Fathers Parallel Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King of Their Families.
Fathers Parallel Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King of Their Families.
These next two (2) Blogs are aimed at we men. This one to us as fathers and heads of our households, the next to us as husbands.
Men love to be called the Head of their Family, but with that headship, which is the biblical role assigned to men by God, comes responsibility!
As Jesus is the head of his people, so is the husband/father the head of his family.
"For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing." Eph 5:23-24
"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Eph 6:4
The American Southern Presbyterians of the 1800s (I think it was them), spoke of the family as a church, with the father the elder/pastor, and the wife the deacon; that goes in a good direction.
Christ functions in three (3) roles to the church, and the father parallels Christ in these three (3) roles toward his family; they are:
1) Prophet
2) Priest
3) King
First, prophet.
A prophet speaks from / for God. He either tells of a future event before it happens, fore-tells; or he speaks on behalf of God, telling-forth truth. We are speaking about the later idea, that the father is to tell about or tell forth the mind of God to his family. The father is to be the primary teacher of his family, teaching them truth from the bible.
"Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church." 1Co 14:34-35
"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Eph 6:4
When wives have questions about theology or the bible, they are to ask their husbands! We read the words, "for it is a shame for the women to speak in the church," and assume that means it is a shame to have all the confusion occurring during a church meeting, but it is also a shame tot he husband, for the wife, by asking her questions to others, is shaming her husband, basically saying, he does not know.
Men, let us be theologians in whom our wives have the utmost trust, so that they will ask us their theological questions, and not others.
And the command to "bring them (the children) up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" is given to fathers. Now, of course that does not mean mom cannot or should not teach the children about the Lord, or have morning devotions with them, or pray with them; that would be absurd. Timothy's dad was a pagan, he learned about the Lord from his mom and grandmother.
But the primary teacher is dad.
So dad, are you a theologian? You need to be! Do your wife and children say, "He knows the bible! He teaches us the bible!" And those are 2 different ideas, for some men know the bible, but do not teach their families, and here I would be strong to say that a brief 5 minute reading after dinner, from "The Daily Bread," or even the bible, is not "teaching them!"
Dad, you need to hold "family church," basically every night, teaching you family "verse-by-verse" from the bible. Age appropriate, which means getting deeper, and with more pointed application, as the kids get older; having them read and pray; asking questions, and getting answers. Challenging them to personal faith in Christ, pulling no punches about God and heaven and truth, about Satan and hell and lies and sin.
Dad, your time to win your children to Christ is VERY short. If elders of local churches will have to give an account of their faithfulness to their flock, how much more we dads?
So be like Abraham, about whom God said"
"For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him." Gen 18:19
Dad, how do you become a theologian? READ READ READ, the bible and good books; by having personal devotions every day, so that your family knows if they go to your "prayer closet" at that time, they will see you reading and praying. For me, an hour is really not enough, and so yes, that might mean going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. But are not the souls of our family, which God has put in your hands, worth it? If we are called to account for the "talents" God has entrusted to us, how much more for souls!
Second, Priest
A priest is an intermediary, one who stands between two parties, and intercedes to the greater party, on behalf of the lesser party. It is a legal word. Sin is crime against God's government, so a priest acts as a religious and legal mediator, between God the wronged party (his law has been broken) and people, who broke it.
Jesus is called our high priest 14 times in the book of Hebrews.
He is the "one mediator between God and man:" 1Ti 2:5.
He is our advocate, our lawyer, before the father: 1Jh 2:1.
The point being, he stands between God and man, on behalf of man, pleading (legally) with God, based on his work as priest for us; he mediates.
So too, a father is to be the priest for his family. Jesus pleads his own blood; fathers are to plead Jesus' blood.
Think of Job:
"And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually." Job 1:5
Job prayed and made animal sacrifices for the sins of his children. It cost him time, and money, and effort.
While today, we fathers do not make animal sacrifices, our job as the priest for our families is to pray for them, and to plead the blood of THE sacrifice, Jesus, to cover their sins. That is how we act as priests for our families.
