Family Dynasties

I've been thinking a bit about family dynasties (and similar 'grouping' dynasties) recently. Yeah, I know, not exactly what most 24 year old singles think about.

But seriously, there are a whole LOT of family dynasties in the Bible. There are the obvious ones and the less obvious ones.

King David is a big one. Not just because he's the king and the ancestor of Jesus. Not even because his descendants are kings after him. Think purely about king David's own time. Many of the people who were close to him were related to him. I mean, his head-of-military is Joab - his nephew. His sons are mentioned as serving as officials. Now, King David didn't promote just anyone (even if they were related - he makes other people head of the army at various points, and then Joab has them killed). His family by and large share his vision. They don't always go about it in the best way (his sons for example) but they want a unified Israel. That's their vision.

The Rechabites (Jeremiah 35) are another such family. They are following the commands not merely from a few generations before, but from 200 years back! And the family are greatly blessed for their continued obedience to their forebears.

In the New Testament there are a great many family dynasties too. Timothy's mother and grandmother school him in the faith, even though his father is an unbeliever.

But I think the obviosu spiritual powerhouse family is that of Jesus. Seriously, what kind of family has Jesus, the virgin Mary, Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth, John the Baptist, James and Jude (apostles but not disciples, and half brothers to Jesus). And there are people who think that James and John are also related to Jesus (cousins - see John 19:25-27 - the mother of the beloved disciple, John, is the sister to Jesus' mother - though they have the same first name, which is seriously unoriginal of Jesus's grandparents if so). Seriously, spiritual POWERHOUSE.

History shows family dynasties too. Not just royal ones, but spiritual ones, sientific ones, and artistic ones. The Wesley brothers come to mind for a spiritual family. RC Sproul snr + jnr also spring to mind. Most people know about them (both sets), so I won't talk about them. But they are far from the only ones - especially now that many churches are seeing a revival in this area as fathers turn their hearts to their children and children to their fathers (Malachai 4).

In the non-spiritual realm there are familiy dynasties too. Charles Dickens' great granddaughter is an author, as is the great granddaughter of Anthony Trollope. The only Curie that most people know about nowdays is Marie Curie, but her husband Pierre was a scientist too (and they won Marie's first Noble prize together), as was one of their daughters, that daughter's husband, and both of their children.

Family dynasties happen ALL the time. The question is - what KIND of spiritual dynasty are we building and preparing to build...?