Hear, O daughter, and incline your ear to My instruction – don’t miss a Word: forget your own people and (leave) your father’s house, put your home country behind you … Be here – The KING is wild for you. He desires your beauty. Honor Him, bow in humility and reverence before Him for He is your LORD
Psalm 45:10-11
I excitedly intended to share this blog back in June (on Father’s Day) but God had other plans – He has since continued to teach me what it means to leave your father’s house: a very important step in each person’s walk/union with God.
Before you continue reading, I’d like to ask that you read the words ‘your father’ as a compound word that represents a single entity. Think of it as the name of a place or person. For now, let’s call this person or placeholder Moab. I’ll explain later.
In my narration of Tamar’s story in How will I know, specific to being told to go back to her father’ house, I hinted that there’s significance to leaving your father’s house. In this blog, I’ll shine some light on this with the hope that you would see and understand what it means to leave and not go back to your father’s house. Moreover, I pray that in reading this, you’ll come to honor and embrace the Merciful Truth of God’s Love like never before. This Merciful Truth is God’s Word – the ONLY power that makes the exodus out of your father’s house possible and permanent (such that we don’t look or go back).
Your Word have I taken to (hid in my) heart that I may not sin (lie or set my self) against You.
Psalm 119:11
It is important to keep in mind that the instruction to leave (forget) your father’s house is NOT a call to be fatherless. On the contrary, it is a call to experience the Fatherhood of God. He is The Everlasting Father … Our Father in heaven.
Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name.
Matthew 6:9
Our Father versus your Father
What is the difference between the two? Simply put: anyone we call father who Jesus does NOT (can NOT) call father is ‘your father‘. Anyone we call Father who Jesus ALSO calls Father is ‘Our Father‘. In other words,the difference between the two is based solely on Who Jesus calls Father.Who do you call Father?
Before you answer, first check outMatthew 23:9
Do not call anyone on earth your father; for you have One Father, Who is in heaven.
Matthew 23:9
God knows all about human genealogy … He designed how babies are formed in the womb – He is very aware that a seed must first be sown/planted by a father in to the womb (hearth) of a mother. God Himself acknowledged the place of fathers (and mothers) when He said: therefore a Man shall leave his father (and mother) to become one with his marriage mate (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4-5), YET in Matthew 23:9God says to call no one on earth father. This confirms to me that the definition of father in the context ofPsalm 45:11andMatthew 23:9is beyond the natural sphere or human-language definition of earthly birth-fathers. That said, while earthly birth-fathers are not the archetype and definition of Father in the context highlighted in this blog, they are a representation that can help contextually understand who a Father is.
Who is a Father?
As a starting point, a Father isanyone who begets a Son(there’s no Father without a Son and vice-versa). To be clear, the term ‘Son’ in this context is inclusive of both male and female –Genesis 1:27
Across all cultures, there are two and a third way of becoming a member of a family: by birth, by marriage, or by adoption. When this happens, the new family member is typically surnamed. This surname is an insignia – proof of membership (or belonging); it grants access to the familial privileges and resources through which household needs are met. Without this name, access is revoked or not granted. Like a crest, this surname (or household name) is the name that all family members bear. Herein lies the principal/primary definition of a Father:the one who’s name you bear.
When a woman marries into a family (this can also be seen as a form of adoption), she takes on the family’s household name. With this in mind, it is safe to say that a Father isa Husband– this is particularly true in relation to God, THE (Our) Father in Heaven.
… your Maker is your Husband – THE LORD of Host (Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies) is His Name – The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth He is called.
Isaiah 54:5
Summarily put,a Father is anyone who’s name you bear by birth or by marriage… or by adoption. A Father is the One through Whom all household needs (i.e. our daily bread) are provided/met.
