178 Sermon Illustrations on Discipline

A mother was asked by her three children what she would like

for her birthday. She answered, "Three well-behaved children." One of

the children thought about her words for a moment and

said, "Great! Then there will be six of us."

- Unknown

MAILING 148

A WORM IN THE APPLE!

(Please read Matthew 15:10-20 as background)

If you should cut into an apple (or worse yet, bite into it) and find a

worm, the worm did not come from outside the apple; but, from inside. An

adult butter-fly or moth laid an egg in the heart of the flower. The egg

was then incorporated into the ovary, and finally into the mature flower's

fruit, the apple!

Thus, when you find a worm's hole in the peel of the apple, the worm has

already done its damage, and is off to pupate into an adult egg-laying

insect which can in turn lay more eggs in future flowers the same way. And,

until the cycle can be broken by the farmer, much fruit will continue to be

damaged.

LESSONS WE CAN LEARN AS THE CHURCH:

1. Damage to the body of Christ is usually from within

rather than from without. (See Acts 20:28-30)

2. Damage is never completely healed. The scars always

remain!

3. The only real cure is prevention.

4. The cycle must be broken. (The farmer sprays the

flowers before they are mature)

5. The church must receive medicine which will either

"kill" the worms, or keep them out.

6. Keep the damage in the original fruit.

7. Keep damaged fruit away from good fruit.

8. Make sure no one of us is a fruit damaging "worm."

-----Earl Gieseke

Earl Gieseke, Evangelist

Heath church of Christ [West Paducah, KY]

"The best is always ahead for the Christian!"

eegieseke@hcis.net

Editor & Publisher of FRIENDS OF THE GOSPEL

A FREE electronic mailing designed for members

of the church of Christ.

Sent upon request.

Mobile phones have joined chewing gum and comics on the banned list in the classrooms of a British school, the Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday.

Frank Gerstenberg, principal of the 2,100-pupil George Watson's College in Edinburgh, authorised teachers to confiscate any mobile phones that disrupted their classes after a senior pupil received a call during a lesson, the paper said.

"Mobile telephones are regarded by some as another hi-tech necessity, and by others as the curse of our age," Gerstenberg said in a newsletter to parents.

"Wherever the truth lies, we do not feel it is necessary for pupils to bring mobile telephones into school -- we have had our first go off in class, and I hope it will be the last."

Past pupils at the school have included former British foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind and former Scotland rugby union captain Gavin Hastings.

^REUTERS

UC Berkeley study finds no lasting harm among adolescents from moderate spanking earlier in childhood

24 August 2001

By Patricia McBroom, Media Relations

Berkeley - Occasional spanking does not damage a child's social or emotional development, according to a study of long-term consequences in the lives of more than 100 families, reported today (Friday, Aug. 24) by a University of California, Berkeley, psychologist.

The research presented by Diana Baumrind, who co-authored the study with Elizabeth Owens, both research psychologists at UC Berkeley's Institute of Human Development, calls into question a current claim that any physical punishment is harmful to a child.

The study separates out parents who use spanking frequently and severely - resulting in evidence of harm - and focuses on those families who occasionally spank their children, a practice that Baumrind calls normal for the population sampled.

By "spanking," Baumrind refers to striking the child on the buttocks, hands or legs with an open hand without inflicting physical injury and with the intention of modifying the child's behavior.

Baumrind's study also compares spanking with another kind of discipline, namely verbal punishment.

"We found no evidence for unique detrimental effects of normative physical punishment," Baumrind said in an invited address to the American Psychological Association annual meeting today in San Francisco.

"I am not an advocate of spanking," said Baumrind, "but a blanket injunction against its use is not warranted by the evidence. It is reliance on physical punishment, not whether or not it is used at all, that is associated with harm to the child."

She said that, in the absence of compelling evidence of harm, parental autonomy and family privacy should be protected.

Her study of spanking in middle-class, white families was undertaken in response to anti-spanking advocates who have claimed that physical punishment, by itself, has harmful psychological effects on children and hurts society as a whole.

