God’s Heart for Family Discipleship in the OT
Whether it is Old Testament Israel or New Testament Christians (Deut. 6:4; Eph. 6:4), the Bible makes it clear that parents are to be the primary disciple-makers for their children. What do we mean by disciple-makers? Well, to disciple someone involves the process of intentionally imparting biblical truth to another person for their spiritual growth. This imparting of biblical truth happens through verbal instruction and life modeling.
When it comes to our homes and children. The Bible presents an overwhelming case that parents are called to be the most active, intentional, and influential teachers of biblical truth in their children’s lives.
This high call upon parents is continually emphasized in the Scriptures. Timothy Paul Jones summarizes the Scriptural emphasis well as he writes, “As I examine Scripture, I find woven throughout its pages an expectation that neither the temple nor the synagogue nor ministers in the church bore the sole responsibility for training children to be followers of God. The home was divinely formed as a context for discipleship, and parents were expected to serve as disciple-makers in their children’s lives.”1
Let’s take some time to look at some of the key Old Testament passages in God’s Word.
Family Discipleship Emphasized in the Old Testament
From the Old Testament's early pages, we see an emphasis upon parents imparting biblical truth to the next generation.
After the worldwide flood, which, by God's grace Noah and his family were the only ones to survive, the first act they participated in once they left the ark was family worship to God (Gen. 8:15-22).
Once the world was repopulated, God chose to move His salvation plan forward through Abraham (Gen. 3:15; 12). God gave Abraham what I would call the first explicit directive for family discipleship. We read in Genesis 18:19, “For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.” Through the intentional passing on of truth by Abraham, the next generation would know what it looks like to follow God.
As the Old Testament storyline progresses forward, God provides more clarity and direction to the Israelites about Family Discipleship. As Moses gave instructions for the yearly observance of Passover (Exodus 12:26-27) and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 13). The reasonable expectation was that curious children would ask what it was they were witnessing. For example, in the case with the Passover, Moses writes,
24 And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. 25 When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ 27 You shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’” (Exodus 12:24-27).
As God’s miraculous work in the past was repetitiously remembered, the next generation's parents were to use this as an opportunity to teach about God.
As you come to the book of Deuteronomy. The last book of the Pentateuch (i.e., the first five books of the Bible). God’s emphasis on Family Discipleship crystallizes even more. In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, we read what is probably the most quoted passage regarding Family Discipleship.
4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons 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 up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
This passage is known as the “Shema.” This is because “Shema” is the Hebrew translation of the imperative verb “Hear” at the beginning of verse 4. The imperative verb carries the force of a command. Thus, in this text, Israel is being called to hear and follow the truth that they are about to be made aware of.2 And what is it that they are made aware of? They were made aware of their responsibility to pass on the faith through their personal and vibrant devotion to God. Family Discipleship, as we see here, is not just us teaching our kids facts about God. Family Discipleship is undergirded by parents having a genuine relationship with God. As parents genuinely love God (v.4-5) and His Word (v.6), their love is to overflow to their children through the daily rhythms of life (v.7-9).
When Moses dies, he passes the baton of leadership in Israel to Joshua. Joshua, like Moses, instructs the people of God to memorialize the miraculous work of God. This time through an altar of 12 stones. As children would see the twelve stones, this memorial was to serve as a reminder of “God’s miraculous work in stopping up the Jordan River for the nation of Israel to cross. Once again, we see that parents were to point their children to God’s works for the purpose of putting before them the greatness of God.
The book of Proverbs serves as a great example of obedience to the emphasis upon Family Discipleship in the Scriptures like Deuteronomy 6:4-9 referenced above. Repeatedly, Solomon addressed his son (e.g., Proverbs 1:8, 10, 15; 2:1; 3:1; 5:1; 6:1: 7:1) to instruct him so that he and others might learn to fear the LORD (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10). The book of Proverbs, in many ways, illustrates a father in the OT taking the commandment of Deuteronomy 6 seriously:4-9. Speaking of Solomon’s obedience to Deuteronomy 6, Jim Hamilton’s words are extremely helpful, referring to Solomon, he writes, “He obeyed the words of God; he reformulated the teaching of these words in new and memorable ways; he advocated the joys and blessings of obedience; and, he illustrated the anguish that inevitably results from disobedience.”3
This brief survey of the OT teaching on Family Discipleship is enough to showcase God’s heart for Family Discipleship. While it is true that these instructions were for Old Testament Israel. It is equally true that Family Discipleship remains pertinent for New Testament Christians today (Eph. 6:4).
Because God has designed the family to be the primary shaping influence in children's lives, we must take this role seriously. Thus, may we pick up the mantle of responsibility that God has given to us to pass on the faith to the next generation that lives within our four walls!
1) Paul Renfro, Brandon Shields, Jay Strother, and Kevin Jones, Perspectives on Family Ministry: 3 Views, 2nd Edition. Timothy Jones (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2019), 18.
2) James Hamilton, “That the Coming Generation might Praise the Lord,” in Trained in the Fear of God: Family Ministry in Theological, Historical, and Practical Perspective, ed. Randy Stinson and Timothy Paul Jones (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2011), 36.
3) Hamilton, Trained in the Fear of God, 41.
