Truth Magazine

By Irven Lee

This article is in answer to several letters that came as a reaction to my recent articles on this subject. Those who wrote had a right to write, and I am better for their having written. The number and content of the letters clearly indicate that there are several families that are very much interested in their children’s spiritual welfare. This is as it should be. Parents have a fearful responsibility.

Concern is important, but it takes more than a mental awareness of danger to train children. Skill and effort are also necessary. I admit that I do not know many of those who are training their children at home, but my very limited association in this regard has let me know that some who kept their children out of school seemed to be doing a very poor job of training them. It may be that the vast majority of the home trained children are well trained. Let those who are failing to do the job awaken to their responsibility.

It has been called to my attention that tutors are sometimes used to train children in special fields in which the parents recognize their need for help. This can evidently help in many cases. It was also pointed out to me that training in special fields of endeavor might be done in school on the college and graduate level. A few mentioned that home trained children usually make better on ACT and SAT tests than those from public schools. I congratulate the parents of such children as well as the children who show up well on the tests.

Each of my two children had the first grade at home with their mother as their teacher. The primary reason for this was that they had birthdays in the fall so they would have been approximately a year behind their classmates except for the home training. It is certainly true that they entered second grade ahead of those who had been in school for their first grade. My wife took her work seriously, and she was trained and experienced as a teacher. She and the girls enjoyed their study together. They read more little books than most school children did, and they also went ahead in their number work. The “hen with one chick” can take special interest in her little class. That we admit.

If children are home trained there would apparently be a big advantage in starting at the first. To take a junior high pupil, for example, out of his class and away from his games, might bring on the temptation for rebellion. Even if something better is offered it would still require time for a big adjustment.

The letters sent in response to my articles listed many great Americans who were home trained. One who was mentioned has a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. I do not know how far he went in his home training. Tens of thousands have been home trained. It can be done.

We hear of “self-made” men. I have known a few learned men who went to school none or very little, but they were not home trained. I am thinking of one who obtained the old “blue back speller” and McGuffey readers and learned to read on his own after he had passed the age at which children usually learn to read. He had three months in school in his whole life, I think. We had learned much in the “university of hard knocks,” in the hard work which his generation knew. Only a very small percent of such people had sufficient hunger for knowledge to educate themselves. After learning to read they could by will power train themselves in many fields. Most who were not trained by others remained illiterate until the day of death.

Studies have been made to reveal that very many capable adults in America today cannot read or write. A few of these men and women are learning these skills now and are very happy with the doors they have opened by their efforts. There are adult education classes available over our nation. One can certainly learn to read at home. A great preacher that I have heard many times was taught to read by his wife after he married. She did much for her husband and indirectly for the thousands who heard him preach. Why is there not more done for these good people who cannot read? Some have decided that they are “dumb” when they are obviously capable people showing special skills in their work. Swallowing their pride, calling on their patience’ and leaning on some loved ones to help them could enrich their lives very much.

Skill in reading and the use of this skill in Bible study could do much for the church. Many who could read just watch television to use up their time after work. “Give attendance to reading” is an inspired suggestion (1 Tim. 4:13). In fact, various passages that speak of study and of the need for knowledge point out the need for reading (2 Tim. 2:15; Heb. 5:12-14; Rom. 10:1-3; etc.). Some who could be pillars in the church do not read in this day when atheists do so much teaching by television. Shame on these who bury their own talents and open their minds to the atheists.

I taught twenty years in private schools. My daughters had almost all their training in private schools. This grew out of my realization that there were great blessings to be gained in having Christians for teachers and in having well taught children for classmates. I think that my children obtained what some are seeking when they home train theirs. Few have the opportunity that we had because there are not many such schools available. Parents everywhere are to protect, guide, train, and whatever else is included in bringing up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4).

Every son and daughter needs to obtain faith and knowledge of the word so that he or she can stand against the wiles of the devil. At first parents stand by their side, but gradually they grow up and stand on their own convictions. If there is a lack of conviction, courage, faith, and knowledge their training was not what it should have been. Some who have not been taught reading, writing, and arithmetic at home do have on the Christian armor (Eph.6:10-20).

