Some Categories of Pastoral Care

The Family in the Holy Bible

The Family in the Holy Bible

The first human family in existence is the family of Adam and Eve.
The most important families after that are the family of our father Noah, then our father Abraham. From the events recorded in the Holy Bible I present to you the following:

1- Families that had holy houses.

• Among these is Mary, the mother of Saint Mark, whose house became the first church in Christianity. It was to her house that the Apostle Peter went after his release from prison, “where many were gathered and praying.” (Acts 12:12).
• Also mentioned are Aquila and Priscilla, “the church that is in their house.” (Rom 16:5). They were a holy married couple praised by the Apostle Paul: “who risked their own necks for my life— not to mention that I am grateful to them, and to all the churches of the Gentiles.” (Rom 16:4).
• Another person who made his house a church was Nymphas in Laodicea, mentioned by Paul: “the church that is in his house.” (Col 4:15).
• Another family: all its members were filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the family of Zechariah and Elizabeth and their son John the Baptist. It is said of Elizabeth that when she heard Mary’s greeting, “the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Luke 1:41). Of her son it is said in the Gospel concerning his birth, “and from his mother’s womb he was filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Luke 1:15). Of course this happened when he leaped for joy in his mother’s womb when he heard the greeting of the Virgin Mary. As for Zechariah the priest, when his period of silence ended it is said of him: “and his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying…” (Luke 1:67). How beautiful that every member of that family was filled with the Holy Spirit.
• Also among the holy houses is the house of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. It was a household beloved by the Lord. Mary sat at His feet contemplating His word, and Martha served Him (Luke 10:39–40). When Lazarus died, our Lord Jesus Christ said to His disciples, “Lazarus, our friend, has fallen asleep” (John 11:11). Then He went and raised him from the dead. It is said on that occasion that “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35). In the Holy Week it is said that the Lord went to Bethany where the house of that family was.
• Also among holy houses is the house of Joshua son of Nun who said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Josh 24:15).

2- In the Old Testament the family did not know birth control as a rule.
The many sons were a blessing from the Lord. It is said: “Children are a heritage from the LORD.” (Ps 127:3). It is said in the Psalm: “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in the innermost parts of your house; your children like olive plants round about your table.” (Ps 128:3). In God’s blessing to our father Abraham He said to him: “your seed shall be as the stars of heaven” (Gen 15:5), as the dust of the earth (Gen 13:16). He also said to him: “I will surely bless you and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore.” (Gen 22:17). In the prayer of the gatherings at the Divine Liturgy the priest says to the Lord: “As for Your people, let thousands, tens of thousands be blessed to do Your will.” Yet our society today does not follow that rule.

3- The Book tells us of children whom the Lord chose before their birth:
That is, they were called for the Lord from their mothers’ wombs. Among them:

• Jeremiah the prophet: to whom the Lord said, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Jer 1:5).
• Also Samson: whom the Lord vowed to Himself. It was said to his mother at the announcement: “Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son, and now drink no wine nor strong drink, and he shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb.” (Judg 13:5).
• Jacob, the father of the fathers: whom the Lord loved and blessed before he was born, as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” (Rom 9:13). Thus the Lord said to the pregnant mother, “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.” (Gen 25:23). That younger was Jacob, to whom God gave dominion over his brother, even while in his mother’s womb.
• We also mention John the Baptist: of whom it is written, “and from his mother’s womb he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Luke 1:15).
• Also Saul of Tarsus (Paul the Apostle): who said of himself, “when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, immediately I did not consult with flesh and blood.” (Gal 1:15–16).
• We do not forget the child Samuel, whom his mother vowed to the Lord even before she conceived him, if the Lord would give him to her (1 Sam 1:11).

4- In the Book about the family, it mentions some righteous children.

