“One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth forever.” Those are the words of the Preacher found in Ecclesiastes 1:4. The names of the various generations can be confusing. Who is an X and who is a Z? I don’t really know who names these generations, but I am a baby boomer. That means I was born between 1946 and 1968. I found all kinds of names for generations. Silent Gen, Lost Gen, Greatest Gen, Baby Boomer Gen, Gen X, Millennials, & Gen Z. Perhaps the next name will be the AI (Artificial Intelligence) Gen.
Generations coming while others are leaving is as old as humanity. The Preacher said so. The only thing that lasts is the earth and one day even that will be remade. Each generation is different and is shaped by circumstances, events and experiences. The changes we see can cause great anxiety. What will my children and grandchildren face? What kind of nation will they grow up in? Will they suffer? Will they be persecuted? What if my children lose their faith? A thousand questions run through our minds. But what happens when a whole generation turns their backs on God? That is the situation that Israel faced in Judges 2.
Joshua Dies. Judges 1:1. But what a surprise when we come to 2:6. Joshua had been talking, instructing, and then let them go to their own inheritances. Is that a little confusing? 2:6 is taking us back to an earlier time. I don’t think it is the beginning of Judges which announces his death. I think it goes back to the time of Joshua in Joshua 23 & 24. It is now handover time in Israel. Joshua knows his days are coming to a close, so he is making his last words count. He reminds them of the faithfulness of God. “And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof” (23:14). In the 24th chapter of Joshua he is renewing the covenant and binding it with an oath because he knows that when he is gone the temptations will come. His words are received with an eagerness and every man went to his inheritance back in our Judges 2 passage. They served the Lord after Joshua died, they continued to serve the Lord “all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua.” Why not serve the Lord? They had seen the “great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel.” Memory is powerful. But the next generation didn’t see those works. They only heard about them. 2:10 is a sad verse. “And all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.” Memory is also fragile. It must be constantly reinforced by teaching and recalling. If the memories of the faithfulness of God aren’t remembered and constantly shared with the next generation the anchor will be loosed, their ship will be tossed and possibly destroyed when the storms come blowing in. This is exactly what happened to Israel’s next generation. 2:11-12. “And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served Baalim. And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger.” The next generation began serving the different Baal’s and gods of the Canaanites.
But does it have to be this way? I don’t think so. We must constantly remind those behind us of the works of God, the experiences of our own lives when God came through for us over and over in our times of great need. We show them the perfection and accuracy of the Bible constantly reaffirming their need to always adhere to its precepts and admonitions. Let me give you some thoughts as I begin closing this blog. It is the parent’s responsibility first and foremost to train the children. Moses commanded Israel to train, train, train and train some more their children. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 is a section of the Torah called the “Shema.” This is what the passage says. “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” Every day, all during the day and night, the training never stops. Bible verses all around your house. A big deal is made about the Word of God. A respect for God’s book is always on display. That is what parents are to do at home. What else were they to do? It was the parent’s responsibility to take their children to Worship. All those Holy Days weren’t just for the old-timers to remember the Lord and his wonderful works. It was a time to teach the next generation. Exodus 12:26-27 refers to the Exodus and the night of the Passover. When the kids ask questions about what this means, you tell them about God bringing us out of Egypt. Tell them about the sacrifice and God’s deliverance. All the Feasts in Israel were so God would be worshipped, and the next generation would learn to continue honoring the Lord. It was constant training. Bringing children to church is a big deal. I have known many adults that claim to know Christ but can’t seem to connect their own lack of faithfulness as to why their children don’t wish to be faithful. A final thought. If parents have done their best, there is no shame if the next generation doesn’t follow. I have already referenced 2:11-12 but want to drive this passage home again. “And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim. And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods of the people round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger” (underlined emphasis is mine). It was the up-and-coming generation that forsook the Lord, not their parents. As a young preacher, I often had all the answers to all the questions. I could tell older people how to do many things and one I’d often preach on was raising kids. Of course, at the time I didn’t have any children, but I had all the answers. How foolish I was. A mentor of mind named Bill Monroe told me something that changed me for the better concerning my preaching. “Tommy, you need to remember something. God created man in a perfect environment. Everything was perfect. Instruction, relationship, material goods, and not a sin in sight. Yet Adam chose to sin. Even God, with all these good things, had one go bad.” That was an epiphany for me. I have since learned about many in the Bible that tried to serve God only to have a son or daughter turn their back on the things of God. Samson broke his Nazarite vows, not his parents. Hezekiah was a good king, but his boy Manasseh was godless. Even the Lord Jesus had a devil among his band of disciples.
So as this next generation comes our way, we do the best we can. We preach and teach them the Bible. We tell them about the goodness of God and the times God rescued us in the nick of time. We tell them over and over about how we were saved. We offer opportunities for them to meet our wonderful Jesus through various ministries of the church. We teach them the importance of their own lives and having a relationship with Jesus. It is a constant thing. We beseech them to trust, to be learners, to be servers, because one day they will be the generation that is passing on and another will take their place.