ODJ: next
November 29, 2011
[God] commanded our ancestors to teach [His laws] to their children, so the next generation might know them . . . and they in turn will teach their own children (vv.5-6).
READ: Psalm 78:1-8
My dad surpassed the biblical lifespan of 80 years mentioned in Psalm 90:10. But his 84 years was barely 9 percent of the average lifespan of the first 10 generations of humans. Adam lived 930 years. Seth, 912. Enosh, 905. Kenan, 910. Mahalalel, 895. Jared, 962. Enoch, 365. Methuselah, 969. Lamech, 777, and Noah, 950 years (Genesis 5). These 10 patriarchs (excluding Enoch who did not die) lived an average of 912 years. I‘ve often wondered why they lived such long lives.
In Psalm 78:9-72, Asaph recounted the history of Israel, so that the Israelites would not forget God and what He had done. Asaph said, “I will teach you hidden lessons from our past . . . stories our ancestors handed down to us” (vv.2-3).
God told parents “to teach [God’s laws] to their children, so the next generation might know them . . . and they in turn will teach their own children” (vv.5-6) so that “they [would] not be . . . stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God” (v.8).
Perhaps this is why for the first 1,600 years of human history, people lived long lives: so that they could teach their children and their grandchildren about the Creator God and encourage them to “set [their] hope anew on God” (v.7). Overlapping 9 generations, they were either contemporaries of Adam, or personally knew someone who had been! Imagine this: Adam telling Lamech, his 9th generation progeny, and Noah’s father, about what had happened in the Garden of Eden! (Genesis 3).
Today, our life spans have been reduced significantly (Genesis 6:3). But the duty to teach the next generation “to give their hearts to God” (Psalm 78:8) hasn’t changed. It remains our most important gift to the next generation (Matthew 28:20).
—K.T. Sim
What’s one thing we should teach our children about God? How will we help them “hope anew on God”?
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