These claims, Baumrind said, have not distinguished the effects of occasional mild-to-moderate spanking from more severe punishment, or taken into account such confounding factors as earlier child misbehavior and the effects of total child rearing patterns - from rejection, on one hand, to warmth and explanation, on the other.

The UC Berkeley study, however, was able to account for all of these factors and others, due to its unique data base. The data were drawn from longitudinal records of child rearing and child outcome in California East Bay families collected at the Institute of Human Development. Families in the Family Socialization and Developmental Competence Project (FSP) were first studied in 1968 when their children were preschoolers, and then in 1972-73 and 1978-80, when the children were early primary schoolers and early adolescents.

In addition to the rich archival material on parental styles and discipline, combined with independent observations and interviews with the children, Baumrind's team created a new instrument for the spanking study. Called the Parent Disciplinary Rating Scale, this instrument rated parents on their strategies for using discipline.

Few of the families, only 4 percent, never used physical punishment when their children were preschoolers, but there was a wide range in the frequency and severity of spanking throughout the whole sample, said Baumrind.

A small minority of parents, from 4 to 7 percent depending on the time period, used physical punishment often and with some intensity. Although these parents were not legally abusive, they were overly severe and used spanking impulsively. Hitting occurred frequently, but it was the intensity that really identified this group, said Baumrind.

She said intensity was rated high if the parent said he or she used a paddle or other instrument to strike the child, or hit on the face or torso, or lifted to throw or shake the child.

This group of parents, identified in the "red zone" for "stop" was removed from the sample at the first stage of analysis. With them went most of the correlations initially found between spanking and long-term harm to children, said Baumrind.

"When we removed this `red zone' group of parents," said Baumrind, "we were left with very few small but significant correlations between normative physical punishment and later misbehavior among the children at age 8 to 9.

"Red zone parents are rejecting, exploitative and impulsive. They are parents who punish beyond the norm. You have very little to explain after you remove this small group."

She said the few links that remained were explained by the child's prior misbehavior. In other words, when researchers controlled for the tendency of the child to be uncooperative or defiant as preschoolers, all correlations between spanking and harmful effects were close to zero.

In addition to a "red zone," parents were classified into orange, yellow and green zones.

"There were no significant differences between children of parents who spanked seldom (green zone) and those who spanked moderately (yellow zone)," Baumrind said.

Families in the orange zone could have used spanking often, but with little or no intensity. Those in the "yellow zone" used physical punishment only occasionally, with little or no intensity, while those in the "green zone" used little or no physical punishment with no intensity.

The children of parents in the green zone who never spanked were not better adjusted than those, also in the green zone, who were spanked very seldomly, Baumrind said.

Studies of verbal punishment yielded similar results, in that researchers found correlations just as high, and sometimes higher, for total verbal punishment and harm to the child, as for total physical punishment and harm.

"What really matters," said Baumrind, "is the child rearing context. When parents are loving and firm and communicate well with the child (a pattern Baumrind calls authoritative) the children are exceptionally competent and well adjusted, whether or not their parents spanked them as preschoolers."

Baumrind emphasized that her study does not address at all the damaging effects of abusive physical punishment, of which she and other researchers have found ample evidence.

Aylmer, Ontario, is Mennonite country. It's a pretty sleepy place. Until three days ago, the police department's biggest case was a bank robbery back in 1997. (They caught the guy.)

Last Wednesday came an even bigger case. It took all the cops in town, plus heavy reinforcements, to seize the seven children of Herbert and Emily Greber (not their real names). The police action was, once again, successful.

Mr. and Mrs. Greber have spanked their children from time to time using an object other than their hands. They refuse to say they'll never do it again. Therefore, according to the local Children's Aid Society, they are guilty of child endangerment. And that's why the police, at the request of the CAS, took away their kids.

The Grebers are religious. So is the CAS. It believes that corporal punishment is a sin, and that the Grebers are sinners.

Until two years ago, the Greber family lived in a Mennonite community in Mexico. They are Canadian citizens, but speak mostly German. There, they met an Aylmer-area pastor, Henry Hildebrandt, who persuaded them to return to Canada and join the Church of God. The church is quite traditional, though not, Mr. Hildebrandt says, as strict as the Mennonites. “We are Bible-believing people. We stress holy living in our daily lives.”