Accounting for the multi-faceted definition of a Father, I’ll make this a two-part blog series. This part will focus on becoming a member of God’s family by marriage, while the second part will focus on being a member of God’s family by birth – being a Son (or the birthing of Sons). This seems like the right order, given that there can be no birthing of (true) Sons without the Wife/Mother into whose womb (soil) the Seed of the Father is sown/planted. Let’s dive in …
The EXODUS
Leaving your father’s house is a must-be-done part of any marriage/union. Every wife-to-be must first leave her father’s house in order to be a wife … in order to bear her husband’s name. It is this name that grants her access into her husband’s house. As long as she meaningfully bears her husband’s name, she has access to him and what’s his.
To bear a person’s name is to be found always belonging to that person. This involves always representing or being in the person’s name … it translates to putting on the person’s name or always bearing the person’s image and likeness.
Case in point:Mark 12:13-17… here, Jesus was asked a question about paying tribute (taxes) to Caesar. In His response, Jesus called attention to the image on the denarius (coin). This call-out was pertinent to Jesus’ answer; it also highlights a key principle that God Himself abides by.
Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar … Give to God what is God’s. I believe that this principle is the basis for which God called (asked) for Isaac and not Ishmael in Genesis 22:2and perhaps why God chose Jacob over Esau (Malachi 1:3). I’ll elaborate on this in the second part of this blog-series.
I believe also that this principle is the basis for whichPsalm 45:10 says to leave your father’s house (the house to which you don’t belong) – you don’t belong in your father’s house. Instead, you belong to The KING and He has given you His Name. This given Name is His invitation and the Name by which He calls you: My people!Hosea 2:23🥰
The Name of The KING is the Crown that you’ve been given –Revelation 3:11 – it is the Crown and Glory of your head, your beauty – the Beauty that The KING desires. God is the Crown, Glory, and Head of the family that He calls/invites you into.
Keep in mind that it is possible to be given The Name of THE LORD (to be surnamed by birth like Esau or by marriage like Tamar) and yet be displaced. Esau displaced himself by selling his birthright – he traded his right of passage into the Household of God for food. Tamar was displaced by her father-in-law (Judah) who told her to go back to your father’s house. Thankfully, her story didn’t end there – God, THE Father (Lion and Head) of the Tribe of Judah, was merciful to Tamar and gave her The Way back into His House: a consummation, one which established her union with Judah THE Father of the House of Judah. Tamar was given a signet and a staff – both inherently represent Judah’s Household Name: Truth, a Name Judah couldn’t deny or lie/sin against(Genesis 38:25-26A).
Tamar was given a binding … unbreakable, undeniable, undivorceable covenant. Undivorceable? Yes, very much so.Romans 7:2says that a married woman is bound to her husband for as long as he lives however, if he dies, she is released (auto-divorced). The first two times Tamar was married into the household of Judah, both husbands died. Nevertheless, her third entry was different – by virtue of being given the Signet and Staff of The House of Judah (God’s Covenant-Promise and Oath, the two immutable things by which God can NOT lie), Tamar was marrying The Lion-KING of the Tribe of Judah … she was marrying God Himself. Her third entry into the Household of Judah by marriage was an undivorceable one because she married The ever-living God, The ever-lasting Father. As such, till today and for all of eternity, Tamar is known as belonging to God. She left your father’s house and was eternally placed before The KING Who is Our Father.
Tamar isn’t the only one who left your father’s house to come to Judah. Ruth did as well. Before we get into Ruth’s story and how she left your father’s house, let’s take a look at Moab – a representation of the house that we are called to leave.
It all started with a Lot (a man named Lot), Abraham’s nephew. He had two virgin-daughters who were betrothed to be married but the marriage never took place and was not consummated. Both sons-in-law-to-be did not take God’s Word to heart, as a result, they were destroyed along with the rest of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Unmarried and desiring to birth Sons (to Be a Son), both daughters willfully decided to have their way with their father instead of leaving his house (cave).Genesis 19:30-38
The elder said to the younger, our father is aging, and there is not a man on earth to live with us in the customary way. Come, let us make our father drunk with wine, and we will lie with him, so that we may preserve our race (our place) through our father.
