The one Command in the Old Testament, which I have mentioned in several other posts is:
Deuteronomy 6:5-7.... (In context it is a command for Israel to teach to their children)
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise."
God wants us to TEACH our children in every situation in life. That sounds like "discipline" to me.
In the New Testament there are 2 scriptures that are written to parents, specifically FATHERS about children.
"Do not provoke your children to anger. And do not frustrate your children."
But the scriptures that many focus on, are the striking scriptures in Proverbs.
Before I quote them, Proverbs was written to YOUNG MEN. It was a book of instruction, mostly about keeping away from temptation and following wisdom. It is considered a Poetic book, and is full of "observation".
I think the MAIN verse many go to is in Proverbs 23:13-14. "Do not with hold discipline from a child, if you strike him with a rod, he will not die, if you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.
There it is in plain English! The problem is, the original was not written in English!
There are many words for "child" in Hebrew. The word HERE is Naar. That word is used for a YOUNG MAN between 16-25. (on average) And then, the word SHEOL... does NOT MEAN HELL.... YOU CAN NOT SAVE A PERSON FROM HELL.... sorry! You CAN'T!
In my friend Samuel Martin's study, he talked about the actual issue of corporal punishment from this verse. In his book he said there would have been a trial and a group of elders would have decided if a young man should have been punished in this form.
Sheol means GRAVE.... In other words, this scripture is an ancient scripture talking about a wild young person who is living dangerously, and with holding DISCIPLINE from him, will possibly result in an early death from a wild life.
In this same chapter, there is teaching to a YOUNG MAN about living a foolish life.
Jewish society DID permit public striking for punishment. But there is NO scripture that advocates striking a young child. EVER.
I have written enough in other posts to not rehash the other striking verses.
I am a Christian. I am a stay at home mother, I educate my children at home, I have a bunch of them. I cover my head . I guess that would make me fit into every category with that broad brush of
judgement.
The truth is, we do not spank our kids but we do DISCIPLINE THEM. We DO have a bunch of them, but we don't have them because we don't believe in birth control, we have them because we see them as a blessing and God has blessed us with them! :) I don't think we are more godly than somebody who has two children or no children. Our lives are just different.
Yes, we are home educators. It fits.
Yes, I cover my head, but I also wear jeans. :) I take 1st Corinthians 11, literally, because it is a LETTER written to the church in the New Testament. I do not believe it was written for that particular time period. In fact, the Corinthian women, overall did NOT cover their heads usually. They were gentiles. And, Corinthians is not is not a "Poetic" book.
I am weary hearted at the false teaching within EVANGELICAL churches regarding the
Spanking IS NOT NECESSARY! But Godly discipline is, and it STARTS with US!
We as parents need to DISCIPLINE OURSELVES to be patient, kind and gentle teachers to our children so they can follow our example. And so we can say, DO AS I DO, not just DO AS I SAY.
3 comments:
Sheol is also the original concept of the underworld: all dead go there, regardless of whether they were good or bad, till the Messiah comes and the dead are raised.
Fear of punishment can motivate - but only aims at a very low level of moral development. At a higher level, a person behaves rightly because they want to be liked or gain approval. Then, they may also wish for a sense of unity and belonging. At a higher level yet, they behave well because it is just and right to do so. At a higher level yet, they behave well in order to love.
The goal should be to motivate a person to THINK about right and wrong and to choose to love.
Seems to me.
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