Yesterday we read where Adam and Eve were naked in front of each other and they were not afraid. Fast forward to chapter 3 and Eve was beguiled by the serpent, to eat the forbidden fruit and she enticed her husband to partake. “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths” (Genesis 3:7). God searched for Adam and Eve who hid themselves because they were naked and afraid. He called out to Adam and asked, “Who told you that you were naked?” He knew that they had eaten from the tree he commanded them not to eat.

Adam blamed Eve who blamed the serpent. The result was a curse for the serpent, the woman and her seed. “To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you”” (Genesis 3:16). Adam’s curse was to be subject to hard labour for food and they were both banished from the garden. Within this chapter, we saw the first difficulties appearing in the original family structure. Eve strayed and listened to the serpent and then enticed her husband. Adam blamed her for his sin, although he chose to listen and partake.

In chapter 4, we saw the discourse between Cain and Abel, which led to Abel’s death. My question is; what dynamics did Cain witness between his parents, that created so much anger in him? Let us consider the frame of mind, of Adam and Eve after they were booted from the garden. Adam was born in paradise and all that he needed was readily available without toil or labour. He longed for a companion and God created Eve. It was love at first sight and his words were, ‘at last, bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.’ Adam was so smitten by Eve, that he gullibly ate the forbidden fruit at her suggestion. Did either of them consider the consequences?

They were banished from the garden and the presence of God. Adam was subject to hard labour for the first time in his life. He was living out a sentence which he blamed on his wife. Eve must have been angry with herself and even more angry with Adam for blaming her when God asked questions. Cain was their firstborn and she brought him into the world in pain. He was most likely born at a time, when his parents were still adjusting to the hardship of their separation from God. Abel was their second born and his temperament could suggest that his parents had started to accept life as it was. The difference between the boys and enmity between them led to jealousy, resentment and murder.

We have continued to see dysfunctions in families ever since. A union once created out of pure love and devotion, is sometimes characterised by manipulation, control, anger and hostility. These negative patterns are being transferred to children and have been passed down for many generations. The good news is that God always finds a remedy for his children and salvation through Jesus offers relief. The answers are in the word. Stay with me as we walk through God’s journey of redemption and restoration. ““With your unfailing love you lead the people you have redeemed. In your might, you guide them to your sacred home” (Exodus 15:13).

A.P.-Y.

Solomon spoke a lot about relationships and the Songs of Solomon is a book of poems about love. Interpretations surmise that the book relates to God’s love letters or covenants with Isreal or Christ’s letter to the church. Either way, we are born with the desire and need for love and relationships. “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him”” (Genesis 2:18). God created us for relationships and He understood that Adam would not be his best on his own. Despite the presence of animals and other creatures, Adam needed someone like himself that he could relate to.

God created a helper for Adam from his flesh and presented her to him. “Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man”” (Genesis 2:23). The next verse described a man leaving his mother and father, to be with his wife, and the two would become one flesh. The man and woman were both naked and they were not shamed. Earlier in Genesis 1, we learnt how God created male and female and his instruction was for multiplication. “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth”” (Genesis 1:28).

One of the main reasons why God created males and females and placed them together, was for the purpose of procreation. The other important reason why I believe that men and women were placed together was for companionship. We can see how God designed the family structure, for the establishment and maintenance of society. Within the family unit, children are born, raised and taught how to function in society. Families instil values, norms and teach children about religion and culture for example. Families should provide emotional warmth, stability, nurture and meet the needs of children.

When children grow up in stable family environments, they become well adjusted adults who are able to function and contribute to the maintenance of society. Over the next few days, we will look a bit more into what happens, when God’s original design for the family structure is not maintained. We will try to explore some of the consequences of abuse, neglect, divorce, separation or dysfunctional family patterns, and look at how these patterns, affect people’s ability to form and maintain healthy relationships. We will also explore what can be done when children have not grown up in ideal family settings and what interventions can help to repair difficult socialisation patterns.

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds”(Psalm 147:3).

A.P.-Y.

In Acts 22, Paul was placed on board a ship to sail to Rome, so that he could stand trial before Caesar. Paul sailed along the coast of Asia, through Cyprus and boarded another ship to Italy. The ship sailed with a lot of difficulty and Paul advised the crew of what he sensed would happen. “saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives”” (Acts 27:10). The Centurion who transported Paul, paid more attention to what the crew had to say that what Paul said. As they were in winter, it was not deemed suitable to remain at the harbour, but to sail to Italy.

As the ship set out at sea, they encountered a storm which carried them along for days. The crew threw cargo and other items overboard in order to lighten the ship. They eventually gave up hope that they would be saved, after being in the storm for days. They were so anxious that no one aboard had anything to eat for days. Paul decided to address the crew and scolded them for not listening to his earlier advise. Nevertheless, he encouraged them that there would be no loss of life, because an angel assured him that he would make it to see Caesar. In addition, God would spare the lives of everyone on board the ship. “So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told” (Acts 27:25).

