Fight Laugh Feast Magazine
Issue 4.2: American Marriage Sodomized
Written/Edited: May 8/June 27, 2023
Published: Summer 2023
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Pharaoh Feared a Family
By: Todd H. Van Voorst
A NATION OF GENERATIONS
“‘Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us.’” – Exodus 1:9b-10
One family can make a difference. Before Israel was the bane of a nation, it was just Abraham and his one, true son. That one grew to two after he had twins and one of those two then turned into twelve. That dozen became seventy and several centuries later, scads became scores putting points on the board. One household had become a harbinger… Pharaoh feared a family.
NATIONS ARE BUILT ONE FAMILY AT A TIME
“Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.” – Deuteronomy 10:22
As one family began flooding his phonebook, Pharaoh began to ask, “What can be done about all these Bar-Jacobs?” Imagine the White House losing sleep over your surname or worrying about the number of your nephews. Imagine legislation being drafted to address the growing problem of your people growing. That was the scene in Egypt. The king was anxious about one man’s family reunion and their prospective role in an upcoming election.
COVENANTAL CONTINUITY
"The people gathered themselves together as one man.” – Nehemiah 8:1
Concentration of force, however, is not a given. A lot of descendants does not necessarily a lot of panic produceth. A man can have a gaggle of grandkids without getting name-dropped in his governor’s group chats. That kind of racket only comes with a consensus of the census – many generations, under God, and indivisible. Covenantal continuity is concentration of force.
Covenantal continuity is more than merely keeping the customs of your father’s God, it is loving the God of your father’s customs. Tyrants take notice of that kind of buy-in because, as Chesterton once observed, the first rule of fight club is “you cannot love a thing without wanting to fight for it.”
COVENANTAL SUCCESSION
“Remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” – Nehemiah 4:14
A man must fight for his God before he fights for anything else (cf. Matt 6:33). When he does so, however, one of the first things God commands him to do is fight for his wife and children. In fact, the man who fails to do so is said to have no love for God. (1 Tim. 5:8)
A father is charged with bringing up his children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and one of the first instructions a son should receive is his duty to one day teach his own children (Deut 6:7, Eph. 6:4). In this way, God commands a man to preach to his great grandchildren by teaching his children to teach their children to teach their children.
RAISING GODLY SEED
“Train up a child in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6
Raising godly seed is not sitting the battle out; it is the battlefield. A father training his children is not forsaking the frontlines; he’s refusing to abandon them. He is in the trenches, not on the sidelines. He begins by fighting for his children, transitions to fighting alongside them, and ends by fighting through them for generations.
"Men who raise families that remain in fidelity to tradition will end up with descendants ruling the world.” – E.H. Looney (cf. Psalm 112:1-2)
Pharaoh feared a family because their last name and their first priorities were inseparable. A family tree with firm roots is formidable. While a house divided cannot stand, a house united can. It withstands outside forces. Israel was a threat because Israel was one.
ONENESS AS A WEAPON
“The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” – Matthew 13:33
When leaven refuses to get lumpy, it will always leave an impression. To remain leaven, however, it must differentiate itself from the rest of the lump, and that does not happen by accident. Yeast mode is not a factory default. Oneness comes on purpose by purpose.
“All good things come to a point, swords for instance.” – G.K. Chesterton
Oneness is a weapon. Covenantal continuity can curb the ferocities of Pharaoh’s cities, but cognitive dissonance cannot do that; it cannot change anything except its mind. Disparate notions do not build nations. A common worldview, widely and intentionally held, however, can change the world.
COVENANTAL CUSSEDNESS
“Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.” – Exodus 23:32
Israel did not conform to the customs of Cairo. They kept their vows and their kids by remembering the Lord and their responsibilities. They did not walk like an Egyptian despite all the signage and songs that suggested it. They kept their covenants by avoiding other ones. It was this angularity that bent Egypt out of shape. If Israel had simply settled into Egyptian molds, Pharaoh would not have batted a mascaraed eye; but their covenantal cussedness required a response.
NUPTIAL NATIONALISM
“A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.” – Isaiah 60:22
One marriage can make a world of difference; in fact, it can make a world. The histories of nations can be altered at one altar and the geopolitical landscape of an entire continent can be compelled to curtsy before the covenant children of one faithful family. Ceremonies can be the seeds of civilizations. Nuptials can build nations.
Kingdoms are built around common tables: families sitting down for dinner and congregations communing around the Lord’s Table. As these work their way through the rest of the lump, family trees become forests, local churches become city centers, and communities become kingdoms.
THE END OF THE WORLD
“This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” – Ephesians 5:32
One marriage can make a difference. Church history is the bride of Christ walking down the aisle. That one marriage is moving the world, and our marriages should march in step.
"So fight the good fight. Go home, build a house, and if you do it in the right way, you will give the world a glimpse of things to come. There is nothing more terrifying to the principalities than this. Because in the end, the principalities will bow and confess the Lordship of Christ, and if your house is ordered well, it is a reminder of that glorious day.” – C.R. Wiley
MAKE PHARAOH FEAR AGAIN
“Be ye mindful always of His covenant; the word which He commanded to a thousand generations.” – 1 Chronicles 16:15
Imagine if those who bore your last name were someday such a large constituency of common belief and committed practice that they could move magistrates to madness. Imagine your descendants dancing in time to the glory of God and the good of their neighbors. A family like that could do serious damage to the darkness. That family tree would be a battering ram against the gates of hell.
Pharaoh once feared a family. Let’s make Pharaoh fear again.
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