Genesis 19:31-32
Wait a minute (quick side bar) … no man on earth???
Okay, back to Moab’s origin story. Both daughters took turns having their way with Lot while he was drunk and none the wiser. Their willful act of sin led to the birth of two sons – one by each daughter. The first-born son was Moab! Like the first-born son(s) of Egypt, Moab represents the pride of the flesh that exalts its SELF against God in the same manner that lie sets it SELF against Truth. Moab was born in sin and represents a house of sin. Moab is an expression of all things born of the seed of deception (sin) – all things born of the seed of the father of lies.
Keep Moab’s origin story in mind as we look at Ruth’s story – Ruth was from Moab (born and bred) BUT by the Merciful Truth of God’s Love Who works all things together for the good of those who love Him (those who give God to God, those who give Him what belongs to Him), Ruth was established in Judah forever.
The prequel to Ruth’s story was a backslide to your father’s house – the story goes thus: Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons, namely: Mahon and Chilion, left their home country and tribe (Judah) because of the famine in their (God-given) promised land. In stead of calling upon, waiting, and trusting in The Name of THE LORD, they did things their own way (the way that seemeth right to them) … they went looking for food (self-perseveration) and sojourned in the country of Moab (your father’s house). Thereafter, Elimelech died in Moab, leaving Naomi and their two sons who later took wives of the women of Moab: Orpah and Ruth. Time passed and both Mahon and Chilion died as well. At this point, Naomi had lost everyone she came into Moab with. Let’s put a pin in the story to quickly acknowledge Proverbs 14:12 and Romans 6:23
There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him but in the end it leads to death. The wages which sin pays is death BUT the bountiful free gift of God is Eternal Life through (in union with) Jesus Christ our Lord.
Proverbs 14:12 Romans 6:23
Indeed, the wages of sin is death. The house of lies sin that Moab represents is a house of self-gratification, self-preservation, self-reliance (do-it-your-self), and self-exaltation, all of which is based on (1) the deception, falsehood, or lie that we can satisfy our own needs or fix things, AND (2) the seed of doubt sown by the father of lies that God is not Who He is: Jehovah Jireh (THE One Who provides for all your needs), Jehovah Raah (The Shepherd Who always takes care of all who belong to Him: His Sheep). The house of cards sin that Moab is ends in destruction – it takes (steals) our pearls and crown, with the sole purpose of leaving us desolate, empty and void of life: dead. Death is Moab’s end ‘game’ – first the stealing, then the killing and destroying. Death is the consequence of (the house of) sin – Jesus was not exempt from this consequence when He took on our sins.
To make a Way for us, like God did for Tamar, Jesus Who knew no sin was made sin. He took all of our sins (once and for all time) on Himself and suffered long; He suffered the consequences and endured DEATH (separation from God) –2 Corinthians 5:21,1 Peter 2:24,Hebrews 12:2B. All this happened while we were yet sinners (while we were yet in Moab, while we were found belonging to Moab, while we were busy dying in Moab). Knowing fully where we were and how we got there (self-inflicted disobedience), Christ died for us anyway. In doing this, Jesus conquered Death and deprived it of power to harm us –John 16:33(AMPC),Isaiah 54:17(AMPC),Romans 8:1. In doing this, Jesus became THE Way back home to THE Father – THE Way in the wilderness that God made for us (Isaiah 43:19) so that we can come back to Him like Naomi did.
I AM The Way, The Truth, and The Life. No one comes to THE Father except through Me.
John 14:6
Leaving Moab (the house of sin) is impossible for man but possible with God, by His Spirit. Leaving the house of sin requires dying to death. This is what Jesus did on the cross and what the HolySpirit enables us with daily. Leaving your father’s house requires truthfully, actionably, and actively saying to Moab: you are dead to me (get thee behind me), without looking or turning back.
