It’s Our Job
One of the saddest verses in the Bible is Judges 2:10. God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. After Moses died, God chose Joshua as their leader. After Joshua died at age 110, things went well for a while.
The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua,
and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua,
who had seen all the great work of the Lord
which He had done for Israel.
Judges 2:7
Then things fell apart. Verses 8 and 9 of Judges 2 describe the death and burial of Joshua. The next verse is that very sad one:
All that generation also were gathered to their fathers;
and there arose another generation after them
who did not know the Lord,
nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.
Judges 2:10
Why didn’t they know the Lord and the work He had done for Israel? The parents and grandparents had failed to do their job. It is our job to teach our children and grandchildren about the Lord. Failing to do that has devastating consequences.
In the New Testament, we learn of Eunice and Lois, a godly mother and grandmother who did teach Timothy, their son and grandson, about the Lord. God inspired Paul to write this encouragement to Timothy:
You, however, continue in the things
you have learned and become convinced of,
knowing from whom you have learned them,
and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings
which are able to give you the wisdom
that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 3:14-15
Then He told Timothy more about those sacred writings:
All Scripture is inspired by God
and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
for training in righteousness;
so that the man of God may be adequate,
equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Here is a side note that I don’t remember thinking about until I was writing this last night: Timothy’s mother Eunice gave her mother Lois opportunities to train Timothy. Timothy could not have learned what he did from his grandmother if his mother had not made it possible. Not every mother has a mother who can train her children in godliness, but those who do are wise to take full advantage of that opportunity. Two teachers and examples are better than one. How blessed is the child who has six: two parents and four grandparents!
Three generations at a pie supper
in Muskogee, Oklahoma in February 1949.
Photo by Russell Lee, courtesy of the Library of Congress.
And now, back to Judges. . .
Chapter 17 tells us about the devastating consequences of the parents and grandparents not teaching their progeny about the Lord.
In those days there was no king in Israel;
every man did what was right in his own eyes.
Judges 17:6
Ray and I recently had an enjoyable visit with a longtime friend. As we talked about one issue after another, she quoted the second half of Judges 17:6 more than once. I have continued to think about it. It is an apt description of our culture. It is our job as parents and grandparents to train our children to know what is right and not to trust what is right in their own eyes. It’s our job to teach them to believe and obey the Lord’s sacred writings—writings inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and training in righteousness, writings that train our children to be men and women of God—men and women who are adequate and equipped for every good work.
It’s our goal, and it’s our job.
Lois and Eunice are worthy examples of women who took that seriously.
For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you,
which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois
and your mother Eunice,
and I am sure that it is in you as well.
2 Timothy 1:5