by Bishop Samuel Kramer - Originally published in Volume 48, Issue 1 - Spring 2004
The home is the foundation of everything in our society. If Satan, by his cunning schemes, can weaken or destroy the home and the family structure, the rest of our society will fall like dominos.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8). The Apostle Peter makes it obvious in this scripture that Satan is seeking to destroy the people of God. Why? So he can thwart the plan of God. While we know that he ultimately will not be successful in his plan we should be aware that we are involved in warfare–with a roaring lion. What precautions would we take to protect our children if we encountered an actual roaring lion? Although we cannot physically see Satan as the devourer that he is, we should be as alert and proactive as though we could.
THE CHRISTIAN HOME
The home is the foundation of everything in our society. If Satan, by his cunning schemes, can weaken or destroy the home and the family structure, the rest of our society will fall like dominos.
All you have to do is listen to the evening news to see the progress that Satan is making in his diabolical plan. The issue of same-sex marriage is currently being hotly-debated in our courts and some city officials have even taken it upon themselves to start dispensing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. It’s interesting to note that just a few years ago if you were involved in such activities you would have been disciplined by the law. Now, however, our courts and government are trying to bypass even the general public’s overwhelming opposition to same-sex marriages, by taking steps to officially recognize and sanction such unions.
While all of these developments are alarming at best, we should not be surprised. Consider the warning of Jesus found in Luke 17:28,30,32, “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot...Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed...Remember Lot’s wife.” We know that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of rampant homosexuality along with many other ungodly deeds. The Bible says their sins were great and very grievous before God.
THE FAMILIES OF ABRAHAM AND LOT
Jesus tells us in Luke 17 that we can expect the Last Days to be similar to the days of Lot. Let’s take a look at the difference between Abraham’s family and the family of Lot.
Why did God put a special blessing on Abraham? Let’s read Genesis 18:18-20, “Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? [19] For I know him, that he will command his children after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.[20] And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous.”
Look at the contrast between God’s plan for Abraham and for Lot. God has plans to bless Abraham and his descendants, yet He plans on destroying the place where Lot and his descendants live. It’s critical to remember that Lot chose to live in the plains near Sodom because “...it was well watered everywhere...like the garden of the Lord” (Genesis 13:10). In other words, it looked like a great place to live; it was pleasing to the eye.
What caused this great division between God’s actions for Abraham and Lot? God said of Abraham, “I know...that he will command his children after him.” The New Living Bible says in verse 19, “I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord and do what is right and just.” These scriptures tell us that God blessed Abraham to become a great nation because he commanded his children and household after him. God knew that Abraham would pass on the faith of God to his family and household and their descendants. Isn’t it amazing that today we are still walking in the faith of Abraham?
YOU CAN’T HANDLE SIN
Now let’s look at Lot and his family and see what has become of them. After speaking with Abraham and promising to spare the city if they found 10 righteous people, the angels make their way to Sodom to find Lot sitting at the gate of this very wicked city. Lot had made his home amidst a city of ungodly people whom the Bible refers to as exceedingly wicked. It appears that he is an elder in the city because elders traditionally sit at the gates. Upon seeing the angels, Lot insisted that they not stay in the city but that they should spend the night in his house (the story is found in Genesis 19:1-38).
So the angels followed Lot to his house where a feast was prepared for them. The men of this wicked city followed the angels to Lot’s house and demanded that Lot turn them over to them so that they could have sex with them. What does Lot do? He refuses to send out the angels but offers his two virgin daughters to the men and tells them that they can “do ye to them as is good in your eyes” (Genesis 19:8). Lot volunteered to give his daughters to appease the desires of the wicked and evil men.
JUST AN AVERAGE DAY IN SODOM
Can you see the contrast between Abraham and Lot? Abraham commanded his sons after him, in the faith of God. Lot, however, offered to give his children over to wicked men to be sexually abused. Can you see the evil influence that this wicked city had on Lot? Jesus tells us that they were eating and drinking, and that they bought and sold. In other words, life was going on as normal–it was a typical day in the neighborhood. However, there was nothing normal about the wicked men of Sodom.
