IS GOD EXTINCT?
During the last Presidential election, I had a sticker in the front window of my car that was a quote from former President Ronald Reagan. It read:
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”
I was reminded of this quote on Thursday night, when we began our newest Bible study at the church. It focuses on the life of Gideon, but moreover, it is a story of our weakness and God’s strength in our weak moments. In historical context, it is also the story of a generation that did not know God.
I knew that God wanted to drive this point home when I opened up my Bible this morning to do my daily Scripture reading and the words of Psalms 78 jumped out from the page:
Psalms 78: 4-8:
“We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.
He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands. They would not be like their ancestors— a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.” (NIV)
I would like to submit to you that now, just as in the time of Gideon, we are living in a generation that does not know God, and that possibly God is just one generation from extinction.
God’s people in the book of Judges were not that many generations removed from the great miracles that were performed for Israel. The parting of the Red Sea, the exodus from the land of Egypt, the miraculous appearance of manna and doves for food in the wilderness…the list goes on and on. Back then, just as now, God’s Word became so diluted and ignored that its inherent power had no effect.
In her teaching in the introductory video, Priscilla Shirer said it best: “We live in a culture that redefines God.” Don’t like a particular tenant of God’s commands? Start your own religion and ignore that fact. And then, there’s always mans’ “interpretation” of what he (man) “thinks” that God meant. It’s usually pretty far from the actual truth. In essence, we are nullifying the Word of God, making it, as the Bible says, “of none effect”.
We must not be like the people of Israel who did not teach their children about the wonderous works of God. We must proclaim His works , whether they be large or small.
Later in the same chapter of Psalms, verses 40-42 state:
Psalms 78: 40-42:
“How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the wasteland! Again and again they put God to the test; they vexed the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember his power—the day he redeemed them from the oppressor.” (NIV)
I love how the King James Version states verse 41. Instead of the word “vexed” it reads: “They limited the Holy One of Israel.”
Can you even imagine setting limits on God? Saying, “Well, I will believe Him for this in my life, but THAT? That’s just too big for God to handle!”
God’s people had their eyes on their circumstances and not on the Creator who had brought them through the worst of circumstances.
Like the children of Israel, I am sure we have all been guilty of not remembering the great things God has done for us and allowing our present circumstances to dictate our faith. I’ll admit, I have days that what I am believing God for is tainted by my physical and mental weariness. But, I must not allow my faith to become weary, although sometimes, I admit, it does falter. It’s then that I have to look back on what the Lord has done for me and praise Him for what He has done and have faith in what He is going to do!
Proclaim His Word! Share with everyone what God has done for you!
~Barb Scott
(P.S. It’s not too late to join our new Bible Study! Classes are held on Wednesday mornings and Wednesday and Thursday evenings!)
