Question

What does the Lord have to say concerning public or private schooling vs. home-schooling?

Answer

Scripture does not provide a clear-cut literal answer to the above question. However, there are a few parameters we must take into account when addressing issues such as the one raised by the visitor's question. These parameters are studied below. They might seem to be completely unrelated to the original question, but, as we complete the answer to the question, you will hopefully see how they do indeed relate to the issue at hand.

Because of its Puritanical roots, the American Church has had a tendency to isolate herself from the rest of the world for fear of contamination. The Lord does declare that we must abhor spiritual contamination and stay away from it, as shown by the following passages:

"²²And of some have compassion, making a difference: ²³And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." (Jude 1:22-23)

However, our avoidance of any uncleanness must not be predicated on an elitist sense of inherent superiority over others:

As we have studied before, Scripture reveals that there are two levels of righteousness. You can reach Level-1 righteousness by worrying about your own righteousness, but you can only reach Level-2 righteousness by worrying about the righteousness of others. The Pharisee in the parable had Level-1 righteousness; he was concerned about his own "cleanliness" before God, but he was not at all concerned about the righteousness of the people around him, especially of the publican who was nearby. When you remain stuck at Level-1 righteousness, an "unrighteous bubble" begins to form around you. Your "moral success" causes you to feel superior to the people around you, and you begin to believe that you were born with certain "genes" or "abilities" that other mortals do not possess. As you stand on this higher pedestal, you feel like a billionaire executive standing on a rooftop heliport waiting for the helicopter that will take you to God's presence, away from the inferior plebeians on the street below.

As we have shared before, God's operations of righteousness in us are predicated on exposing our weakness, not our strength, before God. The nature of God is manifested in us as we submit in weakness under the mighty hand of God and we allow Him to operate in and through us.

"⁸For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. ⁹And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12:8-10)

"And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me" (Ezekiel 8:1)

[Notice the double reference to the number "6", which, as we have said before, is a number of "human weakness". Notice also the reference to the number "5", which, as we have said before, is a number of ministerial grace, which correlates with the "elders of Judah" who sat before Ezekiel. Whilst the "elders of Judah" stood on their "ministerial privilege", Ezekiel, the true elder of God, stood on his human weakness submitted under the mighty hand of God.]

Weakness is an "absence of ability", a "poverty of resources". Therefore, weakness is a "universal human attribute" attainable by any human being. It is a matter of choice, not privilege. As you realise this, you will not feel comfortable watching others operating in unrighteousness. Why? Because you will know that all they need to abandon unrighteousness is to humbly submit in weakness. You will exert spiritual pressure on the people around you to surrender, just as you have. You will expose yourself to much frustration in your life, because frustration requires an expectation, and expectation requires the recognition of potentiality. You cannot get frustrated over a dog not solving an arithmetic problem because you do not expect a dog to have the potential to solve such a problem, but you will most definitely become frustrated if your 10-year-old son is still struggling with simple multiplication; you will constantly be on the boy's case, telling him to pull his socks up, especially if you perceive him to be a bright lad.

The "unrighteous-bubble" life is a comfortable life in which you automatically discard the potential of others and save yourself the frustration of seeing others not living up to their potential. As the Pharisee (mentioned in Luke 18:9-14) stood at the temple, he was fully satisfied, he was not hungry. He couldn't care less if the publican nearby died without entering into a life of righteousness. Not only did he not care, he relished the fact that the publican was a visible "moral failure" because it served as proof to him that he was somehow born with "superior" moral genes.

Oftentimes, the American Church behaves as if America were an "inherently Christian" nation, a nation inherently superior to "heathen Europe", that "filthy" continent filled with "God-hating anti-religious humanists". This has led to a spirit of isolationism, a spirit that has taken hold of America on various occasions during its history, including the first years of World War 2, and it is the spirit that has blinded America from understanding God's invisible operations in the UK and Europe. As we have shared before, this isolationist spirit is still prevalent throughout the American South, and it was one of the driving forces that led to God declaring civil war over America.

