The Beauty of Adoption: Part Two

The History of Adoption: Physical and Spiritual

As far as the Old Testament laws given to the Hebrews, there is not any law recognizing the issue. This was most likely due to the culture of the Old Testament itself. First, polygamy allowed men to marry several wives at a time, which would not lead to any need for adoption. Then secondly, the levirate marriage law provided a way or a means that a family could have heirs to inherit the family’s property. For these reasons, there was no need to create laws for the act of actual physical adoption during their times.

In regards to spiritual adoption, however, it is clear in the language of the Old Testament that God had ‘adopted’ his chosen people. The national covenant that God bestowed on Israel as a nation neither saved them nor gave them saving grace that would give them a right to the heavenly inheritance in which they were wanting to receive. Look closely at Exodus 4:22, “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, Jeremiah 3:14, Return, O faithless children, declares the LORD; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion”, and explicit passages like the one in Jeremiah 31:20, “Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the LORD.” Passages like these reveal that God had brought his children under his law and his grace so that they would be able to serve and fear their Father. Paul saw this connection and says in Romans 9:4, “They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.”

For the New Testament believers, physical adoption was a common practice within Roman culture and society. For Roman citizens, adoption of an heir in the case of childlessness was a religious necessity, and so adopting even adults was not an unusual event. Also, it was common that families who had their own biological children would adopt them out to families of a higher social status so that their sons may have a better life.

The spiritual sense of adoption in the New Testament also had an altogether different meaning from what it was in the Old Testament. What was once meant only for a particular nation, was now extended only to individuals. This is further seen in Paul’s theology throughout his writings to the churches. This term, “adoption”, became a way that Paul related to his fellow brothers their new relationship with one another as a result of what Christ had done at the cross, which was to make them heirs with him. This is laid out in his theology of the doctrine of adoption.