Greetings, MOL Family!

Welcome back to class! In our last study on homeheading, we closed with a picture of Abraham and his great household. In today’s class, we want to notice a few more things about Abraham…

A Firm Hand At The Helm

His great household consisted of more than a thousand souls, many of them heads of families, and not a few but newly converted from heathenism. – Education, pg. 187

I want you to get that picture. Here is his camp, his household. He gathers them together at the altar, as the rest of the page shows. But there they are, many of them heads of families, and not a few but newly converted from heathenism. Was his an evangelistic company? That’s right. And every training home, every Christian home should be an evangelizing agency. That’s the picture I want us to see.

Abraham wasn’t content to merely build a wall around his camp and say, “Everybody that’s in, Stay in, and everybody that’s out, Keep out.” He was adding to his encampment all the while.

Now, let’s turn to the Bible, Genesis 12, and I want you to see this implied. Statements which we find in plain English in the Spirit of Prophecy we can find, at least by inference, in the Bible. [Everything the Bible says, the prophet says; and everything the prophet says, the Bible says! Do you believe that…?]

Have you ever had the experience of having somebody point out a star to you in the sky; and after they had pointed it out you could see it? You couldn’t see it before. They had to show you right where to look. The Spirit of Prophecy is like that.

Genesis 12:5. This is when Abram, part-way to Canaan, had stopped at Haran for a while. After his father’s death, the Lord sent him on into the land of Canaan.

And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran… – Genesis 12:5

Did they get some souls? Did they add some there? Yes, in other words, as Abram came into Canaan, not all the people were people that had come from Ur with him. His company enlarged on the way.

“…the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan…” – Genesis 12:5

So, thank God, His was a soul winning family, an evangelizing home. That’s what we want ours to be, isn’t it? Yes, there are many ways we can do that.

You might be interested in noting where you can get Bible support for the fact that Abraham had a large household, more than just two or three. Just a little bit further on in the book of Genesis, 14:14. This is speaking of the time that he had to go to war to rescue Lot and his family from the heathen kings and notice it says:

And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house [How many?] three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them… – Genesis 14:14

So, he had 318 men that had been born in his own house. Well, you add mothers and wives and children to those and you’ve more than a thousand, all right. So, we don’t have to just depend on Patriarchs and Prophets and Education (though we believe them); but it’s interesting to note the Bible foundation for the statement — 318 servants born in his own house.

Now back to Education, pg. 187:

Such a household required [What?] a firm hand at the helm. – Education, pg. 187

What does that mean, “A firm hand”? It meant that when he said something, that was it. And every home needs that; not a barking sergeant in the military tradition, but no weak Eli or time-serving Aaron will fill this place.

Look again at Genesis 18:19. What does God say about Abraham? “I know him. I can count on him. I can depend on him.” Do you suppose Abraham’s household could depend on him too? Do you suppose they knew him? That’s right.

When Abraham said worship will be at 6:30 in the morning, everybody knew that worship was when? 6:30 in the morning. And he didn’t have to raise his voice. Certainly, he didn’t have to swear at them, and his tone of voice did not have to sound like he was swearing. They just knew that when he said this, that that was it.

…I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him… – Genesis 18:19

Do you suppose Abraham said to the thousand people, “When do you suppose would be a good time to have worship? What do you think?” I don’t say it’s always wrong to do that, but that’s not quite the picture you get here, is it? No.

And as I say, please do not misunderstand. There is a time to consult. Moses consulted with his counselors. David, when king, consulted with his counselors and with the people. But the type of so-called leadership that is forever trying to get a consensus, to be sure not to offend anybody or displease anybody, defeats its own purpose. People long for something that is settled.

Wise investigators have concluded that one of the greatest causes for the unrest in the present generation of youth is that nobody is telling them what to do. They’re being left to find their answers and so they come up with more questions. Many a child is longing for somebody that will say, “This is it.” Many a little one, that’s all just fretting and restless, and making all kinds of trouble, when it gets some needed discipline; turns and kisses the father or mother, that has given the correction. It’s a sense of security. Well, adults need it as well as children.

Abraham imparted that sort of security. We are to impart that in our homes. And, dear ones, may I tell you, this is not something you can put on like a coat and then take off. And it isn’t something somebody can appoint you to and you thereby acquire the fitness for it. You can’t be elected to it, nor assigned. It must be the call of God and your acceptance of it. I mentioned this in a previous lesson. I’m mentioning it again today. I’ll mention it again. It is so vital that we understand this.

Never accept a single student in your home, unless you know that God has called you to that responsibility. Don’t do it. This isn’t a playhouse. Did you ever play house, when you were little? Yes, homeheading isn’t play house, not a bit of it. This must be a divine call to you. You must know that God has assigned you, as He did Abraham, the task of bringing people into your home, new converts, or people who need converting, young people that need training, this one and that one and that He has given you the job. And as we learned in our past lesson, with the call goes the strength from Jesus.