God did not set up the Church as a "nice refuge" where all the "decent" people can huddle together whilst the rest of the world disintegrates into purposeless chaos. Neither was it God's purpose for the Church to act as an army of people bent on having every inhabitant of the Earth repeating the "sinner's prayer". God's purposes go way beyond that, for His plan is that the entire atmosphere of the Earth (not just church buildings) be filled with His fearsome presence and glory. God has sent His believing remnant on a quest to retake the entire Earth, not just a few people here and there. God's purpose is not for "everyone to go to church", but for everyone to be His Church, His temple, the place where He abides.

"⁷I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. ⁸Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. ⁹Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel." (Psalm 2:7-9)

Thus, every believer's goal should not be to lead a clean, moral life in order to be taken out of this world in the "Rapture" before all hell breaks loose on Earth. We are the expansive force placed in this Earth to wage warfare until all the principalities in the air have been obliterated and God's Glory fills the Earth:

Even if we are physically tied to a specific geographic location, and even if the scope of our physical work is limited to a specific region, our hearts should be expansive in nature, constantly looking in the Spirit towards the nations of the Earth. As spirit beings, we are not limited by time or space, and we have the ability (and calling) to impact the entire globe. Therefore, any attitude or paradigm that encloses you in a religious bubble will eventually destroy your eternal calling, and it will eventually turn you into a staunch enemy of God's expansive work, even if you do not "mean" to do so.

Necessary isolation

Just as there is unrighteous isolationism, there is also righteous isolation.

Notice how the Lord calls us to "flee out of the midst of Babylon" and to "deliver every man his soul" (v6). This speaks of isolation in the face of impending judgment, an isolation in which you stop worrying about others and focus primarily on your own escape. Notice, however, that this self-imposed isolation and the forsaking of one's neighbours comes only after a fierce attempt to restore them; this is why the Spirit and Jeremiah say, "We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed" (v9). Once those around you staunchly refuse to be healed, you must forsake them, for their refusal of your efforts trigger the "time of the Lord's vengeance" upon them (v6).

"⁴And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. ⁵And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them." (Luke 19:4-5)

[Notice that the Lord doesn't say, "When they reject you, tell them that I love them no matter what; pray for prosperity and success in their lives; win them over with loooooove"]

"⁴¹The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. ⁴²The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. ⁴³ When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. ⁴⁴Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. ⁴⁵Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation." (Matthew 12:41-45)

"²⁶And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. ²⁷And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. ²⁸But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. ²⁹For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. ³⁰Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. ³¹For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" (Luke 23:26-31)

After Noah preached judgments and justice and was ignored, he entered an isolation bubble known as "Noah's ark", leaving the world he knew behind, forsaking it to the wrath of God's vindicating revenge, the shocking revenge that those in the world deemed themselves undeserving of.

"³And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. ⁴For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; ⁵And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; ⁶And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; ⁷And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: ⁸(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) ⁹The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished" (2 Peter 2:3-9)

From all of the above, we can conclude that there are times when God will send us into periods of righteous isolation, but those periods will come after we have made every effort (in Christ) to restore our surroundings. When God calls His people into "spiritual hibernation", it is a sign of God's utter condemnation of the surroundings, and it is a sign of an impending devastation. During these spiritual hibernations, God's people are to be more concerned about self-preservation than about the restoration of those around them. "Every man for himself, lest you perish with the rest!" (Jeremiah 51:6).

It is no spiritual coincidence that a news story recently broke worldwide regarding a Japanese man who survived for 24 days without food or water in the wild by falling into a state of "hibernation". Whilst the Amorite-Hittite bears roam about in intimidating fashion shortly before their fall, God's people are to enter into bear-like hibernation in order to escape from the Amorite bears' paws as God prepares His revenge against these arrogant bears.

