Second Samuel 6:11 says, “And the ark of Jehovah remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months; and Jehovah blessed Obed-edom and all his household.”
Jehovah’s blessing in the Old Testament was to the household. While the ark remained in the house of Obed-edom, Jehovah blessed the whole household. The unit of the blessing is the household, not the individual.
Earlier we spoke of the matter of salvation. We will see that this principle is not just confined to salvation. It governs many matters in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. The house is considered one unit. God’s children, especially those who are the head of their house, should realize that God deals with man according to households. If you are ignorant of this fact, you will miss much. If you are the head of a family, you need to lay hold of this fact. You need to say, “Lord, You have told me that You are dealing with my household, not with just myself alone. Therefore, I ask You to save my whole household.”
Not only does the head of a household need to lay hold of this fact, but other members of the household also need to inquire of the Lord concerning their father’s house. Rahab was not the head of her house; she had a father. But Rahab held to God, and her household was blessed and saved. It is very good if you are the head of your household because you can speak for your household. But even if you are not the head of your household, you can still speak in faith as Rahab, saying, “Lord, turn my household to You to receive Your grace and blessing.”
Deuteronomy 12:7 says, “There you shall eat before Jehovah your God, and you and your households shall rejoice in all your undertakings, in which Jehovah your God has blessed you.” You and your household receive the blessing of God and rejoice therein.
Deuteronomy 14:26 says, “You shall exchange the money for anything that your soul desires, for oxen, for sheep, for wine, for strong drink, or for anything that your soul would like; and you and your household shall eat there before Jehovah your God and rejoice.”
Have you seen this? God promised the Israelites that they would eat, drink, and rejoice before God on that day household by household. In other words, blessing is for the household, not for the individual.
What about the New Testament? In the Old Testament, God gained men household by household, and the same is true in the New Testament.
Luke 19:9 says, “Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house.” This is wonderful. The New Testament declares the same principle. I am afraid that many people have been preaching for over twenty years about personal salvation only. However, the Lord tells us that “salvation has come to this house.”
When you preach the gospel, you must pay attention to household salvation. You must not look merely for individual salvation. If you truly believe and expect this, your work will undergo a great change. This depends entirely on your faith and expectation. If you expect others to come to the Lord one by one, they will come one by one. If you believe that they will come household by household, they will come household by household. The scope of God’s salvation is the household. You must not make this scope smaller than it should be.
John 4:53 says, “Then the father knew that it was in that hour in which Jesus said to him, Your son lives; and he believed, he and his whole house.” Here only one person was healed—the son. However, the Bible says that “he believed, he and his whole household.” You can lay hold of this fact before the Lord. Although the son was the one who directly received His grace, the whole household turned and believed. Our hope and expectation is that we would bear fruit in such a prevailing way.