• At the forefront we mention Isaac son of Abraham: whom his father took to offer as a burnt offering to the Lord. He bound him, placed him on the altar, and took the knife to slay him (Gen 22:9–10), all while he was silent, not objecting nor fleeing.
• Another similar example is the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite. Her father vowed that if he prevailed in battle, the first person who met him on his return he would present as an offering to the Lord. His daughter happened to be the first to meet him while rejoicing. He told her of his vow. She said to him, “Oh my father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth.” She asked him for two months to bewail her virginity on the mountain. Then she returned to him, and he fulfilled his vow with her. (Judg 11:36).
• Among the righteous children also is Joseph the Righteous: who was in high office “ruler over all the land of Egypt” (Gen 45:8). Yet he was not ashamed to call his father and brothers shepherds. “Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father…” (Gen 46:29). “Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and presented him before Pharaoh.” (Gen 47:7). Joseph was dutiful to his brothers (who sold him into slavery) and reassured them, saying, “You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good…” (Gen 50:20).

5- This does not prevent mentioning some evil children in the Book:

• Such as Cain who killed his brother, Absalom who raised an army to fight his father David and seize his throne, and Esau who married two Hittite women “and they were a bitterness of spirit to Isaac and Rebekah.” (Gen 26:35). Also the sons of Eli the priest who caused God’s wrath upon their father Eli, depriving him and his seed of the priesthood forever (1 Sam 3:14), and Eli fell from his seat “and his neck was broken and he died.” (1 Sam 4:18).

6- The Book gave us good examples of mothers in childrearing.

• Among them we mention Jochebed who bore a prophet (Moses) and a prophetess (Miriam) and a high priest (Aaron). She reared her son Moses in the best upbringing, and he became the champion of faith in his generation, not affected by all the worships of Pharaoh while living in his palace.
• Another example is the mother and grandmother of Timothy, disciple of Paul the Apostle, of whom Paul said, “I am reminded of the sincere faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice.” (2 Tim 1:5).
• We also mention Hannah, mother of Samuel, who vowed him to the Lord before his birth and consecrated him to service in the temple, and God chose him as a prophet.

7- The Book told us about home religious instruction and the impact of Scripture.

• Such as the Lord’s words in Deuteronomy: “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” (Deut 6:6–7). From this we see that the father has an educational duty in teaching religion to his children, as well as the mother who began it with her infant.
• We also note the Virgin’s keeping of the Psalms as shown in her Magnificat (Luke 1).
• We also note Peter’s use of many Old Testament verses both in his sermons (Acts 1, 2, 3) and in his epistles.

8- As a result, children received the Tradition from their fathers.

• For example, the idea of Abel presenting a sacrifice (Gen 4) he undoubtedly took from his father Adam.
  And the idea of tithing which Jacob vowed to the Lord when He appeared to him on the ladder and he said, “If God will be with me… I will give a tenth to You.” (Gen 28:20–22). From where did Jacob know the idea of tithes except from his grandfather Abraham who gave tithes to Melchizedek (Gen 14:20).
• Likewise the presentation of firstborns was taken by children from their fathers according to the Lord’s teaching “And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites… you shall consecrate to the Lord all that open the womb, and every firstborn of your livestock shall be the Lord’s.” (Exod 13:11–12). “And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come… you shall say to him…” (Exod 13:14).

9- The Book gave us the example of marriage based on love.
As in Jacob’s marriage to his cousin Laban’s daughter (Gen 26:18).

10- The Book gave us the example of the virtuous wife whose value is above rubies in the whole of Proverbs 31, where it describes her service to her household from every side. How “her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.” She does all that her household needs and “does not eat the bread of idleness,” “her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also praises her,” “give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.”

• This is contrasted with the contentious woman: “The virtuous wife is a crown to her husband, but the shameful one is like rottenness in his bones.” (Prov 12:4). “Better is a dry morsel with quietness than a house full of feasting with strife.” (Prov 17:1).
• The example of Abigail is mentioned who exerted every effort to save her husband from death despite knowing his folly, when David intended to take vengeance on him (1 Sam 25).

