Lessons from 14 Remarkable Fathers in the Bible
- Ken Kalis
- Jun 13
- 10 min read
“A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society.” Billy Graham
Happy Father's Day!
My last blog was Heartfelt Father's Day Poems to Celebrate Dad, you can check it out here.
Today, I'm looking at fathers from the Bible, some good and some bad. It may surprise you to see some who fall into the "wrong" category.
Who is an example of a good father in the Bible? Sascha from Queensland, Australia. Wrote this article on 13 Inspiring Fathers from the Bible.
I have built on her list and also added another aspect, namely the cost of discipleship. I ask the question can you be good at God stuff and family stuff too? Let's find out!
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A good father, as described by the Bible, provides for his children (1 Timothy 5:8), ensuring their needs are met and they are well cared for. He prays for his children (Job 1:5), lifting them up in his prayers and seeking God's guidance and blessings for them.
He teaches them the first commandment:, to love the LORD with all your heart; and the fourth, to honour your mother and father. (Exodus 20: 3 & 12) There is also this responsibility laid on him by Solomon: Pro 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Fathers In The Bible In The Old Testament:
Adam – The First Man
Adam* (4004-3074 BC) was the first man and father to three sons mentioned in the Bible: Cain*, Abel*, and Seth* (3874-2962 BC). He taught his sons to worship the Lord, but was disappointed in one who turned against him and the Lord. Such is often the case; the father defines the Lord for us when we are young, and Adam did here.
An asterisk* after a name means that person is in SPIRITUAL LIVES.
2. Noah – A Brave Man
The story of Noah* (3078-2146 BC) and the Flood is also a story of a father and three sons. Noah brought his sons up in the "fear of the Lord" and recruited them to help build the ark and save the world. Noah was an excellent servant of the LORD and fulfilled all the Biblical standards for a father. His sons loved and honored him all their lives.
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3. Abraham – The Father Of Many Nations
Abraham* (1996- 1821 BC) was called to leave his father and country when he was 75 years old. The LORD promised him a son, and he was married to Sarah,* (1986-1859), who was barren for a long time. They grew frustrated and decided to help the LORD out. I have tried this more than once, and it is always a mistake.
Sarah gave him her Egyptian maid, Hagar, and she and Abram had a son when he was 86 years old. He named his son Ishmael (1910-1773 BC) and loved him dearly. Thirteen years later, when Abraham was 99 and Sarah was 89, God sent three angels reminding them of God’s promise to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations.
When Sarah conceived and had Isaac*(1896-1716 BC), she demanded that her husband throw Ishmael out, and he did.
Twenty-five years later, the LORD told Abraham to go and sacrifice Isaac on the altar. This was such a powerful test of his faith because Abraham was ready and about to sacrifice Isaac when an angel of God told Abraham to stop. This was a foreshadowing of Jesus as the Lamb of God, and as Sascha's article points out,
Everything happens in God’s perfect timing. Through years of faith and obedience to God, Abraham saw his promises from God pan out.
The Bible does not tell us what Ishmael and Isaac thought about this, but Ishmael became a disinherited man of the desert, while Isaac was the child of promise. Isaac lived in his father's shadow for 75 years and remained childless until he was 60. After Sarah died, Abraham had six more sons, none fearing the LORD, and they were gradually assimilated into the children of Ishmael. One exception is the children of Midian, whom the Israelites wiped out in Numbers 31.
What does this say about Abraham as a father? God's Word and Promises came to pass, and the New Testament calls him a "Friend of God," James 2:23, but he was not a perfect father. He was out of God's will when he fathered Isaac and perhaps again when he sired another six sons.
The cost of discipleship often impacts the family.
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4. Isaac – The Son Of Abraham
Isaac* was an obedient son to Abraham. He went along willingly when Abraham took him up to the mountains to sacrifice him to God. Through this experience, he learned to trust God.
Isaac was the answer to Abraham’s prayers. But Isaac did not understand his father or God. It must have mystifed him too when he and Rebekah had no children until he was sixty while his father had six more sons.
He married Rebekah, and she was barren for twenty years. He prayed that the LORD would open her womb and He gave them twins, Esau* and Jacob* (1836-1689). He raised them up in the fear ofthe LORD, which Jacob loved but Esau rejected. Both loved him and came togehr to bury him when he died at 180.
One mistake he made was favoring one son above the other. This hurt his own family but became more severe in the family of his grandson, Jacob.
5. Jacob – Israel: The Father Of The Twelve Tribes
Jacob*, who was the younger twin to Esau, would choose to do things his own way, such as getting Esau to buy his birthright and stealing Esau’s blessing from Isaac, their father. Jacob loved his birthright and the things of the LORD. This ultimately worked out for God’s glory because it was Jacob who was to become Israel, and thus, the father of many nations. God will always find a way for His plan to come to pass. He wants us to trust Him.
Jacob had twelve sons and loved them all He brought them down into Egypt where they beacme the Children of Israel and eventually a nation. They were all with him when he died, and all honored the LORD.
6. Moses – The Lawgiver
God chose him to lead His people out of Egypt. Moses*(1571-1451 BC) relationship with God was so close that He saw God’s back and spoke with Him one-on-one. Moses was chosen to share the commandments/laws with the Israelites and lead them through the wilderness, and everywhere else that they journeyed.
Moses was more than a leader, though. He was also a father. He married Zipporah (the daughter of Jethro, the Midianite) and had two sons: Gershom and Eliezer. But he was not a good father to them, neglecting them, failing to circumsize one, and leaving both behing as he led the Exodus.
Here again we see the cost of discipleship on his children. I spent my high school years at a school for missionaries' children and saw how adandoned many felt because they wereleft behind.