… our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life – you are no longer captive to sin’s demand … WHEN Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word … From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you. God speaks your Mother tongue(Zephaniah 3:9-10) and you hang on every word. you are dead to sin and alive to God – that’s what Jesus did. This means that you must NOT give sin a vote in the way that you conduct your life. Don’t give it a time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with the old way of life … Sin can’t tell you how to live – you are not living under that old tyranny any longer(Isaiah 14:5 VOICE); you are living in the freedom of God … you do NOT owe that old do-it-your-self one red cent. There is nothing in it for you at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!
Romans 6:11-14(MSG) 💖; Romans 8:12-14 (MSG)
The only way to leave Moab behind is to believe and keep believing God … to set THE LORD before you (Psalm 16:8)by speaking His Word of Truth – this is how you set yourself before The KING Who is God’s Word (2 Corinthians 3:18) and how you seek His Kingdom of Righteousness. THE LORD is your Righteousness – this is the Righteousness that conducts your steps to Judah: The Forever Place of peace, prosperity, and good success (Isaiah 58:8B,Joshua 1:8). This is how Naomi made it out of Moab! She believed and trusted God.
Her exodus began with God’s signature fragrance …
…God sent His Wordand made sure it reached Naomi even though she was far away and out in sin – God gave her Faith: the ONLY means by which Man lives and walks with, in, and to God. While she was still in Moab, Naomi heard The Word of God … she heard that THE LORD had visited His people in giving them food. In hearing The Name of THE LORD (Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Raah) … in hearing the Truth (God’s Word), Faith came – this Faith, though seemingly small in size, was sufficient. This mustard-like seed of Faith was the Grace Naomi needed to rise up and walk out of Moab toward Judah … this Faith (knowledge of God) … this truthful evidence of Righteousness (what God has done) was the Mercy that God extended to Naomi – through it,God turned the tides that brought Naomi back home to Judah… to Him.
In the same way that the Israelites exited Egypt –Exodus 12:11(AMP), Naomi girded her loins with Truth by believing God. She took her staff or walking stick of Faith in her hand, and began her (God-orchestrated and God-led) journey back to Judah. She left Moab and did NOT look back or turn to face that place of destruction. Instead, she sought after the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness. Thank God forthe Mercy of God thatkept her gaze fixed on Him, as He guided her toward Him.
God’s Mercy was extended toward Orpah and Ruth as well. They left Moab with Naomi however, somewhere along the way, after much or less persuasion from Naomi, Orpah returned to Moab but Ruth did not. Instead, Ruth clung (held tight) to what she had been given (the God in Naomi) and was resolute in her choice to continue on with Naomi, saying:
Urge me not to leave you or turn back from following you; where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God
Ruth 1:16
What beautiful (faithful, believing, unwavering) words! Ruth was NOT distracted by the lie (seed of doubt) that she could be rejected by Naomi’s God on the basis that she was a foreigner and that she might not belong or that she would not be acceptable to The KING. More so, in saying: your God will be my God, Ruth echoed God’s Heart and Will …Hosea 2:23B … she echoed what God said:
… you shall be My people and I will be your God
Jeremiah 30:22; Jeremiah 31:33
… Ruth echoed Truth: The Word of God … she said God’s Name(Revelation 19:13). In saying God’s Name … in speaking His Truth, Ruth set THE LORD before her with her eyes unflinching like a flint, all by the Mercy of God. She said No to Moab and Yes to God like a bride saying I do. Her Yes was Yes and her No was No – she was resolute. She said Yes to God’s Yes and No to God’s No – this is the agreement by which two walk together! And so Ruth’s walk/union with God began.
Ruth was married (adopted) into God’s family by virtue of her undivorceable union with The KING, the evidence/proof of which was signified by (1) her marriage to Boaz and (2) the consummation that birthed their Son: Obed – the Father of Jesse, who birthed David (the ancestor of Jesus Christ). What a glorious and eternal honor! Ruth was made a part of The Beginning Line (the very Lifeline) of David who is a representation of THE Son-Shepherd-KING that Jesus is, and in Whom THE Father is well pleased.