Guardian of Truth XXX: 10, pp. 300, 311
May 15, 1986

By Allen S. Dvorak

It was early in the morning and the sun was just coming over the horizon; dawn was breaking with all of her quiet grace. The temperature had dropped enough the night before that the grass was covered with tiny beads of moisture. Peering out of the glass patio doors in the dining room, I saw something in my back yard that I would like to share with you.

In the sunlight I could see that the entire yard (I mean all of it!) was covered with spiders’ webs. Their white strands appeared to form a large, complete net over the whole back yard. Evidently the webs had caught some of the moisture in the air and they sparkled, first here and then there, as the sun was reflected in these drops of moisture. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

As I stood at the patio doors, wondering at the simple beauty of the sight, it dawned on me (no pun intended) that, despite the beauty of the whole scene, there was a sinister element to the picture. I had been looking from the viewpoint of a human who could destroy any spider’s web with the most casual movement of my limbs. But those webs had not been spun for me – they were created in anticipation of catching some of the numerous small insects which venture out at night and the early morning hours. From a “bug’s eye view,” these webs, regardless of how beautiful they might be to the human eye, represented a danger which could very easily be a fatal one.

A spider is a predator – a very cleaver one too! He carefully prepares a trap and waits for his prey to become ensnared in the extremely strong, sticky strands of his web. His victims come to him; he does not have to pursue them. When they have fatigued themselves by their struggle to escape the web which holds them, he quietly kills and devours them. As I thought about this web further, it occurred to me that Satan is quite similar to the spider!

(1) Like the spider, Satan is also a predator – he preys on human beings. The apostle Peter indicated that Satan is a predator when he likened him to a roaring lion, one of the most fear-inspiring predators on this earth. The Devil is our adversary and his object is to “devour us,” to destroy us in an eternal hell. It is for that very reason that Peter also counseled his readers to be vigilant – watchful of the danger that Satan presents (1 Pet. 5:8).

(2) Satan lays his snares in much the same fashion as the spider. When the spider spins his web, he frequently places it in such a way as to intercept the natural path of his prey. Of course, his presence is a warning, so he hides himself or lurks near the edge of the web where he is less evident. Satan has studied his prey and knows the weaknesses common to men. He knows how to lay his snares so that they will be encountered by men. And, like the spider, he doesn’t advertise his presence so that his victims often do not suspect his work in their demise. Only after they have been enslaved by the sin which was so tempting do they come to realize whose purpose the trap serves. Edward M. Bounds wrote, “The devil’s great device, his masterpiece of temptation is to destroy faith in his own existence.”(1)

Paul described covetousness (greed) as a snare, indicating that it led to destruction (1 Tim. 6:9- 10). Satan is a schemer -the traps he uses look so innocent and inviting that he fools many men into thinking that they are harmless. The anticipation of pleasure has invited men to drink alcohol, take drugs, steal, commit fornication, etc. — all snares used by Satan. Just like the spider, Satan cannot force his prey into the web of sin, but his victims commit themselves to the traps of sin (James 1:13-15).

(3) Neither Satan nor the spider are benefitted by light. It was the rising sun which revealed the webs of the spiders to me. The spider thrives on anonymity. He wishes his web to be invisible to his prey and so darkness is his ultimate friend. Satan also loves darkness. He wishes for men to be ignorant of his machinations so that he may take them captive at his will. If he appears as wholesome, it is a disguise (2 Cor. 11: 14-15). Fortunately, the light of God’s word exposes the wiles of Satan for what they are and the careful student of the Bible may discern and avoid the snares of Satan.

One significant difference between these two predators is that when a fly gets entangled in the web of the spider, he usually does not escape. For the man who has been entangled in Satan’s web of sin, God offers a way of escape. It is frequently difficult once the strands of worldliness have tightened around a man, but in Christ there is freedom! Beware of our spiritual predator!

Endnotes

1. Edward M. Bounds, Satan, His Personality, Power and Overthrow (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1963), p. 112. Quoted by Lynn Walker, Supernatural Power and the Occult (Austin, Texas: Firm Foundation Publishing House, n.d.), p. 17.

Guardian of Truth XXX; 10, p. 308
May 15, 1986

By Hoyt H. Houchen

Question: In Judges 11:29-40, did Jephthah offer his daughter as a burnt offering? Or, was she devoted to God in some other way?