The Bible says spare the rod and spoil the child. The pastor describes the rod as a last resort, but a necessary one. “You'll never be able to rear a child without love. But when they cross a line, they need to know there is a possibility there could be corporal punishment.”

The Grebers, who are in their 30s, have three girls and four boys, aged 6 to 14. They live in a neat brick bungalow in town.

The pastor doesn't know how the family came to the notice of the CAS. Perhaps a neighbour phoned. Someone else says it happened when one of the kids was scalded in an accident last year and was treated at home rather than taken to hospital. In any event, three days ago, a CAS worker showed up to search for signs of abuse. She brought a policeman with her.

The children were asked if they'd been spanked. One boy said he'd been spanked toward the end of June. “There was no mark on him and I was very comfortable it was being done the right way,” the pastor says. “We expected that after the physical exam the children would be released.”

Instead, the CAS worker began to question Mrs. Greber. Do they spank their children? She said yes. Do they ever use an object? Yes. “I told them this was what our belief was as far as corporal punishment,” says the pastor. Would Mrs. Greber promise never again to use an object? No, she would not promise. “They were just about to go into it deeper when I interfered,” says the pastor. “I said, 'I think we are giving you ammunition, not information.’ Then the caseworker said there was no further point in talking.”

By now, a crowd from the church had assembled around the house. The pastor was urged to help remove the children peacefully, but he refused. Now the children were upset. They started screaming. Reinforcements were called. Soon, 10 or 12 police cruisers were on the scene, along with two more people from the CAS.

It took three burly cops to haul away the oldest boy. In the photos someone took, he is kicking and screaming like a little tiger. The six-year-old girl screamed, “Help me! Help me! I don't want to go,” as a female officer carried her away.

The children are in temporary foster care until the matter comes before family court. The director of the local CAS, Steve Bailey, won't discuss the case but blames the pastor and members of the church for making matters worse.

Meantime, the clerk at Aylmer's police station says she's getting calls from anxious parents asking if spanking is against the law. She has two young children, and doesn't agree with corporal punishment. She's from Mennonite stock, but times have changed. “Everyone is starting to discipline differently from the way their grandparents did,” she tells me. “Maybe their grandparents used a horsewhip.” Her own parents sometimes used a fly swatter.

I asked her what she uses.

“I hold them. We took a course. It's all on video. 'Growing kids God's way,' it's called. It deals with today's society.”

In the past few years, many people have come to believe that spanking is wicked, and that corporal punishment will scar a child's psyche, if not his body, forever. Yet our child-protection agents exercise a peculiar double standard. They think it's child abuse to hit your kid. They are very suspicious of people who take their parenting lessons from the Bible. But every day, they choose to leave helpless infants with their single teenage mothers on the streets. Those moms have never heard of Dr. Spock, never mind the Bible.

Child abuse is like any other sin. It's frequently in the eye of the beholder.

J. H. Evans said, "I believe that God often permits me to be chastened by my sin, because I do not make use of my mercies." We often lose our mercies by loving them too well, as the ball of snow is melted by the heat of the hand that holds it, or a rose is spoiled by pressing it too tightly. Theophilus Gale very well said, "Whatsoever I thankfully receive, as a token of God's love to me, I part with contentedly as a token of my love to Him."

“Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to [the degree] that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.” (Php 3:15-17 NKJV)

Use of Examples

• perfect[mature] — Heb 5:14 — Gk., men who have passed out of the rudimentary discipline or ordinances (Lightfoot)

• be…minded[this mind] — run by the rule of verse 13

• and…minded[think otherwise] — if ye are in error about anything

• God…you — Hos 6:3, Col 2:7 — by His Spirit guide you aright

• whereto[to the degree]…attained — the past has lessons for the future

• walk…rule — 1 Cor 15:58 — union in things known and agreed upon

• be…me[join…example] — 1 Cor 11:1, Phil 4:9, 1 Pet 5:3 — vie with each other in imitating me (Lightfoot)

