Hebrews 11, 1 through 25. Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen for by it, the elders obtained a good report. Through faith, we understand that the world were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being dead, yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death, and was not found, because God had translated him, for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed. And he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as a strange country dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, which builder and maker is God. Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable." These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, and heavenly. Wherefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. By faith, Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac, and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called. accounting that God was able to raise him up from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob, and he saw concerning things to come. By faith, Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff. By faith, Joseph when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel, and gave commandment concerning his bones. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child, and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. By faith, Moses, when he was come of years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." This ends the reading of God's holy and inspired word. This Lord's Day morning in Christian education, we come to the fifth lesson in a series entitled Parenting by God's Promises, based on the title of Joel Beeky's book. We come this morning to consider rearing children by faith, having looked at introduction to the book, having considered the encouragement that we ought to draw through the covenant in chapter one, and having for two weeks considered the basic doctrines relative to the children of the covenant and the different interpretations that some have made of 1 Corinthians 714, where we read that the child of even one believing parent is holy. We saw that there are three predominant views of the covenant of grace, and we said that there are two that believe there is one covenant of grace, and basically both that it's internal. what we would call the presumptive regenerationists, recognize that though they presume their children are regenerate, they would not generally say that there's a guarantee that all of them are or will be a regenerate. And we discussed the Baptistic view, where we saw that basically the people are not in the covenant of grace until they come by public profession and are joined, and not just a public profession, but a sincere profession. come into the covenant, and then we talked about the two covenant aspect. It seems to be the biblical view of an internal and an external covenant, an internal covenant, which is guaranteed and sure in Scripture. If someone's within that covenant, they cannot fall from it. But then we saw there's an external covenant, and that would correspond with the passages of Scripture that say people do break the covenant. And so having looked at that, Dr. Beeke in this book comes to consider Amram and Jacobet as model parents or someone we can learn something from relative to their faith in their protecting and giving up their son to God as well as then nurturing him. Any questions or comments on that intro before we move in to consider Jacob and Amram, Moses' parents. Let's turn then to Exodus 2, and let me read this event that Paul in Hebrews is referring to concerning the faith of Moses' parents. Let's see how their faith was worked out here when Moses was born. Exodus chapter 2, 1-10. And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived and bare a son. And when she saw him, that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could no longer hide him, She took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein, and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river, and her maidens walked along the riverside, and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him and said, This is one of the Hebrew's children. Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?" And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child and nursed it. And the child grew. And she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses, and she said, Because I drew him out of the water." So here we have this historical event of how the parents of Moses, Amram, and Jacobet handled the birth of their child. Now we have to understand the context in which they did so. We find the context in Exodus chapter 1. Remember what happened after Joseph died? Children in Egypt, remember the Israelites were well thought of by the Egyptians at that point, but what happened after he died? What do you think? Anybody know? Yes. Okay. Genocide. is at some point, it's not necessarily the next pharaoh. If you look at secular history, it's pretty clear that there were a group of people called the Hyksos, which were Shemites, so they had a relationship to the Jewish people. And somehow, the Egyptian people were willing to allow them to be rulers of their nation for a while. And it appears to be in this basic time frame, it's hard to put it all together. But some people concluded, well, maybe that's why they were so sympathetic to the Hebrews, because even within the latter parts of Genesis, you kind of are reading that there's some degree of segregation between the Egyptians and the Jews. The Egyptians aren't allowed to eat with the Jews. All this is going on, and yet they're somewhat respected. Obviously the Hyksos fall out of power, the Egyptians take the reins themselves, and at some point the Pharaoh says, they're growing so fast and they're dangerous, and the solution is, let's just kill all their baby boys. Then in chapter 1 we read about two midwives. Now given the fact that 500,000 men are going to come out of Egypt, as Jews here in the Exodus. So somewhere in the order of two to three million people are going to come out. You've got to believe that there were more than two midwives practicing midwifery in Egypt for the Hebrews. But these were probably like chief midwives or something. They were like