"²⁰Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. ²¹For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." (Isaiah 26:20-21)

{You can read about the Japanese "hibernator" on bbc.news.uk, which posted the story on December 21, 2006. According to information posted on usatoday.com, the man was released from hospital and returned to his desk job on December 20, 2006. We are writing these words on December 22, 2006.}

The spirit of unrighteous isolation mentioned above leads to a spiritual disease called "Christian Nation Syndrome" (CNS). As evidenced by the Terri Schiavo situation in 2005, the American Church sincerely believes that the key to "re-Christianising" America lies in enacting "moral" legislation. This mentality is based on the myth that things were OK in America's "good ol' days" and that we all should fight to get back to those days. This is what makes most American Christians proud to be called "conservatives"; they believe in "conserving" the status quo and in preventing changes. These believers, however, don't understand that today's decay is the product of yesterday's staleness. In a sense, America was OK before, just as it is OK for a young 5-year old lad to have problems counting beyond 50. However, if the lad is 10 and he still has trouble counting beyond 50, no sensible person would still say that it was "OK". In order to stop growing in God, you must be willing to harbour and defend destructive elements in your heart. A person fully yielded to God will inevitably grow because God will be causing him or her to go "from glory to glory". The God of Israel is an expansive, all-encompassing God. He is not a static idol that can be boxed in within a specific religious framework. Therefore, non-growth requires a deliberate rebellion against God. Silent and "harmless" as that rebellion may seem, it is still rebellion, and it manifests itself in angry and vitriolic revenge whenever it is confronted by God's yielded and growing remnant.

[Notice how the path of the just is one of constant growth, one in which the Light of God reveals more and more understanding until we are perfected (i.e.- completed) in Him; the path of the just is one of constant apokalypsis (i.e.- revelation). By contrast, the way of the wicked is enveloped in the darkness of comfortable ignorance. Since the wicked stop growing spiritually, they haven't the slightest clue as to what hit them when tragedy strikes. To those of stunted growth, the world becomes one of "random" and "unexplainable" occurrences in which tragedies and problems arise (and remain) for no good reason at all. They cluelessly stumble upon "stuff", and they know not when it got there or where it came from. Those in perennial religious ignorance can do nothing but "rebuke the devil", hoping for the problem to somehow go away. They wander about in the blindness of Canaanite ignorance, Sodom-style (Genesis 19:11).

To the just (i.e.- to those who grow in God's judgments and justice), the "roots" of the Earth are progressively laid bare before them, and the "chaotic myriad" of events around them gain more and more sense. They begin to understand the spiritual laws in operation behind the apparently "arbitrary" events that happen all around them. Why? Because, "laws", "justice", and "judgments" are all intricately related. There can be no justice without judgments, and there can be no judgments without laws. As you seek to understand and operate in God's judgments, He begins to reveal the spiritual laws and principles from which His righteous judgments are derived. Anyone who abhors judgments will inevitably warp his spiritual mind, destroying his mind's ability to understand spiritual laws. The mind of the just is constantly enlightened to understand the spiritual laws that govern God's creation. By contrast, the mind of the wicked turns into an imploding black hole of darkness in which you are clueless about the world around you; thus, you end up worrying about no one but yourself, and, even in that self-absorption, your mind remains clueless about most things happening in your own life.]

God's plan for America (and the world) is so overwhelming and comprehensive that it escapes the earthly gravitational pull of the "conservative American Church". God's plan is not to have a "Christian" president and a "Christian" Congress enacting "moral" legislation. His plan is for a nation in which His presence is so thick that no one can do a single thing without immediately experiencing God's favourable or unfavourable judgments. His plan is for a nation in which people are automatically thinking about and longing for God, without the need for a law being passed by Congress forcing people to "pray" or "believe in a God". God's plan, however, requires the waging of painful spiritual warfare that clears up the spiritual atmosphere, plucking out the cursed matriarchal roots (and people) that are hindering His presence. Once the spiritual atmosphere is taken care of, legislation in the natural realm will take care of itself. Abortion, the teaching of evolution as "science", and stem-cell research are obviously wrong, but the strategy the Church is using to fight against these evils is all wrong too. Just like the UK, America has strong Christian roots, but it has never been a "Christian nation". If the American Church knew what the phrase "Christian nation" really means in God's vocabulary, they would stop using it when referring to America's past. In the latter days, God will raise up true "Christian nations", nations under the fullness of the Anointing, and, when that happens, all the conservatives who are fighting to "re-Christianise America" will look like fools. God does not want believers fighting to reinstate the "good ol' days". He is doing something new (Isaiah 43:18-19), and no one seems to be interested in hearing what that new thing is. Whilst conservatives are fighting for a "New Constantinople", God's remnant are fighting for a "New Jerusalem".

