Our topic for this year Father’s day presupposes a father, who is preoccupied, absent-minded, faraway and is always not there when his fatherly care and concern is required. Why would a father be absent? The answer to this question may vary from home to home however the consequence of absent fatherhood is the vulnerability of the family when the father is always not where he is expected to be in the lives of members of his family. A typical case study of the vulnerability posed by absent fatherhood is the case in the Garden of Eden.
Ge 3:1 Now the serpent was craftier than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Ge 3:2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, Ge 3:3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” Ge 3:4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. Ge 3:5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Ge 3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
- Where was Adam the primary occupant of the Garden of Eden and the first recipient of the rules and regulations of the Garden when the serpent was deceiving Eve?
- Why did the serpent choose to deceive Eve and not Adam?
- Could Satan have prevailed if Adam and Eve were together?
- Error is always contagious: Eve was persuaded by satanic deception and she in turn influenced absent Adam.
- Every family needs the synergy of togetherness and unity of all stakeholders in the family in order to frustrate our common adversary.
- Some responsibilities in the family cannot be effectively delegated.
- Fathers must ensure that we did not abscond from our duty post for whatever reasons.
Revd Dr V. F. Owolabi,
Pastor, Olivet Baptist Church,
June 16, 2019