Message From The MessengerThe Great Stepper

... a Message from the Messenger
Bible 1611.Com / Sluice Box Adventures.com / Old Paths Baptist Mission © 2014

The ideal Biblical pattern for marriage is set in Genesis 1-2.

Though the stepparent stepchild relationship is less than the ideal, it is modeled in the Bible.

Giving examples from the lives of Esther, Joash and Timothy, it shows a godly stepparent as filling a gap in a child’s life, and playing the part of a kinsman.  This is a picture, or type, of Christ coming to redeem his people.

• The Two Questions
• Mordecai The Bible Believer
• Mordecai The Great Stepper
• The Stepper Relationships
• The Near Kinsman
• The Redeemer Kinsman Is A Type Of Christ
• The Response Of A Bible Believing Child!
• Standing In The Gap Before The LORD For The True King!
• My Dearly Beloved Son Timothy
• The Taking In Of: My Dearly Beloved Son!
• Offences Come … The Plague Of Divorce
• Children Deprived By Divorce
• The Single Parent Curse
• Back At Shiloh Cemetery
• The Very Next Best
• Be A Great Stepper!

The Great Stepper
Lerna, Illinois!

In the second week of June of 1998, my wife, my son, and I ... stood there before the graves of Thomas and Sarah Lincoln at Shiloh Cemetery, Lerna, Illinois.  We were enduring the full strength of a hot sweltering central Illinois summer day.

There came into my mind many cascading thoughts about these two people in those brief moments spent there.

"I wonder what they were like? I wonder what they went through in their life? I wonder if they were true Christians? I wonder what kind of parents they were to Abraham Lincoln?"

Several miles further down that road, we visited the cabin that Thomas built in the 1840's, and where they lived the rest of their years on the face of this earth.  As we examined the interior of the two-room cabin, and wandered over the farm site, an overwhelming desire increased inside me ... to find the answers to these questions.  It was there that I learned that Sarah was Abe Lincoln's stepmother.  This is what I primarily wanted to know: "What kind of mother was she to Abraham?"

In Carl Sandburg's book, Abraham Lincoln The Prairie Years, [Dell Publishing Company, Inc. 1925 on page 41], I found this recorded.

"His stepmother was a rich silent force in his life... she understood Abe's gloomy spells better than anyone else and he named her as a deep influence in him."

After The Battle Of Gettysburg!  Year’s later in a reply to a preacher of The Gospel of Jesus Christ who had asked Abraham Lincoln if he was a Christian.  Abraham Lincoln said this:

"When I left Springfield, [Illinois] I asked the people to pray for me;
I was not a Christian.
When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life,
I was not a Christian,
but when I saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers,
I then and there, consecrated myself to Christ.
I do love Jesus."

[Recorded in "Words Of Lincoln." by O.H. Oldroyd, published in 1875 by Mershon Company on page 154.]

Before we start this message, I want to make several things very clear.

First: The Bible is the perfect word of God. In the English language, it is preserved in the Authorized Version of the Bible of 1611 [commonly called the King James Bible]. It is tried! "The word of the Lord is tried" [Psalm18:30].  It is pure! "The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times" [Psalm 12:6].

Second: The Ideal Biblical Pattern For Marriage Is Set In Genesis Chapters 1 & 2.
One Man - One Woman For Life ... Both Parents ... One Family ... Bringing Up The Children Together!

Third: The Step Parent Relationship Is Less Than The Ideal!

Fourth: The Step Parent/Step Child Relationship Is Biblically Based.

Now, We Are Ready!

I. The Two Questions!

QUESTION NUMBER 1:
What do Esther, Joash [the king of Judah], and Timothy have in common? 

I can come up with at least three things.

1. They believed The Book.

2. They obeyed The Book.

3. They each, in their childhood, grew up in a household where the presence of one or both of the natural parents was missing [implied with Timothy].

QUESTION NUMBER 2:
What do Mordecai, Jehoshabeath and Jehoiada the priest, and Joseph, have in common?

I can find at least three things that they have in common.

1. They believed The Book.

2. They obeyed The Book.

3. They each "stepped" into the breech, or hole in a child's life, and gave of their own selves the necessary nourishment and admonishment to bring up that child.

II. Mordecai The Bible believer

In the book of Esther ... which is the only book in the Bible that never mentions the name of God ... is a man who believes the word of God ... The Bible!

"Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite; Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away." [Esther 2:5-6]

The judgment of God did come upon the southern kingdom of Judah, and they did go into captivity just as the true prophet Jeremiah had proclaimed: "Thus saith the Lord. Deceive not yourselves, saying the Chaldeans shall depart from us: for they shall not depart." [Jeremiah 37:9]  Mordecai saw the whole thing coming firsthand! Mordecai was a Bible Believer!  And all you have to do to see if this is true ... is just read the book of Esther! "Ye shall know them by their fruits". [Matthew7:16a]

A True Bible Believer has that kind of heart that desires nothing more than to obey the commands and precepts of God that are revealed in THE BOOK!  Mordecai obeys God: "doing the will of God from the heart." [Ephesians 6: 6]

 II. Mordecai Fills The Gap

"And I sought for a man among them, that should make up a hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none." [Ezekiel 22:30]

God is always looking for someone to stand in the breech before Him "for the land."  The entrance of sin into the world through Adam has resulted in breeches in the walls of our marriages, families, churches and nation. Mordecai saw a need.  He saw it ... because of an insight that is gained by meditating in the Scripture day and night. [See Joshua 1:8.]

"And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter." [Esther 2:7]

Esther lost both of her parents.  She was DEPRIVED!  And Mordecai stepped into the breech created by the absence of her parents.

III. Mordecai The Great Stepper!

Mordecai became a great stepper!  He took her "for his own daughter."  And what is a stepper?  The definition of STEP here, according to the Webster 1828 dictionary is:
STEP, Sax. steop, from stepan, TO DEPRIVE

Esther became a STEPCHILD to Mordecai because he made a covenant to the LORD to "FOSTER" her. FOSTER: [according to Webster] means:
"a nurse or food";

1. To feed; to nourish; to support; to bring up.

2. To cherish; to forward; to promote growth.

3. To cherish; to encourage; to sustain and promote ...

Mordecai became a FOSTER-FATHER: "One who takes the place of a father in feeding and educating a child."  Do you see how the Noah Webster 1828 Dictionary shows how tightly inter-related step parent and foster-parent is? 

The term STEPCHILD is a child DEPRIVED of its parent.

Esther was DEPRIVED.  Definition: STEP-CHILD: A child that is deprived of its natural parent.

IV. The Stepper Relationships!

Stepfather is: "A father-in-law; a father by marriage only; {the father of an orphan.}"
Stepmother is: "A mother by marriage only; a mother-in-law; {the mother of an orphan.}"
Stepdaughter is: "A daughter by marriage; {an orphan daughter.}"
 Stepson is: "A son-in-law, {an orphan son.}"

Noah Webster added this note: "In the foregoing explication of step, I have followed Lye. The D. and G. write stief, and the Swedes styf, before the name; a word which does not appear to be connected with any verb signifying to bereave, and the word is not without some difficulties. I have given the explanation, which appears to be most probably correct. If the radical sense of step, a pace, is to part or open, the word coincides with Sax. stepan, to deprive, and in the compounds above, step may imply removal or distance."

V. The near kinsman!

Mordecai was a near kinsman to Esther.  She was a cousin to him: his uncle's daughter. In the book of Ruth, Mordecai had seen the redeemer kinsman in Boaz. "And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman. And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.  And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman's part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the LORD liveth: lie down until the morning." [Ruth 3:9-13]

VI. The Redeemer Kinsman Is A Type Of Christ!

Mordecai was a great stepper! 

He stepped into the gap, and played the part of the kinsman, which is a picture, or a type of Jesus Christ coming to redeem His people Israel.  Jesus Christ will come to redeem Israel and establish on this earth His millennial kingdom at the end of this age. "And the Redeemer shall come to Zion ..." [Isaiah 59:20].

VII. The Response Of A Bible Believing Child!

There was no "vail" upon the heart of Esther "in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ." [II Corinthians 3:14b]

Even though the Apostle Paul received this truth over six hundred years after Esther's day, Mordecai had it drilled into her, and drilled into her ... this precept of Hebrews 13:7 [for it was written in her heart]. "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation."

When the orphan Esther saw Mordecai, her great stepper, who had come to redeem her from her deprivation in obedience to the revealed will of God, standing in the gap before the LORD for her sake, she responded graciously in much thanks and praise to God. Amen!

This reward, or fruit, of her obedience to Mordecai will forever be evident ... for it is recorded by the Spirit of God for all eternity in Esther 2:15. "Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her."

Esther "obtained favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her" because Mordecai believed and obeyed God, and because Esther believed and obeyed God, risking all by obeying Mordecai even later in her life. "Esther had not yet showed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him." [Esther 2:20]

VIII. Standing In The Gap Before The Lord For The True King!

"But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in a bedchamber.  So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, [for she was the sister of Ahaziah,] hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not. And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land." [II Chronicles 22:11-12]

God wanted someone to fill the breech in the wall for the nation. Joash, an innocent and defenseless child, needed someone who would be willing to step in ... and save him from being killed by a wicked woman.  SELF ... LESS ... NESS would be needed ... rooted and grounded in the very truth of Luke 9:23. "And he [Jesus] said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."

