Our Children’s Children

One of the great moments in my life was on August 9, 1992, when our son Elijah was born. Another amazing day was when he married Aimee, and we finally had a daughter. Then on March 3, 2021, they had Florence. Seeing our children’s children is one of the great joys in life.

Isaac was miraculously born of Abraham and Sarah. This son later fathered a son named Jacob. He was Abraham and Sarah’s grandchild. When Jacob grew up, God changed His name to Israel, showing that he trusted in God and not himself. And God continued to provide for Israel, through his son, Joseph.

Genesis 45:10:
“You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have.”

Joseph promised that Israel and all his family would have a safe and prosperous home in Egypt. After many years, God sent Moses to deliver Israel’s descendants from Egypt. In the wilderness, God revealed great truths to this meekest man on earth.

Exodus 34:6,7:
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.
Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

Even though the children of Israel had often rejected Him, God visited Moses on Mt. Sinai and described Himself. He is merciful, gracious, patient, and abounds in goodness and truth. His mercy is for countless generations, but there are generational consequences when people refuse God’s help. We want to teach our children to respect and obey God’s voice, so they can also teach their children.

Deuteronomy 4:25,26:
“When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger,
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed.”

God wants our grandchildren to be protected from the adversary’s wiles and idolatry. The Bible [I Corinthians 8:5,6] says people have many “gods” and “lords” that they worship. But we are to have only one God, our Father. And we should have only one Lord, Jesus Christ our Savior. That is why parents and grandparents must raise their children and grandchildren in the nurture and admonition of the Lord [Ephesians 6:4].

II Kings 17:13,14,39-41:
Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.”
Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. But the Lord your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.”
However they did not obey, but they followed their former rituals.
So these nations feared the Lord, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children’s children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day.

Here the people turned back to their “former rituals,” their bad habits from the past. They “feared the Lord” in that they were religious, but they did it by serving graven images. Sadly, that still occurs today, when religious Christians worship God using ancient idols and images. These can be not only physical statues and images, but also idols of false doctrine and hypocrisy that are rampant in religious circles. And these customs are passed on to children and then to grandchildren. We should be a generation that breaks this “cycle of idolatry” and worships our Father in spirit and in truth [John 4:24].

Psalms 103:13-18:
As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.
For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,
and His righteousness to children’s children,
To such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them.

God invented life and the family. He is a loving Father Who understands how we are made. Our time on earth is very short compared to eternity. But even when we are gone, His love continues for our children and grandchildren. When we teach them to obey God’s Word and walk by His spirit, they will be blessed just as we are. That brings comfort to one’s soul.

Psalms 128:1,6:
Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways.
Yes, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!

When we respect God and walk in His ways, we are blessed and so are our grandchildren. They too can know the peace that passes understanding in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Proverbs 13:22:
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.

What is the best inheritance we can leave to our grandchildren? Timothy’s grandmother sets a good example.

II Timothy 1:5; 3:15:
When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.
And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Lois taught Eunice God’s Word, and they both taught young Timothy. It is a joy for Sherry and me to see our son and daughter-in-law teaching our granddaughter about God and His Son. God’s Word makes our grandchildren wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Proverbs 17:6:
Children’s children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children is their father.

As an older man, I understand this truth. Our granddaughter is like a beautiful tiara that shines more beautifully each day. We see the amazing physical and mental ability that God puts into children. This verse says kids brag about their dads. We’ve all seen that. Children are proud of good parents and want others to know about them.

Jeremiah 2:7-9:
I brought you into a bountiful country, to eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered, you defiled My land and made My heritage an abomination.
The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ And those who handle the law did not know Me; the rulers also transgressed against Me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
“Therefore I will yet bring charges against you,” says the Lord, and against your children’s children I will bring charges.”

Look at God’s heart for His people. He gave them the best He could, and they turned their backs on Him. The adversary entices people to serve other gods. That is why we must teach our children and help them teach their children the truth. God pleads with every generation to love and obey Him.

Ezekiel 37:24-26:
“David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them.
Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever.
Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore.”

Ezekiel is prophesying long after King David had died. So, who is he talking about when he says that God’s servant, David, will be a king who will rule as a shepherd? He is foretelling the coming of the “Shepherd King,” the Messiah, Jesus Christ. God promises an everlasting covenant through Jesus Christ that provides eternal life for us, our children, and our grandchildren. That is how we have true peace.

Psalms 78:4,6:
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.
That the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children.

Psalms 102:18:
This will be written for the generation to come,
That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.