Video to come.
Morning Message Text: Judges 2: 6-15
Disobedience and Defeat
6 After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to their own inheritance.
7 The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.
8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten.
9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.
11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals.
12 They forsook the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the LORD’s anger
13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
14 In his anger against Israel the LORD gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.
15 Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the LORD was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.
Morning Message:
Let me start this message by saying happy Father’s Day to all of the fathers and grandfathers, mentors, and all men who have taken the time to influence a child’s life in any way. Actually, today’s message is directed at all men as a call to leadership. I do not preach very often on Father’s Day; I normally would take off on this day. Mother’s Day is easier to preach because I tend to gravitate to a softer more positive and graceful message for moms.
Because I am a man, a father, and a grandfather, I guess I find it easier to be more critical and harder on men, and easier to point to our responsibilities. You will find that I am just as critical of myself, maybe more so, than I am of anyone else, and I will try to be judgmental of my failures and allow you to reflect on how you measure up before God.
First, let me dispel this notion. This excuse that we give ourselves that we are too busy sometimes to be the type of leaders/parents that God has called us to be. Everyone is given the same amount of time in a day. We choose how we spend our time and when you are responsible for another person in your life, someone you choose to make a part of your life, then you are responsible to make time. Wisdom is available to anyone who seeks it.
Wisdom has been around since before the beginning of time. God’s Word holds all the wisdom you will ever need for raising a child. There is a charge for all fathers in the Bible, and I believe that it applies to every man who holds influence over a child. Ephesians 6:4, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” To exasperate means to irritate or provoke to a high degree. I don’t think that any parent tries to provoke or irritate their children, at least not until they are adults. Just kidding! The provocation is subtle and, in most cases, shows up years later in the choices they make and their attitude towards life. When we shirk our responsibility in raising our children and leading them in right paths we can end up with generations of ungodly children.
I want to share with you a reading from my devotional from last month. I knew when I read this that it would be useful for sharing. It is based on Judges 2: verse 10, “when all that generation was gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.” Missionary scholars talk about a phenomenon called “redemption and lift” which happens over three generations when the Gospel penetrates a pagan culture. The first generation is redeemed, and their lives change. They become responsible and prosperous. The second generation grows up in prosperity. The third generation chooses prosperity over perpetuating the Gospel. So, what does this have to do with Father’s Day? It has everything to do with our responsibility as parents to pass our faith along to our children so that we don’t end up with generations of ungodly people.
Something similar happened when Israel entered the Promised Land. The first generation of settlers who had witnessed God’s mighty works served the Lord. Now let’s take a minute here and remember a couple weeks ago when I preached on the death of Moses. Remember that he was the last of the previous generation that God said could not enter into the land because of their disobedience. Please don’t miss this point. They moved from a disobedient generation into a faithful generation that had witnessed God’s miracles as He brought them into the promised land.
Then Joshua died, and a new generation arose who “did not know the Lord.” That is, they had not witnessed God’s saving acts and mighty power. They fell away from God and began worshiping the gods of the peoples who lived around them. Thus began the seven cycles of judgment and deliverance described in the book of Judges. It has been said that societies, families, churches, and other institutions are always one or two generations away from dissolution. That is why it is so important for each generation to pass on their beliefs and commitments to the next. “And you, [parents] … bring [children] up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”
Men, it is not supposed to be easy. God never said it would be easy to be a Godly parent. Don’t take this the wrong way. Mothers and fathers are equally important when it comes to raising children. I know that what I say will be taken the wrong way by someone. I am not trying to step on toes. An old friend once said it this way, “I’m sorry if I stepped on your toes. I was aiming for your heart.” The fact is that men have a responsibility to lead their families and yes, their children. In my lifetime I have seen far too many instances where men have shirked their responsibility as leaders of the family and pushed that responsibility off on mothers and anyone else that might step in for them. This is not an easy subject for me because I grew up in those circumstances as did many. I was blessed that someone filled that void, but it left an impression on me and left me very sensitive to young people that I see in that situation. God uses everything, especially our pain to make us into what he wants us to be.
One other thing that I want to touch on. I do feel so blessed that for some reason that I will never understand until I get to heaven, God made a way for me where there seemed to be no good way. But I look around at what is taking place in our own country, and I wonder, have we failed with so many generations that lawlessness and crime is something that is acceptable in our society. Everything seems upside down. People cheer an advocate for hardened criminals and despise law enforcement officers who try to arrest them. We watch as people burn cars and businesses and riots in the streets just because they disagree with the government. We sit back and we are horrified, but I guess we just hope that it stays far away from us. It won’t, you know. I wonder, is there a correlation between how violent and lawless our society has become and generations of absentee fathers. Look around you. If God intended men to lead, and I believe he does, where are they? It is not supposed to be easy, but have we even been trying?
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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