Why should the polygamous family we are building be multi-generational in addition ? Isn't a bunch of wives and children a big enough group already ? We think not, because the vision we are following, the vision that is grounded in God's word, the vision that is exemplified in the patriarch Abraham, is a long term vision that includes many generations, and the goals are not restricted to the lives of the currently living members of the family, but are set for their children's children just as well.

Now that you know where this article is headed, let me elaborate a little if you are still interested.

At a time when even the nuclear family is disintegrating, at a time when gay and lesbian marriages, unfruitful by definition, become widely accepted despite God's judgment, at a time when children are expected to face the world alone when they leave college, at a time when progression within the family is a concept nobody seems to understand anymore, we insist that the family dream, the family goals, be oriented along a time line that includes the generations to come. We recently read in the latest issue of Countryside Magazine that people who do not necessarily rely on God's word come to the same conclusion: In times of economic instability, a multi-generational family unit will have better chances to survive than a smaller unit. Those who do not rely on God's plan think, though, that, even if the multi-generational family would be preferable, a community of like minded people would do as well. We know, however, that communities like that seldom survive longer than the lifetime of the initial members lasts, and their children - if there are many - hardly ever keep the community together and carry it on into the next and the next and the next generation. Interests change, so do political convictions, only blood does not.

So what is the vision exemplified in the patriarch Abraham that I mentioned at the beginning ? In Genesis 13 we read:

"The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you." (Gen 13:14-17)

The LORD repeats His promise to Abraham several times, this is just one example.

By this time, Abraham was in his late 70s (Gen 12:4), his wife Sarah in her late 60s (Gen 17:17 - she was ten years younger than Abraham), and they had no children. And yet,

"And he [Abram] believed the LORD, and he [the LORD] counted it to him [Abram} as righteousness." (Gen 15:6)

The vision Abraham was given was for his future offspring, none of which were born yet. Abraham was to lay the foundations of the multi-generational household, for all the generations to come, and he did so by walking with God and obeying His word. This is the attitude the present day family patriarch needs just as well: Believe God, obey His word and lead the family firmly on the LORD's path, which includes teaching the children well so that they will continue to walk in the ways of the LORD.

And today, we still call ourselves children of Abraham, those that believe God and follow His word... The multi- generational family will prevail, in current turmoil and through the generations, until Christ comes back.

"But the one who endures to the end will be saved." (Mat 24:13)