THE FAMILY IN GOD’S WORD (2)

“And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him” – Genesis 2:18

The Genesis account is explicit on the Origin of Marriage and FAMILY in GOD’S WORD: “And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him” (Gen.2:18). Family is Good! Families are close to God’s Heart. They were His idea in the first place. God instituted Family when He created Eve as a helpmeet for Adam (v.18). That is, the human family is linked to Marriage, which is the oldest institution founded by God in the Garden of Eden. The Bible defines the Family as those of the same household, and specifically the pairing of a husband (man) and wife (woman), along with their children.

In general, the word 'Family' is used in various senses. First, it refers to the nuclear family, traditionally Mother and Father and the children. Scripture also presents the lifetime union of a man and a woman in marriage as the foundation of the Ideal Family (vv.21-24). The word is used in a wider sense to include close relatives such as grandparents, grandchildren, uncles, aunts and cousins. In other cultures, family means the extended family, often living under one roof, under the authority of the senior male, though this is also changing with growing urbanisation and Western middle-class values penetrating other societies.

As the first couple on earth – Adam and Eve – formed the first family. From the beginning, God blessed and encouraged families, commanding the couple to “be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen.1:28). This first couple, created “in the Image of God,” founded the first family from which all humankind derived (Gen.1:26). Even after they fell into sin, God continued with His plan for families, and spoke prophetically of the salvation that would come through the seed of the woman (Gen.3:15). The Family, based on the creation ordinance of marriage, is for all human beings, and God's redemptive purposes include the Family.

The institution of Family as a model that God created is a prevalent in the Bible. All other relationships are to stem from the Family as God’s building block of society! After the Flood, God reiterated His plan to Noah and his sons, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Gen.9:1). His plan continued when He chose Abraham and miraculously gave him a son in his old age (Gen.21). He continued all the way down to “when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman” (Gal.4:4). The Messiah was born in human flesh, through a family, to live and die for the people He Himself had created.

In the Old Testament, emphasis was on ties of kinship, extending from generation to generation and from the immediate family to the tribe. Of course, the idea of extended family didn’t infer that married sons continued to live in their father's house: "a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife..." (v.24). Jacob and Esau both moved away from their father's house (tent) and came together again to bury him (Gen.25:29). There is also emphasis on the universal human Family, in that all human beings descended from Adam, and on the promise that in Abraham all the families on earth would be blessed (Gen.12:3b).

Children are blessings from the Lord: “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward” (Psa.127:3). The passing on of the covenant obligations of God’s Law was central to the life of Israel (Dt.6: 6-7). The family was the prime means of educating a new generation of God’s people. The truth was passed on through Family. There was also special provision for widows, orphans and the displaced. God made it clear that He has a special place in His Heart for those whose families were devastated for various reasons: “The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow” (Psa.146:9a). The Family is a fundamental concept in Scriptures, the revelation of which comes with unique blessings and goodness!