Johoiada and his wife were looking forward into time by faith ... to some future event ... to the future Savior ... that would be coming to redeem Israel.  They were Bible Believers!  They would far rather "step in" the breech ... no matter the danger ... and "parent" Joash, and bring him up "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." [Ephesians 6:6] 

The fruit of their obedience followed them, for as long as they lived, Joash as a king did right. "And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest." [II Chronicles 24:2]

IX. "My Dearly Beloved Son" Timothy

When we preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to souls, some will come to Him.  And the ones that come to Christ ... because of our leading them to Christ ... become our spiritual children. In Acts 16:1, we learn that Timothy's natural "father was a Greek", yet it was through Paul's ministry that Lois, Eunice and Timothy got saved.  For this reason the Bible in II Timothy 1:2-6 shows the claim of the Apostle Paul over Timothy as his son.

"To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands."

Again look at the principle found in Ezekiel 22:30. "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up a hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none."

We can now see how this truth, established in Ezekiel 22:30, had found a certain spiritual fulfillment in the Apostle Paul standing in the gap before God by going to the Gentiles, and preaching the Cross of Calvary and hazarding all, so that he might win some souls. For this self .. less ... intention, Paul's ministry was: "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." [Acts 26:18]

The Apostle Paul was [figuratively speaking] a Great Stepper! Timothy saw Paul, as his spiritual dad, for this very purpose: to nourish him, and to disciple him in Christ. [See Act 16:1.]

Paul's response is recorded in I Timothy 1:2. "Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord."

 X. The Taking In Of: "My Dearly Beloved Son!"

In Mark 1:11, in Matthew 3:17, and in Luke 3:22 is this witness: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." God's Son, Jesus Christ had no earthly father! He was begotten of THE FATHER by the HOLY GHOST. [See Hebrews chapter 1 and chapter 5.]  In Matthew 1:20-25, we see the careful, and complete obedience to the revelation of God by Joseph, concerning his discovering of Mary being with child.

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.   But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.   And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.  Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS."

Instead of "dumping her", "he rose up from his sleep, and DID AS the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife ... and HE [Joseph] called his name JESUS."

 Joseph took the part of a father ... in bringing up Jesus.  Joseph was a GREAT STEPPER!  And legally, within the narrow definition of Webster ... was a STEP-Father.  Remember a Stepfather is: "A father-in-law; a father by marriage only; {the father of an orphan}."

Joseph made a covenant to the LORD to "FOSTER" Him.  Joseph for the next thirty years ... stepped in ... fostered ... stood in the gap ... fed ... nourished ... supported ... cherished ... promoted ... encouraged ... sustained ... a child who was not his own natural child ... but treated him as if he was his own child ... no matter the personal cost to himself ... no matter the sacrifice!

XI. Offences Come ... The Plague Of Divorce

It has been NOW for several generations that DEATH is no longer THE PREDOMINATE REASON FOR STEP RELATIONSHIPS.

Now this brings us to the single most important issue that is tearing down the walls of our homes today.

DIVORCE IS THE ISSUE!

Earlier in this message I stated that the ideal Biblical pattern for marriage is given in Genesis chapters 1 & 2. One Man - One Woman For Life ... One Family ... Both Parents ... Bringing Up The Children Together!

The DEPARTURE from THE IDEAL is because of the entrance of sin into the world through the first man ... Adam.  Since the turn of this century ... we are generation by generation, getting further ... and further ... from our biblical foundations.  WHY?  [I believe it is obvious.]

It is because of our national sins ... of turning from the God of our fathers ... and of throwing THE LORD OUR GOD ... out of our homes, out of our schools, and out of our government.  We have removed THE OLD LANDMARKS!   We have gotten rid of THE BIBLE!  We, as a nation, will not allow THE TEN COMMANDMENTS to be posted in the public schools.  We will no longer teach ABSOLUTES!  We will no longer have THE GOD of THE BIBLE OVER us.

We are plain and simple ... REBELS!  There is no question about that. It is no wonder that our marriages are no longer regarded with sanctity, or as "till death do we part."

Our DIVORCE FOR ANY REASON mentality [which is one of our wicked national sins], is destroying the family, and scarring, and crippling our children. "Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!"

XII. Children ... Deprived By Divorce

"But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

This verse from God's BOOK pronounces judgment ... to the guilty parents, or parent, WHO OFFEND: by promoting the destruction of their own marriage, and thereby, ... DEPRIVING the children of enjoying the basic biblical unit ... the family.  The family ... is where both of the natural parents raise up the children to The LORD. If one of the natural parents is missing, because of Divorce, then an offence has occurred!

Woe to that parent, or parents, who have done so! It would be better for them to have a millstone hanged about their neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea, than to offend innocent little children by hindering them from coming to Jesus Christ.  That is how God sees it concerning the offences committed against our children.

