Monday May 13, 2024

Family Ties

By Jenny Pfister

There’s a feud…a family feud happening today. There is a war being waged on the family.

The family is the first and oldest institution of man…the greatest and the holiest. The entire Bible is framed with family. The Old Testament opens with Adam and Eve, the beginning of family and closes with the book of Malachi and the promise to restore family. The New Testament unfolds with the genealogy, the family, of Christ, and closes with the marriage supper of Jesus, the Bridegroom, and His bride, the Church. From beginning to end, it’s all about family.

The family unit provides a person’s central relationships, nurture, and support. So great is the image of family that the New Testament writers used the family to describe the nature of faith, the Church, and even God and His Son.

Yet the family is almost unrecognizable today. The enemy has almost succeeded in destroying the divine pattern of the family–one man, one woman, blessed with children brought up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Satan’s unrelenting assault on the family has taken an unimagined toll on society.

This is the time for the Church to step up with vigilance and a militancy to stay the flow of family destruction. The family is too valuable, and too beautiful, to let it go without a fight. The Bible is full of reminders of the beauty of family as ordained by the Lord. Here are just a few:

Marriage is the paramount relationship to all others.

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Gen.2:24 NKJV)

Women are to be loved and nurtured just as Christ loves and nurtures the Church.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her. (Eph.5:25 NKJV)

A Husband is commanded to keep his household in the way of the Lord.

For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him. (Gen.18:19 NKJV)

Children are a gift from the Lord who need the loving discipline of the parents “while there is hope” for their lives (Pro.19:18).

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. (Ps.127:3 NKJV)

Fathers are not to provoke their children to anger, but should nurture them in the ways of the Lord (Eph.6:4). Children are to rise up and call their mothers “blessed” and not curse her (Pro.31:28). And, honor is the hallmark of all family relationships (Ex.20:12) (See WORD WISDOM for a deeper study of father)

God, who created the family, has provided the divine design and instruction in His Word so that families can flourish. Our best defense is to know the pattern, so that we will be able to discern Satan’s subtle attacks. We need godly leadership, respect, and love, along with fervent prayer and dependence on God. He alone can preserve our families for His own honor. Though Satan may be the host of the family feud, we have the Lord of Hosts who is the restorer of the family.

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Related Scripture

He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.

— Malachi 4:6

Word Wisdom

father

Hebrew “'ab" (ahv) Strong’s #1

Father; forefather; producer of a certain thing. A very simple word, "‘ab" is supposed to be one of the first words a baby can speak. The Aramaic form of "‘ab" is "‘abba," which has become common in modern Hebrew as the word Israeli children uses for “daddy.” Jesus applied this toddler’s word to His divine Father (Mark 14:36). The Holy Spirit teaches us to call God “Abba” (Romans 8:15). "‘Ab" is found in many compound names in the Bible; for example, ‘Abraham (Abraham), “Father of a Multitude”; ‘Abimielech (Abimelech), “My Father is King”; Yoab (Joab), “Yahweh is a Father”; and ‘Abshalom (Absolam), “Father of Peace.” Sometimes "‘ab" does not mean physical father so much as it does architect, builder, creator, and the one who causes something to be. Hence, a “father of evil” is someone who produces evil. Jesus described Satan as the “father of lies.” "‘Ab" as “creator” and “producer” is applied to the Lord Jesus who is "‘abi ‘ad," the “Everlasting Father,” or more literally, the “Father of Eternity” (Isaiah 9:6).

So...

Clovis Chappell, a minister from a century back, used to tell the story of two paddleboats. They left Memphis about the same time, traveling down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. As they traveled side by side, sailors from one vessel made a few remarks about the snail’s pace of the other. Words were exchanged. Challenges were made. And the race began. Competition became vicious as the two boats roared through the Deep South.

One boat began falling behind. Not enough fuel. There had been plenty of coal for the trip, but not enough for a race. As the boat dropped back, an enterprising young sailor took some of the ship’s cargo and tossed it into the ovens. When the sailors saw that the supplies burned as well as the coal, they fueled their boat with the material they had been assigned to transport. They ended up winning the race, but burned their cargo.

God has entrusted cargo to us, too: children, spouses, friends. Our job is to do our part in seeing that this cargo reaches its destination. Yet when the program takes priority over people, people often suffer. How much cargo do we sacrifice in order to achieve the number one slot? How many people never reach the destination because of the aggressiveness of a competitive captain?