(Exodus 28:1) And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.
I was thinking about how good it is when your brother worships the same God you worship and is of the same flavor or similar in beliefs. God told Moses to take his brother and make him high priest. No doubt Moses was probably accused of nepotism. But siblings understand each other in ways non-siblings are not capable of. God has ordained the family and there’s much admonition of God to stay in the family order that he has set up. There are dire consequences for not honouring your parents. I had just come across a verse that shed much light on this, (Proverbs 20:20) Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. Please read Proverbs 20:20 His lamp shall be put out…
We can easily see and understand how the Bible’s expectations for us and our earthly father applies also to our heavenly father, even more so. The thought I’m having is that the same relationship should extend into our relationship with our siblings. But it’s something that has been lost I believe in our culture. I had explained in the above mentioned article that the family is broken down in this modern culture. I’ll never forget years ago I learned that one of means in which communism gained such a foothold, even in our country, was to break the family unit down. Compulsory education was used to accomplish this. Family businesses were not allowed or made very difficult to sustain. It’s not just he parent/child relationship that has suffered, but also that of the silblings has suffered loss: brother/brother, sister/sister, and brother/sister.
It’s hard enough sometimes for siblings to get along naturally. I think modern culture exploits that nature and seeks to damage the bond between siblings. And consequently, the church is affected. Our understanding of and interaction with our earthly brethren ultimately translates into our relationship with the heavenly brethren, the church. And I believe it has a crippling effect. Consider these scriptures:
(1 Peter 1:22) Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
(1 John 3:14) We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
(1 John 3:16) Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
The admonishment in the bible is clear concerning the brethren of the church. We ought to work that relationship backwards toward our earthly brethren. There ought to be a love and bond between earthly siblings of similar or equal magnitude. Even a lost family, that knows not the name of the Lord, should love each other.
But see, it’s not that it’s more important, but that it’s foundational. Think about this: Our children go to church two-three times a week for a couple of hours, but then are at home hours upon hours upon hours. We’re taught to love the brethren at church, but from a certain point of view that is actually quite easy when the only serious interaction you have with them is during hand-shake time. And some of us don’t even participate in that. There’s vastly more one-way communication going on from pulpit to pew in a service than there is two-way between the brethren. So there’s a simplicity there to loving the heavenly brethren. Not so with your earthly brethren. So my point is that if we practice at home with our earthly brethren, it should be much easier to do so with your heavenly brethren. Amen?
So this is an admonition as to how our Christian homes should be. Brothers and sisters at home should have an unfeigned love for each other. There should be a distinct love between each other that is like no other. There should be a dedication and commitment and sacrifice one for another between siblings. If this is practiced in the home, it will naturally spill over into the church. Maybe?
So it is interesting that God tells Moses to anoint Aaron, his big brother, as high priest. And then underneath Aaron, God appoints his sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar; four brothers to work together. These brothers had worked together all their life, and now together they would serve in the tabernacle. Now the bible says, (Proverbs 17:17) A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. This speaks to us of the reality of the brethren. Brethren don’t always agree. Sometimes, brethren have to work things out. How do we learn to do that? In the home when we’re children. It’s inherent in family, the God-ordained, oldest institution known to man.
Too much family in the church sometimes can be seen as a detriment. Families form factions. I’m gonna go out on a limb and make a generalization. If you were to look into the history of a family that causes trouble in a church (which could probably never be done, but if you could), I would guess that you would see a fundamental flaw in the family relationship; a missing love, a missing identification, a missing dedication. There is an hypocrisy in loving the brethren at church and not loving your brethren at home.
Now, I understand we’re talking in ideals. Some people never know the love of family until they get saved and are loved on by God and God’s people. And there’s all kinds of colors in between. But I remember some preacher saying something to this effect: Our homes should be a little heaven on earth. It’s been said that our worship in church will never go further than our worship at home. So also our love.