Fathers and Daughters

In Numbers 30, Moses explains that while a woman is still in her father’s house in her youth, she remains under his authority. He is her head. Moses explains that this means that if she makes a vow and her father hears about it, he may legitimately give his blessing to her vow or annul her vow. If her father hears about the vow and does nothing, he de facto gives his blessing to it. This specific law regarding vows establishes a larger principle that a daughter while she remains under the provision of her father’s house is under his authority. One of the most important vows a young woman will make will be the decision of whom she marries. This means that the traditional portion of a wedding ceremony where the father gives his daughter away is not just a nice, sentimental thing to do. It is in fact based upon the ancient wisdom and word of God. A father is called upon to guard, protect, and defend his daughter until he gives her away in marriage to a man that he has come to trust and respect. The father is called upon to ratify or veto his daughter’s desire to marry a particular man. This of course flies in the face of the modern Disney gospel that says teenage girls need to follow their hearts and Dads are usually old, dowdy cranks. While this is itself a slander on every faithful Christian father, it is also ultimately a slander of our Gracious Father in heaven. The gospel of Grace is that if our Heavenly Father numbers the hairs on our head and clothes the flowers of the field, how much more so will he provide for all our needs and more. Likewise, human fathers are called upon to imitate our heavenly Father. They are not called to replace our heavenly Father, but they are called to set an example that mirrors his grace, his wisdom, and his goodness. This being so, daughters, you are called upon to honor your fathers, respect them, trust their counsel, and ultimately submit yourself to the guidance of your fathers in cheerful obedience; this is not tyranny, this is the grace of God.