Father's Day 2022
Dear Father,
The late Bill Glass, a former professional football player, established Bill Glass Beyond the Walls, a ministry to men in prison. He shared the gospel of Jesus in the United States Prison system and found in his work that regardless of race, household income or education; the number one reason why young men started down the path of rebellion was the absence of a father in their lives. Some did not know who their father was and others had fathers that lived in other cities. Some had fathers right in the home who remained absent from involvement in their lives. He concluded that there are absent fathers, abusive fathers, financially irresponsible fathers and unfaithful fathers. Young men who had no knowledge of who their father is, accounted for 66% of the country’s male prison population. In contrast, Jewish men comprised less than 1% of men in our prisons.
Why the difference?
Since the Passover, when God delivered Israel from 400 years of slavery in Egypt, Moses instituted the weekly Sabbath tradition. Since then, every Friday at sundown, the Jewish father lights a candle and speaks blessings over his wife and children. A lifetime of hearing this blessing has a positive effect on a child, plus God honors the words spoken. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26
There was a time in Israel’s history that the Jewish family had become broken and their nation was much like ours is today. Then, God called a shepherd named Amos to become a prophet and give His message to Israel. Israel was a divided kingdom, with the northern and southern kingdoms both in rebellion. They were guilty of taking advantage of the poor, defiling God’s house and His Name, immorality to the point that father and son both slept with the same girl, an indication of sex slavery (Amos 2:6-8, 12). They demanded the prophets be quiet and forced those who were living a purified life to become defiled. God spoke through Amos saying, “I know you more intimately that all other nations, yet you despise My direction and My Love. (Amos 3:2)
The fathers of Israel, despite all of the warnings of Amos, Hosea, Jeremiah and the physical evidence of God’s displeasure, ignored the warnings. They did not demand change from themselves, their families, their king or their priests. Only God’s prophets remained true to Him and were spared death. Wives were sold into prostitution and children dragged away to a foreign land. The Temple, the city and the land were destroyed. (Amos Chapter 4)
The modern day parallel is here.
The United States, founded in religious freedom, has been responsible for spreading the Gospel of Jesus around the world. Once, our national opinions disagreed on how to spend money and whether to increase or decrease taxes; now they are divided on religious freedom, the right of a child to live and the personal freedoms of men and women. Aborting babies and the consequent mutilation of their bodies is equal to the atrocity of burning children alive in the mouth of the ancient statue of Moloch. We turn our heads the other way as cartel bosses blackmail or force the poor and helpless to be slaves, misused in all possible ways. Corruption in the government tries to silence the Gospel of Jesus Christ by shutting down churches and non- profits that serve the people. It has forced vaccinations and critical race theory on our children and now demands “gender identity” from them.
It would be pleasant to write an encouraging letter to all the fathers thanking them for their faithfulness and hard work as your Father’s Day greeting. The difference between the times of Amos and now is that we have someone to plead our case. The Father listens to His Son, whom He loves. Jesus has a legal right to ask for our forgiveness because He took our punishment for sin on Himself. He can deflect God’s anger and judgement away from us. (1 Peter 3:18) In right relationship to the Father God we can become the fathers that the children of our world need.
Once a fatherless man fathers a child, he needs the help of a true Father to teach him to raise his child. Our Heavenly Father is the Father to the fatherless and it is to Him we must turn for the way to raise our children. Fathers must be vocal in defense of the unborn and helpless and demand righteousness from themselves, their families and their leaders, whether political or spiritual.
According to John Chapter 1, Jesus is the light of the world. He promised that if we live in Him, His light will shine through us. It is God’s glory, given to us through Jesus,that will shine through us who believe and follow Him.
The prophet Isaiah wrote, (60:1) “Arise, Shine for your light had come and the glory of the Lord has risen over you.” Righteous fathers, must arise because our light, Jesus, has come and taken away our darkness. He will replace our darkness with His Glory and allow us to shine on the earth in these last days.
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