Reply: The setting for Jephthah’s vow was during the period of the judges. The Ammonites made war against Israel and the elders of Gilead came to Jephthah, asking him to be their leader in this struggle (Judg. 11:6). He became not only a military leader but also a judge (Judg. 12:7), this dual role having also been true of Deborah and Gideon. Before fighting the Ammonites, Jephthah made a vow to Jehovah. Our attention is given to this vow, found in Judges 11:30,31: “And Jephthah vowed a vow unto Jehovah, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be, that whatsoever (or whosoever, footnote in ASV) cometh forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return to peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Jehovah’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. “

This passage is very controversial. Bible expositors widely disagree as to how Jephthah fulfilled his vow. There are two general positions taken. Some believe that Jephthah actually killed his daughter and offered her up as a burnt offering, while others believe that she was devoted to perpetual virginity and service to God. A good case can be made for either position, but it seems to this writer that the evidence is weightier for the latter view. A few considerations are hereby presented, which to this scribe, support the idea that Jephthah dedicated his daughter to the service of God.

Some assert that Jephthah made a rash vow, even though he was knowledgeable of God’s law which prohibited human sacrifice. But it can hardly be said that Jephthah was a rash and thoughtless leader. Earlier he had tried to reason with the Ammonites, rather than going to war with them. From this, it was more in the character and disposition of Jephthah to reflect carefully. Considering that there was even a strong possibility that his own daughter (his only child, v. 34) would be the one to meet him when he returned from battle, would not be compatible with a rash vow.

Others contend that Jephthah lived in a heathen land where human sacrifices existed, and being ignorant of God’s law, was influenced by this wicked environment to offer up his daughter as a burnt offering. To the contrary, there is no evidence that Jephthah was destitute of God’s law. On the other hand, he looked to Jehovah to deliver the Ammonites into his hand (v. 9), making a treaty with the elders of Gilead “before Jehovah” (vv. 9,10). Does it seem reasonable that a man so dedicated and dependent upon God would offer up his daughter as a bloody human sacrifice? And, are we to suppose that Jehovah would select a man to the responsible position of a great leader who would engage in the worship of Moloch, in which the people offered their children as human sacrifices? Even before he made his vow, it was said of him, “Then the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah. . .” (v. 29). This would hardly be said of one who would offer up his child as a human sacrifice. The evidence points to Jephthah as a Godfearing man.

Human sacrifice was sternly and repeatedly condemned by the law of God (see Lev. 18:21; 20:2-5; Deut. 12:31; 18: 10). In the history of Israel, before the wicked reigns of Ahaz and Manasseh (2 Kgs. 16:3; 21:6), there is no record of human sacrifices – not even by those who committed the sin of worshiping Baal.

Jephthah is listed with the heroes of faith (Heb. 11:32). Had he slaughtered his own child, a detestable act in the eyes of God, can we conceive of him being approved in Hebrews 11 as one of the great heroes of faith?

The Hebrew text itself does not necessitate a literal human sacrifice. Several scholars say that the correct translation of our text is: “It shall surely be the Lord’s or I will offer it up to him as a burnt offering.” The Hebrew term used to express Jephthah’s vow is nedir, which means “a consecration” and not cherem which means “destruction.” Adam Clarke states that the translation of the most accurate Hebrew scholars is: I will consecrate it to the Lord, or I will offer it for a burnt offering; that is, “If it be a thing fit for a burnt offering, it shall be made one; if fit for the service of God, it shall be consecrated to him” (Commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. 2, p. 151).

Those who believe that Jephthah had a human sacrifice in mind when he uttered his vow, observe that one of the household would be expected to come forth, not an animal (see Albert Barnes and others). However, Keil and Delitzsch make this significant comment: “The father fulfilled his vow upon her, and she knew no man; i.e., he fulfilled the vow through the fact that she knew no man, but dedicated her life to the Lord, as a spiritual burnt offering, in a lifelong chastity” (Biblical Commentary on The Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, p. 393).

Jephthah “did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew not man” (v. 39). These words presuppose that Jephthah offered his daughter to Jehovah. That he actually slew her and offered her up as a burnt offering is incompatible with his character, and would be diametrically opposed to the law of God; such an act would have been subject to God’s punishment.

