Judges 2:10 (NIV) After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.

The Book of Judges is a very sad book of the Bible as it wasn’t long that the people of God that had finally entered and taken possession of the promised land wound up going astray and worshipping other gods. From there, they would be conquered by other people that were still living in the land. Then the Lord would raise up men (and one woman, Deborah) to deliver them from whatever peoples had conquered and subjugated them. Sadly, this pattern is repeated throughout the Book of Judges.

In the second chapter of Judges, we quickly find out one of the main reasons for their failure to remain faithful to God. It was because they did not train up the generation behind them to love and serve God. They did not teach them the fear of the Lord, which the Bible says is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). The verses above says that the very next generation after the one that took possession of the land neither knew the Lord nor knew anything about what He had done for them. How could that be possible? You would think that because of the many miracles that God did in delivering the people from every enemy, that the children would have at least overheard their parents talking excitedly about it. But apparently, they kept the children out of it. They didn’t speak about what God had done. They didn’t even tell them about God drying up the Jordan River so that they would be able to cross into the promised land on dry ground, or about the battle of Jericho, where God brought down the massive, impenetrable forty-foot high wall that surrounded that great city so that they could conquer it. No wonder it didn’t take long for the next generation to fall away.

I was one counseling a couple after a church service one day who came to me complaining about their children’s behavioral problems. They had two boys, one was thirteen years old and the other one was eleven. When I asked where the boys were, they told me that they didn’t want to come to church. My next question was, “And you let them stay home?” I began to tell then that even though their boys didn’t want to come to church, they were the parents and could make that decision for them. They looked totally surprised by my answer, as though they didn’t know that for themselves. I suspected also that these parents did not speak or teach their boys about the Lord Jesus and about the awesome Gospel story. No wonder the boys didn’t want to come. They were never taught about the awesome Savior that Jesus is. There was another couple who told me that the children have to make up their own mind about Jesus when I inquired as to why they didn’t bring their children to church. How will they make up their minds about Jesus if their parents never talk to them about Him?

We need to teach the generation behind us about the goodness of the Lord and about the importance of loving and serving Him all the days of our lives. There is nothing as important as that because their decision about following or not following Jesus will have eternal implications. Not only that, but telling our children about Jesus gives them a good chance to make them hungry enough to search after Him themselves. The parents who said that their children must make up their own minds were right about that fact. But how will they make up their minds or even make the very right and lifegiving decision to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior if we don’t teach them or even mention His name to them? It’s their responsibility to make that decision, but it most definitely is our responsibility to tell them (see Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Don’t let what happened in the Book of Judges to the children of God’s promise happen to your children. Make sure to tell them and make doubly sure to live by what you are telling them so that they will have the best chance at life forevermore.

Pastor Joey Vazquez