With Father’s Day having just passed, I thought I should write
something about fathers in general. The question is, “what?” I mean seriously,
I didn’t really have a father growing up, so what could I write about fathers?
Then I remembered a blog I wrote earlier about “Not Sinning Keeps the Devil
Away?” (http://wfwoodbury.blogspot.com/2015/07/not-sinning-keeps-devil-away.html)
That’s when I realized that there are all kinds of fathers in the Bible to
write about.
The first father of course, was Adam. He and Eve had three
sons that were written about. There was Cain and Abel, then Seth. If you’re
familiar with the story, then you know that Cain killed Abel because Abel’s
sacrifice to God was accepted, but Cain’s was not.
Then there’s Noah. He had a few sons who took their wives
with then when they entered the ark.
Isaac who was told in his old age that his wife, Sarah would
bear him a son. Sarah basically scoffed at the idea because she was past child
bearing age. She gave him her handmaid thinking that’s how God was going to
fulfill His promise to her husband. The handmaid, Hagar, bore Ishmael. Later
Sarah bore Isaac. This created all kinds of problems. Including, but not
limited to Hagar feeling a certain pride that she could bear a child while her
mistress could not, which in turn caused her to disrespect her mistress.
Isaac had two sons Esau and Jacob. Jacob in turn had 12 sons
from two wives. Leah, his first wife bore him ten sons and Rachel, his second
wife bore him two sons.
The Bible also talks about God as our heavenly father who
cares for us more than any earthly father can. He loves us so much that He sent
his only son to die on the cross for our sins. That’s powerful love.
So, why did my blog about “Not Sinning Keeps the Devil Away”
remind me of fathers? Job. I know the primary story of Job is about how God
allowed the Devil to take everything away from Job to the point that he was
sitting in the ashes with boils on every part of his body. However, the former
friend that I mentioned in the blog told me that Job had offered sin sacrifices
on behalf of his children, even though by every standard there is, they were
responsible for themselves. He said that was wrong. I’d never noticed that
before, so I looked it up for myself.
In Job 1:1 we read:
“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and
that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, turning away from evil.” NAS
So, here we have God saying right off the bat that Job
walked uprightly before Him. Blameless. In
other words, this was a man who did not sin.
In verse two, we see that Job had seven sons and three
daughters. Verse three lists his worldly possessions that comprised his wealth.
In verse four we read that his sons hold a feast in their house, each one in
turn and invite their sisters to eat and drink with them.
In Job 1:5 we read:
“And it came about, when the days of feasting had completed
their cycle, that Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the
morning and offering up burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for
Job said, ‘Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’ Thus
Job did continually.” NAS
Given that in verse one, we see God calling him a man that
was “blameless, upright, fearing God, turning away from evil;” that alone tells
me that Job offering up sacrifices on behalf of his children is not a sin. In
fact, it strikes me as a good thing. A lot of people would say, “Okay, my
children are grown, they’re in houses of their own and they are no longer my
responsibility.”
But not Job. He loved his children and was willing to
sacrifice out of his own herds. Now, I realize that Job was rich, so the
financial cost of sacrificing on behalf of his children would not have been a
burden; but how many fathers love their children enough to make such
sacrifices?
Personally, I wish all fathers were like Job in regards to
their children. If they were, this world would be a very different place.
Children would grow up feeling loved and safe, which in turn would make them
better adults. That in turn would help our country become a better place. A
place where people could be safe in general.
