PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 285: Our Hearts and Our Homes, Part 2
LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell
EPISODE 285: Our Hearts and Our Homes, Part 1
Are the lamps burning in your home? Is the incense wafting up in your home? Are your children sharpened up with God's word? Are they fortified with truth and ready for end times?
Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.
Nancy Campbell: Hi, ladies! Here we are again, together! And I am continuing our subject, “Our Hearts and Our Homes.” Last session we were in Hezekiah. No, we weren’t. There’s no such book as Hezekiah! It’s 2 Chronicles 29! But it’s all about Hezekiah. We were reading how he opened the doors of the temple and began to put everything back together how it was meant to be happening, because the lamps were put out, and the people had turned away from what God wanted them to do.
But we didn’t really finish. Can we go back there again, back to 2 Chronicles 29? A few more thoughts from there. Just to put you in remembrance, Hezekiah started out in the very FIRST month of his reign to open the doors of the house of the Lord, and to get everything working again. He says here in v. 7: “Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.”
GOD HAS CHOSEN YOU TO INTERCEDE
We talked last time about the lamps and the altar of incense, and how it means and always speaks in the Bible about being the prayers of the saints. We go down to verse 11, and Hezekiah continues speaking to the Levites. He said: “My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that ye should minister unto Him, and burn incense.”
He was talking to the Levites, the Levitical priesthood, but that was the Old Testament. We, ladies, we are now made kings and priests unto our God. In Revelation, it tells us that. We have come into this place. What a privilege! God now says to us because we are His priests, “My sons, my daughters, the Lord hath chosen you to burn incense.” He’s chosen us for this time.
I reminded you last week, and I want to remind you again, don’t let this go. Don’t let that time of each morning and each evening that you gather your families together to meet with the Lord, don’t let it go, because this is God’s heart. V. 8 says because they had let it go, back when Hezekiah had come to the throne, “Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem” because of that.
Now we go over to v. 27, and we see that Hezekiah continues telling them what they should do while they were doing the burnt offerings every morning and every evening, because that was also a morning and evening sacrifice. They slew the lamb as a burnt offering every morning. There was a lamb for the morning and a lamb for the evening. They lit the lamps; they lit the incense.
DON’T FORGET TO WORSHIP
While they were doing all these things, he also organized that certain of the Levites would be praising and worshipping the Lord. All the while this was going on, there was also worship unto the Lord.
It’s so important in our times, whatever you call this in your home—family worship time, family Bible time, family prayer time. We call it family devotions . . . whatever you call it . . . that we also include worship to the Lord. We will usually sing a hymn or a worship song to the Lord.
But here in v. 27, it says: “And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. And all the congregation worshipped” (not some of them. Not just those who felt like it. No, all the congregation because when this was happening in the Holy Place, in the outer court the people would come. In the outer court, all the people would be worshipping, “and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished . . . Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.”
When we come to the Lord each morning and evening, it’s also important that we worship Him, that we bow before Him, and show our homage to the One Who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
GOD WANTS ORDER IN HIS HOUSE
Then we go over to the end of the chapter. Verse 35: “And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings, and the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So,” this is the part I wanted to read. “So, the service of the house of the LORD was set in order.”
I love those three words: “Set in order.” Hezekiah made sure that everything was set into order.
Some translations translate it this way: “So the service of the Lord was restored.”
Others translate it, “re-established.”
Others translate it, “reinstated.” Sometimes you have, maybe in your home, you’ve had this time of family worship and Bible and prayer time. But, oh goodness me, things have happened, and the busyness of life, and you’ve let it go.
Dear mother, can I encourage you . . .
To re-establish it!
To reinstate it!
To get it going again!
And to set your home in order, because this is the foundation of making our homes a house of the Lord.
I think of that Scripture in Isaiah 9:7, talking about Jesus, a prophetic promise of Christ, the Messiah. “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it.” Once again, a phrase of three words, “to order it.” “. . . And to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”
We read how God wants to order His kingdom. It’s not haphazard. He doesn’t just let things happen. “Oh well, we’ll see how this works out.” No, He orders His kingdom. We also have to order our homes, because our homes are little types of His great kingdom. We’re seeking to establish them on the principles of God’s kingdom. We need to set our homes in order on these things that God has asked us to do, morning and evening. And that’s to come into His presence, be refilled with fresh oil, to spend time praying in His presence, to refuel our lives with His precious Word.