• mark…ensample[note…pattern] — follow them which walk by our example

True progress in the Christian life — Lehmann

I. From what origin it must proceed — Christ Jesus.

II. By what rule it must shape itself — the non-attainment of perfection.

III. What end it must seek — the prize of the heavenly calling.

A noble example — Lady Huntingdon, with an income of only £1,200 a-year, did much for the cause of religion. She maintained the college she had erected at her sole expense; she erected chapels in most parts of the kingdom, and she supported ministers who were sent to preach in various parts of the world. A minister of the Gospel and a person from the country once called on her ladyship. When they came out the countryman turned his eyes towards the house, and, after a short pause, exclaimed, “What a lesson! Can a person of her noble birth, nursed in the lap of grandeur, live in such a house, so meanly furnished — and shall I, a tradesman, be surrounded with luxury and elegance? From this moment I shall hate my house, my furniture, and myself for spending so little for God, and so much in folly.”

“For you are well aware that it is not only by bodily exercises, by educational institutions, or by lessons in music, that our youth are trained, but much more effectually by public examples.” — A. Aeschines

I was munching on a burger, glancing at the day's newspaper when a mother and two small children sat down at a distant booth in the restaurant. As the mom left briefly, probably to the ladies room, the boy and girl, maybe about 8 and 6, went into action.

They were apparently arguing over possession of the onion rings, when the boy went into a fit of anger and began throwing food! The splat of all beef patties could be heard slapping the face of his sister - the spray of mustard and ketchup hung ominously in the air before raining over the floor and nearby tables.

Not to be outdone, the little girl, with every ounce of strength heaved the tray, along with the coveted onion rings, down his shirt. And to top it off, she poured the full 20 ounces of her Dr. Pepper on his pants. Her face beamed with pride, as though awaiting the applause of the spectators.

By this time, the entire dining room had stopped in mid-bite, forks in hand, awaiting round two of what seemed to be a lightweight championship.

But then the real drama began as the mother had returned to the scene of the crime. The dining room was still - every eye and ear was open.

Surprisingly, there was no reprimand. "Could we have another order of sandwiches over here," she said calmly, while wiping the faces of her fast food gladiators. Soda and condiments dripped steadily down the kids hair and clothing. Food and spatterings were on the walls and at least ten feet in every direction from the impact zone.

The manager emerged with a frown on his face. "Lady, I'm not gonna tell you how to raise your kids, but don't you think a little discipline is in order here?" "If you mean a spanking, I'm afraid we just don't believe in that. The children are just a bit grumpy today," she said.

It may be my imagination, but I think there was a simultaneous gasp by the diners. Unless these children suffered some type of seizure, a good brisk spanking was probably in order, and would likely have invoked a standing ovation.

What's happened to the thinking of modern parents? What ever happened to holding children accountable for their actions, and correcting...yes, even spanking them when they're out of line?

From my perspective of the Bible, the scriptures not only provide an allowance for corporal punishment, such as "spanking," but they actually mandate such discipline. The Bible says, "Don't fail to correct your children; discipline won't hurt them! They won't die if you use a stick on them! Punishment will keep them out of hell" (Prov. 23:13 The Living Bible).

Of course, we're not suggesting that parents should somehow abuse their children or beat them to a pulp. But moderate spanking on their bottom with some infliction of discomfort, has been, and will always be a vital means of correcting children. It was a significant mistake to ever remove it from our public school system. The lack of discipline is one of the greatest problems in today's school rooms, and has contributed to a general disregard of authority and chaos in our land. The statistics seem to show that the abundance of crime in our nation is largely a result of the lack of loving parental role models and effective discipline in the home.

Why is there no discipline in the home and classroom? Largely because of a growing, Godless humanistic philosophy that denies the substance of absolute values and morality. Also, the sad reality of child abuse by dysfunctional parents has caused society to overreact toward all corporal punishment, fearing the extremities of abuse or the backlash of lawsuits.

