What Does the Bible Say About the Family?

According to many people, the Bible's essential purpose is to promote the concept of family. Certainly, if Adam and Eve had not followed God's command to "go forth and multiply," the Bible's audience would have been very small. Arguably, the Bible was written specifically to be read by families. However, what does the Bible actually have to say about family? Since certain prophetic figures, including Jesus Christ, never fathered children, does the Bible suggest that families are less than divine?

Significance

In the Bible, every family represents a microcosm of the community within which it lives. When families fail, the community itself begins to fail. Therefore, "family" signifies an opportunity to support growth, rather than simply as a number of people in a household. In times of crisis, families are relied upon to inject new strength into the community. For example, Moses was charged to offer the following order to his followers: "Make sure there isn't a man or woman among your families or tribes who turns away from the Lord our God (Deuteronomy 29:18)." Dire consequences would result if families did not make the worship of God their primary focus. Thus, family is something more than a household unit.

History

According to the Bible, "family" is not a manmade concept. Rather, it originates from the mind of God. As recorded in the book of Genesis, family is a carefully crafted concept that is directly blessed by God. No sooner did God create man and woman then he also told them to create a family: "God blessed them," states Genesis 1:28, continuing, "He said to them, 'Have children and increase your numbers.'" Even deep into the New Testament, the concept of family is valued as a product that has been especially designed by God. Paul verifies this fact in his letter to the Ephesians, commenting, "I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in Heaven and earth is named (Ephesians 3:14-15)." So, rather than simply being a political or religious concept, family is an undeniably divine concept.

Timeline

Before the time of the New Testament, family was a valuable concept for a variety of reasons. However, one of the most important of these was the need to develop a stable pattern of inheritance from father to son. Very early in Bible literature, though, brothers began to backstab each other in order to vie for greater portions of wealth. Furthermore, David's own son Absolom tried to mount an army against his own father in order to take possession of David's kingdom. Ultimately, these family relationships became the subject of concern to prophets who lamented the fact that many families no longer practiced loving attitudes. The final words of the Old Testament directly address this issue, citing that a new messiah will appear in the future to "lead children and parents to love each other more, so that when I come, I won't bring doom to the land (Malachi 4:6)." Unlike Jews, Christians believe that Jesus Christ is this new messiah, and that one of his greatest objectives was to teach families how to grow together. (The Jewish Ketuvim is assembled slightly differently than the Christian Bible, so it is not completed by the book of Malachi but instead by the book of Chronicles.)

Identification

Blood relatives and spiritual relatives are two different things, according to the New Testament. While the book of Matthew laboriously details the bloodline that leads to the birth of the baby Jesus, the book of John emphatically states that Jesus is God's "only begotten son." Thus, Jesus Christ is identified as being a member of two families. Similarly, at the moment of his crucifixion, Jesus tells his mother that his disciple, John, will now be her new son and commands to John: "'She is now your mother (John 19:27)." Jesus believed that spiritual relatives outranked blood relatives, and he stated without apology that "'My mother and my brothers are those people who hear and obey God's message (Luke 8:20-21)." For this reason, followers of Jesus are challenged to reevaluate their notions of family values in order to faithfully practice their beliefs.

Misconceptions

Jesus did not mince words when he attempted to redefine the concept of family. He was very clear about the fact that honoring your mother and father isn't nearly as important as honoring your God. In order to get his point across, he spoke very bluntly. After calling disciples to follow him, he is not impressed when the man says "Let me wait till I bury my father." Instead, Jesus answers him by saying, "Come with me, and let the dead bury their dead (Matthew 8:21-22)." What he means is that it is better not to be dead in your heart than to only go through the motions of tradition. However, this blunt way of stating matters tends to bother some critics of Christianity. Many Christians, however, overlook controversial statements of this sort in order to imagine Jesus to be a friendly advocate of family. The truth is that Jesus valued family, but he wanted for families to live and die for a good cause.

Resources

• Why a Virgin Birth?