Bible Study, Dinner, Traditions, and the Supreme Court
Bible Study and Dinner Talk Question: How might our heritage of
liberty compare to the “birthright” of American families? Worth noting is this
lesson from forgotten history—the ancient example of Biblical parent Rebekah,
who guided her son Jacob to rescue the sacred birthright from destruction.
Isaac
told his son Esau to bring him venison, and then he would give his son a
blessing. Isaac, aged, blind, and dying, prepared to extend the birthright blessing
to the eldest son, as was the tradition. Rebekah, however, arranged that Jacob,
the younger brother, ended up receiving the birthright blessing. Rebekah’s motives
might appear on the surface to be unjustified. But she had reasons, and there
have been numerous instances since, in which the eldest did not receive the
birthright, because of unworthiness.
Selling the Birthright, by Matthias Stomer, 1640 |
A study
of this Bible story in Genesis reveals some sensible reasons behind Rebekah’s
actions. First, the Lord had told Rebekah that Jacob was to be the birthright
son. Second, many years before Isaac was to bestow this great, eternal blessing
on one of his sons, Esau had shown contempt for it by selling it to Jacob for a
hot meal of pottage. Dallin H. Oaks observed, “Many Esaus have
given up something of eternal value in order to satisfy a momentary hunger for
the things of this world.” Third, Esau married girls who were unbelievers, in
direct disobedience to his parents. Fourth, Esau persisted in wickedness,
without remorse.
Surely,
over the years, Isaac and Rebekah had sorrowed together a great deal over
Esau’s unworthy behavior. Lest we judge Rebekah too harshly, she had not
forgotten that the Lord had revealed to her the destiny of the righteous Jacob.
As parents do, she must have spent sleepless nights wondering how this would
come to pass, especially as time paced inexorably toward the appointed moment.
Perhaps by some miraculous means, the Lord would have brought about the
prophecy, if Rebekah had had more faith. But at length, the moment of decision
came. Isaac was dying, and perhaps he himself saw no way to change the
tradition, knowing of no precedent. Nevertheless, once Isaac discovered that he
had blessed the younger son, he continued to ratify the blessing. Rebekah was
willing to take full responsibility for ensuring that her revelation from God
was fulfilled.
In America today, our heritage of liberty might be compared to our sacred
birthright. Are we losing that heritage? If so, who is taking it, and what can
be done about the pottage replacing it?
What do epic heroes do? They save or rescue nations and peoples. But epic
heroism can also take place in a home, within a family. In rescuing the sacred
blessings of her family, Rebekah did a heroic act. Are today’s parents
confident that their children and grandchildren can enjoy, unfettered, the
hard-won heritage of freedom bequeathed by previous generations?
In today’s society of shifting values, most parents have serious misgivings
about the future of their families. In the Biblical type-scene, the birthright
blessings were in danger of falling into immoral hands. So it is today. When
did the birthright begin to slip from our grasp? There is a specific
event that breached the protective dike, so to speak.
In 1963 the United States Supreme Court banned prayer and Bible-reading from
public schools. Trying to avoid the “establishment of religion,” the Supreme
Court actually “prohibited the free exercise thereof,” and inadvertently
established atheism as the state religion. Countless teachers and students have
been punished for praying or reading the Bible in public schools.
When God was removed from the schools, so was accountability. Over time, as Constitutional principles have been replaced by philosophies of despotism, the slope toward the abyss of moral relativism has slickened, and slipping down it has accelerated. The destructive moral decline in our society can be traced back to the enforcement of atheism. What are the consequences of this enforced system of beliefs?
• The theory of evolution has been taught as fact almost exclusively in the schools. Equal time to examine creation or intelligent design has been denied.
• History is no longer taught in the schools. Christopher Columbus, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln are no longer honored by national holidays in most schools.
• Fornication and abortion are taught as acceptable behavior. Nevertheless, sexually active girls are three times more likely to take their own lives than those who are abstinent. Boys are eight times more likely. Two thirds of teens who have committed moral transgression wish they could go back to innocence again and desperately wish they had waited.
• Widespread abortion is considered by some government
leaders to be a national cost-saver
So, What Is to Be Done?
In the rising generation will be found tomorrow’s leaders. They are our hope
for the future. They are epic heroes in training. That training, also
known as character education, is not offered in schools, because the best
training manuals, containing the word of God, are banned in the
schools. Nevertheless, the pattern for our solution is found in the banned
books. Biblical prophets were trained at home, by their parents, or in Samuel’s
case, by a priest.
Parents can rescue their families from the onslaught of unholy
influences. It is simpler than you think. It doesn’t have to be formal
instruction. Think of it. Rebekah’s heroic act revolved around a meal. Just
gather for dinner daily and teach with scriptural epic stories, like Jesus did.
Copyright © 2011 by Christine
Davidson
C.A. Davidson is author of Epic
Stories for Character Education, a collection of scriptural epic stories
told in easy, dinner-talk style. Additional dinner talk topics for leadership training of young adults: book reviews, sociology and culture, world history, heritage, stress management, and family
traditions are provided in the Dinner Talk for Champions, a character education journal, and may be
found at http://www.epicworld.info
No comments:
Post a Comment