So men, do you pray each day, for your wife and each of your children, by name, according to their personal and individual needs and circumstances? And notice, Job's children were grown, and out of his house, and yet he continued to be priest for them.
Jesus, our mediating advocate stands before the throne, making inter-cession for each of us; let us do the same for ours.
Third, King
Here is the role that is often highlighted when biblical headship is talked about, usually with the idea that "you must obey me." Now while it is certainly true that children must obey, that does end when they go off on their own. And wives, though equal in status before the Lord, yet in their assigned role as helper are subject to their husbands, yet the husband is not told to subjugate they wife. To dwell upon "you must obey me," is not what being "king" is all about.
OK, this Blog is to husbands / fathers, so men what are you to do in your role as king?
You are not to subjugate!
Being a king means you are to lead in such a way, and with Jesus' mindset, who said, "learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, that your wife and children gladly follow.
Lead is a very concrete term, it means to walk at the head of the line, so that others can walk in your foot steps, putting their feet in the imprint your foot made. It is being an example for them to follow!
Being a kings means you protect and defend those within their realm from outside enemies. Of course that means physical protection, bullies, un-healthy personal relationships, etc, but it also means spiritual protection, from school curriculum, play mates, the internet, society in general, for "the whole world (cosmos) lies in the evil one."
Being a king also means maintaining equity within your realm, by not favoring one child over another, or letting one child pick on another; it means settling disputes between family members, and doing it according to biblical equity.
It means setting up a safe environment to prevent ill coming to your family from without, from arising from within, and if it comes, to stand up against it, and defend your realm.
It means fostering the personal development of each of your children, based on who they are, ie what God made them. You need to guide your children, hands-on, so they can be all God designed them to be. A good boss knows his/her employees, and "puts the round peg in the round hole, not in the square hole!" We need to so guide our children, so they are prepared for life.
If children fail, it can often (not always), but often be traced back to dad!
Being a kings means providing for those within their realm. They put their subjects first, they serve!
We used to call government workers "civil SERVANTS," they served the people; dad you are to serve your family.
And being the king does not mean a one-man-show! You have your "deacon;" set up the children as "heads over hundreds and heads over fifties and heads over tens," for while they are all equal as children, yet give them jobs and authority over their jobs, so that you create a "well-oiled-machine" with each knowing their place, their roles, and growing in maturity and responsibility as they function with full freedom within their sphere of responsibility.
You are training them to be adults, not to remain children! We train them to leave, and be responsible adults on their own, with their own families. We are basically given 20 years, if they cannot stand on their own after that, we have failed!
Do you provide for the physical needs of your family? Are you the bread winner? Do you live within your means, on your paycheck alone, so your wife can be home with the children, guiding the home as the "ruler of the house" (Titus 2:5). Do you have a will? Life insurance? Do you have a plan?
In the extreme, do not be the father who stops at the bar on pay day, and drinks away his paycheck; more subtlety, do not be the dad who spends on his hobbies, excluding his children, and so there is no money for family vacation, or good books for the kids to read, etc.
And a king should be happy over his realm. Do your children see you happy with the life? With them? With your wife? Children should see mom and dad happy and enjoying each other, so that they cannot wait to be married. Maybe the reason kids don't want to get married, is that they grew up in homes where mom and dad were not happy being married, and so the kids say, why would I get myself involved in that? Do you want your kids to by happily married? Do you want happy grandchildren running around? Then make your home, that kind of home, and your kids will want to have a home just like they grew up in!
Being king means setting an example of faith, right living, moral and practical honesty, truthfulness; the idea of "do as I say, not as I do," is a huge evil.
While all fathers need to act toward their families in the above ways, if you are not a Christian, you may understand where I am coming from, but not having God the Holy Spirit within you, you will not be able to be this kind of leader. If you are not a Christian, your first need is to humble yourself to the Lord Jesus, ask to be forgiven for your your sins (acts of rebellion against him), and ask for him to save you by giving you new life by the Holy Spirit; then you can be the father you need to be.
If you are a Christian, you need to consider what I have written, and under the blessing and help of God, be the Prophet-Priest-King of your home.
May the Lord help us all.
1 September 2025