.by Gwendolyn Hansen Wehage on Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 12:11pm.
Last night my husband and I watched the movie, "Fiddler on the Roof." We enjoyed the movie and the music very much. It seemed that there were two dominate themes throughout the movie that would describe prophetic philisophical events in the lives of the Jewish people that can also be ascribed to the gentiles in that generation, as well as a progression of postures we have seen in the generation of the 1970's and beyond.
In the story, there were three daughters who were of marriagable age. In this Jewish culture there was a woman who was assigned the job of presenting eligable men to the parents of the unmarried children, for consideration as possilbe matches. The matches were not based on "29 dementions of compatibility" but on their character and financial standing. And, most of all, they must be of the same religious persuasion.
There was a strong Jewish tradition that was designed to protect the children from mistakes that could be made out of youthful ignorance and inexperience. The movie has the usual Hollywood spin in the spirit of emancipation. I think, that when this movie was made those who wrote it may not have realized that the picture they painted, was a picture of rebellion and selfwill and it's progression of events that led to family strife.
In the movie the three daughters dreamed about the man they might marry, and agonized over the man the matchmaker might bring them. Their fear that they would have to marry someone they didn't love, was at times overwhelming. The eldest daughter had already chosen her own match without the benefit of the matchmaker. She experienced a great deal of anxiety over the prospect of having to tell her father that she did not want to marry the man the matchmaker had provided. But had in fact already decided who she wanted to marry. With much trepidation she approached her father in humility asking him not to make her marry the man the matchmaker had chosen. She fell at his feet begging him with tears. She knew that it was vitally important that she have her father's permission and blessing for the man she would marry. Her father, after reflecting on the character of the man she desired, and her love for that man, relented and gave her the permission and blessing she sought.
The second daughter also, wanting to make her own choice for a husband, went to her father to inform him of her decision to marry her gentleman. She made it clear that she was not asking her father's permission but that she did want his blessing.
The Third daughter found a husband for herself that violated the very fibre of the family by choosing to marry outside the Jewish faith. She did not ask permission or blessing, but only wanted her father's acceptance. She married secretly when her father's answer to her request was denied. He said that in her case, she had gone too far in her rebellion against her father's faith. She could not be even accepted. What she had done was the height of disrespect and rejection of the father's possition in the family while at the same time turning her back on her faith.
Notice the progression here. The three daughters desired to make their own decisions about marriage, each one having already chosen, but each one stepping one step farther than the other to accomplish thier wills. The first daughter could not bring herself to disobey her father, whom she loved and desired to please. She appealed to him in humility and was not about to defy him. When he gave his permission and blessing, she fell on his neck and thanked him for his kindness to her.
The second daughter stepped one pace away from honoring her father by asserting herself without humility but desireing her father's blessing even though she cared not about his permission.
The Third daughter stepped two paces away from honoring her father by asserting herself without humility or even respect for him. She proceeded without his permission, blessing and respect for his possition as the leader in the family and informed him that she was married. She did not include him in the marriage in any way, she cared not about him or his tradition, but only about herself. After all of this, she asked for his acceptance, that she might be still in good standing in the family.
The father bent a little in the case of the two older daughters, but when the younger one shattered all the rules of decorum and rejected the father's faith by marrying out of it, he could not bend anymore. He said that if he bent for this, he would break.
The story seemed to be describing our culture except that there has been a fourth step, and that is, as a culture we do not value the advice of the parents, nor do we care about their approval. We have taken the next step of considering our parents advice as interference instead of welcome wisdom that could spare us problems and heartaches. We have been blinded into thinking that everyone should make their own mistakes without benefit of counsel. The children of the 70's and beyond have spirned the wisdom of their parents and are going on to make a mess of their lives. Divorce, remarriage, abortion, losing their homes for massive debt and much more.
Sadly this progression has led to unruly and arrogant grandchildren who do not understand the value of parents or grandparents. The children of the seventies are raising these children now and all this rebellion will come back to bite them when they are in the grandparent stage. It is the fault of the parents of the 70's, they fell into the deception of the "self esteem" teaching and are reaping the rotten fruit of that now.
The next stage or step, is for the next generation of children to disrespect their parents to such a degree as to have them put to death for the sake of convenience. There will not be children to take care of the elderly because they have been raised to resist any inconvenience or difficulty. Life is about fun and pleasure for this generation and this is what they are teaching their children. It's all very fun right now, but it will bring heartache later, when they realize that the children have not learned to work, sacrifice or serve for anyone else. It is no wonder that the evils we see in our culture are escallating at an alarming rate. Our young people are hyper-sensitive to correction, therefore they can not learn from their mistakes.
In the movie, the father and mother of the girls, were introduced to each other on their wedding day. They had no say in the marriage and obediently married in defference to their parents. Their love grew out of a commitment to one another and from working through life together willingly. Their love was one of a deeper more lasting nature. A choice to love for God's sake rather than emotional infatuation.
Notice that we choose our spouses today and fall in love, but our marriages do not last, while the children of these marriages live in emotional trumoil. Moving from house to house on the weekends, they don't have two homes, they have no home at all. Then they are also faced with the boyfriends and girlfriends of their parents who very often abuse them either verbally or physically. The statistics show that most abuse is perpetrated by the non-biological parent or live in partner. When love is a feeling and not a commitment, it is devestating to our children and grandchildren and to our country as a whole. Stability is non-existant, fear abounds along with sadness and lonliness. Our culture is a wreck because of our individualistic attitudes and emotional gratification.
We must repent from our willful acceptance of the self-esteem teaching and ask the Lord to work in the hearts of our young people. We are losing our country quickly due to this attitude of rebellion. If we do not repent as a nation we will lose all the freedoms that we have known. Perhaps losing everything will bring us to our senses and out of our materialistic and pleasure oriented stupor.
Here is where we are right now in our country,
2 Timothy 3:1
"But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power, And from such people turn away!"
Here is where we should be,
Matthew 9:13
"But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners to repentance."
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