"Decay Of The Family Altar."

by Fullerton, T. W. | Category: General | Nov 1955

A striking illustration caught my attention, the caption of which was, "Decay of the Family Altar." There stood on the edge of a precipice, precariously balanced, a house, the ground crumbling away beneath it. It took but little imagination to anticipate that in a short space of time there would be disaster.

Much responsibility for the perpetuation of spiritual life in Israel fell upon the heads of families: and here we have one of the direct commandments of the LORD, who was so interested in His people, in their children, and their children's children.

Deuteronomy 6.6-9 :"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thine heart: 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. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thy house, and upon thy gates."

How much there was to talk about, found in the book of the law! Their bondage in Egypt, Jehovah's intervention on their behalf, the plagues, the passover, the Red Sea, the destruction of Egypt's might, provision in the desert, the tabernacle and its service: the scope of conversation was inexhaustible. When this commandment of the LORD was given through Moses the LORD knew, and the spiritually minded of Israel would enter into those thoughts, that the day would come when succeeding generations, who had not had personal knowledge and experience of Israel's deliverances, would have much contact with surrounding nations who knew not the LORD, and that there would be inevitable bad consequences; but in the practical carrying out of the word of the LORD as recorded above lay the antidote to counteract those evil influences. The word of the LORD and the continual reiteration of His doings in Israel were to be an integral part of home and family and national life; a story which would never grow old, but be an ever-recurring cause of joy and delight and thanksgiving to the generations following. We will not enlarge upon the fact that eventually Israel's declension was due to departure from the LORD and to forgetting and forsaking the word of. the LORD: firstly in the family, and consequently in the nation.

We turn to the New Testament, and we find Paul the apostle saying to the Colossians (3.16), "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another." Also to the Ephesians he writes, "Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but nurture then in the chastening and admonition of the Lord" (6.4). The apostle knew the inevitable influence of the world and its ways upon the people of God and their posterity. In the word of the Lord lay the antidote.

Timothy had from a babe known the Sacred Writings (2 Timothy 3.15). The knowledge of the Sacred Writings was passed down through succeeding generations, and from grandmother to mother and to grandson (see chapter 1.8).

The portions to which we have referred in Old and New Testaments have lessons for us. Today spiritual life is at a low ebb; in many quarters spiritual standards are very low. In days that are past there were deep searchings and resolves of heart amongst many children of God. The word of the Lord, the Bible, was part and parcel of family life. The children were gathered around daily to hear the Scriptures read in the home; then there was prayer with them, thanksgiving to God for the gift of His Son, for temporal blessings, prayer for the work of the Lord, and the salvation and discipleship of the children, and the salvation and blessing of men in general. Thus the children of Christian parents learned the way of salvation and were fortified against the day when they would go out to face the winds of temptation. This was not all, for Christian parents also realized the need for personal and private time alone with God. It is still so in many homes today, but we fear that such homes are becoming fewer. Modern business takes toll of time, erratic hours of work present a difficulty; but Christian parents who look to the spiritual welfare of the children (and in anticipation of the need, should the Lord not come), of the generation following to be saved and equipped with the word of the Lord, will readily perceive the need to repair the "family altar," lest their households become a prey to the great enemy and deceiver of men, and children of the homes, from which they should have gone forth as "arrows from the hand of a mighty man" (see Psalm 127.), provide often more wreckage. on the sands of time and the shores of eternity.

Fullerton, T. W. | Nov 1955
General