Will discipline solve all problems with kids? No! The child must also know a parent's love and affection, and must have a good role model to imitate. But don't be misled, withholding discipline from children is not an act of love for them - rather, it is an act of love for ourselves, protecting our emotions from the fear of rejection by our child - or simply not caring about their future outcome. If we love our children we will undergo the ordeal of disciplining them. As the Bible says, "If you refuse to discipline your son, it proves you don't love him; for if you love him, you will be prompt to punish him" (Prov. 13:24 The Living Bible).

Every Christian parent should bring correction to the behavior of their kids. The place to start is when they are small - not when they're nearly grown up. Parents can find several good books on discipline at the Christian bookstore, such as James Dobson's, "Dare To Discipline."

Have you ever thought about a typical day in Jesus’ life? Perhaps He might have had questions like these, “Who am I going to heal today? Who will I visit today? Which person will I deliver from demons this day?” etc. The demands on Jesus’ time were great. Yet we see that Jesus allocated His time very deliberately. We don’t get the idea that Jesus was flustered or stressed from the activity He was involved in. He often sought times of prayer and reflection away from the disciples. His life appeared to have a balance of quiet moments and active ministry into the lives He came in contact with.

How do we determine what we will be involved in each day of our lives? What keeps us in sync with the will of our heavenly Father for the daily tasks He calls us to? Jesus tells us that He was only involved in those things the Father was involved in. Nothing more, nothing less. So often we determine our participation in an activity based on whether we have the time to do it or whether we desire to participate. The real question we should ask is, “Does the Father want me to participate in this activity?”

“Lord, should I add this Bible study to my schedule? Should I spend an extra night out on this committee this week? Should I take on new business that will take me away from home more? Should my daughter be involved in music lessons?” These are the daily challenges for the world we now live in. We are an activity-based society that often encourages more and more activity, often in the name of Christian virtue.

Our lives will become less cluttered, less stressful, and more fulfilling when we follow the model Jesus provided. It may not always please everyone. Jesus never sought to please everyone. Ask the Lord each day this week how you and He are to spend your time. Yield your schedule to Him. Let Jesus direct your every activity. You may discover that He desires you to cut back some things in order to spend more time alone with Him. He will be faithful to show you. And you will become more fulfilled because you are centered in His will for you.

The boy was expressing the opinion of many older than himself when he said to his mother: "I should like to be just such a Christian as father is, for no one can tell whether he is a Christian or not." This father is like the clock attached to a certain church, which possessed neither face nor hands, but which was wound up by the sexton on Sundays and continued to tick year after year, affording an apt illustration of the religion which many are content to possess. The movements of the clock were as regular and accurate as anyone could desire, but, inasmuch as it kept the time to itself, no one was the better for its existence.

Some prayers Christ does not answer, we may say, because they ask Him to do our work for us. Tell me, is there a kinder thing that you can do for your pupil who comes up to you with his slate, asking you to work out for him his problem, than to bid him go back to his seat and do his task himself, and get that discipline and learning which is really the object of his having his task set to him at all? You ask Christ to show you with a flash of lightning what your sorrow means. You ask Him to reveal to you by some supernatural illumination which path of life you ought to take, which friendship you shall cultivate, what profession you can most successfully pursue. There comes no answer to those prayers. And why? Those are your problems. It is by hard work of yours, by watchful vigilance, by careful weighing of consideration against consideration, that you must settle those things for yourself.

-Phillips Brooks

Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law. — Psalm 94:12.

In a certain college there was a great deal of resentment of authority and unruly behavior. The professor and the students had a conference together concerning this matter. While the dean was speaking a certain young man was continually interrupting with his questions and assertions. At length the young man said, “Discipline is intolerable to a young man of spirit.” The dean looked at him and after a moment’s silence said with deep feeling, “Discipline makes the scholar, and discipline makes the gentleman; and the lack of discipline, sir, has made you what you are.” — Leonard Sheldrake.

I trust Thee — break my stubborn will;

I would not count the cost to me,

If in the winepress love distill

from this poor broken heart to Thee.