the two that probably had some hierarchy and they were running the show. But obviously they were exposed to the true religion in the Hebrews' homes. And so in Exodus 1, 17, and then 20 and 21, we find that these two midwives feared God, and so they were willing to disobey Pharaoh and not kill the baby boys. And then we find in 20 and 21 that they were blessed for that. Therefore, God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and waxed very mighty It came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses. What that probably means is that they weren't married. Midwifery is a common vocation for women who are single, who aren't married. And so I think the picture is here. They were blessed, and God giving them a husband, and then their own children. Quite often, midwives really love children. They probably wouldn't be in the vocation if they didn't. And it appears that God was pleased to bless them in giving them the desire of their heart in terms of them having their own children. So I think you have to see that, that the true religion is going on, and at some level there's even some evangelistic influence. by the Jews here, even in this very difficult situation. Remember Psalm 128 says, blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord and walketh in his ways. So clearly these two midwives and potentially other midwives under their control also were fearing the Lord and not willing to put these children to death. Now, Dr. Beeky refers to Pharaoh's in our present society. Does anybody remember when he talks about that? You think God's people had to trust God with their own children's lives, particularly their boys at this point? There are many influences against them. Dr. Beek, he seeks to kind of refer, make it very practical and applicationist as there's a lot of pharaohs out there today in our society. There's a lot of influences that are not for their good. And he also refers to, at some point, they have to be sent out into the world. They can't be kept in a cocoon forever. They need to be protected and nurtured. So they come of age. But at some point, they come of age. And then at some level, they will be exposed to these things. And they will either be able to handle that exposure or not. Or they will learn from failing to handle of exposure to those difficult things. Does anybody remember Dr. Beeky mentioned that or any comments or thoughts on that? Ed? Yes. Not here. It is, and I'm not positive where, it may, we're going to turn to Act 7. in a few moments that gives us a little commentary on this and it may be there that we find it. If not, I'll try to remember to look that up in my concordance and see exactly where their names are mentioned. But then they demonstrated faith. How did they demonstrate faith? What did they do? What does it say they did and what did they probably do that's not said? What did they do when this child was born? Hit him. Was that dangerous for them to hide him? I mean, they were doing something to keep him alive, but they were potentially increasing the likelihood that he and they would die. Do you think they knew about where Pharaoh's daughter bathed? You think they've figured that one out? Do you think they had placed Miriam somewhere around where they set this little basket, this ark? Some people have contemplated whether they tried to make it like an ark or viewed it like Noah's Ark, an ark of protection, but the kids apparently were told to be put in the in the Nile, and so potentially they kind of did it, but didn't do it the way it was envisioned to be done. They didn't just throw them in, they placed them in. So they obviously asked Miriam to be around when Pharaoh's daughter and her maidens came down to bathe, that they would see it. It appears that she was prepared to have an answer if Pharaoh's daughter was interested in keeping this child. And they prepared the ark. What else did they do? What did they do internally when they left that baby among the reeds of the Nile? They had faith that God was in charge, right? They didn't absolutely have some, there's no evidence that God said this child will be received by Pharaoh's daughter, but that's obviously what they were asking for. And they were trusting that they'd be given that or nonetheless God was in charge, nonetheless. God would glorify himself and bless them. irrespective of how things would fall out, but there's no evidence they absolutely knew how things would fall out. It certainly appears that there were plenty of boy children drowning in the Nile at this time. He also says they saw, Dr. Beeke says, they saw Moses had potential. I think he's trying to apply the scripture there to say, don't we as parents see a potential in our children? That potential is different in each child, but we all see each child as a gift of God, made in the image of God, with certain strengths and certain degrees of usefulness based on what God has given them. So he's called the goodly child in Exodus 2.2. In Hebrews 11.23, he's called a proper child. And then in Acts 7.20, he is called exceeding fair. Stephen in his speech before his martyrdom deals with this period of history. And so they, Dr. Beattie says, they saw Moses had potential, but they also saw God's sovereignty. They knew God was in charge. He was in charge so much that they were willing to obey Him rather than Pharaoh. They were not afraid of the king's commandment, Paul says in Hebrews 11.23. So they're basically following the same principle that Peter speaks that he and the apostles had when they were told not to preach the gospel anymore by the Jewish authorities. And in Acts 5.29, Peter speaking for himself and the other apostles says, we ought to obey God rather than man. Clearly they saw Moses had potential, they were hopeful that God would grant them his life. They obviously prayed, they had faith. Any other thoughts about their actions that demonstrated their faith? Yes, sir. Good point, very good point. The Hebrews were very, very unique people in antiquity, and then their culture gets picked up into the Greek New Testament Church, which is now speaking predominantly in Greek. But even the language is kind of a Hebraic Greek, and the whole culture transcends, and it is a very family-focused. There's a certain