FATHERS & KNOWLEDGE (PT. 9)

Prov. 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (NIV) “You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another.”

This scripture is most often interpreted in reference to men! More importantly, it confirms that the thing doing the sharpening and the thing being sharpened is the same. Notice in the interpretation that it is iron sharpening iron or steel sharpening steel. Thus it is quite possible to conclude that men sharpen men or women sharpen women. From a generational perspective, mothers sharpen daughters while fathers are to sharpen sons. In the context of this scripture, it seems that brothers are to sharpen one another as well. 

In our last blog, we shared the following: “If a son is to grow up to be a man, he must have a father who serves as an authentic example of manhood.” The point being made is that the son gains his identity or his awareness of who he is from his father. In this context, we are talking about more than his identity. In essence, we are talking about his nature or what is natural for him. As a man, we know he is a human being. However, when one discusses manhood, this references qualities associated with men—or manliness. Manhood is further defined as the condition of being an adult male as distinguished from a child or female.

Gen. 4:9 states: “God said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? He said I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain’s response ignores the fact that he is called to sharpen his brother or to help him become a man—or one exemplifying manhood. Put another way, Cain was to sharpen his brother by helping him achieve his God-given potential. From this scripture, we know that Cain literally killed his brother. Even worse, his reply to God revealed the state of his heart. First, he lied by stating he did not know where his brother was. Next, he responded with disdain, confirming that from his perspective, he was not responsible for his brother. He was not responsible to keep—or take care of his brother! The Bible confirms that even though Cain responded the way he did, his brother’s blood testified against him. “The Lord said, What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.”

The reality was Cain’s inability to even hear his brother’s cry. We live in a culture today where brothers are killing brothers. Death has become so common that society as a whole has lost its ability to hear the cries of those murdered and lost. Yet it is evident that God hears the cries of those murdered by those who were supposed to be sharpening them. Even worse, those who commit murder have no sense of the spiritual consequences involved here. In short, we have been blinded to the fact that we are killing our own kind, but also their prosperity—or their ability to fulfill their God-given potential as men. Equally important is their call to represent and perpetuate manhood. Only a man has this potential because he is not only called to exemplify manhood but also to sharpen his brothers, his sons, etc. so that they too are sharpened and know how to sharpen the men in their lives.  

Let us pray that men will grasp this truth before it is too late!