Is New Covenant Patriarchy some kind of burning issue with people so that we need a book about it? Why care about it? And isn’t this the wrong time for it? It just upsets some people to even bring it up.
The problem of course it that it does not really matter if its a burning issue with people or not. What matters is whether this is an issue with God. If He thinks it is important then it is and we had better pay attention.
Now, with about half the children in the U.S.A. being raised without a father in the home we have a problem. These children need a father figure who will model the Fatherhood of God to them. The single mothers (mainly abandoned wives) need a husband who will model Christ, the Bridegroom of the Church to them. Mess this up and God will make you contemptible before all the peoples.
We have messed this up and are contemptible before the peoples. Christians are the door-mat of the anti-Christian culture around us. There is no difference between secular and church going people when it comes to statistics like divorce and abortion. Something is seriously wrong and broken. We have an Achan in the camp (Joshua 7:10-11) and as a consequence we are pathetically weak and vulnerable to our enemies.
God’s people hear his voice and respond. So it has been with me on this issue. If God opens the Scriptures and shows you something based on a sound exegesis and hermeneutic how can you not respond? The things revealed belong to us and our children.
Our current Christian culture is one that gelds men. When a highly competitive and top performing man becomes a Christian he soon falls to a lower state as he is gelded. Where are today’s equivalents of David’s mighty men who could single handedly fight and kill 300 Philistines in one day? We have a girlie-man church. Men as well as boys need a damsel to win, a beast to slay, and an adventure to fulfill. They need to be fruitful and multiply, and have dominion. These come as commands as well as gifts to covenant keepers.
But there is a larger issue. God’s commands, plus the world he made, plus we His people (people who have ears to hear and submit to His commands) represent a system that models His character and glory. That is why we are to think God’s thoughts after Him, say His words after Him, and do His actions after Him. This system is like a engine that produces glory to God. An engine is a system designed by a genius (in this case God) to be run by idiots (in this case us, His people).
If you were to open the hood on your car and see a part that you could not really understand what it did, and it bothered you somehow, you could just pull it out with a few simple tools. Then, when the engine did not work and lost its power you should not wonder why should you? You have messed with a part of the engine. You might complain that you left the rest of the engine intact and just got rid of this one onerous part that you did not like. Well that is not how it works. Taking off half the parts of an engine would not leave you with half the power but none at all. In fact you cannot take out any part without messing with the system and compromising it.
Thus is the system of God, His kingdom. The pieces of the engine must all be put into place according to the manual before it will run properly as promised. God’s definition of marriage and living it according to his commandments is not a trivial matter. The time to get it right and back in its place is now.