There are many opinions on what things are needed in the Messianic “movement” over the next few decades. I don’t think I’m an expert on this subject at all, but I do have some opinions as a mother and as a “teacher” at HomeschoolingTorah.
I get goosebumps as I think about the potential we mothers (and fathers) have in raising up an entire generation of children whose “first language” is the Torah and obedience to it. For most of us, we grew up without ever knowing what the Torah was. Only in recent years did we discover its joys, and we’re still very new to all that it contains.
I wonder what it would be like to have only known the Torah, the Sabbath and Appointed Times, and an expectation of our soon coming Messiah to set up His kingdom and restore all things. Yet this is what our children will experience, especially the very young ones.
Do you realize what an opportunity we have? Think about the horrible truth behind what Hitler once said:
“When an opponent declares, ‘I will not come over to your side.’ I calmly say, ‘Your child belongs to us already… What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community.’” ~ Adolf Hitler
Yet YHWH has placed each of your precious children into your home “for such a time as this” so that you could train them, teach them, and cultivate them for great and mighty purposes in His kingdom!
What things do I personally hope will be cultivated in this generation?
- Pastors and Teachers — We so badly need congregations meeting locally for fellowship and protection! We need to raise up a generation of children with high character and leadership skills, as listed in 1 Timothy 3:1-15. Maybe we mothers could even use the lists in these verses as we methodically teach and train our children. We also need to encourage some of our young men toward occupations that would allow them to also lead local congregations.
- Skillful in the Word — We need children who have been trained to think, to evaluate worldviews as the Bereans did (Acts 17:11) and to communicate those worldviews effectively to others, like Priscilla and Aquila did for Apollos (Acts 18:24-26) or like Paul did in Greek Athens (Acts 17). We need children who will not be influenced to add to or subtract from any of YHWH’s Word but will rightly interpret the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15). We need writers and theologians who can clearly articulate our beliefs and doctrines, even founding seminaries and training schools.
- Evangelists — We need children who will have a heart of love for unbelievers beyond the Messianic and Christian circles, those who are completely lost without any realization of their need for Yeshua. We Messianics are currently effective in sharing our beliefs on Facebook with our church-going friends, but we need to lift up our eyes to the nations. We need church planters, missionaries, and founders of orphanages. We need them globally, and we certainly need them terribly even in the United States. To accomplish this, our children need to be firmly grounded in Torah and in the Hebrew and Greek languages (for Scripture translation and study) but also in other world languages and cultures.
- “Skilled Craftsman” — Jeremiah 29:4-14 says that when we are in exile from the land of Israel, we are to “build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.” We are to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.” I pray that the graduates of Torah-observant households will be skilled at whatever they put their hands to. We badly need scientists, archaeologists, researchers, writers, and historians who have a firm basis in creation and all of YHWH’s Torah. We need builders, architects, farmers, city planners, and health professionals with an unshakable conviction in the righteous business practices of Torah.
- Husbands and Wives — Yes, we need godly men and women to raise up our grandchildren! Oh, it is the cry of my heart that my children and my grandchildren will stay true to YHWH and obedient to Him in all they do! However, a key piece in this is that my sons will find believing wives and that my daughters will find believing husbands. I pray daily that our children’s spouses are growing up now in homes where their parents are teaching them from the Torah and pointing them faithfully toward Yeshua as their Savior and Messiah. (Maybe they’re growing up in one of your houses! <wink>)
“The kingdom of God is much bigger than you or I,” said Hebrew teacher Izzy Avraham this week on his Facebook wall. This is very true, but the Father is pleased to give us the kingdom. As Joshua encouraged the people to go out and conquer the land, I want to encourage each of you to lift up your eyes to the greater Kingdom mission of which you’re a part every day.
Homeschooling is more than math and history. Homeschooling is more than schedules and diapers and craft projects. Homeschooling is Kingdom Building! What are you doing today to build His kingdom?
