SOLOMON’S WORDS ON FATHERS
Solomon had much to say about fathers. It is very evident that he taught fathers to teach and train their children (Prov. 22:6). The news today is replete with the conditions of fatherhood in the 21st Century. Recently in the Atlanta area a man driving while drunk had an accident and killed his fifteen year old daughter and another is in serious condition. This father probably had never read the book of Proverbs or even the Bible. Just one of many illustrations.
While there is much instruction in the Bible regarding fathers responsibility (Deut. 6; Joshua 24:15; Eph. 6:1-4) Solomon has a lot to say to children. Note:
1:8 – “Hear the instruction of thy father”
6:20 – “Keep thy fathers commandments”
13:1 – “A wise son heareth his father’s instruction”
15:5 – “A fool despiseth his father’s instruction”
17:21 – “The father of a fool hath no joy”
17:25 – “A foolish son is a grief to his father”
19:13 – “A foolish son is a calamity”
Two famous Bible fathers had sons who did not follow in their father’s footsteps. It is recorded of Eli, judge over Israel, “For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not[emphasis mine LA]” (1 Sam. 3:13). You would think that Samuel would have learned from Eli’s mistake but not so for it is said, “And his sons walked not is his ways, but turned aside after lucre and took bribes, and perverted judgment” (1 Sam. 8:3).
Yet in a wicked world it is possible to rear faithful children. We read of Noah, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (Heb. 11:7).
As Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter…” (Ecc.12:13); “The Proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother” (Prov. 10:1).
Larry