honor and respect and dignity showed to children, a certain honor and respect and dignity showed to women that just was not common, and it really pervaded Western society. As you said, even the non-Christians, the atheists, and everybody else in Western society have still gleaned and been influenced significantly by that. And what's so sad to see is that that perspective being caricatured by pagans and by even social liberals, and then distorted so as to then say we need some other reforms women's liberation and the like that have created all kinds of trouble. And then even the permissiveness, you know, Dr. Spock and the like in terms of spanking is wrong. So that which was good was called wrong, then we need something else. And then you have Dr. Spockism and permissiveness that is part of what's causing our culture to unravel at this point, lack of authority. Any comments or thoughts? Well then, Dr. Beeky speaks about God's gracious provision. He does so in two places. In page 36, he says, God was indeed with them, and his hand was upon the ark as it floated among the reeds. What God did for their child was exceedingly gracious, more than Emram and Jacobet could have imagined. and certainly far beyond anything they could have done for him. He goes on to say, we must ask great things of our God and expect him to do even more. For he is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. Now is this a great deliverance of this child? Can you think of a greater deliverance? I think at some point what Dr. DeFeeke is trying to say is that there are applications for us in the fact that we do have to leave our children to God. That takes a lot of faith, doesn't it? He likens it to when they go out, when they're of age and sons go out and they're on their own and they're exposed to things. You can't protect them like you once could. And I think there's a picture here. Moses is now three months old. He's probably got some pretty good lungs. He's probably getting pretty loud. It's getting harder and harder to keep them hidden. And they're pretty much thinking something's going to give here sooner or later. And this is their way. So clearly it's a gracious provision in his A life is spared. Yeah, another example. And that relates to the promise seed, and there's a lot of deliverances of the seed that kept the seed alive in the Old Testament. Jesus could in fact live perfect life and died the death on the cross. So yeah, that's a great deliverance Yes Yes, I think many think that potentially the gifts from the Magi might have been used as that which allowed him as it wouldn't have been wealthy to be able to fund the trip down there and pulled up in Egypt for a little while in the inn or wherever they were at in Egypt before they returned. And I think it suggests it was a little while before who was in power at the time. Was it Herod? Yeah, they had. He came... Yeah, they had visited, and it would have been several months after, before they went down. What I was thinking about is how about deliverance from the bondage of sin, the original sin, corruption. How many children of God's people has God been pleased to grant that deliverance over the last 6,000 years, since the fall? I think this is just a picture of that, and it's something we can think of. We have to trust God with that deliverance. We've already talked about that in previous chapters, where it's kind of humbling thought that original sin is conveyed from parents to child. And so, though they're holy, they're still born in sin. They're conceived in sin. have original corruption. So that is something we have to deal with. We have to remember, as we said earlier in the first chapter, I think we have original sin as well. So there are all kinds of factors we have to apply, remembering the parenting of our children, or we will go awry very quickly. Yes, Stan? Even those ones that were saved, like the thief on the cross, moments or certainly no more than a couple of hours or less than a day. He was converted before he died. So even deathbed conversions. And that's something amazing too. We have to leave our children in the hands of God even as we're going to glory and our children are still outside Christ. And that takes faith. He also says in page 2930, I thought was kind of interesting When Moses this is another of the gracious provisions and this is what I've been alluding to When Moses was able to think and act for himself and by the grace of God to believe for himself He followed in the footsteps of his parents fearing God more than Pharaoh Moses parents refused to obey God the king's commandment and Moses in turn refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. So you have that right in that Hebrews 11 section. You have the faith of his parents and then you see that when he came of age he demonstrated a saving faith in his willingness to not be too attracted to all the glamour and the glitz that would have been his as Pharaoh's daughter's son, adopted son, rather he was willing to face suffering with the people of God. And so clearly you see there that God gave a greater deliverance to Moses, he saved them. And that certainly must have been a joy to his parents' heart when they recognized as he came of age. Obviously, he would have been likely taken from them at some point. Some say it may have been when he was weaned, three or four, may have been all the way up to 12. But at some point, he was taken and we read elsewhere in scripture, here in Acts 7, that he learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds. You know, some kind of classical education that was Egyptian in focus, just like Daniel did in Babylon. And so he would have been taken away for some extensive training. He wouldn't have been able to go back home to mom and dad every night. They had to trust in all that. He was getting exposed to all that. They clearly didn't know what the outcome was going to be. They certainly knew what they wanted it to be. And just like us, they may have had some ups and downs on the roller coaster as they heard about how young Moses was doing or what he was up to in the court at times. They might have been wondering, just not going the right direction. It may have not responded to them well. You think about like