Now I want to take you to another passage back in Deuteronomy 6. This is a passage you all know. But we’re going to it again because I think we need to be reminded. Dear ladies, we can think we know things, but are we doing them? This is the amazing thing about Deuteronomy. A great exercise is to say, “OK, I’m going to read the book of Deuteronomy.” And read it through. In fact, you could have a notebook and pencil, or pen (that would be better) beside you. Write down every single Scripture where it says, “to do.”
Because over and over again, God is saying, “I give you these commandments, to keep them, and to do them.” To do. Those words come over and over and over. Actually, I myself, I haven’t taken time yet to count how many times those words “to do” are in the book of Deuteronomy. But maybe you could do that for yourself. It would be a fun thing to do as you’re reading through.
Let’s go to this very amazing and famous passage in Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” Now, notice, lovely ladies, that this injunction to us as parents, specifically to parents, to fathers and mothers, starts off with the HEART.
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.” We’re talking about our hearts and our homes. We’re talking about the importance of meeting together as a family, morning and evening, to meet with God. But, dear ladies, oftentimes that can happen out of doing it ritually, or religiously, or just because, “Oh well, this is what we’re meant to do.” If it’s not coming from our hearts, it’s not really going to bless our children.
There are children who have been brought up in homes where family devotions have been a habit in the home. But they haven’t come forth with a great memory and delight of it because it was done as a ritual. There wasn’t the heart. Children will see if it’s in our hearts, if, “Oh, we’re doing this because we love God! We love His Word!”
In fact, I was just reading a passage recently where the writer said, “Do you love God?” Well, that’s a question we can ask you. “Do you love God?” Well then, the next question is, “Do you love the Bible?” Because if we love God, we’ll love His Word! Many people say, “Oh, I love God!” But they hardly ever open His Word! That’s just hypocrisy! If we love God, we’ll love His Word.
If you love someone, you want to be with them. You just love being with them. You want to hang around with them. You want to talk with them. You want to hear what they’re going to say. You want to talk with them. If we love God, we’ll want to hear what He’s going to say from His Word. We’ll love His Word!
If that is the attitude you have when you’re bringing your children together, “Children! It’s time for us to get together for the reading of God’s Word! Can you believe it? We’re actually going to hear God speak to us! Isn’t this amazing? OK, all open your ears! Open your eyes! Open your hearts! See if you can hear God speak to you.” If you encourage your children to have this attitude, they will learn to hear the voice of God, because when you open your spiritual eyes and ears and heart, you will hear God speak to you. But that’s the attitude we must have. It must come from the heart.
In fact, this morning, when we started off our family devotions, we sang that beautiful hymn, “Open My Eyes.” I wonder if you know it. I wish my husband was here so he could sing it to you. I won’t sing it. Oh goodness me, you’d turn off the podcast if I started singing! Well, I sing, of course. I love to sing with other people, but I don’t really like other people hearing me sing on my own, because I can go out of tune unfortunately.
I can’t believe that I have a husband who can sing perfect pitch. Serene and Pearl, who were singers, they were signed by a record company. They sing in perfect pitch. I don’t know how they ever survived, because their mother, I would sing to them, as little babies. I’d sing lullabies and sing to them. I was probably singing out of tune, and yet somehow, they can still stay in pitch. Isn’t that amazing?
I’ll read the words to you, shall I?
Open my eyes that I may see,
Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for Thee,
Ready, my God, Thy will to see;
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit Divine!
Open my ears that I may hear,.
Voices of truth Thou sendest clear;
And while the wave notes fall on my ear,
Everything false will disappear.
I love that line: “Everything false will disappear.” The more the Word is spoken forth into the ears of your children, the more falseness will disappear from their lives, and all the deceptions that are all around them.
Silently now I wait for Thee,
Ready, my God, Thy will to see;
Open my ears, illumine me,
Spirit Divine!
Then it goes on:
Open my mind, that I may read . . .
Every part of our being opening to hear the Voice of the Lord.
Because we love Him with all our hearts! “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart.” You see it? There it is again. “In thy heart.” Oh yes, we’ve got to get the Word of God into our minds, but we’ve also got to get it into our hearts.
We’ve got to open our hearts. Is that what you do? It’s what I do when I come to read the Word personally. I open my heart. I say, “Lord, I want to hear it in my heart!” When my husband is reading the Word each morning and evening, and I’m listening now, I’ll be saying in my head, “Lord, I want to hear in my heart!”
