SATAN’S ASSAULT ON THE FAMILY FRONT (Part One)

By Bob Myhan

he second front of Satan’s attack is the family, the first divine institution. By "institution" we simply mean "a plurality of persons, organized to­gether as a functional unit." The second divine institution is civil government and the third is the local church.

fter creating man, but before the sixth day of creation week was over, "the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him" (Gen. 2:18).

e should not think of this as an af­terthought on the part of God; such would be denying His infinite wisdom. "Known to God from eternity are all His works" (Acts 15:18). Thus, before He "created the heavens and the earth," God knew that He would make man "male and female." And, though "the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground" (Gen. 2:7), He made woman from a rib which He had taken from the man (Gen. 2:22). She was "not made out of his head to rule over him, or out of his feet to be trampled on by him." Rather, she was made "out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved" (Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, page 7).

o the careless reader it might seem that "God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air" after He created the man and before He created the woman. But we know from the first creation account that this was not the case (Gen. 1:26-31). God wanted the man to feel the need for a mate that would suit him emo­tionally, socially and spiritually, as well as physically.

o, prior to creating woman, He brought to Adam all the other physical creatures He had made, "to see what he would call them" (Gen. 2:19). As he went about naming them, Adam could not help but notice that for each male there was a suitable female. For exam­ple, there was the lioness for the lion and the mare for the stallion. "But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him" (Gen. 2:20).

an is a conscious being as are the other members of the animal kingdom but, unlike them, he is also self-conscious. Thus, he would need a self-conscious counterpart. Lower animals are primar­ily led by instinct, while man has the ability to choose alternatives. There­fore, he needed a partner who likewise had the power of choice. While many animals have the ability to communicate [exchange information necessary to sur­vival] with others of their own kind, only man has the ability to converse [exchange ideas]. Because of this, he would need a companion with whom he could discuss options. Man, unlike the lower creatures, has a moral sense, so he would need a partner who could also distinguish right from wrong.

hese differences between man and the other creatures were a result of man having been created "in the image of God" (Genesis 1:27). Thus it is no wonder that "for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him" among the lower creatures. So "the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man" (Gen. 2:21,22). Here we have, on the sixth day of creation week, the first marriage, and the first of three divine institutions—the family. The other two are civil government and the local church.

he family, as designed by God, con­sists of one husband, one wife, and whatever number of children they may happen to have. It would be logical to assume that Adam was to be the decision maker in the first family, since "Adam was formed first, then Eve" (1 Tim. 2:13). We do not have to assume this, of course, for we are told that "the head of woman is man" (1 Cor. 11:3), and that the woman was created as "a helper compara­ble to him" (Gen. 2:18).

his does not mean that Adam was superior to Eve, only that he was to have authority over her. He was to be the leader; she was to follow his lead. Like it or not, this is the order God established.

ecause of this, each person [whether male or female] has a specific role to fulfill. A person might not fulfill his role, but God desires that he do so. Most men do not seem to realize, for example, that authority implies responsibility. Paul wrote, "Wives, submit to your own hus­bands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything" (Eph. 5:22-24).

he husband's position of authority over his wife is likened unto that of Christ over the church. There was never a more responsible head than Christ. Paul continued to write, "Hus­bands, love your wives, just 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" (5:25,26). Surely we can see that to be in authority is to have re­sponsibility. And man has been given authority over woman. If she wrests it from him, she sins against him and against God.

otice the extent to which a husband is to love his wife: "So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church." "Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as him­self" (Eph. 5:28,29,33). The husband's love for his wife should resemble the love of Christ for His church.

hen it is obvious to a wife that he loves her thus, it will be easy for her to "re­spect her husband" (5:33). A man needs the support of his wife, and she needs the protection of her husband. And their unity is to be such that God said, "they shall be­come one flesh" (Gen. 2:24).

t would seem that the family is to be the primary support group for the individual, to help him fulfill his duty to God. "Fear God and keep his command­ments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Eccl. 2:13). Since "God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, Whether it is good, or whether it is evil" (Eccl. 12:14), the family members are to help one another come to a better understanding of these commandments.

hey are also to help one another appreciate the need to "fear God and keep His commandments," and to provide mutual and reciprocal encouragement along those lines.

ot only do the husband and wife have these responsi­bilities to one another, but they are also to "train up their children in the way they should go” (Prov. 22:6). Fathers especially are told, "Do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and ad­monition of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4).

hildren are told, "Obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  'Honor your father and mother,' which is the first command­ment with promise: ‘that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth'" (Eph. 6:1-3).

f more husbands and wives would take their God-given roles seriously more mar­riages would last until death they do part. And, if children were to see in the lives of their parents a greater respect for God's authority, they would not be nearly as likely to be shooting one another in our nation's schools. &

[To be continued next week]