A Father's Biblical Role

“Father” is found in the King James Bible 979 times. Surely, the office of father was and is most important. The Old Testament word for father is “ab,” which means the biological, male parent; ancestor; head of the household; a benevolent one and protector; respect and honor; and most important, God as father. The same meaning is found in the New Testament along with the definition of “nourisher and upholder.” Psalm 103:13 says, “Like as a father pitieth (shows compassion for) his children, so the Lord pitieth (shows compassion for) them that fear (reverence) him.” Proverbs 3:12 says, “For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” In other words, if a father delighteth in his son or daughter (accepts, shows affection, approves, consents with, favors, etc.), he corrects them out of a heart of compassion because of his love for them. “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins” (James 5:20). Children are going to sin, but a father can be there to guide them into Truth, the way of the Lord. Could it be that children are not reverencing their fathers or Father God because fathers have not taken the time to fulfill their Biblical role as father?

We read in Proverbs 30:11, “There is a generation that curseth their father, and doeth not bless their mother.” To a great extent, I am seeing this prophesy unfolding in our generation. Oftentimes, children rebel against their parents’ beliefs in God and the Bible …But the problem that I am seeing now, is the absent presence of the father in the home. If he is present, he is often disrespectful to his mate and children; selfish; full of anger; present, yet absent emotionally; gives no affirmation; no correction or, instead, abusive discipline; etc. Is it any wonder that there is a generation walking in death (alcohol, drugs, sexual promiscuity, and rebellion): Are they filling an emotional void in their lives that was for the presence of a compassionate father? We will celebrate Father’s Day June 21. Congress was lobbied for an annual Father’s Day, and President Woodrow Wilson approved the idea in 1916. It was not until 1924 when President Calvin Coolidge made it a normal event to “establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations.” I thought this most interesting.

Are we seeing the Words of Jesus coming to pass in Luke 12:53? “The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother…” Do we just say, “What’s the use?” Do we throw up our hands and sit back wishing for the rapture? God forbid. Hopelessness is faithlessness (Heb. 11:1). Faithlessness is a sin (Heb 11:6). Church, we must arise in faith and intercede and witness to our youth. Have we forgotten the message to the world? Our God will be a “father to the fatherless” (Ps. 68:5). When a father and/or mother forsake their child, then the Lord will take them as His own (Ps. 27:10). Jesus is “Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, and The Prince of Peace.” Our God is “Father of all eternity.” Oh, let us believe our God that He will “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers” (Mal. 4:6).