Before performing his vow, Jephthah sent his daughter away for two months: “and she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains” (v. 38). As Keil and Delitzsch put it: “To mourn one’s virginity does not mean to mourn because one has to die as a virgin, but because one has to live and remain a virgin” (Ibid., p. 392). She could never be a mother. The expression, “she knew no man” (v. 39) would have been a pointless remark had she been put to death.

Leviticus 27 is devoted to vows. Verses 1-8 concerns persons, verses 9-13 animals, verses 14,15 houses, and verses 16-25 land. Leon Wood, in his excellent book Distressing Days of the Judges, makes it clear what was to be done by a person or thing set apart for God by a vow. Concerning persons (vv. 1-8) he comments: “When a person vowed himself, or someone else, to God, that person came to be ‘for the Lord’ in the sense that an ‘estimation’ or evaluation was placed upon him by the priest. ” He further remarks: “A man so devoting himself, could not become a sacrifice like an animal, because human sacrifices would not be permitted, nor could he be normally used in service because the priests and Levites were assigned to do this; nor could he be sold like a house or animal. The alternative was that he be valued in terms of money and then pay that amount to help in the Tabernacle service. One exception to this existed regarding a woman, in the light of Exodus 38:8 and I Samuel 2:20, as noted; namely that she could be devoted for Tabernacle service since she was a woman and could do things there which only a woman could do better than men” (p. 293). Women “assembled” at the tabernacle (Ex. 38:8), and the Hebrew word translated “assembled” actually means “served” (root, Isabal. Should it be questioned that the women who served in this capacity were virgins, though it is not directly stated in the law, there is a point for consideration. The “daughters of Shiloh,” who were captured as wives for the Benjamites (Judg. 21:19-23), were at Shiloh where the tabernacle was located. They may have been servants at the tabernacle. If they were, this is evidence that they were virgins because they were taken as wives for the Benjamites.

Keil and Delitzsch propose that “if Jephthah, therefore vowed that he would offer a human sacrifice to Jehovah, he must have either have uttered his vow without any reflection, or else have been thoroughly depraved in a moral and religious sense. But what we know of this brave hero by no means warrants any such assumptions” (Ibid., p. 389).

If any contribution has been made to the study of this very controversial subject, our time taken for this research has been rewarded.

Guardian of Truth XXX: 10, pp. 293-294
May 15, 1986

By Mike Willis

Abraham is described as the “father of all them that believe” (Rom. 4:11). Paul admonished all men to “walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham” (Rom. 4:12). Let us examine the nature of the faith of Abraham.

A Faith Of Trusting Obedience

The Lord called Abraham to leave his kindred saying, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee” (Gen. 12:1). The Scriptures record, “So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him” (Gen. 12:4).

In a concise narrative, his personal sacrifice might be overlooked. Abraham left his family, friends, any business opportunities, etc. in order to obey the Lord. He did not put off into the indefinite future his obedience, as some do who say, “One of these days, I am going to start back to church.” Rather, he immediately obeyed the Lord at great personal sacrifice.

Abraham was no young man when the Lord called him. He was seventy-five years old. When in my twenties, we made a move from Florida to Indiana to preach the gospel. We loaded everything we owned in the back seat of a Volkswagen and set out to do the Lord’s will. As I grow older, I find the moves harder to make. I cannot imagine pulling up all of my roots and moving when I am seventy-five, not even to retire in Florida, much less to move to a foreign country to obey the will of God.

Furthermore, Abraham’s obedience was based on his trust in God’s promise. The Lord said to go to a “land that I will shew thee.” If Abraham had looked on a map to find that land, where would he have looked? He obeyed the Lord by going out, although he did not even know where he was going. His traveling would be different than our travels in America. As we move from state to state, we are protected by the laws of our land. One who moved from one country to another in Abraham’s day was a vulnerable stranger. His move would be comparable to one of us moving to a Muslim society. Yet, Abraham had enough trusting faith in the Lord’s promise to go.

A Faith Which Worshiped

When some people move, they leave their faith behind. As they move from one city to another, they seemingly forget to take their faith with them. Members of the body of Christ who worship the Lord regularly in one area move into another area and never begin to attend worship.

