Tell the Children | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Tell the Children | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marlene Custer
08/03/23
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God’s Chosen People, the Israelites, had come to the Jordan River. As they were about to enter the Land of Promise, it was becoming more obvious that their leader was not going with them. But Moses had a final message for them—“all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them.”

In his final remarks, he reminded them of some of the places they had been, the defeat of several kings, how the land was to be divided up, the forbiddance of idolatry, and the importance of the Ten Commandments. He stressed that the Lord our God is one, and they were to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” He went on to stress that they were to impress these commands on their children. “Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” In other words, immerse your children in God’s laws.

Some days later, after the death of Moses, their new leader, Joshua, led them across the Jordan River into the Promised Land. The priests, carrying the Ark of the Covenant went first and stood in the middle of the Jordan, on dry ground, until the whole nation crossed over to other side. Interestingly, Scripture tells us that when they had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord told Joshua, “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan…and put them down where you stay tonight.” These weren’t just pebbles. Scripture describes them as being carried on their shoulders.

Then Joshua proclaimed, “In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.” They were to make sure the children knew of God’s miraculous deeds on their behalf.

King David proclaimed in Psalm 22 that “future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn”. The Psalmist, Asaph, also admonished us to “tell the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done…he commanded our fathers to teach (God’s Law) to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn…”.

I think these Scriptures reinforce just how much our Creator loves us and wants the best for us. They underscore how the Bible must have a prominent place in our homes where children can see it being used. According to Jesus, teaching them to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30 NIV) is the most important concept we can ever convey to them. Loving and serving God is not a narcissistic command on His part. The One that is so aware of even the unborn, knows that if we love Him first with all our hearts, we will never be hurt or forsaken by the one we love the most!

NIV Deuteronomy 1:3, Deuteronomy 6:5-9, Joshua 4:2-7, Psalm 22:30-31
ESV Psalm 78:4-6

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