Note that Ruth was married first to God and not to Boaz’ “Christian” family. Same as with Tamar’s third marriage, Ruth entered into an undivorceable union with God THE Father and Husband – this secured her place in Judah. Furthermore, Ruth was described as being better than seven (perfect) sons! She was characteristically likened to a Son – a glimpse into the meaning of this can be seen in Be a Son.
God’s call to leave your father’s house is a wedding invitation – one where you are the bride. Make no mistake, it is NOT a call to marry into a so-called “Christian” family – Tamar did this twice and she was displaced and misplaced … BUT for the Mercy of God, she would have been consumed (lost forever). God’s call to leave your father’s house is a call to be married to God first and foremost … Ruth was married first to God before Boaz came along. This first-love marriage/union with God is what He calls us to: The Wedding Banquet, an invitation to become equally yoked and one with Him, truthfully living and walking before Him in Love, faithfulness, and humility.
God calls us out of Moab, darkness, lies, your father’s house by His Name because He desires and unrepentantly intends to betroth us to Himself – He is not a man that He should lie or the son of man (the seed of deception) that He would repent –Numbers 23:19. Will you say I do Yahweh, do it for me (Mercy), will you say His Name (YES), will you truthfully, actionably, and actively bear His Name. Will you say YES to The One Who first loved you (your First-Love: this is His Name). He wants you back and this is what He says:
My Love endures, and I want you back … I will take you back in Love. Don’t be afraid, you’re not going to be embarrassed. Don’t hold back – you’re not going to come up short. you’ll forget all about the humiliations of your youth, and the indignities of being a widow will fade from memory. you were like an abandoned wife, devastated with grief … I welcome you back. I AM bringing you back … you will call Me Ishi (my Husband). The name Baali will be out of your mouth and will no more be mentioned or remembered. I will betroth you to Me forever. YES, I will betroth you to Me in Righteousness and Justice, in steadfast Love and in Mercy. I will even betroth you to Me in stability and Faithfulness, and you will know Me … I will sow you for Myself anew in the land … I will say to you: you are My people, and you will say to Me: You are my God.
Isaiah 54:4-7 💖(VOICE, MSG); Hosea 2:19-23 🥰
What say you? Ishi or Baali … JUDAH or Moab … LIFE or DEATH. I pray that the Merciful Truth of God’s Love will be the Grace and Faith with which you leave your father’s house and say The Name of THE LORD by means of His Name both now and forevermore. AMEN (YES).
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ADÉ orí mí (The Glory-Crown of my head), I bow before Your Glorious Throne (Itẹ Ológo tó ń dán gbinrin) – Your Glorious Kingdom reigns forever! You are my Forever Place. Your Glory is my Beauty, my Light. You are THE Father of Light, in (the shinning of) Whom there is no variableness, no shadow of turning or doubt, Kábíyèsí!!! You are TRUTH, undeniable, irrefutable, unquestionable … undoubtedly so! You create calm (the absence of doubtful questions) with Your comforting Love. Olùtùnú mí (my Comforter) … Ẹlẹ́bùrúìkẹ́, it is with age-enduring, lasting love that You tenderly care for me (E fi itoju ya mi soto … Ọbẹ̀ Yin dùn la wọ mi, mo n dán gbinrin). Afẹ ní là fẹ́ tàn (You love me completely to the very end … to the endless END that You are) … I say YES to Your YES! … I say do it for me, I say Grace, Grace, Grace to it! You are my response to You. Your Name (Love) is my Banner, my Logo, my Strength … I say Your Name: YES and AMEN. Help me to always say Your Name. Ishi, I choose You. Help me to always choose You. Ishi, it is You I want. #IshiNOTBaali
Rivers in the Desert 