Break The Vicious Cycle

SUMMARY: God has no grandchildren. Each generation is responsible to seek God for itself. And it is the parents’ responsibility to drill that into their children. They may reject their parents’ faith, but not because the parents didn’t do their best to inculcate their kids with the knowledge of God. If the parents fail to do this, or if the kids refuse to accept this, the outcome will be predictable: Prosperity … Rebellion … Consequence … Repentance … Restoration … Prosperity … Rebellion  Consequence. Repentance. It is the vicious cycle of rebellion and restoration. It would be a lot simpler and far better if we stayed in the restoration zone.

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Judges 2:10-14,16

After Joshua’s generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things He had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight and served the images of Baal. They abandoned the God of their ancestors who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the Lord. They abandoned Him to serve Baal and the images of Ashtoreth. This made the Lord burn with anger against Israel, so He handed them over to raiders who stole their possessions. He turned them over to their enemies all around, and they were no longer able to resist them.

Prosperity. Rebellion. Consequence. Repentance. Restoration. Prosperity. Rebellion. Consequence. Repentance. Restoration, Prosperity. Rebellion…

That is the sad cycle of Judges. So be warned: you will get a lot of that as you read this book. In many ways, it is a frustrating, if not depressing, history, but such is the dark reality of life in rebellion against God. Yet within this collection of stories that take place over the 400 years between Joshua’s death and the arrival of Samuel the prophet, you will also find sun breaks of God’s grace, inspiring stories of heroic men and woman who stepped in to lead Israel to revival, and invaluable life application for those who are serious about obeying their covenant of love with God.

This second chapter is both a preview and an overview of the book of Judges. The verse above captures the problem: when Joshua and his generation died, the baton was somehow dropped to the next generation, and for whatever reason, they “knew neither the Lord nor what he had done.”

Therein lies the problem that has perpetually haunted God’s people. The next generation somehow misses out on knowing God. Interesting, and sad, isn’t it! Their parents knew God, enjoyed his favor, experienced his presence, and walked in obedience before him. But their kids missed out. What the parents knew and loved didn’t transfer to the children. For the next generation, “the God of my fathers” never became “my Lord and my God!”

Why? Who knows for sure, but just as we have seen within our own families, there are different reasons. Perhaps the parents were so busy with God stuff that they didn’t include their kids. Maybe the parents assumed their faith would simply transfer, sort of by osmosis, to their children. It could be that the next generation grew up with a sense of entitlement—that they deserved God’s presence and his favor. It might be that the kids vicariously lived out their parents’ spirituality. Or it is possible that these children grew up around the holy, and it just became so common that their sense of God became jaded. There are many possibilities, but whatever the reason, the God of their fathers never became their God.

The deal is, God has no grandchildren. Each generation is responsible to seek God for itself. And it is the responsibility of the parents to drill that into their kids, early and often. At the end of the day, they may reject their parents’ faith, but not because the parents didn’t do their best to inculcate their kids with the knowledge of God.

If the parents fail to do this, or if their kids refuse to accept this, the outcome will be predictable: Prosperity. Rebellion. Consequence. Repentance. Restoration. Prosperity. Rebellion. Consequence. Repentance. It is the vicious cycle of rebellion and restoration. It would just be a lot simpler and far better if we would just stay in the restoration zone.

What is the key to avoiding the Judges syndrome: Know God and remember what he has done. That is not a passive thing, but an active laying hold of the things of the Lord. It takes consistent, dogged intentionality, but it is well worth the effort.