As time goes on, so are there new generations that come. Throughout the entire Bible, you can see one vital characteristic of God: He is very generational. God cares heavily about the next generations because they are the ones who will shape the future and the ones who will carry the light and seed of God next. They are the ones who will continue to spread the good news after our time. From Abraham all the way to Paul, you can see many examples of God wanting His people to focus on the next generation. Let’s start with Abraham.
“I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” – Genesis 17:5-8.
As you can see here, God is preparing the land and a covenant for Abraham and his descendants. God is getting provision and such lined up for these next generations. This shows God is about the next generation. Everything God did from the fall of man was to set up the coming of Jesus through this seed. Now look at the Israelites when they were afraid of the giants and doubted God.
“The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised.” – Numbers 14:29-31.
God had to have a new generation enter the promised land because the current generation was full of complaints and unbelief. Therefore, it was vital that the next generation would believe the promises of God and not doubt like the previous generation. If you look at the kings of Israel, David was a man who raised Solomon, the next generation, and Solomon prospered even more than David! He got to experience the golden age of Israel. However, Solomon’s son, who became king, was not as attuned with the Lord and disobeyed, leading to the downfall of Israel, which ended in captivity because the next many kings were disobedient, except for Josiah and Hezekiah. However, their next generations would reverse the progress. This reveals something very key here. If we never focus on raising the next generation properly, then the continuation of our success will fail. We might succeed right now, but success is temporary if the next generation doesn’t continue it. Therefore, if we want to succeed in times past our age and in the future, we will have to raise the next generation correctly. Why does the enemy attack the next generation so hard? Because the devil wants to hurt God, and this is a way the enemy is trying to do such a thing. Back in the Old Testament, people sacrificed their children in idol worship. Now, abortion is modern-day child sacrifice. That does no good to the next generation but harms it! There is also the sacrificing of children, not just physically but also spiritually. Look at the sons of Eli.
“In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons have made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them.” – 1 Samuel 3:12-13.
Eli’s sons were corrupt, defiling things of God, seducing and laying with women, and many other vile acts. Eli knew about this but didn’t take any action. Even a prophet went up and warned Eli, but Eli did not take heed. It is so important that people raise the next generation correctly. If we let them be vile and corrupt, then who will carry the Word next? Parents are super important in this because they are the ones raising children. Are they raising them in the Word of God, or are they raising them in idols?
“He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly” – Proverbs 14:3.
Have you ever gone to a restaurant or a store and seen a child on a phone or tablet? They are distracted with that device, which is becoming an idol in their lives rather than having the parents deal with them through proper discipline and correction. This is so common that it has actually become stereotyped! People now refer to these children as “iPad kids” because of their sole reliance of these devices and their lack of life skills. How sad! Perhaps you are a parent, and this is how you raised your children. First of all, don’t take this as a form of condemnation, but understand this is being said in the purpose of love and redemption. God doesn’t want to bring condemnation but rather reveal things for the sake of redemption. Therefore, understand this because God loves you and cares about the sake and future of you and your children. Now, not all children who are raised properly will go in the correct direction in life. At the end of the day, everyone has free will and freedom to choose. Raising them properly gets them prepared to take the right path, but it doesn’t mean they always will. What if you aren’t a parent? Paul wasn’t married yet, he still focused on the next generation through Timothy. Timothy was a young man, and Paul saw Timothy’s heart. Paul cared for Timothy so much and shared so much spiritual wisdom with Timothy that Timothy would succeed after Paul’s time here on earth. So overall, God is all about the next generation. From the coming of Jesus to the mission we have on hand to spread the good news of Christ. We can only do so much with the time we have here, and if we don’t give any attention to raising the next generation in the way they should go, then our success here will only be for this time.