Read Through the Bible in a Year 2018 Day 77: A New Generation

Good morning, everyone.

Today I read Judges 1-2.

So, we begin our first chapters after Joshua's death with Israel continuing to capture the cities and lands that God promised to them.

But they make a mistake. And they should have known better.

Joshua and all the men who served with him have died, and a new generation has risen in Israel.

And they don't drive out all the nations as God instructed. Rather, they make covenants with them, and allow them to live among them.

As such, they become influenced by the outside cultures and foreign gods.

Because Joshua and the priests have died, God sends a judge to teach Israel and to lead them.

And while the judge was alive, the Israelites won battles and conquered their enemies.

Yet when the judge died, Israel turned back and would "act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices of their stubborn ways" (Judges 2:19).

God becomes angry because His people have turned from Him, and He turns away from Israel. They no longer conquer other nations or win their battles, as they did in the day of Moses and Joshua.

And this is going to cause a major problem later on.

When we don't teach younger generations about God, about His goodness, His mercy, His faithfulness...when we don't give them a reason to follow God, they won't. If they don't know who God is, what He has done for His people, they won't have a reason to follow Him.

So we must be diligent in living our lives in a way that pleases God, so that other people can see what He has done for us. And for those of us who are teachers, we must be careful to teach our students about who God is, and what He has done. If they don't know God, how can they follow Him?

I hope you'll join me tomorrow when I read Judges 3-5.