The key to "Christianising" America, the UK, and the nations of the Earth is clearly indicated in Scripture, yet most believers are unable and unwilling to accept God's key:

"⁵A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength. ⁶For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety." (Proverbs 24:5-6)

As we have said before, wisdom is for the making of judgments, and judgments burn away unrighteousness and "incompleteness" in order to bring forth full righteousness, and full righteousness is what God calls "good". As you grow in God's judgments, you become zealous over both the value and the danger of "little things". As you grow in God's wisdom, you will fully understand that a little bit of leaven leavens the whole lump (1 Corinthians 5:6-7). This is the reason why the verse above speaks of "one sinner destroying much good". Those who operate in God's wisdom will not rest content if one source of unrighteousness is roaming about, just as a responsible housewife will not rest content knowing that a rat has entered her home. It may be one rat, but that one rat will cause much damage and be a terrible health hazard. As revealed by the verse above, God's wisdom will automatically create a tremendous zeal for righteousness in your heart. You will be willing to "slay" one in order to redeem many, because you will know the much damage that that "one" will cause.

"The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth" (Ecclesiastes 7:4)

[This verse is not promoting "sadness" per se. Instead, it is an indictment against a happiness birthed out of a Felix-style contentment that rejoices in left-handed grace but is reluctant to hear about God's right-handed judgments and justice (Acts 24:22-25). This type of contentment is willing to "live with" rats of unrighteousness as long as they remain out of plain sight, and only becomes upset when the number of rats grows to overly troublesome and un-ignorable levels. As you become used to this spirit of contentment, God's "warrior" nature is slowly drained out of you, to the point that you become like a lifeless soldier, a harmless mannequin that is no threat to satan or his cohorts. Wisdom will be drained out of you, and you will have no "weapons of war" (Ecclesiastes 9:18) in your spiritual arsenal. Thus, all your clamouring for "revival" and "spiritual restoration" in the land shall become like a vain and powerless shout, a shout that is laughingly dismissed by satan, and an irritating sound in the ears of God, for His name is put to shame when the people who call themselves by His name go out unarmed, making "fools" of themselves before the cursed enemy.]

"¹³Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. ¹⁴And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. ¹⁵And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? ¹⁶And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded." (Acts 19:13-16)

"¹²For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it. ¹³Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?" (Ecclesiastes 7:12-13)

"Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city" (Ecclesiastes 7:19)

[Ecclesiastes is a book specifically designed by God to be sorely misunderstood if interpreted with a literal mind. Just as Ecclesiastes 7:4 (quoted above) is not endorsing "sadness", the passage above is not declaring that women are inherently "evil". As we have shared before, "woman" in Scripture is often a figure of the soul, whilst "man" is a figure of the spirit. Therefore, the verse above is a warning on the dangers of allowing the soul ("woman") to rule over the spirit ("man"). The fact that this verse appears in Ecclesiastes 7, in the context of the "wisdom" verses quoted above, means that a heart which allows the soul to rule becomes unable to operate in God's wisdom. When the "female" ministries of pastor and teacher dominate over the "male" ministries, the Canaanite (distorted-pastor) and Girgashite (distorted-teacher) spirits begin to wreak havoc. The Canaanite spirit begins to ensnare the hearts of men, prompting them to focus on the emotional pleasure derived from pleasing each other rather than on living by one's convictions; the pleasantness of soul communion turns into a "snare" used by Amorite-Canaanites to "net" and rule over the hearts of men. Once the prey has been captured, the Girgashite spirit ties its hands with "bands" of human traditions and protocols, bands of religious works that keep people's minds occupied, making them feel as if they are fulfilling their obligations towards God. These works make people feel as if they are serving the Spirit, without realising that they are actually serving the matriarchal souls of those who have ensnared them. They are serving "woman" (the soul) rather than "man" (the Spirit of God).