It is vital to understand the far-reaching influence that this wicked city had on Lot and his family. When it came time to leave the city, the angels had to literally take hold of Lot and his families’ hands and lead them out of that ungodly place. Can we recognize the control that Satan had on Lot even when he knew the city was about to be destroyed? And lastly, the scriptures tell us that Lot’s wife couldn’t restrain herself from looking back even after being warned not to do so by the angels. She instantly became a pillar of salt.
THE EFFECT OF SIN ON OUR CHILDREN
Lot and his daughters continued their journey from Sodom and eventually ended up in a mountain cave. Lot’s daughters, fearing that they would not find a man and bear children, devised a wicked plan. “Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father” (Genesis 19:32 NKJV). Both girls became pregnant by their father and each one bore a son. The influence of Sodom was still evident in the lives of Lot’s children. They blatantly sinned in the eyes of God and their sons, Moab and Ammon, became the enemies of the people of Israel and the faith of God.
Today this same influence of Satan is trying again to destroy the Christian family and home. One of the ways this is being done is through the feminist movement and their promotion of the concept that men are not needed to have a complete family and/or home. Feminist propaganda has claimed that it is an oppression, subjugation, or abdication of the feminine quality-of-life to marry a man. They are promoting self-centeredness along with the condemnation of just about everything that is male as being evil, stupid, and aggressive. Woman are being told that they don’t need to cook for their husbands or take care of the children. They are encouraged to let the institutions (day care, etc.) take care of the children and even train them.
BETTER OFF WITHOUT MEN?
Let’s examine the statistics about what happens in homes that have no fathers. Did you now that fatherless homes account for:
63% of youth suicides,
90% of homeless or runaway children,
85% of children with behavioral problems,
71% of high school dropouts,
85% of youths in prison, and
50% or more of teen mothers?
These statistics should clearly teach us that when dad is not passing on the faith of God and setting the guidelines for proper actions in the home, things will go terribly wrong very fast! Consider this statistic: As of 1997, one million children per year find themselves in a newly-divorced family.
The feminist movement has also suggested that we must raise our girls more like boys, and our boys more like girls. They tell us that dads make great moms, and moms make great dads.
What has been happening in our society today is that they are attempting to redefine the gender roles. Men don’t know what their roles are as a husband or father. Women don’t know what their roles as wives or mothers are, everything has been confused. That’s why we have men marrying men and women marrying women. In other words–total confusion and havoc.
THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER
There is one thing that will stand the test of time–the Word of God. Let’s see what it has to say about the roles of men and women.
A. The Role of Men
1.) Men must be stable even in their youth.
Titus 2:6,7, “Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity.”
2.) Men must be providers for the home.
I Timothy 5:8, “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”
3.) Men must set the spiritual direction in their home.
Joshua 24:15, “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
B. The Role of Women
1.) Women must be sober and keepers at home.
Titus 2:4,5, “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children. To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”
2.) Women should marry and have children.
I Timothy 5:14, “I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.”
GOD’S PLAN FOR THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY
As always, God has a special plan for the Christian family. Ephesians 5:21-33, “Submitting yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.”
These scriptures lay out the proper roles for the Christian family. First, Christ is the head of the man. Second, the man is the head of the woman. The husband loves his wife as Christ loves the Church and gave Himself for her. The husband loves the wife as himself, he loves and cherishes her, and he gives her gifts. The wife reverences the husband and loves him just as the Church loves Christ. Just for the record, we do not live in a world without absolute truths. God has a true plan for the man, the woman, and the children. We need to be aware of Satan’s cohorts in our society that are attempting to change everything that is godly. If we indeed pattern our family lives after the relationship between Christ and His Church, and cling to each other thus becoming one, we will come as close as we can to experiencing a little bit of heaven right here on earth.