The true role of a man has been misconstrued today. Many Israelite men fit the common stereotype of not being able to get an education, keep a job, love or take care of a wife and children. Some drop out of school, are unable to make ends meet and get involved in criminal activity; filling the prison cells. Most blame society. The fault however lies within us, neglecting the word of God. It’s a destructive cycle that never ends and can only end when we desire to obey the commandments.
Let’s begin with the young man growing up.
Deuteronomy 6:4: “ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:”
verse 5: “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
verse 6: “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:”
verse 7: “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
This is the first step; educating the young man regarding the Most High’s laws. The same way he is educated regarding reading, writing and arithmetic. The Laws of God are to fill his mind .The parent must present the commandments with heartfelt joy and love. Then is the young man able to apply Exodus 20:12: “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”
In Matthew 15:4Christ taught “For God commanded, saying, Honor thy Father and Mother: and He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.”
Today our young men are killed or die unexpectedly as a result of their hatred and disrespect for their parents.
Peer pressure is heavy in society today but it’s the parents responsibility to teach regarding this topic according to God’s laws.
Exodus 23:2: “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:”
Following a multitude to do evil is peer pressure and must be taught while young, it will help keep the young man from making foolish one time mistakes that may cost him years in prison. For example gang initiation is common today let’s read the holy scriptures about that.
Proverbs 1:10: “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”
[don’t agree to follow those that disobey the commandments]
verse 11: “If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:”
verse 12: “Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:”
verse 13: “We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
[Meaning we shall rob them and furnish our own homes] “
verse 14: “Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:”
[Join our gangs and we’ll share what we stole]
verse 15: “My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:”
verse 16: “For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.”
verse 17: “Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.”
(a son taught Gods laws can’t be trapped by foolishness just as a bird can’t be trapped when the net is spread in it’s sight)
Verse 18: “And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
(They wait to harm their own people and their own lives will be required by the Lord.)”
Verse 19: “So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.”
As the young man matures he is to begin applying the responsibilities he’s learned from his parent(s) and the scriptures. Work for example.
2 Thessalonians 3:10: “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” Verse 11 “for we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busy bodies.”
Working is something the young man must understand was commanded us to do since Adam in Genesis 3:19: ” In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground;..” meaning work until you die!
Many young men haven’t learned the importance of honest work. In Christ, one of the purposes revealed is to be able to provide not just for yourself but for your neighbor also those things necessary to live.
Ephesians 4:28: “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.”
The responsibility of work eventually leads the young man to getting his own place to live. Many young men today shack up in some girlfriends house or a buddy of theirs and must be put out eventually usually during the coldest of seasons.
Ecclesiasticus 29:22: “Better is the life of a poor man in a mean cottage [a shabby run down place], than delicate fare in another man’s house.”
verse 23: ” Be it little or much, hold thee contented, that thou hear not the reproach of thy house.”
verse 24: “For it is a miserable life to go from house to house: for where thou art a stranger, thou darest not open thy mouth.”
verse 25: “Thou shalt entertain, and feast, and have no thanks: moreover thou shalt hear bitter words:”
verse 26: “Come, thou stranger, and furnish a table, and feed me of that thou hast ready.”
verse 27: “Give place, thou stranger, to an honourable man; my brother cometh to be lodged, and I have need of mine house.”
verse 28: “These things are grievous to a man of understanding; the upbraiding of houseroom, and reproaching of the lender.”
It’s a blessing to have your own place to live. Sometimes this comes with much patience but it comes none the less.
Titus 2:6: “Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. (understanding regarding God’s laws)”
verse 7: “In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewinguncorruptness (no deceit) , gravity (seriousness), sincerity,”
verse 8: ” Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.”
If the Youngman abides in the principles of the Lord anyone that is against the scriptures will be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of the young man because of his example.
Adulthood/manhood generally begins around the age of 20, and considering how well the Youngman applies the above mentioned laws to his life would determine whether or not he is able to take care of a wife and children. A man can be 40 years of age yet if he has none of the above mentioned attributes he is not marriage material.
Tobit 1:9: ” Furthermore, when I was come to the age of a man, I married Anna of mine own kindred, and of her I begat Tobias.”
Tobit learned the commandments from his youth up and when he was able and capable, he got married.
He taught the same laws to his son Tobias who also; when he became the age of a man, and was able to, got married.
Tobit 10:12: “And he said to his daughter, Honour thy father and thy mother in law, which are now thy parents, that I may hear good report of thee. And he kissed her. Edna also said to Tobias, The Lord of heaven restore thee, my dear brother, and grant that I may see thy children of my daughter Sara before I die, that I may rejoice before the Lord: behold, I commit my daughter unto thee of special trust; wherefore do not entreat her evil.”
Let’s examine Edna’s last statement to Tobias:
“I commit my daughter unto thee of special trust; wherefore do not entreat her evil.”
This statement shows us that even in Tobit’s time Domestic violence was an issue, whether physical abuse, verbal abuse, emotional or financial. Edna gave strict warning not to treat her daughter evil.
The Apostle Paul reminds us in
Ephesians 5:28: “So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.” Verse 29: ” For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it even as the Lord the church.”
Paul reminds men to love their wives the same way they love their own bodies, with the same care.
The young man has taken on a great responsibility once he marries a wife. His emotional and financial support extends from her to their children she will one day bear as well as his own family. It is a sin not to take care of your family.
There are situations today of men separated or divorced having children with a another woman etc. and the children of the wife he separated from suffer as a result.
Deuteronomy 21:15: “If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:”
verse 16: “Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:”
verse 17: “But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.”
1 Timothy 5:8: “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”
So there is no such thing as dead beat dads in Christ. He has denied Christ and is worse than an unbeliever.
Now in adulthood the plan for man continues according to the commandments when he has children with his wife, teaching them the law just as his father taught him. Abraham was a good example to men. The Lord even acknowledged him.
Genesis 18:19: “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”
Titus 2:1: ” But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:
The sound doctrine is the Most High’s commandments which carry on with the man even when he becomes elderly.”
verse 2: “That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.”
Let us continue this righteous cycle, and so let us be delivered.