The ship continued to sail for another fourteen days and the sailors intended to use a boat to escape the ship. Paul warned them that they needed to stay on board in order to live. He also encouraged the men to eat and took bread, gave thanks to God and began to eat. “Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves” (Acts 27:36). Once they had enough to eat, they threw the rest of the wheat overboard. The next day they discovered land and those who could swim were encouraged to jump overboard and swim to shore. The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners because they feared that they would try to escape. The Centurion stopped the soldiers from carrying out their plan, as he wanted to save Paul.

In the end, not one person aboard the ship died, either to the storm, at the shipwreck or at the hands of the soldiers. God kept his word and Paul and the entire crew were spared from the storm. We could say that it would have helped if the men had listened to Paul and not set sail. In any event, God was gracious to spare not only Paul, but everyone on board. Paul’s faith was a witness to them that he served the true and living God. Although a prisoner, Paul spoke with authority and overtime the men listened. They even took caution and remained on board, when they wanted to use a boat to escape. They also followed Paul’s lead and ate in order to maintain their strength.

God kept his word and they were spared from death, but they were required to listen and obey. They lost the ship and their cargo, but every life was spared. The crew had to throw thing overboard that was deemed valuable. They had to choose between saving lives, rather than holding unto material possessions. Isn’t it strange that during times of difficulty, we may be willing to part with material possession, if it means the preservation of life. God was with Paul during the storm which assured him that they would be safe.

A.P.-Y.

Isaiah wrote about Gods perfect peace and proclaimed a song to be sung in Judah. Judah was strong and surrounded by walls of salvation. “Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in” (Isaiah 26:2). Those who place their trust in God, remain in perfect peace. God is our everlasting rock who has humbled the proud and brings down the arrogant. They are trampled by the poor and needy, but the path of the righteous is level. “In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul” (Isaiah 26:8). The song continued to express an earnest desire for God.

Isaiah said that when God’s judgements are in the land, the inhabitants learn righteousness. If favour is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness. The wicked deals corruptly even in the land of righteousness and does not show regard for the things of God. “O Lord, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed. Let the fire for your adversaries consume them” (Isaiah 26:11). God’s reward for his people is peace and he causes us to advance. There are other gods and systems that have ruled over the earth. Other gods are dead as God will destroy them and wipe away their memory.

God has increased his people and enlarged their territories. They cried out to him in their distress through silent prayers, when they were being chastened. “Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O Lord” (Isaiah 26:17). Their pregnancy did not bring forth a seed and there was no deliverance. The dead shall live again and those who are downtrodden will sing for joy. God’s people are warned to hide until his fury has passed. “For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain” (Isaiah 26:21).

In this song, Isaiah spoke of God’s love for his people and his gift of peace. He also spoke about judgment for the inhabitants of the earth, in order to teach righteousness. Judgment is punishment for sin and we know that the Lord chastises the one that he loves (Hebrews 12:6). In the same way that children need discipline to learn good morals and values, people need judgment to learn the righteousness of God. No one loves discipline, but it produces fruits of righteousness. “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God” (1 Peter 4:17)?

A.P.-Y.

In Revelations 3, John wrote to the church in Philadelphia, the words from Jesus who holds the key of David. This key of David opens doors that no one can shut, and shuts doors that no one can open. Jesus was sympathetic to the Philadelphian church who seemed powerless. As such, he had set an open door before them that no one would be able to shut. This church had kept the word of God and had not denied the name of Jesus. God would cause those of the church of Satan who lied about his people, to bow down before his church. God would also keep his church from the trials that were to come on the earth, due to their patient endurance.

Jesus told the Philadelphian church to hold fast to their crown of reward, so that no one would take it from them before his return. “The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name” (Revelation 3:12). Isaiah also prophesied concerning the key of David, when he spoke about God’s judgement against Jerusalem. God was not pleased with Isreal’s leader who he vowed to move out of office. “I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station” (Isaiah 22:19).

He described God raising up Eliakim, son of Hilkiah and transferring to him the power and authority of Isreal. “And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open” (Isaiah 22:22). God vowed to establish him because of the rebellion of the former leader, who led God’s people astray. This represented a transfer of power from an unworthy ruler to someone who feared God.

The key of David represents power and authority. Before Jesus’s ascension, he spoke to his disciples. “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). This statement followed the great commission to go into the world to make disciples. In Luke, after Jesus’s disciples returned from evangelism, they were excited that even the demons were subject to them. Jesus spoke of Satan falling down from heaven like lightning and again conferred their authority. “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you” (Luke 10:19).

This power and authority is given to us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This same Holy Ghost power, raised Jesus Christ from the dead and has seated us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We have power to do the will of God and the power of the Holy Spirit within us, opens doors of authority that no one can shut. God also closes doors that the devil would try to open in our lives in order to afflict us. The keys are in the word of God and our knowledge of the things of God. The Holy Spirit is our guide and teacher and gives us the authority to open closed doors and to shut doors that the devil tries to open.

A.P.-Y.