Eli, Last of the Judges
Eli* (1248-1116 BC) was the last of the Judges, and did a wonderful job in raising Samuel to be a man of God. However, he let his sons corrupt the worship process and fornicate with the women who came to pray. God destroyed both them and Eli via the Philistines who captured the Ark of the Covenant.
The Apostel Paul* (5-67) learned from this and taught Timothy that a leader of God''s people must be,
One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) (1 Timothy 1:3:4-5)
Samuel, First of the Prophets
Samuel* (1130-1055 BC) heard the LORD's voice ehen he was sill a boy telling him that Eli and his sons would be killed, and that he was called to anoint a king over Israel. He obeyd and anointed Saul King. So attuned was he to the word of the LORD that not a word of his bell to the ground
He was a mighty prophet and advisor to the King, but anointed his successor when Saul disobeyed the LORD. Like Eli, Samuel failed to discipline his sons and they were ousted from thier position.
Saul, God's Chosen King
The LORD chose Saul* (1115-1055 BC) to be king and gave him a new heart to do the job. He had four sons and two daughters that he loved and brought uo in the fear of the LORD. But he disobeyed the LORD and lost His favor. He built his kingdom and family at the cost or his relationship to God. God abandoned him but his children did not. Three were killed with him in thier last battle, and the fourth inherited his kingdom. He married his two daughters well, and they loved and honored him, even after his death..
I think of what Jesus said a thousand years later: If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26
10. King David – A Man After God’s Heart
God loved David* (1085-1015 BC) and saw him as righteous. But David sinned greatly, committing adultery with Bathsheba, murdering her husband Uriah, and trying to cover it all up.
God did not take his life as the just punishment he deserved, but instead declared
Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. - 2 Samuel 12:10
Sin has grave impact on a father's family. In David's one son raped his sister, and another murdered him. Two other sons tried to take his kingdom and died in the attempts. In spite of all of this God poured out His mercy and grace on David and Bathsheba giving them a son who became one of the greatest kings and wisest men to ever live.
King Solomon – The Wisest Man
Solomon*(1034-975 BC) saw the LORD twice and received his wisdom form Him. He wrote to his son at least 25 times in Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, saying "My Son". These books teach the fear of the LORD and give hundreds of thoughts for living a rigteous life and ruling a kingdom.
Hie son ignored all this and lost the kingdom. Why? But king Solomon loved many strange women..... And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. --- 1 Kings 11:6.
Our sons watch us closely and will go what we do, good or bad.
Fathers In The Bible In The New Testament:
12.. Zacharias – The Father Of John The Baptist
Zacharias (1st century BC-?)was the father of John the Baptist* (5BC-26 AD), and a priest of the Temple. When Zacharias was praying in the temple and offering incense, an angel of God (Gabriel) appeared to him and told him the promise of his son. Zacharias could not believe what Gabriel had told him, because both he and Elizabeth were old. Because of this unbelief, he became mute and was unable to speak until the prophecy was fulfilled.
When Elizabeth gave birth to their son, they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father, but he wrote on a tablet that the son’s name would be called John. Zacharias was then able to speak again and started praising God.
Origen (164-253) suggests it was he who Jesus referenced as being killed before the altar in Matthew 23:35. Another 2nd century source says he was murdered by Herod for refusing to give up the hiding place of the innocents of Bethlehem.
He was a good father when John needed him most.
13. Joseph – Jesus’s Dad
Although Joseph* (40BC? -20AD?) wasn’t the birth father of Jesus, he still was a His earthly father. Joseph protected his wife Mary and their baby when she was pregnant/giving birth to Him. He also took Jesus and Mary to safety in Egypt when Herod murdered the children of Bethlehem. Joseph was a carpenter and taught Jesus the trade. Joseph was a man of integrity, and that is something that God honored.
He seems to be the best father the Bibe shows us; Being a faither in a difficuot job,, and a high calling even (especially?) for men of God.
Adam's sons fought and one killed his brother;
Abraham disowned his son Ishmael:'
Isaac's family was divided, brother against brother;
Jacob's family was torn by jealousy and violence
Moses ignored and abandoned his sons:
Aaron's sons were drunkards
Eli's sons were adulters who sexually abuse women who came to worship
Samuel's sons were not up to the job and did not walk in his ways.
David's sons raped his daughter, killed one another, and rebelled against him.
How godly, faithful and true is Joseph when we look at the results and Result of his fathering!
What an important role fathering is!
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The Most Important The Father In The Bible:
14. God – Our Heavenly Father
Jesus, His Only Begotten Son, taught us to pray to Him
Our Father, who art in Heaven.......
Jesus is telling us we have the same Father who is in heaven and wants to bring us there. Hebrews tells us Jesus' job is "bringing many sons to glory."
Our job as father is to make sure our children are among them! Honor your father today and with your life, and he will honor you!
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Your Name
You got it from your father,
t'was the best he had to give,
And right gladly he bestowed it
It's yours, the while you live.
You may lose the watch he gave you
and another you may claim,
But remember, when you're tempted,
to be careful of his name.
It was fair the day you got it,
and a worthy name to bear,
When he took it from his father
there was no dishonor there.
Through the years he proudly wore it,
to his father he was true,
And that name was clean and spotless
when he passed it on to you.
Oh there's much that he has given
that he values not at all,
He has watched you break your playthings
in the days when you were small.
You have lost the knife he gave you
and you've scattered many a game,
But you'll never hurt your father
if you're careful with his name.
It is yours to wear forever,
yours to wear the while you live,
Yours, perhaps some distant morn,
another boy to give.
And you'll smile as did your father,
with a smile that all can share,
If a clean name and a good name
you are giving him to wear.
- Edgar A. Guest (1881-1959)
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