Pass it On

“… 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