As we have shared before, "bitterness" in Scripture is often related to souls that resent God's judgments. Canaanites abhor judgments; therefore, as the Canaanite pastoral spirit is allowed to rule, the souls of men become bitter against God's judgments. As we have said before, "death" is a spiritual separation. Therefore, the phrase "more bitter than death" is declaring that the Canaanite spirit causes men to erect a "bitterness" barrier between God and them, a self-erected barrier that keeps them from fulfilling their own destiny. Man was created to become One with the righteous God of judgments (Psalm 82, Ephesians 4:24), and anyone who erects a bitterness barrier to shield himself from the God of judgments is sabotaging his own destiny. When you die voluntarily, you have the hope of resurrection, meaning that the bitterness of death is overcome by the hope of regenerated life. When you "hold on for dear life", refusing to die at the hand of God's sword of judgments, you set yourself up for a bitterness that has no hope of redemption, for you will find yourself fighting against the Truth (Matthew 10:39).]

From all of the above, we can see that a believer who has yet to escape from the clutches of the pastoral matriarchy is an impotent warrior. God's war arsenal is His wisdom, and God's wisdom cannot operate through a matriarchal soul that is unwilling to release judgments into the Earth. "Christian nations" cannot arise without God's "male" wisdom and judgments (Exodus 15:3). Matriarchal souls can, at best, hope for a return to the "good ol' days", but that is no wise a return to a "Christian nation", whether that nation be the US, the UK, or any nation on the face of the Earth. God is not interested in self-absorbed "monastery nations" that preserve an artificial "Christianity" by emphasising old traditions that evoke patriotic pride. God is, instead, interested in anointed nations conquered through spiritual judgments (1 Corinthians 2:14-16, Psalm 105:7, Habakkuk 2:14), nations who serve as conduits for the un-containable Spirit of God into all the corners of the Earth.

Around a year ago, a sister in Christ from Australia kept having a vision of the American flag. The vision (posted on www.ourchurch.com) is dated December 18, 2005, which is 5 days before December 23, 2005, the day when America's 4-year delay was sealed for good. The Lord had me reading this vision around that time, and, as I would read the vision, I would see the American flag fiercely waving in a strong wind at the top of a flagpole, and the phrase that would come to my mind would be "American pride". I then understood that the flag was symbolising the reason why God was unable to fully penetrate the American spiritual atmosphere in 2005: the American Church was too full of her "American self" to understand God's purposes. She was fighting for a return to the "Christian America" of old. She was trying to turn America into a huge "Bible Belt" by emphasising patriotic pride in America's "Christian traditions". The American Church wanted to stand on the foundation of its Southern-Cain traditions to form a "Bubba Belt", with its "Dallas-style" ministers acting as the "Bubba Belt Buckle". God, however, was not interested in a self-enclosed "Bubba Belt" preaching a simplistic, bubble-gum gospel for perennially-immature believers. He wanted an ever-expansive beam of light that radiated His complex and uncontainable glory across the Earth. Unfortunately, those whose matriarchal souls suffer from CNS are unable to understand this. Without the exposing and the dethroning of the soul-exalting pastoral ministry, no "Christian nations" can arise, for it is not a matter of "returning" to old, historical ways, but rather a matter of finding the ancient (i.e.- eternal) ways of God, the 3-dimensional ways of God that fall completely outside the 2-dimensional maps of matriarchal souls.

The visitor's question (at the top of this word) mentions 3 levels of schooling: public, private, and home schooling. Based on all of the above, we can safely say that choosing home schooling by default simply because "the world is evil" and "we Christians are good" is not Scriptural. We are called to be "spiritual expansionists", and any isolationist spirit derived from a sense of "inherent superiority" is contrary to the Spirit of God. We are not "believers" because we were created superior to the "heathen" from birth. We are believers because we at one point surrendered in weakness, and we grow as believers as we continue to surrender in weakness, meaning that being a "believer" is something available to all. The "heathen" are not vile "untouchables" belonging to an inferior "caste". Thus, we must seek isolation only in circumstances where our surroundings are beyond redemption, and, even so, our desire for isolation must be temporary in nature. We must long for the day when we are able to peek our head out of the "hibernation hole", just as Noah was anxious for the day when he would walk out into a new world free of unrighteousness and full of opportunities for growth and expansion. It was not Noah's intention to stay inside that physical wooden ark for all eternity.

