There are books (often small in size) which over the years become very precious for a preacher. One of these for me is B. Holwerda’s The Significance of Covenant and Church for Marriage, Family and Youth (De Betekenis van Verbond en Kerk voor Huwelijk, Gezin en Jeugd, 1958)—a collection of speeches and articles spoken and published by the author during his brief life. Prof. Holwerda was one of the ministers who left the Reformed Churches (Gereformeerd) in the Netherlands with Dr. Schilder. He taught Old Testament in the Theological School of the Liberated Churches during the last period of his liIe. Before that he was recognized not only as an unusually gifted scholar (Prof. C. Veenhof told me last year that if B. Holwerda had lived to a full complement of years he would have produced even more than Schilder!), but as an eloquent and even more biblical preacher.

I hope to make the substance of some parts of this book available over the next months to OUTLOOK readers. I think that Holwerda has much to say to us in the struggles now agonizing our Reformed circles.

These articles will not be mere translation. We assume complete responsibility for their content. But we want everyone to know that our source is as indicated.

There is a series of three articles in this book on the subject of marriage in tenns of certain biblical illustrations and situations. The relevance of the subject cannot be questioned! These biblical illustrations are used to show that Christian marriage is not only described and regulated in Scripture, but also made possible by our gracious redemption in Christ.

The Godly Example of Christian Parents is Great . . . but Not Enough!

Many among us are the beneficiaries of the godly example of parents who demonstrated in word and deed the love and loyalty of a truly Christian marriage. This, says Holwerda, is of inestimable importance and an occasion for real gratitude to God. But it is not enough.

Why not? For two reasons: first, the Bible, not parents, is the only norm for marriage, and, second, the times in which we live are quite different from those of our parents. The first reason is obviously true (for us, at least!). The second is not that obvious. Differences between one age and another are real but not absolute. Marriage was not without strain and temptation “way back there” when the older generation lived and worked. But circumstances today are both more intense and more complicated. Things that used to be regarded as utterly shameful are now easily accepted: divorce, birth control, extra-marital parentage, “the affair,” even homosexuality. Marriage for Christians can hardly escape unusual pressures under such conditions.

The Biblical Message: God Saves! The Bible gives us the authoritative revelation of God as the God of our salvation (Ps. 68:20; Is. 12:2). With the Psalmist we cry, “Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord?” (Ps. 106:2a). The historical position of Israel, for example, is often one of deepest darkness and utter hopelessness. But then one sees the irresistible penetration of the light of Yaweh‘s salvation. Th faithful pray that God may rend the heavens (Is. 64:1). That prayer is answered. Of such great stories the Bible is full.

And when the Bible so speaks it is not simply to commemorate but to repeat a divine promise. Such accounts are not designed to make one say, “That is something which once happened, in which we are somewhat interested, but from which we can really learn nothing of importance for us today.” If the Bible spoke only of past things, its illustrations could only depress us. We all know, however, that the Bible is the Word of God for us who live today as well as it was His Word for them who lived then. He does not merely give us an account of a salvation and redemption given to others in previous generations. He promises us the same help for today. When God appears to Moses He identifies Himself repeatedly as “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” (Ex. 3:6, 15). This is not said to make Moses jealous by reminding him of what God had been for others. By that expression God intended to encourage Moses, to assure him that He was still the same, and that He would help Moses and the people of Israel as surely and wonderfully as He had helped their fathers.

The Promise Is Never Without Demand

Exodus 3 is a chapter which tells of the meeting between Yahweh and Moses at the burning-but-not-consumed bush. God speaks to Moses there about the deliverance of His people out of the land of Egypt. This is a deliverance that involves many things (we are saved to the uttermost!). It involves also the salvation of marriage, a deliverance from the problems and pain which Egypt had inflicted upon God’s married children.

The salvation of marriage is a promise of God to His children today, a promise which carries with it the other feature of covenantal religion: God’s holy demands. Grace in Scripture never goes without God‘s calling. In all covenants there are contained two parts.

That is what we need in marriages as well as everywhere else: the promise and the law of God, of Yahweh, Our Lord (Ex. 3:14, 15). The example of godly parents can be of some comfort for me, indeed. But nothing can comfort so much as the Word of the Heavenly Father, and nothing can bind me to a Christian husband or wife as firmly as the law of thankfulness which Christ lays upon me as an easy yoke and a light burden.

There are many illustrations in Scripture which shed light upon the nature of Christian marriage. We could mention the marriage of Adam and Eve and the evil commingling of “the sons of God” and “the daughters of men” (Gen. 6). And we could go on to speak of Abraham and Sarah, of Isaac and Rebecca, of Jacob with Leah and Rachel, of Esau, whose wives were a grief for his parents, of Samson and Delilah, and the affair of David with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. We will limit ourselves, however, to three biblical illustrations: The marriage of Amram and Jochebed, parents of Moses, the marriage of Elimelech and Naomi, and the miracle of our Lord at the wedding-feast in Cana. This article deals only with the first of these.

