A Generation who did not Know the Lord

  1. INTRODUCTION

    1. There can be no doubt that our nation has been providentially blessed by God, which historically has been recognized by most of its citizens.

      1. In his "Proclamation of National Thanksgiving" in 1789, President George Washington wrote that "it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor."

      2. From the beginning, our nation recognized God's power and sought for His blessings.  Only agenda-driven revisionist historians attempt to deny this as part of America's heritage.

    2. In recent generations, acknowledgement of God and His blessings has become less common in our nation, and many have utterly rejected God.  In many ways, this nation has come to resemble the people of Israel during the period of the judges.

      1. The people of Israel had been tremendously blessed by God with a good, rich land, but they soon forgot the Lord and suffered for it.

      2. Likewise, God has blessed us with liberty and prosperity, but our nation is quickly forgetting Him.

         

  2. THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES

    1. Before Israel could receive the promised land of Canaan, the faithless generation of the exodus from Egypt had to pass away, and a new generation had to arise.

      1. From the time they left Egypt, Israel complained and tried the Lord repeatedly.  At Kadesh, the faithless generation rebelled against God and sealed their fate.

        1. Israel believed the testimony of the ten spies who said that they would not be able to defeat the people of Canaan (Num. 13:25-14:10).  They did not trust God.

        2. God prepared to destroy Israel and start anew with Moses, but Moses interceded, and God relented (Num. 14:11-21).

        3. God pronounced the punishment for that faithless generation (all people age twenty and older -- Num. 14:28-29) in Numbers 14:22-23:

          22"Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, 23shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it."

      2. The promised land was reserved by God for the new generation of Israel.

        1. God foretold this to the faithless generation in Numbers 14:30-32:

          30"Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31Your children, however, whom you said would become a prey -- I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected.  32But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness."

        2. After forty years of wandering, all of that faithless generation died.  Not a single man from that generation, except for Caleb and Joshua, entered the promised land (Num. 26:64-65).

    2. When the generation that conquered Canaan died, another faithless generation arose.

      1. It only took one generation for Israel to forget the Lord. Notice Judges 2:10:

        All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.

      2. Faithlessness characterized Israel during the period of the judges, and the people suffered tremendously because of it.

        1. A summary of this period of history is given in Judges 2:11-19.  These generations became progressively worse as they acted "more corruptly than their fathers" (v. 19).

        2. Time and time again, "the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies" (Judg. 2:14).

        3. The people of this time would not govern themselves by God's law.  In Judges 21:25, the book closes by saying, "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

  3. OUR GENERATION

    1. We live in a time of moral and spiritual decline due to ignorance of God and His word.

      1. Surveys show that biblical beliefs are in decline while unbiblical beliefs are becoming more common (ref. Harris Poll from Dec. 16, 2013).

      2. Fewer Americans have a biblical worldview than ever before. Consider what this means.

        1. A biblical worldview is more than just a claim of belief in the Bible.  It is a view that sees the world according to the Bible's teachings.

        2. A person with a biblical worldview understands that the world's problems are caused by sin and its solutions are found in Christ and God's word.

        3. Very few Americans hold such a worldview.  Even those who claim to believe in the Bible often do so superficially and do not know what the Scriptures teach.

      3. This decline is the result of years of neglected Bible studies.

        1. Individuals, parents, and families neglected their studies and depended on others (churches, schools, etc.) to teach them and their children.

        2. Many churches did not teach the truth of God's word, and the government banned the Bible from public schools.  As a result, people have become ignorant of the Bible, and they believe in the false teachings of popular media and government schools.

      4. From this trend has arisen a generation who does not know God, and the results are predictable.

        1. The historical pattern of Romans 1:18-32 is unfolding again.  Because men "did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper" (v. 28).

        2. This can be seen in the expected rise of godlessness and immorality in our culture.

    2. Because of this moral and spiritual decline, our nation is likely to enter into a period of hardship.

      1. The word of God is irresistible, and it teaches certain laws about the nations.  Notice two passages:

        1. Psalm 9:17 -- The wicked will return to Sheol, even all the nations who forget God.

        2. Proverbs 14:34 -- Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.

      2. As a nation that is forgetting God and rejecting righteousness, these laws portend hardship for us.

        1. Typically, such hardship comes in the form of war, poverty, famine, or disease.  We may be seeing some of this unfolding already.

        2. This hardship may be a blessing to our nation, for it may turn the nation back toward God just as hardship often turned Israel.  However, it may destroy our nation instead.

    3. As Christians, we need to prepare ourselves and our families for anything that may come.

      1. As the people of God in Christ, we must know the Lord (Heb. 8:11), and we must faithfully understand what is happening to the nation around us (Hos. 4:6).

      2. Let us always be protectors and proponents of the word of God (2Tim. 1:13-14; 2:15; 3:14-4:5).

      3. Let us pray for the nation (2Chron. 7:14) and its governing authorities so that we may live tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity (1Tim. 2:1-2).

      4. Let us not be worried about our welfare, but instead let us seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, knowing that He will provide for our needs (Matt. 6:33-34).

      5. Let us heed the commandment of Philippians 2:14-15, which says,

        14Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.

      6. Indeed, as the nation descends into darkness, our light must shine even brighter (Matt. 5:14-16; 1Pet. 2:11-12).  Let us not be pulled down by the influence of godlessness around us.

      7. No matter how small of a minority true Christians become, we must stand with God by His truth.

        1. Romans 3:4 -- Let God be found true, though every man be found a liar.

        2. 2Timothy 3:13-14 -- 13But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.  14You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them.

           

  4. CONCLUSION

    1. Regardless of what become of this nation, God does not change (Heb. 13:8; Jas. 1:17).  "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself" (2Tim. 2:13).

    2. This generation of our nation may not know the Lord, but may we as Christians always know the Lord and trust His word.