Yea, chasten thro’ my pilgrim years,

in faithful, tender grace to me,

Till self shall melt to love and tears,

and lavish all its wealth on Thee.

1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1

The Beauty of Ruth

Introduction to the book of Ruth

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. We are going to look at the book of Ruth for a little while

B. This is a beautiful romantic story

1. The name ‘Ruth’ has been variously derived to mean friendship, desire or beauty

2. We find in Ruth a beautiful character

3. And Boaz also possesses an attractive character

C. But the story also is a portrayal of the gospel in type

1. A gospel which is based upon grace

2. A gospel in which our Redeemer-Kinsman negotiates our salvation

3. Into which we shall be delving as we look through the book

2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2

Introduction —Ruth 1:1

A. “Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons.” (NAS)

B. “And it came to pass in the days when the judges were ruling, there was a famine in the land; and a man went from Bethlehem of Judah in order to sojourn in the Plains of Moab; he, and his wife and both his sons.” (RGH)

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. This book is a masterpiece as a short story – it can be read through if just a few moments

B. But in those few moments there are many lessons

C. Here are two translations … the first the New American Standard version; the second, representing the idiom of the original Hebrew

3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3

…when the judges governed …

A. “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and …He distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took about four hundred and fifty years. And after these things He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.” (Acts 13:17-20 NAS)

1. 450 years is from the choosing of the fathers (ie., Abraham and Isaac) until the land was divided by Joshua (19:51)

B. Who appointed these judges? …when?

1. God; after the land was divided and Joshua had died

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. The passage in Acts where Paul is speaking in the synagogue to the Jews has given some problems in the past because the 450 years was wrongly associated to the length of the period of the judges rather than the period from the choosing of the fathers (the calling of Abraham and the choice of Isaac over Ishmael) until the distribution of the land … so most modern translations show this more clearly

B. In reading the book of the judges, you will find that it was God who raised them up to deliver Israel from their enemies

4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4

…when the judges governed …

A. “Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.” 1 Kgs 6:1(NAS)

B. Approximately how long was the period of the judges?

1. 480 years, less 40 years in the wilderness, less at least 40 years for Joshua, less 40 years of Samuel & Saul, less 40 years of David’s reign, less 4 years = about 316 years

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. Here is one way to estimate how long the judges ruled the land

1. Joshua lived to 110 years old (Judges 2:8) and the period of the judges did not start until all his generation passed away (Judges 2:10-11) with a new generation who knew not the Lord; so 40 years is a low estimate

2. Samuel was both a judge (taking over from Eli who was both a priest and a judge) and a prophet and this rule and that of Saul overlapped

3. So, very roughly, the judges ruled for about 316 years

5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5

When in the period of the judges?

A. Ruth 4:18-22, “Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron, And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.” (AV)

B. “And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab …” Matthew 1:5a (AV) —how many generations are named?

1. Four (Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David) covering 360 years!

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. We find that Boaz’ mother was Rahab, the one who sheltered the spies; one of the heroes of faith (Hebrews 11:31)

B. So we can assume that this history took place relatively early in the period of the judges

C. But during which judge did this take place: Othniel, Ehud, and Gideon have all been suggested?

D. All those named here appear to have been long-lived

1. Jesse, David’s father was described as being very old (1 Samuel 17:12)

2. And Boaz was not one of the young men (Ruth 3:10)

3. However, before concluding that Boaz was a centenarian let us check into the word ‘begat’

6 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6

…the term ‘begat’ in the Bible …

A.Matthew 1:11-12, “And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, …after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel” (AV)

B.1 Chronicles 3:15-17, “…the sons of Josiah were, the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum. And the sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son. And the sons of Jeconiah; Assir {lit., ‘prisoner’}, Salathiel his son” (AV)

C.What relation was Jechoniah to Josiah?

1. Grandson; so Matthew uses begat of grandfather & grandson

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. There are good reasons why Matthew omits Jehoiakim in the genealogy but here is an example of the Bible speaking of a grandfather begetting a grandson.

