GOD’S PURPOSES FOR THE FAMILY (2)

“And in you ALL the FAMILIES of the earth shall be blessed” – Genesis 12:3b

Enacting the Will of God is fundamental among GOD’S PURPOSES for the FAMILY. God told Abraham: “Get out of your country, from your FAMILY and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you ALL the FAMILIES of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen.12: 1-3). God uses families throughout history to enact His Will and fulfil His purposes. The Lord commanded Abraham to leave a Family that was steeped in idolatry, so He could raise a Godly Family through him, that He would bless, transform into a great nation, and use to bless “ALL the FAMILIES of the earth”!

Family means a great deal to the Lord God, the Father of “the whole family in heaven and earth” (Eph.3:14-15). The Lord again made a promise to Abraham, which involved family: “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be’” (Gen.15:5). In a later unfolding of the Abrahamic Covenant, God assured Abraham of becoming “the father of many nations...I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you” (Gen.17:.4-7). God established His eternal covenant with Abraham and his progeny. Thus began a Family too large to number.

Within Abraham’s Family, offshoots came. The most significant is the progression of families which led to the birth of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the world. God’s Son came through the Agency of Family (Gal.4:4). We can trace His genealogy at Matthew 1: 1-7 (possibly Joseph’s side of the family) and Luke 3: 23-38 (possibly Mary’s side of the family). Within the gamut of this expanding Family, God raised diverse individuals to fulfil His purposes: a Moabite woman (Ruth, Ruth 4: 18-22); a prostitute (Rahab; Jos. 6: 23-25; Mt. 1:5); and an adulteress (Bathsheba, 2Sam.12:24). These indicate that God shows no partiality. He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34; Rom.2:11). He defines the boundaries of families and will use families for His purposes, in His perfect timing.

Enacting God’s Will through Family was again manifested in His instructions to Jacob: “Return to the land of your fathers and to YOUR FAMILY, and I will be with you” (Gen.31:3b). “I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your FAMILY” (Gen.31:13). Genesis 29 through 31 covers the twenty years of Jacob’s life after he fled from Esau. The dominant theme in these chapters is how God is actively involved in the lives of His children; even when He is unseen, He is never removed or distant. This encourages us to hold on to the truth that even when we are unaware of God’s Presence, He is working to accomplish His eternal purposes.

There is more to learn from Jacob’s story. Even though the relationship between Jacob and Laban had been strained, uprooting his family from Haran would not have been an easy decision to make if not for the Divine Instruction that backed him up. It was time for Jacob to relocate his entire family in obedience to divine Instruction. Jacob had to do this while knowing that Laban would be upset by his move. But our Obedience will always bring God Glory! Family is not a trivial notion before God: “GOD sets the solitary in FAMILIES...but the rebellious dwell in a dry land” (Psa.68:6). Family is a key avenue by which God blesses and transmits blessings across nations and generations. There may come a time to separate from one family setting in order to enter into another.

The matter of Family is beyond biology or blood. God sets the solitary in families. The Eternal God defines and establishes Family relationships to transmit blessings and fulfil His purposes in lives and destinies, and across generations!