in Great Expectations where Pippa comes to this money and then all of a sudden, a very authentic young man, but at the same time the temptations of the money cause him to treat, I guess it's his uncle and his wife, right? It's clear the uncle seems to be an authentic, honest fellow, that he had strong connections with Pip, but then Pip ignores that relationship. Could you imagine the temptation for Moses to ignore the relationship with his parents? And as a matter of fact, it's not clear that Pharaoh's daughter was ever told that she was his mom. There's no evidence that she knew she was petting his mom. This is just a random child. So at some level, they probably had to keep that relationship secret. And so do you think that could potentially create some hurt feelings as Moses is trying to make sure it doesn't get found out? And mom and dad, they're looking for some reciprocation of affection. And their kids being kept from them. So this faith didn't just go on until he was taken out of the basket, and then everything was wonderful. Then they had to continue to exercise faith throughout this child's rearing, probably outside of their control. So that's certainly God's gracious hand in seeing their exercise of faith. I guess Luke who's writing there, he's 21 and describes a strange way in which he says, and you being cast out, whenever Moses is put in an argument, a lot of them, you being cast out, it's almost like they're getting rid of the child. Yeah, I was going to just read Acts 7, 21 and 22 as we continue to think about God's gracious provision. And he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up and nourished him for her own son. Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds. And when he was full 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren. the children of Israel. And I think that's suggesting more than just fed him, and then also involved him in getting educated. It says he was mighty in words and deeds, but you remember in Exodus, when God speaks to him in the burning bush, he says he's slow of tongue. So his own perspective on his rhetorical skills demonstrates a degree of humility, doesn't it? Remember we read that Moses was the meekest man. And so this man was not only converted, he was a pretty unique man. He was a humble man. He's going to lead God's people, two to three million people out of bondage, and yet he's going to demonstrate a high degree of meekness and humility in that. Usually the leaders of great nations are far from humble. Usually their pride is oftentimes in our culture viewed as a strength, not a weakness. Also in Psalm 90, we have in the inscription these words, a prayer of Moses, the man of God. So Moses is described as the man of God. pretty unique designation. A very holy, very godly man. Not just a useful man, but a godly useful man. Then we also read of him in Deuteronomy 34, 10, following his death, obviously there's a little supplement, so to speak, a little appendix, obviously, at the end of Deuteronomy, couldn't have been written by Moses himself. And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. God had said through Moses, I'm going to raise up a prophet unto you like unto Moses. So Moses is a unique first prophet who is going to be a type of the final supreme prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ. And here God says all these other prophets that are going to be raised up in the middle aren't of the same caliber, don't have the exact same connection as this first prophet does because He knew the Lord face to face. Now, again, that wasn't something that he necessarily earned. That was something God gave him. God chose to make him, to be that man and to give him that gift. But again, he was a meek and humble man. He was given a gift, something unique. And it doesn't appear that he patted himself on the back very much for it, I'm sure. He was a sinner like we were, but he still was called the meekest man in the earth. So, pretty amazing answer to their prayer and provision for them. Any thoughts, comments about the faith of Moses' parents and God's blessing of them in granting their son faith, granting their son great leadership potential, but also great graces of meekness and humility. What's the conclusion then? What can we draw in application from their faith and the demonstration of their faith in their actions? Any thoughts? I think Dr. Beakey refers to, I don't think he quotes, it says it's Carey's, but he says we should expect great things from God. Carey's quote was relative to Mission's, expect great things from God, attempt great things for God. Clearly their faith was a faith that had to be exercised day by day, but it's also a faith that had the fruit of works. They had things to do. They didn't just say, we're going to leave this crying baby here, we'll just pray, things will work out. They developed a plan. And even within that plan, there was no certainty of the outcome of the plan, but they still laid the plan. And I think it's clear they must have prayed that the plan would come to fruition as they had hoped. But they knew God had to intervene to make it all come out the way they desired. And so I think we need to be reminded of Hebrews 11, 6, faith is central. It is the critical grace of the Christian. Faith. Faith is really that first critical grace of the three that Paul speaks of, faith, love, and hope. That faith, that belief, that really love. You have to believe God to love God. And we have to believe what he says in order to have any hope that what he told us will come, will in fact come, to give us any confidence in the future. Hebrews 11, 6 says, but without faith, it is impossible to please him. We cannot please God if we're not exercising faith, no matter what we're doing. If faith isn't in the equation, God is not pleased with it. No matter how good it might appear on the surface, our actions will not be blessed, will not be pleasing to God. This is why. