Judges 2:6 – 10
8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Jehovah, died, being a hundred and ten years old. 9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. 10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, that knew not Jehovah, nor yet the work which he had wrought for Israel.
Judges 2:8 – 10 American Standard Version
I wrote these notes towards the end of last year on 12Nov23, the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost in my church calendar.
In Judges chapter 2, we read that the children of Israel served Yehovah while Joshua was alive. They continued to serve Yehovah while the elders were alive after Joshua's death. These were the elders who had seen all the great things that Yehovah had done among them from the days when Joshua led them across the Jordan and brought down the walls of Jericho (verse 7).
Then another generation grew up.
This new generation of Israelites did not know Yehovah (verse 10). They did not know what Yehovah had done.
Soon they began to do evil in the sight of Yehovah (versesf 11 - 12). They served the baals. They forsook Yehovah, the God of their fathers. They worshipped various gods of the people around them.
They provoked Yehovah to anger (verse 12).
We can see a distinct difference between the old generation of the children of Israel and the new generation —
- The old generation of Israelites saw the great works of Yehovah under their leader Joshua and the elders who outlived him. And they believed in Yehovah.
- The new generation, however, only heard about the great works of Yehovah from the elders in their families. They had not witnessed the works of the LORD. Sadly, they stopped believing in Him.
- Eventually, they began to forsake Yehovah. They went to serve baals and various gods of the people around them.
One may say that the new generation of Israelites would not have turned away from Yehovah had they seen Him continue to work among them. Perhaps they would have held on to their faith in the LORD if they were taught by their elders to pray to Yehovah in times of need or trouble, and to see the hand of Yehovah working in answer to their prayers.
If they had done so, the new generation of Israelites would no longer be just a generation who merely heard about the works of Yehovah but, instead, would have seen Yehovah answer them when they cried out to Him in their prayers. They would have become a new generation of Israelites who saw God supply their needs and deliver them from evil.
Brothers and Sisters in the Anointed One, let us show, and lead and teach the next generation of believers among us to pray. Let us lead them to seek God our Father in Heaven, to depend on His Providence, and to experience Him answering their very own prayers.
Let us turn the next generation from merely hearing about God to actually seeing the Hand of God at work among them.
