LEARNING DAILY

Judges 2:10, And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

One of the pastors who spoke at Community Bible Church last weekend mention the verse above as he spoke. He only mentioned it; I want to explore it today. This verse is a sobering but challenging verse in the Bible. To put it into context, Isreal has failed to take the Promised Land, and Joshua, the faithful leader of Israel has died. In fact, the people of his generation have died.

A new generation, the children and grandchildren of Joshua’s generation, now takes over; it is written they “did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel”. In other words, they did not acknowledge the authority of God. They had not experienced some of the mighty works God had done for Israel nor did they have the same commitment to the Lord that had characterized Joshua’s life. Add to this the temptations of the Canaanite religion and the immorality of their culture to see the disastrous cycle found in the rest of the book of Judges – Israel falls into sin, is oppressed (by people in the Promised Land Israel was supposed to remove), God rescues the people by raising up a judge, and after a while the people fall back into sin. How did this happen? A new generation followed who did not recognize God’s authority.

The book of Judges, Judges 2:10, shows us the danger of failing to pass on not only the knowledge of God, but the authority of God to our children and grandchildren. I wish I knew how many times I have heard a preacher speak about the 18” inches or so between head knowledge of God and the heart knowledge of God. That head knowledge has to get into one’s heart in order for the person to truly walk the narrow way. Believer, understand this does not just happen, it must be intentional! Not only you must be intentionally and diligently reading/studying/meditating on the Word of God, to know who God is and what He has done, you need to pass these things on to the next generation. This did not happen with the generation of Joshua, and the consequences were tragic. Take time to read Psalm 78 to see further thoughts on the failure to do this.

Again, this is not going to happen by accident. All Believers have a responsibility, an obligation to pass the Gospel on to the next generation. It is not just the responsibility of the preacher to pass on the Word of God, so our children and grandchildren know who He is, so they come to love Him and His Word, so they worship Him alone, and so they walk the narrow way into His kingdom. I pray Matthew 5:6 for all of my family (actually for everyone who reads this blog!), "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied”. I pray Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”.

I fear there is a generation who does not recognize the authority of God today. It is seen in the political world, in the streets, all around us. The pastor at CBC said, “People are trading a legacy (of knowing God) for a life of luxury and individuality. A legacy is about what a person leaves behind them. It does not just happen, it is created”. It is intentional!

I place in front of each one who reads this a challenge to let your life speak loud and clear about your walk on a narrow way into the kingdom of God!