Abraham was not that way. Wherever he moved, he worshiped. He built altars at Bethel (Gen. 12:8) and Hebron (Gen. 13:18); he paid tithes to Melchizedek (Gen. 14:20). Indeed, Abraham was a man who worshiped the Lord wherever he went.

A Faith Which Put The Needs Of Others First

Abraham was not a selfish man who thought only of his own needs. When conflict developed between his herdsmen and those of Lot, he said, “Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; and if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left” (Gen. 13:8-9). When Lot chose the better land, Abraham did not become bitter and resentful.

A Faith Which Laid Down His Life For Others ,

Rather than becoming bitter toward his nephew, Abraham continued to love him. When the northern kings invaded the south, plundering the region and taking many captive as slaves, Lot was among those enslaved. Abraham could have said, “Now there is plenty of room for me to expand my operations without Lot getting in the way.” Instead, Abraham risked life and limb to save his nephew, Gathering 318 trained servants, he led a night raid against the invading kings and rescued his nephew Lot. Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn. 15:13). “. . . and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 Jn. 3:16). Abraham was willing to lay down his life for his brethren.

A Faith Which Practiced Hospitality

More and more Christians are neglecting the practice of hospitality. In some congregations of more than 100 members, churches have trouble filling the meal list for a visiting preacher who is in town for a seven-day gospel meeting. Strangers visit the services and are not made welcome because the membership makes no effort to invite them into their homes. Abraham was so different from this.

Abraham “sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; and he lift up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, and said, My Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant” (Gen. 18:1-5). The example of Abraham is cited for our emulation. “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb. 13:2).

Congregations began to have so-called “fellowship dinners” partly because brethren saw the need for members to be together. What individuals would not do on their own, congregations sought to accomplish with “fellowship halls,” but one wrong cannot be righted by another wrong. Do we have the hospitality of Abraham?

A Persistent Faith

Abraham’s faith did not wane through the years. When God called him, he was seventy-five years old (Gen. 12:4). When Isaac, the promised son, was born, Abraham was one hundred years old (Gen. 21:5). He had looked to the gift and the Giver for twenty-five years. Many who are baptized give up or give out long before twenty-five years have passed. Abraham, by contrast, persevered in his faithfulness to God.

A Faith Which Put God Above Everything Else

We have already seen how Abraham loved God enough to leave his father’s house, his kindred, his friends, and his stable home. We have noticed that his faith caused him to put Lot’s needs above his own. His faith caused him to give up his association with Ishmael. (Though Sarah was jealous of Ishmael and asked that he be cast out, Abraham did not act until God revealed His will in the matter. Then Abraham reluctantly sent Ishmael away [Gen. 21:9-12]. This must have been a heart-rending experience.)

In his later years, Abraham showed that his love for God excelled his love for the son of promise. God told Abraham to offer Isaac in sacrifice to Him on an altar. By faith Abraham went to Mount Moriah and proceeded to obey God. The Lord intervened, preventing Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. He said, “. . . for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me” (Gen. 22:12).

Abraham demonstrated obedience to what Jesus described as the greatest commandment – “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matt. 22:37).

A Faith Which Hoped

When the Lord appeared to Abraham, He promised him a land (Gen. 12:7). Later the Lord explained His promise:

Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not their’s, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age (Gen. 15:13-15).

In these words, the Lord explained to Abraham that the land which had been promised to him would not be given in his lifetime. He wandered about in the land of promise as a stranger and sojourner. “And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. . . ” (Acts 7:5). When his wife died, he had to purchase a place to bury her. Even then he manifested faith in the promise of God, for he did not take his wife to the home grave plot in Ur to bury her; instead, he buried her in the promised land.

Abraham never ceased to have faith in the promise of God, although he knew he would never see the promise fulfilled during his lifetime.

By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. . . . These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city (Heb. 11:9-10,13-16).

Conclusion

May the Lord give us strength to walk in the steps of the faithful Abraham. May he protect us from the temptations of youth, give us the wisdom to devote the strength of our manhood to His service, and walk with us to our graves with the hope of the promise of Heaven to sustain us.

Guardian of Truth XXX: 10, pp. 290, 309-310
May 15, 1986