Kingdom Come

The (in my view) phenomenally spiritually relevant television show Breaking Bad demonstrates this concept to a society that has lost touch with this reality when the quintessentially rebellious teenager Jesse, despite his natural disinclination for submission to authority, apprentices himself to an obnoxious high school teacher in order to gain scientific power from Mr. White. In the process he learns to shut up and listen to instruction.

“When ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do…Your father knoweth what things ye need before ye ask him. After this manner therefore pray ye:

Our Father which art in heaven…Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven…For thine is the kingdom / absolute authority, and the power…” (Matthew 6:9-13)

The crowd knew all this already on a human level.

The ancient definition of father was not exclusively or even essentially sperm donor, or even head of a family, but absolute authority within a social group.

• “Jabal was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.”
  • Think primary food providers, like the ranchers in the American West, in a time and place that didn’t support sufficient agriculture to feed a booming population growth – the alternative being forced to struggle perpetually with other homeless persons as rival hunter-gatherers in search of daily food.
• ‘Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. (Genesis 4:20-22)
  • Think the choir director, leading the worship service in a time and place where participation in the group’s religious service was required for acceptance into the community – the alternative being exiled to wander in the wilderness.
  • David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph [their father], and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals…to give thanks and to praise the LORD. (I Chronicles 25:1-3)

The quintessential meaning of fatherhood was authority over life and death. The father’s authority began in the smallest social group with

1. the decision to accept an infant into the household,
2. continued with a decision to maintain that individual’s place of security,
3. and finally determined that individual’s inheritance within the family – or not.

Anthropologist Laila Williamson notes that “Infanticide has been practiced on every continent and by people on every level of cultural complexity, from hunter gatherers to high civilizations, including our own ancestors. Rather than being an exception, then, it has been the rule.”

If this sounds barbaric, consider how common it is for parents to terminate a child’s life in modern American society. One in five pregnancies – 20% – ended in abortion in 2020,

The extended family is still the government even today in societies with a long history of stable clan membership, such as in the Middle East and Africa, One’s human rights and provision of needs are not determined and protected by a national government, but by the head of the clan / the Father. A child born into the clan system has no prerogatives simply by being born. Providing resources for a child could be terminated by the father at will, even to the extent of ending the child’s life.

The status of the mother, be she wife, concubine, or harlot did not determine the legitimacy of a child, only acceptance by the father into his family – not only during his own lifetime, but after his death through designated inheritance.  We see this played out in detail in the life of Abram.

From Genesis 16:

“Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children…And Sarai said unto Abram…go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her…And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee…

• Abram initially rejects, then finally accepts the child:
  • And Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thine hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face to Shur. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands…thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
  • And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name / accepted him as his own, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
• Abram secures his son’s rights to the resources of the family:
  • the LORD appeared to Abram, and said…I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly…thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee…And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you…he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed / genetics. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant….And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said…I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation…And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him….In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:” (Genesis 15-17)
• Abram secures his son Ishmael’s permanent inheritance:
  • “And Sarah…said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac…And God said unto Abraham…hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.” (Genesis 21)
  • Then Abraham gave up the ghost…and was gathered to his people…his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him, i.e. ensured his rest until the resurrection according to the Hebrew faith.
• Contrast the distance put between Ishmael and the sons of Abraham’s second wife Keturah. 
  • Now these are the generations of Ishmael…twelve princes according to their nations. [When] Ishmael, died; and was gathered unto his people…they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt / the Sinai Peninsula, as thou goest toward Assyria: and / but he [Ishamael] died in the presence of all his brethren / on his family’s land.” (Genesis 25) As detailed in post 127, ancient Havilah was the Arabian peninsula, confirmed by Arabs who identify themselves as descendants of Ishmael.
  • Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abidah, and Eldaah…until the sons of the concubines…Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country [the farthest extent possible of the land grant to Abraham, see above] (Genesis 25)

And just so, in this legal cultural process, was Jesus acknowledged by Joseph despite being conceived by Mary prior to having intercourse with him, and bequeathed his inheritance as the son of David, rightful King of Israel.

A man could even adopt a foreign slave as his son and make him his begotten son / heir, as was Abram’s intention towards his steward, Eliezar of Damascus. This was as clearly understood as the process of illegal aliens being granted citizenship in the U.S. is today.

“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh…being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world…are made nigh by the blood of Christ…For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Get it? The Father accepts us as being equal to, one with, his son through a blood test, exactly as a paternity test establishes the right of a child to be financially supported by the genetic father.

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;” (Ephesians 2)

The spiritual / empowerment aspect of fatherhood is most apparent in the process of a child’s entitlements, rights and privileges as a son or daughter being established not by the fact of physical generation but through election granted solely at the discretion of the father.

• It is not enforced by any outside authority on legal or genetic bonds, but
• publicly conferred, like knighthood by the head of the family,
• usually after some public demonstration by the child confirming shared spirit or vitality, 
• and as a maturing adult in executing the father’s will.

