“…
and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor
yet the work which He had done for Israel.” (Judges 2:10)
Joshua, leader of Israel, and all his generation died. And the next generation did not know the Lord or even what He had done for them!
Astonishing, isn’t it? Why didn’t they know?
They degenerated into a nation where everyone “did what was right in his own eyes.” They forsook God, bowed down
to the gods around them, and so angered the Lord that He turned His hand
against them “so that they could no
longer stand against their enemies.” (Judges 2:11-15)
Joshua had told them to pass the stories down. He established memorials
as reminders so that when the children would ask questions the parents would
tell them about the Lord. (Joshua 4:4-7;
20-24).The people said they would serve the Lord and live in obedience to Him,
and Joshua set up another memorial as a visual reminder of their commitment. (Joshua 24:14-24)
So why didn’t their children know?
Had they not passed down the stories of their ancestors’ miraculous
delivery from Egypt, the Red Sea crossing, the manna and water by which God
nourished the travelers, His protection along the journey? Had the younger
generation not heard how the walls of Jericho fell or that the Jordan River
stopped flowing long enough for their fathers to cross over?
Who dropped the ball? Who stopped telling?
And now, today, we see what is happening around us and we wonder why
God is not revered and worshiped - why there is such a humanistic,
self-reliant, godless philosophy pervading every aspect of society – why
Christianity and Biblical principles are foreign, even offensive, to the next
generation.
When did we stop telling our children what God did in our own lives?
Why did we allow the memorials to be taken down, the Bible to be thrown out,
and God removed from our institutions of government and higher learning? When
did we become so busy living that we stopped teaching the true life lessons?
Another generation has arisen who “does not know the Lord nor yet the
work which He had done” and perhaps that fault lay with us. Is it too late?
Pass on the stories of God’s deliverance. Give hope to the despairing.
Comfort the sorrowing. Point them to Jesus and never ever stop telling the next
generation the wonderful works of the Lord.
“Things we have heard and known things our
ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their descendants; we will
tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the
wonders he has done.” Psalm 78:3-4