B. So you must be very careful when you draw conclusions from Bible genealogies, especially that there may be a difference between when it speaks of ‘the sons of’ as here in 1 Chronicles and when it speaks of ‘begat’ as it does in earlier chapters in 1 Chronicles..

C. No wonder Paul warned Timothy about heeding endless genealogies!

D. But this genealogy which concludes the book of Ruth is not endless nor pointless!

E. And it could be simply naming the renowned individuals in the line from Boaz to Jesse, rather than a complete list

F. Nevertheless we can see that this history of Ruth was relatively early in the period of the judges

7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7

What was this period like?

A. The book of Judges begins by telling of the nations who had not been driven out and became snare to Israel

B. There follows in the book a repeated theme, “Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD”

1. There are seven such cycles

2. The people forget God

3. God allows their enemies to oppress and rule over them

4. God raises up a judge who delivers them from the enemy

5. There is a period of peace

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. And after portraying these seven cycles, the book closes with two incidents which are not in chronological order

1. That of Micah’s false worship being taken over by the children of Dan

2. The retribution on the tribe of Benjamin for their treatment of the Levite’s concubine

B. And the general character of the period of the judges is summed up in the final verse of the book: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25 NAS)

8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8

…there was a famine in the land …

A. How was the promised land described to the children of Israel as they journeyed from Egypt?

1. A land flowing with milk and honey

B. How did that land differ from Egypt (Deut 11:10- 11)?

1. In Egypt they could control the irrigation of the land

2. In the promised land they were dependent upon God

C. So, what was required of Israel (Deut 11:12-15)?

1. Obeying God’s commands

2. Loving the LORD their God

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. “10 “For the land, into which you are entering to possess it, is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you used to sow your seed and water it with your foot like a vegetable garden. 11 “But the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven, 12 a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year. 13 “And it shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, 14 that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. 15 “And He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you shall eat and be satisfied.” (Deuteronomy 11:10-15 NAS)

9 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 9

…there was a famine …

A. Think about …

1. …what the time of the judges was like

2. …what God had said about the promised land

3. …what is said in Leviticus 26:19-20, “And I will also break down your pride of power; I will also make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent uselessly, for your land shall not yield its produce and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.” (NAS)

B. What do you conclude was the reason for the famine?

1. The sin of the people in forgetting God

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. Let’s pause a moment and put together the facts as we know them and come to some conclusions

10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 10

…Bethlehem in Judah …to Moab…

– - – - – graphic of map slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. Here is a map of the area in question

1. There was about a 100 km trip from Bethlehem to Moab

2. Judah dependent upon the rains driven by God with the winds from the west reaching their territory (rather than dropping on the coastal area where the Philistines lived)

3. But Moab could still get rain after the winds passed over the Salt Sea and dropped them upon their highlands

B. One could say in human terms that Moab was not so dependent as Israel upon God for their harvests!

11 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 11

…a certain man …went …to Moab

A. How do you think God wanted the people of Israel to respond to this famine?

1. See, for example: Leviticus 26:27, Deuteronomy 30:1–3

2. To obey God, to return to God, to turn from their sin

B. How did this man respond?

1. He acted depending on himself rather than upon God

2. ‘In Moab I need not be punished with God’s people’

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. Famine was just one way that God would chastise His people

1. This was not simply a punishment

2. But it was that of a loving Father to correct an unruly child

B. So this man, in fleeing to Moab shows his self will rather than submission to God

C. Discuss:

1. What means does God use to chastise His children today (‘Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth’)

2. What are the ways we respond?

12 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 12

…to sojourn in the land of Moab …

A. What can we gather concerning the circumstances of this man and his family (or, why didn’t everybody in the land of Judah do this)?

1. He must have been a person of some means

2. His position left him sufficiently free that he could leave his land and home and live in another country for an indefinite period

3. The way this is expressed, and in keeping with the time and place, the man took this action and his family accompanied him (possibly with little choice)

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. So what is a great danger of wealth?

