The War on the Family—It’s a Spiritual Attack!

Marriage and family are God’s institutions. God created the family when he made the first man and woman (that’s the first marriage) and told them to “Be fruitful and increase in number” (Genesis 1:28 NIV). Yes, be fruitful and multiply (as most English versions translate it). So, we need to ask the question, “What is one of the primary reasons for marriage?”

To answer, let’s consider Malachi 2:15:

Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.

The background context of this verse is that the men of Israel were divorcing their wives to marry pagan women, or they were divorcing their wives because of contempt for them, or they were marrying multiple women. So, God is chastening these men through the prophet Malachi, and in doing so, he refers back to the creation of man and woman in Genesis 2. You see, “Did he not make them one” is a reference to the fact that God made the two into one. He created Adam from dust, and Eve from his side. Adam’s first recorded words were,

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)

Then we read in Genesis 2:24,

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

This is the creation of marriage. And it’s a reminder that God himself created marriage, not the US Supreme Court justices or president. There’s only one marriage God created: one man and one woman (one male and one female).

The family is the educational unit God created to transfer a godly legacy to subsequent generations and for each generation to impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ.

In our Malachi passage above, the prophet asks why God made two one in marriage? And note the answer: “Godly offspring.” Not just offspring but “godly offspring.” The family is the first and most fundamental of all human institutions. The family is the educational unit God created to transfer a godly legacy to subsequent generations and for each generation to impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, family is vital!

Family begins with marriage (of course, in a fallen world this isn’t always the case, but it is God’s “very good” design), and one of the primary reasons for marriage is to produce godly offspring, who will marry godly offspring and thus apply the principle of 2 Corinthians 6:14:

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

So, a godly couple is to produce godly offspring who will marry godly offspring, generation after generation. We see this with the 12 stones of Joshua’s day. They were to be a memorial to remind the coming generations of the true God and to remind them to raise godly offspring who will impact the world for our God. The Israelites were told that when their children ask, “What do these stones mean?” (Joshua 4:21), they were to recount the works of the Lord to their children: “Then you shall let your children know . . . so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever” (Joshua 4:22, 24). In other words, make sure you teach the truth of God to the next generation so they, and the world, will be impacted.

That’s what we should be doing: raising up godly offspring so they will impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ.

That’s what we should be doing: raising up godly offspring so they will impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ. The devil knows it, and he knows that if he can destroy the family, then he destroys the unit God created and ordained to pass on a godly legacy generation after generation. And that’s why we’re seeing an increasingly aggressive war on children, on women, and on the family. It’s all ultimately a war on God.

So how do we fight? With the weapons God has given us: his Word and prayer. We faithfully, diligently, and intentionally teach God’s Word to our children, and we pray for them and for our nation daily. Then we leave the results up to our sovereign God.

Equipping Kids to Fight in This Battle

And, of course, we need to be equipping children to stand strong in this battle—a battle that’s ultimately between truth and lies, light and darkness. And this summer, you can equip them to stand with our 2023 Answers Vacation Bible School, Keepers of the Kingdom. This medieval, armor of God themed VBS will equip children with the tools they need to be discerning, knowing truth from error amid the battle raging for their hearts. I strongly encourage you to check it out! Our VBS programs are evangelistic and are wonderful tools for equipping children with answers, theology, and doctrine. More churches than ever are using AiG’s VBS program, and I believe it is the most powerful such program in the world.

Go to AnswersVBS.com.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.