11- The Book forbade marriage with foreign women.
Meaning idolaters or those of another religion, for in the Old Testament foreign women were idolaters. Thus it is said of Solomon and his foreign wives: “And King Solomon loved many foreign women…” (1 Kings 11:1). “And it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God as was the heart of David his father.” (1 Kings 11:4).

12- The Book gave us examples of fathers’ love and mothers’ love.

• As an example of fatherly love we have David the prophet in his weeping over his son Absalom who did him much evil, saying in his lament, “O my son Absalom—my son, my son Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Sam 18:33).
• Of maternal love is the story of the two women who disputed a child before King Solomon. He said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” The true mother could not bear to see her child killed and said, “Give her the living child.” (1 Kings 3:16–28).

13- The Book gave us the example of the beloved mother-in-law.

• The example of Naomi who was loved by her daughter-in-law Ruth, who insisted on going with her wherever she went, saying, “Do not urge me to leave you and to turn back from following you; for wherever you go I will go…” (Ruth 1:16–17).
• Also the mother-in-law of the Apostle Peter who was sick and was healed by the Lord.

14- We find in the Book examples of love among relatives.

• Such as the love between Abram and his nephew Lot, seen in the destruction of Sodom where it is written, “When Abram heard that his brother (Lot) was taken captive, he led forth his trained servants… and pursued them to Dan.” (Gen 14:14). He rescued Lot from captivity.
  We note here that close kinship between two often called them brothers: as Abram called Lot his brother, while Abram was his uncle. Likewise Laban said to Jacob, “Are you my brother that you serve me for nothing?” (Gen 29:15), while Laban was Jacob’s uncle (Gen 29:10).
• We also do not forget the love between Jonathan and David; David was husband to Jonathan’s sister. It is said of their love, “The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan died for him with a remarkable lamentation, saying, ‘I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; you have been very pleasant to me; your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.’” (2 Sam 1:26–27).

15- The Book taught us that rivalry between co-wives is spiteful even if they are full sisters.

• As the strife between Leah and Rachel in competing for the man’s love and for bearing sons (Gen 29–30).
• Another example is Peninnah who provoked Hannah because she had children, making her sorrowful until she ate no food (1 Sam 1:6–7).

16- The Book affirmed honoring father and mother.
Thus the first of the human commandments in the two tablets of the Law is: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land.” (Exod 20:12). Paul the Apostle called it “the first commandment with promise.” (Eph 6:2). He explained it in two clauses:

• “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” (Eph 6:1).
• “Fathers, do not provoke your children.” (Eph 6:4).
  “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.” (Col 3:21).

17- The Book spoke about child education.
It said: “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Prov 22:6). Also: “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of correction will drive it far from him.” (Prov 22:15). In the New Testament: “What son is there whom a father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline… you are illegitimate, not sons.” (Heb 12:7–8).

18- And the book presented to us: the importance of the father’s blessing.

It mentioned the struggle of Jacob and Esau for their father Isaac’s blessing (Gen 27). How Joseph presented his sons Ephraim and Manasseh to receive Jacob his father’s blessing (Gen 48:13–20). Jacob blessed all his children before his death (Gen 49).

19- The Book explained the matter of divorce.

• Although in the Old Testament Moses’ law permitted divorce because of the hardness of hearts and ordained giving a bill of divorcement (Matt 19:7–8), the original state is “what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matt 19:6).
• Despite the Mosaic concession, the Book does not mention divorce stories in the history of the Old Testament fathers. Zechariah did not divorce his wife Elizabeth due to her barrenness—then God gave her a son in her old age.
• Likewise Abraham did not divorce Sarah because of childlessness.
• Jacob did not demand annulment of marriage from Leah because of the deception (Gen 29:25).

20- In the New Testament our Lord Jesus Christ permitted divorce for the reason of fornication as stated in (Matt 5:32; 19:9; Mark 10:11; Luke 16:18). In (1 Cor 7:15) we see permission to separate marriage in the case of difference of religion, where the Apostle said: “If the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases.”

For better translation support, please contact the center.