I. MARRIAGE AND TIlE OPPRESSION OF EGYPT AS SEEN IN THE LIFE OF MOSES’ PARENTS, (Exodus 1, 2)

It often goes unnoticed that Amram and Jochebed, Moses’ parents, are given a place in the list of the “heroes of faith” in Hebrews 11. Almost hidden is the remark that Moses after his birth “was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment” (vs. 23). Also this verse is introduced with the stereotype: “By faith . . .”

Moses’ parents were certainly not among the most famous in the land They belonged to that group called in Abraham’s Kuyper’s day kleine luyden (“little people”). Their life was a life occupied with common, ordinary things. Fame was never their portion: their great son soon pushed them into the shadows of obscurity. We know little more about them than that they were the parents of Moses, Aaron and Miriam, and that they loved their children.

We are comfortable with them. They don‘t make us uneasy by their great accomplishment and high standing.

What was THE Great Factor in Their Marriage?

The great factor in the marriage of Moses’ parents was faith.

That is why they were included not only in Hebrews 11 as part of that cloud of witnesses who surround us as believers. This is not due to the great fame of their son, whose greatness would have brought distinction to any parents. It is due rather to that which they did out of faith, especially in their marriage.

Their example becomes at this point very meaningful for us. These simple people distinguished themselves only by their faith, a faith which was the principle support in their marriage. That means for us that God will add our names to that sacred register of Hebrews 11, so that we may come to be listed alongside Abraham and Moses, if our marriage is truly a matter of faith! Our significance before God consists not in outward fame or recognition: it is rather in belonging to the congregation of true Christian believers, being living members of the church, in whose marriages faith is the great factor.

That was the only distinction found in Amram and Jochebed, and that was enough to establish them among God‘s great heroes of faith. For that reason it is worthwhile to inquire as to how Moses’ parents demonstrated their faith as believing parents.

The Political Situation at the Time of Their Marriage

The principal features of the history leading up to the birth of Moses are familiar. Jacob with his famil y of seventy souls emigrated to Egypt during the time of unbearable famine. There was, thanks to the wise and blessed administration of Joseph, plenty to eat in Egypt. And the Egyptians, beneficiaries of the wisdom, skill and blessing of Joseph the Hebrew, welcomed his family with open arms.

In course of time, however, there was a radical turnabout. Joseph died. A new king arose who “knew not Joseph.” This new king felt no moral obligation to treat Joseph’s brothers and sisters kindly.

This was perhaps due to a change in political climate in Egypt. When Israel came to Egypt the Hyksos kings were in control. Being themselves of Semitic origin, it is easy to see that they could comfortably accommodate the presence of another Semitic group in their realm, especially since it was very small. In course of time this group lost its hold on the throne, and a non-Semitic, Egyptian Pharaoh came to power. Whether this new regime hated the Hebrews because of their natural association with the previous rulers, or simply feared the growing menace of a foreign tribe within its borders, we don‘t know. But the political situation changed drastically, and the Hebrews were its victims.

Marital Obedience Occasions Affliction!

Especially in such circumstances the rapid numerical growth of the Israelites spelled trouble. If they had remained an unimpressive tribe the Egyptian domestic political policies could have ignored them. But children came rapidly to the Israelites, in God’s favor, resulting in an unusually rapid population increase. It is understandable that the Egyptians would find this worrisome, especially since they had just been ruled by foreigners.

The Bible tells us that the hardship inflicted by the Egyptians was occasioned by the steep rise in the Hebrew birthrate, which is to say, the Israelites married according to the commandment of the Lord, and in that calling they obeyed His will. Including the command already given to Adam in the beginning, “be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth.”

This raises a paint which deserves some attention, especially in this day and age. Then the growth of the church was of such a nature that the enemy became very concerned. Today there is often fear in church circles that the growth of the church does not even keep pace with a diminished general population growth!

Dictatorial Tactics

It was not only the political climate which changed in Egypt, and which deserves our attention. Israel’s altered social position is equally noteworthy.

You know that the Hebrews practised animal husbandry during their earlier years in Egypt. They lived in relative isolation in Goshen, enjoying a high degree of freedom. To this the new Pharaoh made an end. He saw the Israelites as a growing threat to the safety of his realm, and that made him consider measures to off-set this danger. The best way was genocide, the elimination of the Israelitish people from the face of the earth. On the other hand, however, as long as they were around he might as well profit from their presence as much as possible.