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is the... I think I missed something there. Typing it out. must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Look that up, it's a little fishy there. Thou faith is impossibilism, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. You don't go to visit somebody, children, that doesn't exist, do you? I mean, you might if you're playing a game or something, but with your imagination you might. But if you don't believe there's a God, you're not going to pursue God in a relationship with Him. But what is said is you could believe God exists, but He really doesn't reward those that seek Him. He doesn't really have an interest in you. Kind of like the God of the deists. He's put all things there, but really he's not a personal God and has no interest in you. He's just set the clock running, but now he's out of it. He has no involvement in the world and in people's lives. And so faith is critical. Well, then let's ask just a few questions. Why is it critical we raise our children by faith? Why? I'm not going to answer this one for you. Somebody needs to answer it. Why is it critical that we raise our children by faith? It's the only way that works. It's the only way that works? Diane? So it's the way of blessing and could say that what you said is you got to let God do it at some point. We have to recognize we don't control all factors. God would have us to do certain things beyond believing that our children will be blessed with Him and salvation, but we can't do everything. And we ultimately, as we've seen before, we can't regenerate them. We can't give them a new heart to make them see their sin, the light in the Kingdom of God and in the Son. And without faith, we can't please Him. So, that would suggest that if we're trying to rear our children by being the best parents we can be, so as to maximize the probability that they'll be saved, apart from faith that God has to save them, all our works are not pleasing to God then. As much as they might appear outwardly, as much as we might have a little regiment in our home, but if we're not doing it in faith, it's not pleasing to God. It doesn't mean that God, as we said last week, doesn't sometimes in His sovereignty save children who have been poorly nurtured. But at the same time, we know God who ordains the ends is the God who ordains the means. He's given us means of grace so that we can grow. We're not allowed to neglect them and expect to grow. That would be tempting God. So we shouldn't expect our children to be saved without being willing to exercise our faith in doing the things that God has told us are our duties and the things we can control. How about the next question, question three in the book. Why were Moses' parents not afraid to disobey the king's commandment? Why were they not afraid to disobey the King's command? There are times we have to do that. Clearly, praising our children takes faith to be able to say, no, Johnny can't participate in that. It goes against what God would do. For certain things, certain times, we're going to have to say, this is the way it's got to be for us in our home. Obviously, it puts you in jeopardy. Not too often that your whole life is in jeopardy, but there are Christians who find themselves in that place, don't they? I think in China, they do. They may try to only have one child. They may think that that's okay. If something happens and they have to, they could be in a position of having to obey God rather than man. Certainly in communist countries and the like, you have that kind of situation. People loving their children enough to take them to home churches knowing that if they're caught, they could be in serious trouble and maybe lose their lives. I think it's important enough for their children to have the means of grace to go to that level of effort. They could be wards of the state, right? And yet God's people are making this kind of hard decision by God's grace. And how should God's providence counteract our tendency as parents to worry about our children? How should God's providence counteract our tendency as parents to worry about our children? So we suggest we have a tendency to worry. How we're thinking about God's providence via the health as we find ourselves worrying about our children. God is not only God's prophet, but he's a God that has made us promises. He's a God that loves us and owns our children, our children and his children. I think it's good, maybe I'll just make a quick drawing. I think it's good to see God's providence, what this is. Everything that God's created, He's providentially in control of. Then again, it's a church. It's a visible church, and it's invisible church. It's a church that's within the visible church that's saved, and those who are present aren't. His providence is overall for the good of these, and he gives a static eternal blessing on these. That doesn't mean that there aren't some of these that aren't saved. Some of them that stay in the church all their lives. Some of them that maybe we think are saved, and everybody in the church who thinks are great people. Some of the people who did a lot in the church. It will be that Jesus said that we did this and that and the other thing, and she said, I never knew you. So there'll be people here that a lot of people thought were here. But at the end of the day, we know God is sovereign and God is righteous and just. He was just with Esau as he was with Jacob. And sometimes you have to rest upon all that as well. Even when... Right. Right. I think Dr. Beeky, though he himself, with his three children, I think has not experienced some great period of rebellion. I think he mentions, I suspect it's in the book, I think it's on the CD that I listened to Daniel gave me to summarize the book on a recent lecture that he did, but he mentions his sister who left their family. It didn't appear like it was a real long time, but it was a severe severance enough that everyone was very, very worried about her condition, her state, where she was heading, what direction she was taking, and she returned. I think Dr. Beeke wants to focus on that. So it's the faith throughout and God doesn't always operate on our timetable in terms of preparing our children. Sometimes they do need to experience the consequences of their poor decisions like the prodigal son did before they come to their senses. It's always helpful to remember the son that didn't go away in the parable didn't come to his senses. He never left and he hadn't come to his senses in that parable.