Therefore, the decision on which level of schooling is appropriate depends on specific circumstances that vary from case to case. Whatever schooling may be chosen, however, it should always be taken into account that the parents' spiritual responsibility over a child is "transcendent", even when the child is not being schooled at home.

"¹Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. ²For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. ³For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. ⁴He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. ⁵Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. ⁶Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. ⁷Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. ⁸Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. ⁹She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. ¹⁰Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. ¹¹I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. ¹²When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. ¹³Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life." (Proverbs 4:1-13)

Notice that the Lord places the onus of the child's upbringing on the father and the mother, not on the school system. The effects of the parents' influence on the child's life should go with the child wherever he or she goes, even when the parents are not physically present. They are to be as an "ornament" on the child's head and as "chains" about his or her neck (v9). They are to be constantly over and around the child. As indicated by verses 8 and 9, the child has the option of rejecting the parents' "ornament of grace" and "chains". By doing so, however, the child is rejecting the "grace" that hovers over a person's life when he or she willingly surrenders under God's judgments. This exposes the child to God's "forcible" judgments, and the parents are the primary agents on Earth responsible for channelling these "forcible" judgments into the child's life.

"In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding" (Proverbs 10:13)

"He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes" (Proverbs 13:24)

"¹³Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. ¹⁴Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell." (Proverbs 23:13-14)

"The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame" (Proverbs 29:15)

The "rod" mentioned in the passages above goes beyond mere "corporal punishment". Even though the rod may on occasions have "physical manifestations", it is in essence a spiritual rod, and, as such, it is capable of transcending space, dealing out judgment that penetrates to the deepest parts of men's hearts, far, far deeper than any literal rod:

"³For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, ⁴In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁵To deliver such an one unto satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. ⁶Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" (1 Corinthians 5:3-6)

In Proverbs, the Spirit of God declares the following:

The word "life" in the verse above was translated from the Hebrew word nephesh, which literally means "soul", and is the same word used in Scripture when referring to the souls of humans. The word "beast" was translated from the word behemah, which is used in Scripture to refer to animals in general (and is derived from another word meaning "to be mute"). This certifies that animals do indeed have souls. Just as with humans, the souls of animals have 3 components. Animals are capable of thinking and of putting together trains of thought, as evidenced by their communal organisations and by their predatory tactics, meaning that they do have a mind. Anyone who has cared for an animal also knows that they have emotions; they can be joyous or sad, angry or content, expectant or frustrated. They also have a heart because they are capable of making decisions. However, their decision-making skills operate at a much more instinctive and fuzzily-arbitrary level. As opposed to humans, they are unable to make decisions of "independence", meaning that they are incapable of "fashioning a world of their own". They remain forever bound, in some way or another, to the instinctive forces raging within them and to the circumstantial forces around them. They lack the ability to take dominion over the forces within and outside of them. They are beholden to the world that is shaped for them by others (namely God and humans), and that is what makes them different from humans. Their hearts are incapable of making PDICs ("proactive decisions of independent conquest").

As we have studied before, humans' ability to "fashion a world of their own" is related to the wisdom that we can contain in our souls. Therefore, a heart that rejects wisdom and judgments slowly degrades into the heart of an animal.