He hit upon a way to combine these aims. Both were taken up into his new policy for a stronger Egypt. He set out to protect his country by building a ring of fortresses, establishing Egypt as a military power with which all would have to reckon. At the same time he increased domestic production by increasing the number of irrigation centers so that the number of productive acres in the Nile valley was vastly multiplied. He then turned Israel into slave labor forced to build and man these military bulwarks and irrigation operations.

Pharaoh’s brilliant but cruel policy was implemented with rigor, even though it implied the loss of many Israelites by death. It is estimated that the death rate among those in the ranks of slave labor was at least ten percent per year. Israel’s predicament seemed hopeless. Their freedom was lost and the forced labor was so cruel that any man must expect that within a few years he would be crippled, or burned out . . . or dead.

Slaughter of the Innocents

Most frightening, however, was the lot of the child in Israel. Pharaoh noticed that the mere oppression did not have the desired effect, and so he issued, first secretly and then publicly, the command to kill all boy babies. And al the same time he intensified the rigors of slave labor. In this way he expected to decimate the older generation and to cut off the increase of Hebrew population by new births.

It is important, I think, if we are to see the significance of all this to take note of the fact that in Revelation 11 the city in which the witnesses (the church ) are slaughtered is called Sodom and Egypt. That means that the character of the world which was Egypt never changes. In principle the world always hates the children of the church, and will seek to destroy them.

There is evidence of this in our time which it is no longer fashionable to mention. I refer to the rise of Marxism and Communism on both sides of the famous “curtains.” Who doesn‘t know that the youth of the church in a Marxist state are relentlessly diverted from continuing in the steps of the faithful? Moscow and Peking are not healthy places for a vocal Christian witness!

It is important that our spiritual leadership instruct our marriageable youth not only with respect to the physical and personal and psychological aspects of wedded life, but also with respect to its spiritual realities. If we marry “in the Lord” and subject our married life to Christ’s will we must be aware of the possibility that the reproach of Christ may have to be suffered. “Egypt” has always sought to deprive believing parents of their freedom and Covenant children of their spiritual inheritance. This may come by increased stale intrusion into that which properly belongs to parents. Governments rarely diminish their hold on anything that once falls prey to the illusion that its support is desirable or “free.”

The Necessity of Faith

“Egypt” may never discourage us to the point that we withdraw from our Christian calling, not even with respect to marriage. But its ever–threatening presence does accentuate the absolute necessity of marrying in the faith. And that faith must be an esc1wtoiogical faith, the kind that looks for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Only the truth that He is coming to bring redemption and victory can give us the courage to accept the task of Christian marriage and the peace of mind needed whenever we consider the dire possibilities that hang over our children‘s heads.

That is beautifully illustrated in what the Bible tells us about Amram and Jochebed. How did they act in a time of such danger?

We noted that Hebrews 11 says that they in their marriage lived by faith . But what was the content of that faith? How did it come to expression? And how could that faith survive the testings which must have been so frightening?

The Perspective of Faith

It is our conviction that it was true faith that moved Amram and Jochebed as they made plans to marry. Apparently the edict that all male babies should be killed was not yet in effect when they married. And yet it took a great deal of courage and a strong faith for them to marry. Amram was going to be impressed into the slave labor force. And he knew what that meant: he would be a slave and as such brutalized. How long would he be able to endure such suHering? How long could their marriage last under such circumstances? Amram married knowing full well that he would not be handled preferentially. His back would be within reach of the Egyptian lash. Jochebed, the bride, had to be aware of the strong possibility that she would soon be widowed.

In such times it takes strength of resolution to marry. With mere romantic sentimentality one would never make it. The only way to achieve such strength was by faith. Faith in the Messiah who would come. Faith that believed without wavering in the God of the fathers who would sustain in suffering and deliver from oppression. Surely Amram and Jochebed had no other perspective than that which begins with Genesis 3:15 and ends in the coming Messiah.

This perspective is good enough for any marriage. Amram and Jochebed did not know Romans 8 as we have it, but the heart of its assurance was already theirs; Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. They knew that tribulation could never isolate them from God, and that it could not really threaten their salvation.

So they could and did marry and have children. When Miriam and Aaron were born they enjoyed the help of the faithful midwives who refused to carry out Pharaoh’s terrible decree. But when Moses came they couldn‘t count on this kind of assistance any longer. Then the edict was in effect which demanded that boy babies be cast into the Nile. Children born under such a law are not the products of mere natural love. They are born out of faith! The rigors of such a decree could only move one to say, Blessed are the unfruitful! Only a faith that clings to God’s Promise triumphs over the world, over “Egypt.” In Christian marriage it is so important, therefore, that we stand firm on God’s Covenant promise which comes to us and our children.