Where is the legacy of Abraham’s El / Power / God in the nations of Abraham’s sons by Keturah?

“Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” (Luke 3:8-9)

The ultimate authority of a father is spiritual power over eternal life. It is not only the biblical concept of fatherhood. but is inherent in all ancient and contemporary religious clans in which eternal life is achieved by being accepted into the nation / family by the God-father. If this sounds like joining the Mafia that’s exactly right.

We can most easily understand this absolute authority aspect of fatherhood over group members in Catholic priests who have authority to grant membership, to absolve from wrong-doing, either to send to hell or to grant life eternal. Even in Protestant Christianity there is a concept of spiritual father as Elder. Islam has the equivalent titles of Sheikh and Imam like Abdullah Azzam, “the father of the modern global jihad”, whose directives are carried out to the death by the deeply devout. 

As noted above, spiritual power is as real as material substance, therefore sentient spirit beings were acknowledged to control blessings and curses over mankind. Human rulers / authorities / fathers simply channeled the spirit of the hyperdimensional El / Power.

“And Joseph said unto his brethren…God…hath made me 

• a father [absolute authority] to Pharaoh,
• and lord of all his house,
• and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. (Genesis 45:4-8)

“And the king of Israel said unto Elisha…My father, shall I…?

And [Elisha] answered, Thou shalt not.” (II Kings 6:21-22)

I can hear the knee-jerk reaction of contemporary social activists decrying the tyranny of an authoritarian Father system.

But there is a flip side to righteous absolute authority and that is absolute responsibility for the wellbeing and protection of the vulnerable members of the extended family / clan, meeting all essential needs of food, shelter, protection and life itself from newborns to the aged.

From NPR, not a Christian advocacy group.

A U.S. Department of Education study…found 39 percent of students, first through 12th grade, are fatherless. Fatherlessness is growing, and the correlations with any number of risk issues are considerable.

Children are four-times more likely to be poor if the father is not around.

Seven out of 10 high school dropouts are fatherless.

Girls are twice as likely to suffer from obesity without the father present. They’re four-times more likely to get pregnant as teenagers.

20 percent of white fathers are absent in their children’s lives, 31 of Hispanics, 57 percent of African-Americans.

Children growing up without a father are more than twice as likely to commit suicide.

More than half of incarcerated females came from a father-absent home. Youths who never had a father living with them have the highest incarceration rates 

It is only when we understand this ancient but not extinct concept of fatherhood that we can grasp what is meant when the Bible defines Abraham as the Father of the extended human family / clan of New Testament believers. Our faith in life after death is based on our faith in the Singular Creator God’s power to give life, not just once, but as many times as it takes.

“What shall we say then that Abraham our father…hath found?...what saith the scripture?

Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness…

What did he believe? Not in the law of Moses, or the name of Jesus Christ.

How was it then reckoned? when he was in…uncircumcision…that he might be the father of all them that believe…through the righteousness of faith…which is of the faith of Abraham...before him whom he believed, even [CREATOR] God, who quickeneth brings to life the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were…

Most of all, like ancient Job, he believed that the same God who brought life to lifeless matter at Creation would once again do the same at the resurrection through the Seed of the Woman’s defeat of sin and death and became proof of the resurrection through the regeneration of seed in his and his wife’s bodies to bring forth a son, and again when he obeyed God to sacrifice that same son because he believed, like Adam, that God was able to overcome anything – even death – to finish the job he assigned to his child.

He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.” (Romans 4:13-25)

“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:” (Job 19:25-26)

Abraham is the father / authority of all who believe, like him, in the life-giving power of God including through resurrection of the dead, because he proved that God is true and faithful.

God does not initiate us into a religious club with a set of rules and practices that elevates us to a higher status than other people.

God invites us to engage in relationship with him and his family. When we love someone, our behaviors are based on what brings us into a closer relationship with them, becoming more and more like each other. The guidelines and boundaries that make for a loving relationship with God and the members of his family are written down for us to follow to ensure our own protection, and enhance our growth and development within the family.

“ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but...of the household of God;” (Ephesians 2:19)

What this means in terms of fatherhood and brotherhood can only be found in the foundational scriptural documentation as referenced above. Having already established that Abraham is “our” spiritual father, then his spiritual way of life is what guides the household of God.

The relationship of the “household” one to another means multiple siblings accomplishing tasks originally assigned to others of God’s sons through the Singularity’s unity in diversity.

“a still small voice…when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him…And the LORD said unto [Elijah], Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, 

• anoint Hazael to be king over Syria [this project was accomplished by Elijah’s spiritual son]:
• And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel[this project was also accomplished by Elijah’s spiritual son]:
• and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room / place i.e. heir / spiritual son. (I Kings 19:13-16)

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 4:5-6)

“this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias / Elijah?…And he answered…[but Jesus said] IF ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears, let him hear.” (John 1:19-24, Matthew 11:14-15)