Thus, the phrase "poor of heart" in Proverbs 10:13 (in the original Hebrew text) is referring to an "animalised heart". Those who are "poor of heart" are those who deliberately belittle the invisible until they lose the wisdom that distinguishes them from animals. Evolutionists have no qualms about saying that humans evolved from apes because they are unable to see the invisible difference between humans and animals. Biologically, humans and animals are very, very similar. Yet, the abysmal difference remains, a difference that is utterly unexplainable in biological terms, even by the staunchest of evolutionists. Therefore, when a person makes moral decisions that deny the value of invisible things, they belittle their own humanity. When a person copies a software programme with no qualms about copyright issues, he belittles his own humanity. When a man lies with a woman simply to satisfy an urge, with no regard for the holiness of her body and no understanding of how she may be worthy of his entire life and devotion, that man belittles his own humanity. When a woman lies on a sworn legal statement in order to obtain government benefits she is not entitled to, she is belittling her own humanity. When a woman parks her car in a handicapped spot with no regard for the handicapped she may be causing problems to, she is belittling her own humanity. When latin americans cross the border into America simply to rape her out of a few dollars, with no regard whatsoever for America's laws and no appreciation for America's invisible values, they belittle their own humanity, turning themselves into self-absorbed animals, animals who then turn around and demand rights from the same law system they so casually ignored when they chose to remain in America illegally. This is the reason why third-world countries (such as the countries in latin america) are chronically dependent on the help of other countries and are perennially incapable of shaping their own destiny.

From all of the above, we can conclude that parents must focus on raising children in such a way that they grow up with "human hearts". This is done through a constant impartation of wisdom and judgments. As we have seen before, judgments are intricately related to logos words. This is the reason why the word for "animal" in Hebrew (behemah), is derived from another word meaning "to be mute". Animals can express their thoughts and emotions, but they use a "language" more primitive than the ones used by humans. Even so, under the right circumstances, God can speak through animals, literally. This ability to communicate reaffirms the fact that animals do have souls because, as we have seen before, souls have an inherent need to "communicate".

The word "dumb" in verse 16 above was translated from the Greek word aphonos, which literally means "without voice", and is the word used in 1 Corinthians 12:1-2 when referring to "idols". As we have studied before, "idols" speak of believers who have stopped growing because they have stopped asking questions, settling for a simplistic understanding of God under a "Won't ask, don't tell me" policy. Therefore, parents who want to raise children with "human hearts" will impart to them the importance of logos words and of asking questions to understand the world around them. Such parents will teach their children that words have an inherent value, invisible and intangible as they may seem. Children will then know that laws written in a law book are more than just "words on a piece of paper", that words on a sign are more than just "suggestions on the wall". Children will then have an innate respect for laws and principles, and they will be prone to breaking them only when they see a higher law or principle (not a higher personal convenience) being ignored. To such children, the world will become a jigsaw puzzle of interacting laws, and the child's goal will be to understand which laws and principles he or she must live by. The child will add new laws to his or her mental framework as he or she logically interplays with the laws and principles that he or she has already recognised as "valid". The child will judge actions and attitudes by comparing them against the laws in his or her mental framework, rather than judging them based on "convenience". This is how children of "conviction" are formed, as opposed to the children of "convenience" who, like Balaam, are happy to perform actions that provide a temporal benefit, rather than doing things because they are the "right thing" to do. Children of "conviction" have human hearts; children of "convenience" have animal hearts. Children of conviction operate in the intangible and complex world of words; children of convenience operate in the tangible and simplistic world of temporal benefits.

"¹⁸For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. ¹⁹For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil. ²⁰And the God of peace shall bruise satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen." (Romans 16:18-20)

Therefore, parents must ask the following about their children: Are my children thinking people? Are my children people who value and live for invisible principles and ideals? Are my children people who string together words and ideas in a logically coherent way? Are my children people whose hearts and minds are in a constant quest for the truth? Are my children people who try to discern the true laws we must all live by? If they are, they are growing up with human hearts. If they are not (despite your best efforts), they are growing up "poor of heart", and you must hand them over to God's "forcible" judgments. Your soul must be willing to love God's righteousness more than your children, for you must be willing to love God more than yourself. If you do, you will be giving your children true love, and God will consider you your friend.

"¹⁷And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; ¹⁸Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? ¹⁹For 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." (Genesis 18:17-19)

Notice that God birthed a great and mighty nation out of Abraham because he was a man of justice and judgments. You cannot birth a "Christian nation" if you belittle God's wisdom and judgments. Nations of God are birthed in wisdom.

"But wisdom is justified of all her children" (Luke 7:35)