out of control
spending (we hear so much about Greece but it’s #15 on list of debt to GDP)
– this is just temporal values
·
Abortion
– government sanctioned murder
·
Crime
rate on the rise – rejecting the two greatest commands
·
Legalization
of drug use – trying to achieve “freedom” without God
·
Church
attendance declining – forsaking the assembling of ourselves together
·
Christian persecution – society sanctioned
murder
·
Abandonment of the true Gospel –
rejecting God’s provision and His fellowship
Scripture describes the erosion of the
boundaries in Psalms 10
1
Why do You stand afar off,
O Lord?
Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?
2 In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted;
Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?
2 In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted;
Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
3 For
the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire,
And the greedy man curses and spurns the Lord.
4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him.
All his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
And the greedy man curses and spurns the Lord.
4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him.
All his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
5 His
ways prosper at all times;
Your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.
6 He says to himself, “I will not be moved;
Throughout all generations I will not be in adversity.”
7 His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.
8 He sits in the lurking places of the villages;
In the hiding places he kills the innocent;
His eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate.
9 He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair;
He lurks to catch the afflicted;
He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net.
10 He crouches, he bows down,
And the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones.
11 He says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
Your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.
6 He says to himself, “I will not be moved;
Throughout all generations I will not be in adversity.”
7 His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.
8 He sits in the lurking places of the villages;
In the hiding places he kills the innocent;
His eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate.
9 He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair;
He lurks to catch the afflicted;
He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net.
10 He crouches, he bows down,
And the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones.
11 He says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
Which fathers do you think our passage
describing? I believe that God is
referring to more than just our immediate father….I think he is speaking of the
collective of the wise “fathers” who have come before us (see the Hebrews 11
Hall of Fame to name a few). A direct Hebrew transliteration says “you must not
move away from the boundary of the son which the fathers of you set”….and
the NIV translates “fathers” as “ancestors”.
I also believe that it’s not just
about a dad setting boundaries for his kids but more importantly for himself. Boundaries
“of the son”…you might think of that as the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus “the
son” laid out the boundaries: the Beatitudes, God’s commandments, adultery,
murder, honor, love, obedience and so forth. Jesus didn’t move any of the
ancient boundaries.
Now I know we live under grace but the
Apostle Paul who understood that he was not constrained at all by the law admonished
us in several places to put boundaries around our lives. Here are a couple of
examples:
I
Corinthians 9 24 Do you not know that in a race all the
runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may
obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises
self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an
imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do
not box as one beating the air. 27 But I
discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to
others I myself should be disqualified.
Romans
14 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of
God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make
another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not
to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 The
faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who
has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.
Yes, you can give your children many
boundaries but the ones you set for yourself are the ones they will really see
and follow. Dad, are there places you won’t go? Are there things you won’t do?
Are there activities that you won’t engage in? Are there attitudes you refuse
to allow yourself to indulge in? Even in secret?
Did your father set boundaries for
himself? Are you setting boundaries? Why should we honor the boundaries set by our
ancestors? Several reasons: because God says so, to keep from evil, to provide
blessings and as lessons learned so successive generations won’t have to experience
the judgment that the world is receiving by rejecting God’s ways.
Here is a specific example of fathers
honoring the boundaries. The story is from Jeremiah 35 about 500 years after
their “father” Rechab lived. That means 20 or more generations after Rechab
lived we see these were still honoring the boundaries he had set.
Jeremiah
35:2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them, and bring
them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine
to drink.” 3 Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of
Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the
Rechabites, 4 and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into
the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was
near the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the
son of Shallum, the doorkeeper. 5 Then I set before the men of the
house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine and cups; and I said to them,
“Drink wine!” 6 But they said, “We will not drink wine, for Jonadab
the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall not drink
wine, you or your sons, forever. 7 You shall not build a
house, and you shall not sow seed and you shall not plant a vineyard or own
one; but in tents you shall dwell all your days, that you may live many
days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of
Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, not to
drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons or our daughters, 9
nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; and we do not have vineyard or field
or seed. 10 We have only dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and have
done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us”
If the Lord hasn’t returned twenty
generations from now, will your sons and daughters still be holding on to the
boundaries you’ve held on to?
So what do we do? Scripture admonishes
us in many places, here’s one:
Isaiah
58 1 “Cry loudly, do not hold back;
Raise your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their transgression
And to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 “Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways,
As a nation that has done righteousness
And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God.
They ask Me for just decisions,
They delight in the nearness of God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted and You do not see?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’
Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire,
And drive hard all your workers.
4 “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.
5 “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed
And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed?
Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?
6 “Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?
7 “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 “Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
10 And if you give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.
11 “And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
12 “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.
Raise your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their transgression
And to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 “Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways,
As a nation that has done righteousness
And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God.
They ask Me for just decisions,
They delight in the nearness of God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted and You do not see?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’
Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire,
And drive hard all your workers.
4 “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.
5 “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed
And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed?
Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?
6 “Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?
7 “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 “Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
10 And if you give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.
11 “And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
12 “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.
13 “If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable,
And honor it, desisting from your own ways,
From seeking your own pleasure
And speaking your own word,
14 Then you will take delight in the Lord,
And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable,
And honor it, desisting from your own ways,
From seeking your own pleasure
And speaking your own word,
14 Then you will take delight in the Lord,
And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
The bottom line Dad:
As the world continues to slide toward
the “great apostasy” and the rule of the anti-christ we must remember that our
“fathers’ have set boundaries for themselves and us in the area of marriage,
family, morals, ethics, finance and a whole host of other areas. God’s
admonition to us is to not move those boundaries. There is great consequence if we do. Every
succeeding generation is depending on you dad!
THIS IS WHAT A NOBLE DAD DOES!
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