1. We feel less dependent upon God; we live in less dependence upon God

2. We are satisfied with the blessings and forget the One who blesses

3. We can affect others adversely by our example and our actions

13 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 13

…to the Plains of Moab

A. Who were the people of Moab?

1. Descendants of Lot through his daughter (Genesis 19:37)

2. Hired Balaam to curse the people of Israel (Numbers 22:4f)

3. Their daughters induced the wandering Israelites to sin and the worship of idols (Numbers 25:1-2)

B. What was Israel’s attitude to be toward Moab (and Ammon) s a result, Deuteronomy 23:3–4?

1. They could not become part of Israel even until the tenth generation

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. The word used for country or land of Moab is literally ‘Fields’ or ‘Plains’ and is peculiarly used only for this country, It is used of the northern part of the territory of Moab

B. This people, along with Midian, Ammon, and Edom were cousins (of a sort) with Israel, all having descended from Abraham. (There is some question in the case of Midian, for Keturah may have named her son by Abraham after a people that were already in existence; this is not the case for the other nations.)

14 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 14

My teen-age daughter came home late last night. She was supposed to be home at midnight and, instead, arrived home at 2 a.m. Which is two hours, unless you happen to be a mother. Then it is physically possible for the time between midnight and 2 a.m. to be 10 hours and 43 minutes. That’s what worry does to your frame of time. Minutes seem like hours. Or at least they do to my wife. I was fast asleep.

This morning, we grounded our daughter until the Second Coming. Not for missing her curfew, but for not calling. In terms of Kirby Family Crimes, not calling is second only to mouthing off Mom within earshot of Dad, doing something to the dog that requires expensive medical attention and misplacing the television remote control. In our family, kids keeping their curfew is important. Part of proving to your parents that you can be responsible is keeping your deadlines.

However, keeping deadlines is not as important as calling us if they’re going to be late. Not calling is worse than being late because two minutes after our kids are supposed to be home, my wife starts thinking aliens got them. Worse, she wakes me up to explain her theories. It’s a maternal thing, the logic of which fathers can appreciate but never duplicate. When the kids are late, official Mom behavior goes something like this:

— One minute late — “I’m starting to get worried, dear.”

— Five minutes late — “Oh, I just know that something bad has happened.”

— Ten minutes late — “Call the police and hospitals.”

— Fifteen minutes late — “Why isn’t someone dragging the lake and putting up roadblocks?”

— Twenty-one minutes late — “I’ll have to buy a dress for the funeral.”

— Anything over 30 minutes late and Mom wants to bring in Mulder and Scully.

Meanwhile, Dad is trying to get some sleep. He has to go to work in the morning. All he really knows is that whatever actually happened to the kids will be best dealt with tomorrow by a person not crazed from the lack of sleep. It’s not that fathers don’t care. We do. It’s just that a father’s official worry clock runs on hours rather than minutes. Furthermore, a father has the added worry of what the lateness means in terms of dollars. If a kid is five hours late, the father is frantic, mainly about what might have been done to the family car.

Parents worry because they know bad things can and sometimes do happen to kids. It’s something that most kids haven’t clued into. Every kid in the world thinks he is almost immortal, if not actually too cool to die. My daughter naively thinks that she can take care of herself. I tell her that the only reason she believes this is that she isn’t familiar with some of the truly evil things lurking out there in the dark. I never tell her that the reason I know about those things is because I used to be one of them. When I was a teen-ager, I had a curfew. It was 11 p.m., the local curfew for juveniles. I never kept it. Somehow, whatever was going to happen to me for breaking curfew — lecturing, beating, grounding — wasn’t as important as persuading Suzy Buchowitz to stay out after curfew.

Parents and teens should talk about curfews. As a kid, I strenuously argued for a curfew of 4 p.m., on the following day. My father put his foot down (barely missing my neck) and said that my curfew would be whatever the law said it was. Dad’s logic was that if the police couldn’t trust juveniles to be out after 11 p.m., he sure wasn’t about to either. Especially since we were talking about me. Having since been a teen- ager, father and cop, I can say that my father was right. Besides, I know for a fact from my grandma that his curfew was sundown.

My daughter wept and screeched about being grounded. She called her curfew unreasonable and said it was because we didn’t trust her.

She finally got something right.