The Necessity For Godly Fathers-1

The NECESSITY For GODLY FATHERS—I—Malachi 3:13—4:6

Attention/Need:

Our society lives under the mistaken belief that there is no realistic need for fathers & that a home is just fine without them.

Generally, en themselves have reached a point where they believe that they are basically no more than sperm donors...no impact, no responsibility. They can enter & leave a relationship at will & there is no harm done & it is probably for the best. Tentative relationships are rampant, accepted & even sought out. ‘Living together’ before marriage has become so commonplace that it is expected by a great majority of our country & has grown so commonplace that the Church has come to accept it.

I know of one woman who was single, had always been single & wanted a child. But she did not want to get married, seeing no need for the presence of a father in the home. She was perfectly confident that she could raise a child in a home with no fatherly input or support!

However, just the opposite is true! We are now discovering that a lack of fatherly influence in the home is severely detrimental to families, which in turn is severely detrimental to our society as a whole! We are reaping the ‘benefits‘ of our irresponsibilities. Something the Church has known & proclaimed since the beginning!

The/A Future with Godly Fathers

The prophet Malachi disclosed the importance of godly fathers to every aspect of mankind’s existence.

Godly fathers are vital to our existence.

What makes godly fathers so vital for our existence?

4 validations that godly fathers are vital for our existence.

1—Godly Fathers are vital for...

OPPOSITION(3:13-15)

Explanation:(3:13-15)Oppose the opposition/Stand against

“13—“Your words have been harsh against Me,” Says the LORD, “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ “

YaHoWeH God’s own people have spoken disdainfully both openly & privately in opposition to Him.

This is information which YaHWeH Himself has stated to his messenger Malachi.

Jude 14-15—“Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, “to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, & of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.””

God chides them for even having the nerve to approach Him innocently. They are—either actually or feignedly— taken aback with unbelief asking exactly what it is that they have “spoken against” Him. If it is feigned then they are presumptuous. If they are actually unaware then their ignorance is due to their own apathy & lack of interest in their quest for relationship with God as His people. Either way Opposes Him.

“Words”—rbd daw-baw'—N. m.—1) Speech, word, speaking, thing. Strong—A word; by implication, A matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, A cause.

“Harsh/Stout/Arrogant”—qzx khaw-zak'—1) To strengthen, prevail, harden, be strong, become strong, be courageous, be firm, grow firm, be resolute, be sore. Strong—To fasten upon; hence, To seize, be strong (figuratively, Courageous, causatively Strengthen, cure, help, repair, fortify), obstinate; to bind, restrain, conquer.

“Spoken”—rbd daw-bar'—V—1) To speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing—1b) (Niphal) To speak with one another, talk. Strong—perhaps properly, To arrange; but used figuratively (of words), To speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) To subdue.

“The Niphal form of the verb implies that these things were said, not directly to God, but of God, to one another.”—JFB

:14—“You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, And that we have walked as mourners Before the LORD of hosts?”

YaHWeH knows the conversations of the people which they have spoken among themselves.

They have openly declared to one another that it is vain/useless to “serve God.” This assumes an attitude to their national(at least for the detractors) God who is YaHWeH. He is only their God in a political sense but not in a personal & practical sense.

These who view God so bleakly not surprisingly, also see the various means of attending to His service as a “profitless” endeavor. Why live the way God desires if we do not believe? They view God as a means to their own end for “profit” only. They have not gotten their desire, & therefore see serving Him as of no use.

These disclose that their lives have been lived before YaHWeH as merely superficial mourners of their sin & feigned reverence. Their inward reality was quite different from His true worshipers. There is no attachment of their hearts to YaHWeH & therefore there is none to His desire. His way is burdensome to them rather than joyful thankfulness.

How odd that they refer to their distant God 1)as “God,” 2)as self-existent(YaHWeH) & 3)as being head over the very “hosts” of heaven, yet do not take to heart the meaning of those terms that fall from their very lips.