Publisher's Synopsis
The father in the title of this book is the husband in every marriage, as an extension and representative of his fathers before him, all of whom God ordained the head of their household in their respective generations (Genesis 3:16); (1 Corinthians 11:13); (Ephesians 5:23).
Every male in every family on the earth is traced through his fathers to Noah and Adam; and to God Himself (Luke 3:36-38):
Every human male on the earth,
the son of his father,
the son of his grandfather,
the son of his great-grandfather, ...
"the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch,
the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel,
the son of Kenan, 38 the son of Enosh,
the son of Seth, the son of Adam,
the son of God." (Luke 3:36-38 NIV)
The focus in this solemn family oath is on the husband in every marriage.
Yet, it is not simply about the husband, but about God, whom all the fathers throughout all human generations are representatives of, and serve - Deuteronomy 10:12-13 NIV - "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?"
"In the Name of the father, the son and the holy wife" (Genesis 17:1-16) is all about God's authority over everything He had created and placed in order for perpetual unison:
Ephesians 5:1-21 NIV - "Follow God's example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
The son in the above declaration is every male child from every marriage, as a descendant of the husband in the marriage and of the husband's fathers.
The children in every marriage are counted with their father and their father's fathers; and not with their mother and their mother's fathers, because every human lineage is traced by God through the husband in the marriage-who becomes a father to the children God brings into the marriage!
There is a saying in my native language, Igbo: When a girl becomes too matured for people to ask whose daughter she is, the inquiry then becomes, whose wife is she!
In other words, every woman belongs to her father. And from her marriage onwards, she belongs to her husband-hence her name change at marriage, from her father's family name to her husband's family name.
And that is God's design; and God's perfect and pleasing will (Romans 12:2)!
The Bible says that a wife is a gift from God (Proverbs 18:22). And every child is a gift to their parents. That is the reason every woman goes from being a gift to her father, to becoming a gift to her husband. If a woman remains unmarried throughout her life, she remains a gift to her father throughout her life, since she has no husband for the Lord to transfer to, the gift that she is!
And when her father dies, her brothers will step into their father's role in her life, hence Leviticus 21:2-3: "except for a close relative, such as ... an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband.
Every male in every family on the earth is charged by God, to faithfully raise his children in all godliness, just as his fathers before him had done-not turning to the left or to the right-so that God will remain in covenant with him and continue to increase his numbers, as God had done with his fathers before him (Genesis 17:1-2); (Acts 2:39).