Divorce impairs the ability of the children to come to Him for their salvation. "Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost."

XIII. The Single Parent Curse

Now, we have in this country a SORRY condition, or plague, as a result of all these divorces. The plague is called: the single parent family.  This is where one parent ... alone ... tries to raise children without the other parent.  This most often results in failure ... because the children need both a father and a mother ... in order to enjoy emotional and spiritual growth ... so vital and necessary to reach to adulthood. God intended from the beginning ... that it would take two to raise the children up.

 The highway ... to successfully raising children to fear and know The LORD ... is fraught with the many dangers of living in this sin-cursed world.  Trying to go it alone with this great responsibility is to face almost certain disaster.

The Absence Of The Father results in:

• The heritage of the Father not being transmitted to the next generation.

• The protection of a Father not being felt by the children.

• The admonition of the Father not being applied, thus ruining the children.

• The nurture of a father being withheld, causing malformed children.

The Absence Of the Mother results in:

• The heritage of a Mother not being given to her children.

• The loss of the second line of defense in the home ...when the father goes off to work.

• The hardening of the hearts in the children.

• The loss of gentleness and tenderness sensed by the children.

• Raising children in the single parent ordeal ... is like the ox cart trying to head down the road with one missing wheel!

XIV. Back At Shiloh Cemetery....

There was something else I found at Shiloh Cemetery that day.  So many of those weather worn tombstones gave a witness to the single most significant reason for the children losing a parent, or becoming orphans in the nineteenth century. It was because of Death.  Death had laid claim to so many of their parents.

Remarriage, because of death of the spouse, was virtually the only reason why children would know the Step relationships. STEP PARENTING was noble.

 When Sarah Bush Lincoln came to her new home in Indiana to mother Thomas Lincoln's motherless children, she knowingly and prayerfully, had entered into a commitment before God to nurture those children as her own.  We can learn from the historical narratives that she was a true and faithful in her commitment to her stepchildren.

Sarah Lincoln had picked up where their natural mother, Nancy, had left off because of her DEATH.  I now no longer wonder about what kind of mother she was to Abraham Lincoln.  She was a GREAT STEPPER!

 Look at the fruit!  Remember, it was years later when Abraham Lincoln, our sixteenth President of The United States of America, said the following when he trusted Jesus Christ for his personal salvation after The Battle Of Gettysburg:

"When I left Springfield, I asked the people to pray for me;
 
I was not a Christian.
 
When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life,
 
I was not a Christian,
 
but when I saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers,

I then and there, consecrated myself to Christ.

I do love Jesus."

Factor this in! "His stepmother was a rich silent force in his life... she understood Abe's gloomy spells better than anyone else and he named her as a deep influence in him."

No doubt!  Part of the seed sown in his life by others, brought forth fruit in bringing Abraham Lincoln to Jesus Christ, was in part, seed sown by his step-mother, Sarah Bush Lincoln.

XV. The Very Next Best ....

If you are a Step Parent, which is not the biblical ideal ... but the very next best,  Then: Make a covenant to the LORD to "FOSTER" your Step Children!

For how ever many years you have with them ... be a GREAT STEPPER.

You: stepped in

... to foster

... to stand in the gap

... to feed

... to nourish

... to support

... to cherish

... to promote

... to encourage

... to sustain ... a child who was not your own natural child ... but to treat the child as if he [or she] was your own child ... no matter the personal cost to yourself ... and no matter the personal sacrifice!

Be a Great Stepper!

Step-Children!

Do YOU ... as a Step Daughter ... or as a Step Son ... have these three things in common with Esther, Joash [the king of Judah], and Timothy?

1. They believed The Book.

2. They obeyed The Book.

3. They each in their childhood grew up in a household where the presence of one, or both, the natural parents was missing.

1. Do you believe The Book?

2. Do you obey The Book.

3. Do you honor and appreciate the nurture and admonition of Someone Else who volunteered to step into the breech ... left by your absent natural parent, or parents?

Step Parents!

Do you as a Step Father, or as a Step Mother have these three things in common with Mordecai, Jehoshabeath and Jehoiada the priest, and Joseph?

1. They believed The Book.

2. They obeyed The Book.

3. They each "stepped" into the breech, or hole in a child's life, and gave of their own selves the necessary nourishment and admonishment to bring up that child. They entered into the fray ... knowing up front ... the holy calling.

1. Do you believe The Book?

2. Do you obey The Book?

3. Are you ... A Great Stepper?

Are you "stepping" into the breech, or hole in a child's life, and giving of your own self ... the necessary nourishment and admonishment to bring up that child. Have you entered into the fray ... knowing up front ... the holy calling.