Even people who have not been raised in a Christian home have most likely heard the story of Moses and the Ten Commandments. The children of Israel watched as God miraculously delivered them from Egyptian bondage. They walked through the Red Sea on dry ground then watched as Pharaoh’s army was swallowed up by the walls of water.
When Moses died, God raised up Joshua to lead the people into the promised land of Canaan. God delivered them from their enemies and they watched the walls of Jericho fall. God’s hand upon them was evident as they saw His miracles time and again.
The book of Judges begins after Joshua dies. The sons of Israel had been told to drive their enemies out of the land, but over and over they failed to do this, so the heathen nations were affecting the way they lived.
One of the saddest verses in the Bible is Judges 2:10. “Eventually that entire generation died and was buried. Then another generation grew up that didn’t know anything of God or the work he had done for Israel.”
Despite the previous generations experiencing the miraculous power of God, the next generation did not know. It has been said Christianity is one generation from extinction. It is our responsibility to make sure our children and grandchildren know God and His ways.
Psalm 78:5-7 (NLT) says, “He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them— even the children not yet born— and they in turn will teach their own children. So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.”
May we be faithful to tell the generations after us the wonderful works of God so it can never be said of them, “They did not know the Lord or the work He had done.”
