Do you have something that you are so passionate about that it keeps you up late at night? Is there a question that is always in the back of your mind? I know for me, I’ve always been haunted by Judges 2:10, which states;
“And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that He had done for Israel.”-Judges 2:10
What happened? How could a generation before “know the Lord” and the next not? I believe there are three key insights on why the generation before dropped the ball for the next generation and how we can learn not to repeat the same mistake. Here is this week’s third insight. I encourage you to read last week’s post before you read this one.
3.) Lack of Teaching
We live in an age where information is available at the palm of our hands. It’s very easy to “Google” something to get an answer. The same can be said when it comes to the scriptures and “understanding” who God is. We search our questions and we get a bunch of answers, and we choose which one fits our description of who we believe God is. This is not teaching the scriptures, it’s actually a lack of teaching. If we want to teach the scriptures, we have to read the scriptures.
I was recently reading the events surrounding Nehemiah, and I encourage you to read both the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The books give great insight of what repentance, and the mercy and grace of God look like. To summarize Nehemiah, he was anguished over the fact that the walls of Jerusalem were destroyed. He sought the Lord and by God’s grace, Nehemiah was able to go back home and rebuild the wall. In roughly 50 days, the wall was rebuilt. After the wall was built, Ezra read the word of God to the people, which they heard the laws that were given to Moses through God. Chapter 8, verse 17, caught my attention.
“And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing.”-Nehemiah 8:17 ESV
This verse blew my mind, to the point I texted a friend at one in the morning. The people didn’t know the laws or even celebrate the festivals in accordance since Jeshua (Joshua)! I did some research, and it was roughly 931 years from Joshua to the time of Nehemiah! Now, I’m not saying God wasn’t present in those 931 years. God is always present, and He was working through leaders in the 931 year period. The point I’m making is that many “knew of” God, but they didn’t know Him. They thought of God as just another pagan god they could worship, until they heard the Word.
2nd Timothy 3:16-17 reads as followed;
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”-2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV
The first part of the sentence says that “all scripture is God-breathed”. If we truly believe this, the Bible should be the only book that has the final authority over are lives. Yes, we should read the great classics from others who have walked the earth before us, but they should never be above the authority of God. If we believe God is sovereign over our lives and we are called to be obedient to Him, the scriptures guide us, and the next generation, to the narrow road and live a life that is glorifying to God.
I want to close with the following verses in Nehemiah;
“Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.”-Nehemiah 9:1-3 ESV
If we want to pass the baton properly to the next generation, this generation right now needs to have a heart of repentance and a desire to live for Christ. We need to stop “passing the buck” and thinking the next generation will pick up the slack. Our prayers should be “God, help us to desire you and to teach the next generation to desire you.” Proverbs 13:22 says that “a good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children.” My hope and prayer is that we leave an inheritance that points to the living God, and not to the prince of the earth.
Blessings,
Mike
MAK 