Revisiting AV: Honouring Your FATHER

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dad readers out there. You are a blessing from God.

I am fortunate to be able to call my Dad today and thank him for being such a loving, supportive, encouraging father. My children are not as fortunate, but they carry with them the fond memories of their Dad, knowing he is in a place of peace and joy, awaiting our arrival. I’m certain many of you are in the same boat today, and I pray that you will feel peace as you face this day without your fathers.

A few years ago we tackled the Hebrew word for Father, Av, and you can read that posting, here…

AV

A Generation of Fathers

The Bible puts a strong emphasis on family units and genealogy. We are to respect our parents and those who came before us. We are to remember that they carried forth the faith… paving the way for us to follow the road that leads to YHWH.

This was why God issued the commandment to honour our mothers and fathers:

Exodus 20:12

“Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be prolonged on the land which YHWH your God gives you.”

We are to honour our parents, but they also have a job to do:

Deuteronomy 6:4-8

Hear, O Israel: YHWH our God, YHWH is One. And you shall love YHWH your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts. And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

I love YHWH’s image of teaching in the above passage. Teaching is not just for a classroom, it’s for every location, from sitting in your home, to wandering outside, and everywhere in-between. Teaching is also for every time of the day, from the time your eyes open, to the time your eyes close, and every time in-between. Every waking breath is a teachable moment.

Parents are meant to be faith teachers. Thanks, in part, to generations of fathers (and mothers), the people came to know that they could place their confidence in God:

Psalm 78:1-8

A Maskil of Asaph.

Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning, that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us. We will not hide them from their children, but will declare to the next generation the praises of YHWH and His might, and the wonders He has performed.

For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the coming generation would know them— even children yet to be born— to arise and tell their own children that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments. Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.