Educational Responsibility
punishing the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and forth generation of those that hate me. Deuteronomy 5:9
Hate – What happens when we bow down and serve false gods? Among other things, our children suffer. Why? Because our attitudes and actions demonstrate that we do not need God. They copy us. As a result, they become God-haters.
Oh, I don’t mean that they will be atheists. The Hebrew word here never suggests that. It is sane, the opposite of the Hebrew ahav (love). Remember that “love” is not about feelings. It is about actions. In Hebrew, ahav means that I do what God commands. I obey Him. That demonstrates my love for Him. So, those who hate God are simply those who disobey Him. It doesn’t matter if they are nice people. It doesn’t even matter if they have good feelings about the existence of God. If they do not bow down and serve Him, they are God-haters. They do not keep His covenant. They are not loyal to Him. They are His enemies.
How did they get that way? Their parents failed to fulfill the mission and purpose of the Law. Their parents, who were redeemed out of bondage by a compassionate Lord, failed to instruct their children about the ways of God. And the result is terrible. Not only the children but the grandchildren and the great-grandchildren are lost in the process. All because the first generation thought that a few rules didn’t really matter.
Do you see the absolute truth behind this? If your life is like my life, you will see it in graphic reality, among your own children. There is no greater pain than that of parents who finally see that the life they led results in tragic destruction for their children. That’s when regret can only turn to weeping and beseeching God to straighten out what we have bent. And even God tells us that this is no easy task. Unless God intervenes, the consequences will go on for three and four generations.
All you have to do today is look at the state of the world’s young people – floating free on a sewer of abandoned relationships, to God and to each other. We have failed them because we did not take God’s word seriously. But how could we? There was a generation before ours that left the divine educational plan behind as well. God put the education of His ways in the hands of fathers and mothers. Fathers and mothers sent their children off to the professionals while they pursued their own desires. We all reaped what we sowed.
The Law was supposed to accomplish God’s plan of evangelism to the nations. It was also supposed to secure the message of His goodness and mercy within the household of His people. It hasn’t changed. It is still designed to do just this. We simply stopped using it. Maybe it’s time to re-think how we educate our children. God forgive us before it’s too late.
Topical Index: Law, Education
