raising men – 11:3 Restoration

The young men in our fellowship embraced a unique opportunity over the last 24 hours. One of their numbers has been struggling with a particular issue regarding anxiety and racing thoughts. Our young men decided to follow in their fathers’ footsteps and covenant for a day of fasting and prayer!

The respective fathers joined in and eight of us assaulted the Throne on behalf, unknown to him, of this young brother. As the fast neared completion, I received a text from his father saying that the young man had cited multiple times through the day how awesome he felt. ‘Best day in a long time…’

It is not uncommon in our fellowship for the men, most heads of houses, to do a two day fast on behalf of each other, particular issues, etc., but this was the first time the aspiring ‘young bucks’ joined us. In hindsight, I wonder why we haven’t invited them before. Nevertheless, it was Yah’s time and He showed up!

As we continue our headship study we need to keep in mind that the Scriptures are almost completely opposed to our modern cultural understanding of family structure, morals and responsibility. One major aspect of this is the role of a husband in this thing we call marriage.

While we generally assume that ‘husband’ means ‘male spouse in a marriage,’ the older definitions, and especially the verb forms are quite instructive:

From Dictionary.com,

noun

a married man, especially when considered in relation to his partner in marriage.

British. a manager.

Archaic. a prudent or frugal manager.

verb (used with object)

to use frugally; conserve: to husband one’s resources.
to manage, especially with prudent economy.

Archaic.

to be or become a husband to; marry.
to find a husband for.
to till; cultivate.

Husband, in its purest form is a manager of resources or cultivator. One might specifically call to mind a vinedresser, or one who guards, prunes, trains and harvests from a vine.