Teach your children to hear with their hearts because then it will be real. Then it will be exciting. Then it will be rich. “And thou shalt teach them diligently.” And you’ll be doing that with your heart. “Teach thy children diligently. Thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house.” Do you notice again, it’s our hearts and our homes?
Our hearts have got to be so open. It happens in our homes. Yes, God says, “This is where I want you to get it into your children, in your homes. When you sit in your home, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down in the evening. And when you rise up in the morning.”
I’d like to read to you Matthew Henry’s commentary on this Scripture. Matthew Henry, have you heard of him? He was a great commentator of the Bible. He actually was born in 1662, so that’s a long time ago. But his Bible commentary is still around. It’s a wonderful, beautiful meditative commentary of the Word of God.
It’s amazing, actually, what Matthew Henry did in his lifetime. He was born prematurely. Way back then, in 1662, it was very fortunate if you lived when you were born prematurely. They didn’t think that he would live at all, so they baptized him the next day after he was born. That’s what they did back then.
He was a sickly child. All his life, always having fevers. Although he was in poor health physically, he was very gifted intellectually. At three years old, he could read out loud chapters of the Bible. As a young child, and even at nine years of age, he could read Latin, and also Greek.
In fact, this is a sentence from a letter he wrote to his father at nine years of age. Now, do you have a nine-year-old? I wonder if they would be writing like this. He’s commentating on a Scripture. “By this providence, we may see that sin is the worst of evils. For sickness came with sin. Christ is the chief good. Therefore, let us love Him. Sin is the worst of evils. Therefore, let us hate that with a perfect hatred.” That’s from a child of nine years of age!
Matthew Henry writes on this Scripture here: “Frequently, repeat these things to your children. Try all ways of instilling them into their minds and making them pierce into their hearts. As in working a knife, it is turned first on this side, and then on that.”
Are you familiar with whetting a knife? I can remember, growing up, watching my father whet the knife to sharpen it up. He would get out his steel and he would put the knife to one side and then the other. He was very adept at doing it. Very soon, he would have this wonderful sharp knife ready to cut the meat. Well, I wish my father was still around because all the knives in my house are so blunt!
Matthew Henry goes on and quotes, “Be careful and exact in teaching thy children. Aim, as by whetting, to sharpen them, and put an edge upon them. Teach them to thy children, not only those of thine own body, but all those that are anyway under thy care and tuition.”
If we go to the Amplified Classic Translation of the Bible, we will see this very same understanding. The interesting thing is, Matthew Henry wrote this away back in 1600 and something, because he was born in 1662, whereas the Amplified Classic was printed in 1965! Wow! That’s over 300 years later.
And yet, it’s saying the same thing. Obviously, they have both gone back to the Hebrew to get to the original meaning. “You shall whet and sharpen them, so as to make them penetrate and teach and impress them diligently upon the minds and hearts of your children.” That is the real, original meaning of teaching our children diligently. It’s like getting out that steel and getting the knife and sharpening it. First one edge, and then the other.
We’ve got to make our children sharp. Sharp with the Word of God. They’ve got to have an edge upon them. It’s got to penetrate into them. They’ve got to know this Word. How much of the Word do your children know? I know you know Deuteronomy 6. You’ve heard it so many times, especially if you’re a homeschooling mom. But dear ladies, are our children sharpened? Truly sharpened with the Word?
Often, when my husband is reading the Word at our family devotions, he will stop halfway through a Scripture. He will say, “Who can finish it?” If our children are sharp with the Word, they’ll be able to finish that Scripture. But I find that many times most adults can’t even finish the Scripture, let alone children! Dear ladies, we have to get our children sharpened in the Word of God. Amen?
And then it goes on. Deuteronomy 6:8: “And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.” The word “to bind” in the Hebrew is qashar. It means, “to tie, tie in a knot, to bind.” We’ve got the Scriptures. This can be taken physically, but it was also written figuratively so that, “OK, we bind the words of God upon our hands and between our eyes.” But they should be bound so that they’re a part of us, like tying in a knot. They’re so knotted to us that we just can’t forget them.
