Children first, parents last: Divine priorities in the home

Many parents believe they come first in the family. "Parents first" is a parental rights statement. However, proper parenting in this country goes by the saying "children first, parents last". Children come first, then parents last. It was the order that children walked with their parents in ancient Israel.

It says in Colossians 3:20-21 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "children" is τεκνον (Latin: teknon) and refers to dependence in parents, just as mature believers are dependent in Christ. Anyone dependent on their parents is a child under Divine Codified Law. The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to secure, vulnerable rest and trust in the love and grace of parents, coming from sacrifice for children, in the spirit that Christ sacrificed for His children; taking up the cross for one's children, in the spirit that Christ took up the cross for His children; martyring oneself in everything regarding parenting, expecting absolutely nothing in return. This Greek root word ultimately uplifts the traditional Judeo-Christian parenting norms of the Bible, which are attachment-based in nature. Child nudity was legal under Jewish customary law, and was all through the biblical context, and that was for mothers to apply skin-to-skin contact as a means to bond with their child, with the child swaddled next to the mother until age 3, with the mother breastfeeding up until that age or even older. 

The Greek root word translated "parents" is γονεύς (Latin: goneus) and refers to righteous enslavement of the parent to their children, meaning parents being seen as bondservants to their children, not authority figures. Parents were leaders, but in a way that they were lead by the child to the child's needs, meaning parents were struck with reverent fear to revere their child, and not know what their child needs apart from what they advocate. The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and literally translates to "stirring up" upset or resentment in children, shorthand for the Jewish adage of "stirring the pot" in terms of your child's emotional welfare. This is a direct command from God though the Apostle Paul prohibiting all forms of corporal punishment and other forms of child punishment, meaning the slightest of personal slights perceived by the child. In Greco-Roman culture, corporal punishment was accepted strongly as a form of discipline - and Paul would have none of it in the church communities he oversaw. He was called by God to ban it, and hand out secular attachment parenting manuals that called for parents to be a good example to children, with parents disciplining themselves first, and children being prioritized first. Punishment was prohibited, with parents instead charged to be the first role models of their children (Eph. 6:4, second stanza).

The child comes first in parenting, meaning they give orders to parents to get what they want/need, and parents provide, either directly or by diagnosing a need by way of an expressed want. The needs of children come first, and parents last. In ancient Hellenistic culture, children walked last, behind parents. In ancient Jewish culture, children walked first, guiding their parent as to what they needed, including even pointing out objects that fascinate the child. Children were allowed to rebel in the form of reverent rebellion, meaning question parents and order parents around, with parents then providing selflessly what the child needs. It is a form of sacrifice and martyrdom for children, meaning willing to pay the ultimate price that Christ paid for your child.

The depraved and entitled parents will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them burn in the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Let them descend into the fire of Hell! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!