PATRIARCHY OR BUST
“Isaac Blessing Jacob”, 1638 Govaert Flinck
Written by Herb Rubi
The Lord’s first words after “The Fall” were to Adam: “Where are you?” God’s redemption begins by a man knowing where he is in relation to God. God’s purposes on the earth depend entirely upon men rising up. When men are struggling and ineffective, chaos ensues. One man debauched and reeling is a regrettable situation, a nation of men debauched and reeling is a national catastrophe.
“Perhaps the most salient question for every society: What kind of men are boys becoming?”
“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” -Ez 22:30
Following Jesus and being a disciple means to a man: “My life matters, and how I live my life has eternally important consequences.” Perhaps the most salient question for every society: What kind of men are boys becoming?
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are known as “Patriarchs.” Men, through covenant, whom God blessed with fruitfulness and a sustained line of descendants that produced righteousness, wealth, and influence that continues to bless the world.
The Lord told Abram, “I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing..in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” -Gen 12:2
A Christian father faithfully bringing his family to church and contending for the faith is entering into the “blessing of Abraham.” In the 1980’s when the Tucson church was growing with many new marriages and young families, Pastor Warner said, “Of course I like seeing everyone come to church, but there’s something about a man leading his wife and children to church that blesses me.”
The patriarch Jacob prayed over his grandsons, (Gen 48) “May the God before whom my grandfather Abraham and my father, Isaac, walked—the God who has been my shepherd all my life…may He bless theses boys. May they preserve my name and the names of Abraham and Isaac. And may their descendants multiply greatly throughout the earth.”
“The easy part of the equation is this: When a man abandons the hope and ideal of fatherhood, or patriarchy, and feverishly pursues the idols of money, power, and pleasure, he becomes, by the normal course of nature, toxic.”
The Lord’s ultimate blessing in life is preserving your name through offspring; which of course includes spiritual offspring. But the pursuit of patriarchy is more than just a noble option: It is the only option! Everywhere patriarchy is scarce or absent is absolute chaos.
The stark contrast is sobering: Abraham is a participant in God’s plans and actions. Gen. 18:17 “..shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing,….(v.19) for I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord..”
The plan God is revealing to Abraham is impending judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah.
The men of Sodom, upon whom horrific judgment is falling, are steeped in sexual perversion, and murderous violence. Their descent into the demonic a consequence of giving themselves over to vile passions.
The phrase bandied about among academics and social commentators, in their attempt to decipher the causes of senseless violence and general social disintegration, is “toxic masculinity.”
The easy part of the equation is this: When a man abandons the hope and ideal of fatherhood, or patriarchy, and feverishly pursues the idols of money, power, and pleasure, he becomes, by the normal course of nature, toxic.
One study determined that the cost, in dollars, for “toxic masculinity” amounts to over $15.5B a year. Unmeasurable is the cost of broken lives and forfeited futures. Many of America’s inner-cities are dominated by violence and oppression; bastions of fatherlessness and moral depravity.
God’s answer to turn the tide is the essential man, and in time, the patriarch.
Paul Craig Roberts writes: “The backbone and principal resource of every country is the male population. Without them there is no country, no births to take the place of deaths. Men have the temperament to fight and lead. They protect women and children, property, borders. They lead families, communities, businesses, and governments. That has always been their role in history. When men are weak and absent society collapses.”
What’s interesting about God’s dealings with Abraham in Gen. 18 is that He allows Abraham to negotiate, or intercede on Sodom’s behalf. Abraham’s final offer is (v.32) “suppose ten righteous should be found there?” And the Lord said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”
Two things stand out from the story: There are not even ten righteous men in the city; but more importantly, even ten righteous men can hold back The Lord’s condign punishment upon the wicked.