We take that Scripture figuratively, although, of course, the Jews themselves have taken it literally. They do that. They actually wear them on their arms. They write these Scriptures, these specific Scriptures. The Scriptures they write are actually Exodus 13:1-10 and 11-16; also, Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11, 13-21. Those Scriptures are written out on parchment, then rolled up, and put in a little box; then on the arm, the little boxes there on the wrist. They have leather going around the arm, so it’s totally bound to the arm.
Then they have this little box right between their eyes, on their forehead. They have something that ties it around their head, because it says, “they are to be as frontlets between thine eyes.” Well, figuratively, we do not have to put all these things on our hands, and on our foreheads. I guess there’s nothing wrong with doing that, of course.
But what God really, really wants is that they are there before our eyes, that the Word of God is really up front. It’s up front. When we need to know what truth on a certain subject is, well, we’ve got the Word. It’s up front. It’s not way, way, way, way, way back, where we haven’t even got it. No, we’ve got it up front, in our minds.
Then we’ve got it on our hands because we are to do it. We don’t just know it in our minds, but we are to do it. Like I suggested, read through Deuteronomy. See how many times you can find the words, “do it.” Count over and over again how many times God says, “Do it!” Like the last verse of this chapter: “And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He hath commanded us.”
God has given us this picture. “OK, get it right there, up front!” Children, any children listening? Why don’t you say this word with me? “Frontlets.” Frontlets. Yes, it just means to have the Word of God right up front in your mind, before your eyes, and then, on our hands, so we’ll do it!
What I want to take you to now, ladies, is right over to Revelation. See, the wonderful thing about the Word of God is that the Old Testament and the New Testament all tie together. What God says in the Old, you will find a counterpart in the New. We go over right to the last book, to Revelation.
NEVER TAKE THE MARK
Let’s go to Revelation 14:9. Here John is writing about what is going to happen in the end times. “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.” Wow! Very powerful Scripture.
We all know, of course, that we must never, ever take the mark of the beast. We must penetrate those words into our children’s lives that they will never be tempted to take the mark of the beast, even if they have to be martyred. We read in Revelation how so many people went up into Heaven, but they went up, well, many of them without their heads. They were martyred. We read about the martyrs in heaven who did not take the mark of the beast.
Let’s go over to Revelation 20:4. John is still seeing things in the heavenlies, and what is going to happen in the time to come. “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
Let’s go to Revelation 22:4. Here it talks about those again who did not take the mark. “And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.” Instead of the mark of the beast, they had the Name of God in their foreheads.
But do you notice something, dear ladies? Did you notice that there, in Deuteronomy 6, it tells us we’ve got to have the Word in our foreheads and on our hands? The Word of God. Our minds should be stamped with the Word of God and His truths. Our hands are stamped with the Word of God because we’re not just being like that person in James, who read the Word, but took no notice. But he was also a doer of the Word.
Now we’re reading Revelation. It’s so interesting that the forehead and the hands are where they want to put the mark. Now, ladies, dear mothers, we have got a mandate from God. We have got to get the Word of God, the Word of truth, so penetrated into our children’s hearts and coming out their mouths, as Isaiah 59:21 says so that when they face the time in the future (will it be our generation, or will it be their generation? Whose generation will it be? We have to prepare every generation so that they will not take the mark).
I know that there are people, even children growing up in our families, if they do not have the Word in their hearts, in their minds, and in their hands and that they are doing it already and it’s the practice of their lives . . . they will be tempted, tempted to take that mark, because it will not be easy not to take it. Many will be martyred because they will not take it . . . persecuted, suffering.
I believe that even when this whole plandemic came, it was like “OK, if you didn’t wear a mask, and you didn’t get vaccinated, well, you couldn’t do this, and you couldn’t do that.” Many shops you couldn’t even go into! There were many shops that you could not go into unless you wore a mask. There were many shops I never went into during that time. But there were many who caved in because of convenience. There were many who were vaccinated because they said, “Oh, well, I’ll lose my job!” Well, instead, they lost their lives. Many have died already.
You see, it will not be easy. It will be tough, but we have to prepare our children. But how are we prepared? They’ve got to get the Word. It’s got to be penetrated into their minds, and on their hands, so they are doing it. It is part of their lives. Amen? Do you see that connection, ladies? I believe that is so powerful.
Let me give you one more Scripture. Revelation 15:2. Here John is seeing another vision, and he says: “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God” in their hand, and praising God. Yes, because they had the Word, which gave them courage to stand against taking that mark. Amen!
