A Failure to Hear
By Raul Ries
Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly - Proverbs 14:29
Even though God had mercy and delivered His people, their deeds and consequences stood as a testimony against them. The Lord directed them back to His law, but once again they rebelled. What was the problem? The priests were not to blame. It was the failure of the parents to pass on to their children from generation to generation God’s commandments and the great things He had done. Sadly, there came a generation that did not know the Lord or His works (Judges 2:10).
Psalm 78:5-7 explains what the parents should have done to keep the knowledge of God in the minds and hearts of the next generation:
He [God]…appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children;that the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children,that they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments….
From Israel’s past history to the present time, not much has changed. Go back to the work God did through Moody; it is not the same today––it is dead. It is the same with Finney, Spurgeon and even with Chuck Smith, including those after him. It seems that after God does a work in the first generation, it is not often seen in the next generation. How parents need to pass on to their children the wonderful knowledge of God!
We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. - Psalm 78:4
Editor’s Note: The following is an abridged version of A Failure to Hear by Raul Ries. To read the full devotional, follow this link.
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