Have you ever heard the phrase: “Christianity is just one generation from extinction”?
When we read Judges, we see how easily the heritage of faith can be fumbled from one generation to the next.
Judges 2 says that after the Israelites conquered and possessed the land, everyone went to his own area and the people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua.
But after Joshua’s generation passed away, “…and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel” (Judg 2:10).
There resulted a series of sin cycles – judgment, cries for help, and deliverance.
The people would fall into sin, fall prey to their enemies, and cry out to God; and God in His mercy would send a judge or a deliverer like Gideon, Samson, Jephthah, or Deborah.
Their influence would last awhile, then the whole process would repeat itself. This repetitive pattern in Judges conveys a powerful lesson:
To the very utmost of our ability we must focus our energy on raising our children in the and instruction of the Lord, teaching them the truths of scripture and giving them testimonies of faith.
Key Thought:
When generations arise without a knowledge of God and His commands, they fall into a downward spiral of sin, defeat, judgment, and despair.
Key Verse:
“Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them” (Judg 2:16).
Key Action:
We must break the cycle of apathy, sin, ruin, defeat, and despair
with the power of lasting repentance and revival.