One Generation Away

“And also 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.  And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim.”  Judges 2:10-11

Former President Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.  We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream.  It must be fought for, protected, and handed on to them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”  President Reagan was not the first to express the importance of passing on to the next generation the thing that we value most–freedom.  As believers, we know that true freedom is found in a relationship to the Lord.  The ancient Israelites were also diligent to teach their children to love God with all their heart, soul, and might.  God’s word was to be spoken to their offspring when they were gathered in their homes, when they traveled, when they lay down at night and arose in the morning.  God’s word was to be displayed upon their bodies, their doorposts, and their gates (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).  Moses was very adamant about passing from one generation to the next the need to worship and serve the LORD God.

Joshua succeeded Moses in leading the Israelites into the promised land.  While Joshua was still living, the people served the LORD, and continued to do so after his death until the last of the elders who had seen the great works of the LORD passed away.  These elders were good men, but none of them were the strong leader that was required to maintain a righteous nation of people who would be obedient to the LORD.  It is quite shocking that it only took one generation to go from a people who honored and served the LORD to a generation who wanted nothing to do with Him.  How does this happen?  Did the older generation fail to heed Moses’ command to teach their children well?  Did the ungodly ideas and actions of their peers all around them have influenced the younger generation away from God?  Young people are particularly vulnerable to outside influences.  Did the younger generation see the older generation as hypocrites who declared for them to “to as I say, not as I do”?  God had been very specific to those who entered the promised land to rid the land of the foreign and ungodly idolaters, but Israel failed to do so.  It was inevitable that sooner or later, Satan would rear his ugly head to take advantage of the situation.

Before long, the people of Israel were worshipping the gods called Baalim who were really demons who pretended to be gods.  Their forms of Baal worship included all sorts of sexual perversions and most notably baby and child sacrifice.  The Canaanites believed Baal to be the sun god and the storm god.  And look where we are today.  There is certainly no lack of sexual perversions in our land.  Just turn on the television and one can see portrayed fornication, adultery, and people confused about whether they are men or women or some other made-up gender.  There’s no shame among those who participate in and promote these perversions.  Those who support abortion have shown their true colors as they display their hatred for God in demanding the “right” to kill their unborn babies and some even desire to destroy these little creations of God after birth.  Since Baal was the weather god, I believe that our current “climate change agenda” is nothing more than modern day Baal worship.  We also hear of witchcraft, Satan worship, and those who are involved in the occult.

God can do to our nation like He did to His people, Israel.  He didn’t wipe them out, but He chose to allow them to face the consequences of their idolatrous actions as a means of bringing them to repentance and restoration.  All He had to do was to remove His hand of protection from them making them vulnerable to the whims of their enemies.  He didn’t do this to be vindictive, but to show them their need for Him.  It is not like they weren’t warned.  Since they had placed God on the “back burner”, so to speak, He obliged them by stepping back and giving them the room that they desired.  However, along with that room, they were given the responsibility of protecting themselves, and they found that without God’s help they could not defend against the enemy.

Going back to President Reagan’s statement, it seems like we have gone from a freedom-loving, God-fearing people to a people dependent upon a godless government for their every need in just one generation.  Just think back over the last 30 or so years.  How many changes have you seen, changes not for the good, starting out slowly and then sliding down that slippery slope at a high rate of speed?  It seems that we have gone too far to turn back now, but we must not give up hope.  Nothing takes God by surprise, and He may just have a few surprises up His sleeve.  Whatever He does will accomplish His purposes, and His people will be blessed.