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joined together, let no man sepa–
rate" (Mark 10:6-9, NASB).
The Erosion of the Flrst Famlly
Today violence in the family rears
its ugly head in every nation on the
face of this earth. Richard C. Levy,
author of
Wife Beating- The Si/ent
Crisis,
estimates that nearly 30 mil–
lion wives in America alone suffer
physical abuse at the hands of their
husbands. Killings within the family
make up about one-fourth of all
U.S. homicides. The Southern Cali–
fornia city of San M!lrino went
without a murder for the first sev–
enty-five years of its history. The
first homicide occurred there just a
few years ago. You guessed it- it
occurred within a family unit.
But did you know that the very
first murder also occurred within a
family unit? Caín was the world's
first juvenile delinquent-a hard–
ened, selfish brute of a youngster
who grew up to kill his own brother.
When confronted with his crime, he
had the unmitigated gall to ask
God: "Am I my brother's keeper?"
(Gen. 4:9.) Cain scorned his family
responsibilities and Jet his hatred for
his brother fiare into open violence.
From there Cain and his family
went from bad to worse. Finally one
of his descendants introduced
polygamy to the ancient world. It
hasn' t died out since. There are now
over 30,000 polygamous unions in
the United States today.
Homosexuality
in
Sodom; incest
in Lot's family; prostitution; hatred
and deceit between brothers- all of
these family aberrations can be
found in the pages of the book of
Genesis. Other parts of the Bible
also tell how meo and women have
trampled all over the family unit.
But does that mean that the Bible is
invalid and outmoded, and there–
fore has no authority over our lives?
Good and Bad Examples
Just because sorne of our ancestors
heaped upon themselves a moun–
tain of agony and anguish, does it
follow that we should also? There
are living laws that regulate mar–
riage. When those Jaws are dashed
to the ground, crime, loneliness, di–
vorce, desertion, rape, and incest
soon follow
in
their wake.
The apostle Paul forcefully re-
The PLAIN TRUTH June/ July 1978
minded the
Co~inthian
brethren of
the hideous crimes committed by
the fathers in the days of Moses.
"Nevertheless, with most of them
God was not well-pleased; for they
were laid low in the wilderness.
Now these things happened as ex–
amples for us, that we should
not
crave evil things, as they also
craved. And do not be idolaters, as
sorne of them were; as it is written,
The people sat down to eat and
drink, and stood up to play. Nor let
us act immorally, as sorne of them
did, and twenty-three thousand fell
[died] in one day .... Now
The greatest
ffilCfOCOSffi
of the Kingdom of God
is the family unit.
God is our Father.
J
esus calls us brethren
-His own brothers.
these things happened to them
as an example,
and they were
written for our instruction,
upon
whom the ends of the ages have
come" (1 Cor. 10:5-8, 11 , NASB).
· The only reason for committing
one word of history to writing is so
we can avoid the mistakes and sins
of our progenitors. Sorne examples
in the Bible shouldn't be followed.
Others should.
Paul commented on the same
theme in his Jetter to the Romans:
"For whatever was written in earlier
times was written for our instruc–
tion, that through perseverance and
the encouragement of the Scriptures
we might have hope" (Rom. 15:4,
NASB). Here Paul focuses on the
other side of the coin. There are
many good examples of family rela–
tions in the Bible that are often
overlooked.
Yes, Caín did kili Abel. But Seth
was soon born and it was in his day
that "men began to call upon
[or worship in sorne manner) the
name of the Lord" (Gen. 4:26,
NASB). Yes, Abraham entered into
a polygamous union at Sarah's in-
sistence; but he was a good father
and a good husband. Spiritually
speaking, he is called "the father of
the faithful."
Yes, Ham and Canaan dishon–
ored Noah. But what about the
good example of Shem and Japheth
who covered their father's naked–
ness? What about Boaz and Ruth?
What about Esther? People point to
David's obvious family difficulties,
two or three of his notable child–
rearing failures, and forget about all
the good examples of family life in
the Bible. Few examples in the
Bible can equal that ofElkanah who
used palience, tolerance and under–
standing in dealing with Hannah's
difficult situation (see 1 Samuel 1).
Elkanah and Hannah later became
the parents of the prophet Samuel.
Turn now to the greatest example
in the New Testament.
Jesus Was a Famlly Man
Have you ever wondered why Jesus
didn't simply materialize at age 30?
The great God who made Adam
could have chosen simp1y to change
Himself into a mature human man
and suddenly begin walking the
streets ofJerusalem. But He chose to
change Himself into a tiny germ of
human life through the Father's be–
gettal of an ovum in the womb of a
virgin. Then He developed through
all the fetal stages and was born as a
helpless little baby destined to grow
up in a family atmosphere.
God chose to come down among
us human beings as a tiny germ of
life, then as a fetus, as a baby, as a
young boy, as a teenager, as a young
man and, finally, from age 30 to
33'h, as a mature man in the min–
istry. Why?
Why is our Savior a person who
had to know the meaning of family
ties; who had to be a part of a Jarge
family unit; who had to undergo
seeing His father die even before
His ministry began and who had to
take over the reins of leadership of
that family and be responsible for it
economically, as well as be its spiri–
tual head and leader as the elder
and firstborn son?
Does all this not show the impor–
tance of the family unit to God?
lt
is
by our life in a family environment
that we gain invaluable experience
and have innumerable opportu-
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