The Struggle of Faith

Perhaps it occurred to you as you read Exodus 1, 2 (if you didn‘t, please do it now!) that its record of the birth of Moses and the activity of his loved ones was a bit unrealistic. Who doesn‘t know—especially in this liberated age?—that marriage involves strong sexual passions, and that we now know that these passions must be satisfied. Amram and Jochebed, some would say, were not really so much a tribute to faith as they were evidence of the fact that sexual desire will have its way.

Not so! The Bible says that Moses’ father “took to wife” Moses’ mother. This means that he deliberately set out to establish with her a believing family. The entire context of Exodus 2:1 indicates that the great subject was the perpetuation and multiplication of the people of God in spite of Pharaoh‘s devilish policies.

But it is good to be sober about the realities which face Christian marriage in an anti-Christian world. Nothing is so fatal to the assurance of faith as an unawareness of the power and cruelty of God’s enemies. Faith is something else than an easy optimism which underestimates the dangers. Faith reckons with the facts.

It is important to understand, however, that faith reckons with all the facts. It does not underestimate the wrath of the enemy, indeed. But neither does it forget the power and faithfulness of GOD! After all, that is why it is called faith.

The Strengthening of Faith

I think that Amram and Jochebed trusted in the certainty of God’s goodness, promised to them as people of the Covenant. They were not unduly optimistic. They were sober believers. But they did not yield to pessimism either. They did not forget that He who promised is faithful.

The Scriptures indicate, I believe, how they were enabled to persevere in faith. God provided strength. When much is demanded in the way of faith, much is granted by God for the strengthening of our faith. This became evident in the fact that the more God‘s people were oppressed in Egypt, the faster thy multiplied. God demonstrated thereby that He was with them in all their misery. When Pharaoh killed one, two were horn in his place. The gates of hell could not overcome His children.

It is impossible to eradicate the people of God. You know that familiar expression: the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. From church history we learn that God has often made His church to increase particularly in those times when men would destroy her. That was true in the times of persecution under Roman Caesars, and in the days of the Reformation. That must be true, I feel, in the U$.S.R. and China, for example, today. That will be true if in the future we must live under circumstances similar to those in which Moses was born.

Amram and Jochebed received yet another sign for the strengthening of their faith. They saw that Moses was an unusually beautiful and well-born child. They sensed that he had not been given to become prey for the crocodiles. They felt, I believe, that God was preparing to deliver them in ways yet unknown to them, ways of His own sovereign devising, moved by His sovereign love.

The Way of Faith

It is commonly said nowadays that people ought to be careful about bringing children “into this kind of a world.” For some this means absolute birth control: to have any children is irresponsible, they claim. For many it means have very few children. The financial cost involved in child rearing, the emotional drain which parental care represents, the moral difficulties of an immoral age—all these considerations and more mean, don’t have a large family.

We know little about the size of Moses’ family, of course. And this isn‘t a discourse on the blessings of a larger number of children (which are great). But we can learn one thing from this account: the way of redemption and reformation is often the way of marriage and children.

Amram and Jochebed became the parents of none less than Moses, perhaps the greatest man other than Jesus Christ in all the world‘s history. Moses, the mediator of the Old Testament, the deliverer of Israel from Egypt, the leader throughout the wilderness wanderings—he was born to this simple, faithful couple. This agrees, of course, with Psalm 8, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger” (vs. 2). It is by the seed of the church the Psalmist declares, that God puts down the enemy! It is in the way of Christian marriage and childbearing that God saves and delivers His people.

That makes marriage important for the church. Moses was born from people who must have understood that, and who did the will of God in simple obedience. Having children is to share in God‘s heritage (Ps. 127), and to enjoy His reward. He often brings deliverance through little ones born to believing parents.

Faith’s Responsibility

Jochebed trusted God, and believed His Promise. And therefore she acted so vigorously and bravely when Moses was born. At complete risk of life she hid him for three months from the Egyptian police. When that could no longer be done, she prepared a floating crib and placed him in the Nile, setting Miriam as a watch. All of her ingenuity and ability was utilized to preserve the life of this “goodly child.”

In that connection we can see an amazing combination of blessing and bitterness. God heard her prayers, and rewarded her efforts. The baby was discovered by Pharaoh‘s daughter. Jochebed was enlisted to nurse him. But at last however, she must give him up to the enemy, and he became the “son” of Pharaoh‘s daughter. God‘s blessings on our families are sometimes occasions for real sacrifice. After all, our children are subjects of the King!

That means one thing: Do whal you can, as best as you can for your children as God’s own heritage. See that they are reared in a Christian milieu. Help with their indoctrination in sound catechism classes. Use every avenue of Christian education. Do that believing that God has included them in the great program of the redemption of His people. Doing that believingly we will be able to marry and to stay married, even in times like our own!