Are We a Generation Forgetting the Lord?

“And all the generations also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that the He had done for Israel.” Judges 2:10, ESV

Hello Bride of Christ,

History shapes our thinking, perception, and understanding. The stories of our grandparents’ triumphs and trials influence our values and self-worth. Whether we are descendants of slaves or related to royalty affects how we interact with the world and how we expect it to respond to us. It is His story—and its vividness in our hearts—that determines whether we are guided by His Word, or led astray by false gods.

Joshua, Moses’ successor, leads the people into the Promised Land. After forty years in the wilderness, the Israelites achieve victory and receive an inheritance where they can settle and lay down roots! Unfortunately, as time passes, the wilderness generation transitions to eternal life, and God’s legacy fades because the writer of Judges notes, “And all the generations also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that He had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10, ESV).

How did this generation lose its connection to God, their history, and the powerful testimonies of God's work in their ancestors' lives?

In the book of Judges the Holy Spirit highlights the relational decline, “Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals;  and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger,” (Judges 2:11-12, NKJV). The Israelites abandoned God, choosing instead to assimilate into surrounding cultures by worshiping foreign deities.

A disconnect from God led to a disconnection from their history, and as the years went by, they forgot Joshua’s final admonition: “Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed. Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all the good things have come upon you which the Lord your God promised you, so the Lord will bring upon you all harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good land which the Lord your God has given you. When you have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you,” (Joshua 23:14-16, NKJV). They ceased to speak of their heritage no longer recognizing in their hearts and souls the fulfillment of the Lord their God’s promises.

What about us?

Bride of Christ, are we another generation who has forgotten the Lord and His works for Israel? The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, reminds us: “Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3:3, NKJV). Each of us is a letter written by God through the Holy Spirit, meant to be read by all. When others read our life story, will they encounter our relationship with God in Christ, hear of His faithfulness towards Israel, and witness His victories in our trials?

In 2 Corinthians, Paul encourages all Christ believers to be living testimonies, “Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech—unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day, the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:12-18, NKJV).

Unveiled minds.

Unveiled faces.

Unveiled testimonies.

As we celebrate the High Holy Days this October, with Yom Kippur—the Day of Atonement—approaching, let’s take a moment to reflect on Jesus’s faithfulness to the saints of old, our ancestors, to us, and our families. God is the author of our story and continues to write ours. Let us step into la esperanza (the hope) of a greater narrative! As we turn inward, may we encounter Jesus and the Holy Spirit He has bestowed upon us. With unveiled hearts, may we share the good news of Jesus and the God of Israel with those God has placed in our lives. God knows we are not just another forgetful generation; we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which He prepared in advance for us to accomplish (Ephesians 2:10, NKJV) for He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4, NKJV).

Reflect. Step. Turn. Share.

Jesus has lifted the veil!