FAMILY LIFE AND RELATIONSHIP --- PART 1

YHVH made something wonderful when He created families. Although families have changed since Bible times, they have always worked the same basic way. They are intended to be places of encouragement and love. They are to be shelters from life’s storms. YHVH Loves families so much that He created a family for His own Son, Yeshua Moshiach. He values the role of the family and created it to be the centre of growth and development. Each member has a certain role. Children learn to take care of themselves and take care of others in the family. Parents teach their families how to know YHVH and walk with Him. YHVH first invented the family thousands of years ago, and it is still one of his favourite creations.

FAMILY IN THE BIBLE
In Bible times, the family was made of members of a household. This not only included parents and children, along with other relatives, but also servants, travellers, foreigners, and anyone else who happened to be within the house. The head of the family protected all of them. The family of Jacob, for example, comprised three generations -- Genesis 46:8-26. Biblically, the term -family- is interchangeable with -house. In fact, -founding a house- can refer to setting up a separate dwelling as well as establishing a family. In the broader sense, -house- may refer to an entire nation -house of Israel. The heads of families returning from their exile in Babylon controlled sometimes several hundred family members -- Ezra 8:1-14. The family was a smaller part of a clan and tribe. In nomadic times, responsibilities and allegiances centred on the larger family group as it moved from place to place. Those who belonged to the clan knew that they had to work for common interests and accept responsibility for the whole group. Everyone protected and provided for other family members in times of need. As the lives of the Israelites settled down, families -in the larger sense of the term- began to live in villages surrounded by fields of wheat, barley, and flax, with areas of grazing land for sheep and goats. An intermarried, interdependent family group, such as that of the Danites of Zorah and Eshtaol -- Judges 18:11 -- made up each group of villages. People had to share the workload and cooperate in order for the entire family to survive the harsh conditions. As crafts and trades developed, along with a more sedentary lifestyle, sons learned their fathers’ skills and continued the family trade. Consequently, the whole village might follow a particular craft -- 1 Chronicles 4:14; Nehemiah 11:35. By specializing in such trades, however, the villagers became less self-sufficient, depending more on farmers for food and on other specialized villages for the production of cloth or pottery -- 1 Chronicles 4:21-23.

SMALLER FAMILY UNITS
With the growth of cities, related groups lived together in specific areas. Nehemiah -- Nehemiah 11:4-8 -- and the writer of Chronicles -- 1 Chronicles 9:3-9 -- recorded that many members of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah lived in Jerusalem. The family units began to fragment as smaller units moved into the cities. The family unit grew smaller, therefore, as the bonds of the wider family loosened. The typical family became a husband and wife with their children. All of them lived in one house, as the houses were small. During the period of the kings, King David’s sons Amnon and Absalom set up their own separate houses -- 2 Samuel 13:7-8, 2 Samuel 20. At that time, there were few slaves in Hebrew society, but they also were considered members of the family. As the wider family’s bonds further loosened, the master of the household lost a degree of authority. As a result, the society became one in which the king was sovereign, and all the people were his subjects. The early kings of Israel promoted such a change in order to establish a central ruling authority for the entire country. The king’s subjects fell broadly into the categories of employers and employees, corresponding to the rich and poor of society. By the eighth century BC, members of the wider family no longer worked for the communal good under the authority of the clan’s head. Instead, individuals worked primarily for the good of their own immediate family. People began to focus more narrowly on labour and devotion. The king became the personal symbol of the nation. Emphasis on the smaller family unit increased, and old duties that had been willingly accepted by the wider groups in former times became neglected. People did not always help relatives in times of need, and they frequently had to be reminded of their obligations, particularly toward widows and orphans -- Isaiah 1:17; Jeremiah 7:6. Family feuds also declined because members no longer felt responsible to take vengeance as a way to uphold the honour of the clan -- 2 Samuel 3:27; 2 Samuel 16:8; 2 Kings 9:26. Nevertheless, Nehemiah expected Israelites to fight for their family honour -- Nehemiah 4:14. In New Testament times, the family was such a solid unit that it could be sold for a debt incurred by one of its members -- Matthew 18:25. Many modern families are strangers to the idea of such solidarity. Just as the Bible illustrates with the body of Moshiach, the members of a family ought to hurt when one member hurts. YHVH’s intent was for families to care about each member equally, as if one member’s problem was everyone’s concern. Hebrew religious traditions required families to participate in certain celebrations, which strengthened the small unit. Families always celebrated Passover, for example, as a family meal -- Exodus 12:3-4, Exodus 46:1. The prophet Samuel’s parents made a traditional annual pilgrimage to the shrine at Shiloh -- 1 Samuel 2:19. In modern times, Bar Mitzvah celebrates a young Jewish boy’s arrival at the threshold of manhood. His family honours him as a continuation of Hebrew tradition. Families always participated together in religious ceremonies.

NEW TESTAMENT FAMILIES
Families play a key role in the New Testament. In His preaching, Yeshua used the family as a symbol for the relationship of YHVH to His people -- Matthew 19:14; Matthew 23:9; Luke 8:21. From His position on the cross, He gave John the responsibility for the care of His mother -- John 19:27. Additionally, the Jerusalem church took fellowship meals in households -- Acts 2:46. Early believers held meetings in their homes due to opposition from authorities. The book of Acts contains examples of entire families being converted at once to Yeshua Believers -- Acts 10:24, Acts 44:1-48; Acts 16:15, Acts 31:1-32. Additionally, the Bible gives examples of the spiritual legacy many families enjoyed. For example, Timothy learned the gospel from his grandmother and mother --2 Timothy 1:5. In turn, his own family likely inherited his passion for Moshiach. Although being born into a believers family does not make one a believer, growing up with a spiritual heritage is a privilege. Many children suffer from lacking a moral and spiritual example in the home. The Bible stresses the important role a godly family plays in a child’s upbringing. In fact, churches often see young couples return to YHVH after they have children because they want their children raised in a Yeshua believing home.