Now, back to Education, page 187:

Such a household required [What?] a firm hand at the helm. – Education, pg. 187

What does “at the helm” mean? Yes, guiding, leading. Using the figure of a car, we would say at the wheel, somebody at the wheel. By the way, suppose there are just two people in an automobile. Does it make a difference whether one person has a hold of the wheel or two? Now suppose we get a bus and we put a dozen people in it. Well, then we might need two or three people on the wheel. No? We need how many? – One. Suppose we get a big bus and we put 50 in it. Now how many people at the wheel? – One.

Don’t forget it folks: Everything which moves as a unit needs a head. And Abraham’s household had a head. Who was it? Abraham. Now he was training heads of families and those heads in their little individual families they had a hold of that wheel. But the big bus that was moving over the sands of the desert and through the fields of Canaan had somebody, Abraham.

Such a household required a firm hand at the helm. No weak, vacillating methods would suffice. [What does vacillating mean? Changing, back and forth] Of Abraham God said, ‘I know him, that he will command his household after him.’ Yet his authority was exercised with such wisdom and tenderness that hearts were won. – Ibid

He wasn’t satisfied merely to command. He won the hearts of those connected with him. This is homeheading: to be able to win the hearts of those who share your table, your devotions, any other activity; to inspire in them such an attitude that they want to do what you want them to do, that they enjoy it. This is homeheading.

Knowing The Will Of God

Now, let’s take another look at Abraham here in this 18th chapter of which we’ve been reading, the 19th verse. You remember that this 18th chapter tells the story of Abraham doing what? — Sitting in his tent door, the lazy fellow. Is there a time to sit down and rest? I don’t think there was a lazy bone in Abraham’s body, as they say, but thank God he had time to sit. Not only that, but he had time to notice something. Who were coming? — Three men, three strangers. Did he know who they were? No. Definitely, he didn’t know. Who where they? Two angels and Jesus, the Son of God, but they appeared in the form of men, travelers.

And so Abraham is sitting there in the door of his tent, and here he sees these three men. Well, he goes out and begs them to come in and have some water. He’s going to take care of them and entertain them. You know, some of us have a hard time accepting guests when we haven’t gone out and hunted them at all. Now, Abraham could have said, “Look, here I’ve already got over a thousand. I think I have about got my quota. I think they’ll have to go to the Holiday Inn tonight.” Couldn’t he? Yes, he could.

And don’t misunderstand me; there’s a time, folks, when we say enough. And I’ll give you an illustration on that to comfort some of you. Suppose we’re out in a lifeboat pulling people out of the water. Up to a point, the more people we get in that lifeboat the more lives we save. — Right? But beyond that point, what? Any more we add means not only that we do not save him, we might drown everybody, including ourselves.

Every homehead needs to be in touch with God to know how much they can take on. Don’t forget that. And nobody else can tell you. You may think that the manager or the matron or some committee ought to be conscious enough of what you can take, and interested enough in your welfare that they won’t ask of you to do more than you can do. Now, God has promised that He won’t lay on you more than you can handle, but the committee has not promised you that. They do not know.

That’s what God put a head on your shoulders for. That’s why He gave you a brain. And that’s why He gave you a tongue. There are times that you have to say to whoever calls you up, “Sorry won’t be able to do it.” And don’t get fussed about it, and don’t get depressed. Don’t have a guilt feeling for the next two or three days because you didn’t do what you were asked to do. That may hurt you worse than it would have been to move over and take the extra person.

Am I dealing with practical problems, folks? These references that I’m studying with you are the things that led us into this kind of work. And it’s a joy to share these things with you. But as I say, do not overdo it.

I suppose all of you have had some breakfast or dinner. You could have eaten too much. The food would have been perfectly good, but too much is too much. And too many people in a home are too many people in a home, whether it’s temporary or permanent.

But it’s interesting. It’s interesting what some people can take and what some other people can’t take. That’s just the way life is. That’s the way human nature is. You can’t make other people like yourself, and you can’t make yourself like other people. Cultivate a personal fellowship with Jesus, and know what He wants you to do.

Until next week – Invite a friend, and we’ll see you then… 

-Continue on to the next study-

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“The mission of the home extends beyond its own members. The Christian home is to be an object lesson, illustrating the excellence of the true principles of life. Such an illustration will be a power for good in the world. Far more powerful than any sermon that can be preached is the influence of a true home upon human hearts and lives…” {MH 352.3} Do you want to learn how to have such a home life? In our “How to Live” series, we have a special section dedicated to developing this Heaven on earth experience >> Learn More

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* This study has been adapted from classes taken by Elder W.D. Frazee.