D2: The Home – A biblical survey of the home

D2: The Home – A biblical survey of the home.

9 Categories from Scripture to help us align our view of our household with God’s heart for them:

1. God’s concern for the household.

• Exodus 20:12, 14, 17; Deuteronomy 5:16.

- First of all, God has specific ideas, expectations for this basic, foundational relationship arena. Early on, when God i put forth His most formalized regulations for His people, Israel, that the world had yet known, God revealed that hous relationships mattered greatly to Him.

• Deuteronomy 4:9-10.

- “Make them known to your children” follows closely on the heels of caring for their own souls first. D1 -> D2.

• Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

- Read 6:4-9. God determined for Israel that there was to be an inseparable connection between what they did with th heart and what they did with their family. 6:5-6 = D1; 6:7-9 = D2.

• Deuteronomy 7:1-5 (vv 3-4).

- Israel was not to let these kinds of households even begin! Why? Because the generation that intermarries those of god, have their own hearts turned away from YHWH. The burden was on the father and mother in Israel to shepherd children in such a way that their children would not abandon YHWH. We know D1 (heart) impacts D2 (home). But h emphasis is on how D2 (the household) impacts D1 (the heart).

• Psalm 78:1-8.

- Read 78:1-8. The inseparable connection between the man’s heart for YHWH and his obligation with his own childre undeniable in Israel.

• Malachi 4:1-6 (Luke 1:16-17).

- Through Elijah, God will turn the heart of one generation back to the next and vice versa. God’s way of preparing Hi Israel for His coming included strengthening household relationships. Again, this shows God’s heart and the importa home in Him mind.

• Ephesians 6:1-4.

- The 5ᵗʰ commandment brought under the authority of Jesus Christ for the church. Children need to shepherd their he in the gospel so as to be prepared to obey and honor their parents. Dads and moms are to shepherd their heart so a completely frustrating to their children.

• 1 Timothy 3:4-5.

- God’s design in the church is to have men leading who have trained themselves to oversee their household relations who will not play leapfrog over their wives and children as they engage in gospel ministry in the church.

2. One OT man who grasped God’s heart for the household.

• Joshua 24:14-28 (Joshua).

- 24:1-3 and “Shechem.” 24:14-15 = Joshua wanted to deeply impact his own household with service and worship of Y made the right, spiritual decisions necessary to be able to do so.

3. OT failures to grasp God’s heart for the household.

• Exodus 4:21-26 (Moses).

- Moses put God’s deliverance of His people, Israel, potentially at risk by neglecting circumcising his own son (His fam have the sign of the covenant in the next generation - his son). Moses, on the way to inform Israel that the God she covenant with (the sign of which was circumcision) and who was concerned to deliver them, failed to take that coven seriously within his own family. Could that covenant-neglecting man speak for the covenant God to His covenant pe Praise God for godly, obedient wives!

• 1 Samuel 2:12-17, 22-26, 29-31 (Eli).

- “You honor your sons above Me” = that’s a helpful clarification, protection. With all the emphasis on the household relationships, God is NOT looking for household members to honor one another over Him! More on this in #7. God family (a priestly family mediating between Him and His people!) to work out of another father’s line for the priesthood

• 1 Samuel 7:15-8:5 (Samuel).

- The nation chafed under Samuel’s sons; the ungodly request for a king was inseparably tied to the cha ng they all ffi Samuel’s son’s ungodly leadership. Samuel’s ministry lacked the integrity it could have had. Here is a great OT exa the a lapse or failure at D2 impacts ministry (D3).

• 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16, 18 (David: the priority of his house); 11:26-27; 12:9-10, 11a (David: the undoing his own house).

- One man’s neglect of his household impacted an entire nation for generations! If God promises this concerning your what is your responsibility with your household? And if you neglect?

• 1 Kings 11:1-4, 9 (Solomon).

- Notice how building his house contrary to God’s will adversely impacted his heart (how D2 can hinder D1, and 5Xs “h taking care of His relationship with his wife also brought great pain on the nation (D3!). You simply can’t conclude fro

Scripture (OT thus far) that the household isn’t important! It appears to be the decisive place, relationally speaking! quickly we think other relationships outside the home are the ones that matter most!

4. The ease at which God is forgotten in the household.

• Deuteronomy 6:10-12; 8:10-20.