We also have another picture in the Word of God, about the high priest. Exodus 28, where God said they had to make this plate of pure gold. On it was written, “Holiness unto the Lord.” Then they had to attach it to this turban that he wore on his head. So, right on his forehead, on his forehead, once again, were the words, “Holiness unto the Lord.” The forehead is very significant.
In fact, remember, how did David kill Goliath? He got that stone off that sling, and it went right into Goliath’s forehead and wiped him out. Yes, the forehead will be our protection, or it can be our total undermining. Do you remember King Uzziah? A wonderful king. He was blessed of the Lord. But as he continued in his kingship, he was so blessed that he got a bit too high and mighty.
He went into the Holy Place where he was not allowed. Only the priests were allowed. He said, “Oh, I can go in there!” He went in. The high priest, plus 80 other priests, went running in to try to drag him out, because they thought, “What will happen because he is violating the Word of God?” Well, something did happen. God struck him with leprosy. Where? Right on his forehead. That’s where it was struck. Wow! So, we’ve got to have the Word in our forehead, between our eyes.
One little thought as we’re closing. Back in Deuteronomy 6:9, where it says: “And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” Well, once again, that’s just surrounding our whole home with the Word of God and with His truth. They literally wrote them on their posts and on their doors.
You can do that too, if you want to do that. It’s a wonderful thing to have the Word of God on your walls, and on your doors, and on your posts. But the main thing is that we have them in our hearts and in our minds. They’re right on our foreheads.
I must tell you, before we moved out here, we lived in Franklin. We had neighbors, who when you go into their home to visit them, and you come out . . . I loved coming out because right over their gate, written in big letters, it was beautiful, they had this Scripture: “Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.” It was a beautiful thing to have over their gate.
Earlier this year, we were in Scotland, and we were blessed to have this holiday with Serene and Sam and Daniel and Allison. We, of course, being Campbells as we are, we went to visit Castle Campbell. That’s a little north of Edinburgh. Colin and I have been there many times. That was the summer castle of the Campbells.
Then we went up to Argyle and visited Inverary Castle. That is the present, well, it was the biggest castle of the Campbells. It’s still owned by them. The 14th Duke of Argyle still lives in that castle. But it’s open to the public every day. It was great to see that.
But then we went to another place. Sam said, “Oh, we’ve got to stay in a castle one night!” So, we went to this castle called Stonefield Castle. We found out it was also owned by the Campbells. We were feeling pretty cool going to all these Campbell castles. This Stonefield Castle, as you came up to the entrance, on one side they had this big plaque, which said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and soul, and mind, and strength.” On the other side, they had, “And thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” I thought that was really great to do that.
I have a few other thoughts, but I think time has gone. I don’t know where time goes. Let’s pray.
“Dear Father, I pray Your blessing on everyone, and mothers and daughters listening. I pray that Your Word will go into their hearts. I pray they will go into my heart. Lord God, we don’t want to be those who are shallow in Your Word. We want to be those, Lord, who are sharpened, and that we have an edge about us. Your words are penetrating deep into our lives.
“Oh, God, I pray that You will strengthen and prepare every family, Lord God, that each family will be a family of truth, and a family of Your Word. I pray that You will help us all, as we prepare personally, and Lord, our generations, for we do not know yet which generation You will come. We do not know yet which generation. It could be soon; it could be a little later. We don’t know yet, but we must be prepared.
“Lord, I pray that You will help us to be faithful as mothers, to prepare our children, and children’s children to be those who will never, ever, ever take the mark of the beast, no matter what they have to face. No matter if they have to face martyrdom. Lord God, we pray that Your Word will be so strong it in them. It will be in their hearts and in their foreheads, and Lord, it will be on their hands as they work it out in their lives. We ask this in Jesus’ Name.
“Lord God, I pray especially, Lord, for a whole new revival of families who are strong in the Word of God. Lord, too many Christian families are shallow. They don’t truly know Your Word. Lord, help us to be those who know Your Word. We know what You say about every subject. Lord, we must have a biblical worldview and understanding on everything, Lord, You’ve put in this universe, because it all comes from You.
“Lord God, you’ve put Your stamp upon us. We pray that You will help us to be truly homes of the Lord. Oh God, that we have hearts that are so passionate for You, and Lord, that our children’s hearts will become passionate for You as we establish homes of the Lord. We order them according to Your plan, and Your Word. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.”
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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Transcribed by Darlene Norris * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.