- See 8:12 (houses and lived in them). How very sad that the home becomes the platform where God is forgotten.

5. The impact of one’s faith on the entire household.

• Acts 10:22-24, 44-45.

- Cornelius – his entire household and beyond was impacted by one heart for God. The household was a platform for to come to others.

• Acts 16:11-15.

- See 16:14-15. Lydia – the Lord opened her heart. . . and her whole house was baptized! Get one heart, and oftentim whole household changes at the heart level.

• Acts 16:22-34.

- See 16:29-34. The same happened here, too.

6. The attack on the household.

• 2 Timothy 3:1-9.

- 3:1-2, 5b-7. Evidently, the women in these homes didn’t know how the gospel addressed their sin or impulses; they equipped well to know how to deal with their sin and desires. They were always learning something, but evidently it learning from God’s word that impacted the heart.

• Titus 1:9-14.

- Read. Walk through 1:9-11. Here’s the question. Where are the men??!! The household’s best protection is a man shepherds his own heart, and then his family into the church where there are shepherds who can refute doctrinal err sound doctrine (1:9!). The men need to be able to refute error with sound doctrine. Work by the grace of God in the equip yourself so as to not leave your wife and children vulnerable to false teaching.

7. The household can become an obstacle to the gospel.

• Matthew 10:34-39; Luke 12:51-53; 14:26.

- Read Mt 10:34-39. The gospel of the kingdom invades one life within a family. What happens next is so important. individual is called to bring the gospel to his/her family – he/she is to place them, his/her relationship with them UNDE gospel of Jesus. The family relationships are NOT ABOVE the gospel in his/her life, but UNDER. IOW: The family apex of God’s redemptive plan (oh, the family is very important in God’s heart!). But the gospel is at the apex of God family is a servant to that gospel supremacy and mission advancing in the world. Sometimes, as we saw with Corne and the Philippian jailer, the gospel will take over a whole house by God’s grace. Those are not instances where the submitting to the “greater institution” called “family.” How should we think rightly about the gospel’s mission and our households? Sometimes the gospel expresses its supremacy in di erent ways. One, by bringing the entire househ ff itself through one member of the family (Acts). Or two, by splitting the one member of the household away from the household (Jesus‘ teaching). Jesus tells us here that oftentimes the gospel will divide family members too.

• Luke 9:57-62.

- Labor to keep family in the right perspective of the gospel of the kingdom.

• Matthew 12:46-50; Mark 3:20-21, 31-35; Luke 8:19-21.

- Mk 3:20-21, 31-35. Context: Jesus’ family is concerned that Jesus has mentally lost it. Notice how Jesus properly w earthly family and the supremacy of the gospel. But also, notice Jesus indicates a greater family is formed through d will of God. Throughout the gospels, Jesus always honored and respected Mary, but He also didn’t hesitate to put H Redeemer above her where she and His brothers detracted Him. He did not make Eli’s mistakes in the OT.

8. Leading a wife requires a strong grasp on the gospel (and the church).

• Ephesians 5:25-33.

- 5:25-27 (Must shepherd with the gospel, to the gospel). Men/husbands, husbands must spend the rest of your life d a solid grasp on how Jesus loved the church so that your love for your wife can be what it is supposed to be. 5:28-32 must have a solid grasp on the church; on the oneness of the church/body with Christ. The husband must shepherd with the doctrine of the church because marriage isn’t merely about marriage, but the relationship between Jesus an church. If the body of Christ and the gospel is an afterthought to the man, his love for his wife will be stunted.

9. A NT model marriage.

• Acts 18:1-3, 24-28; Romans 16:3-5a.

- Companions and co-laborers with Paul: Prisca and Aquila (18:1-3), came alongside Apollos (18:24-28), and risked t for Paul and the gospel (Rm 16:3-5a). The household for them was a platform for the church; it was well-suited for th Yours? Can you imagine the spiritual aroma of your home facilitating the fellowship of the body of Christ? Notice thi then Mary (Mt 1:16). Zacharias, then Elizabeth, Lk 1:5. Ananias, then Saphira (Ac 5:1). BUT here, Priscilla, then Aq 18:26 and Rm 16:3)!

- The overwhelming message of the Bible is that the man of God places a priority on spiritually influencing his househo heart for Jesus in the gospel. God’s heart for the home through the man of God can’t be missed.