Memory Verse: “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.” Psalm 145:4
In the late 1800s, an American educator, A.E. Winship, did a study between the descendants of Jonathan Edwards and Max Jukes. Jonathan Edwards is one of the most famous theologians in history and was a prominent pastor during the Great Awakening in America in the 1700s. Max Jukes lived at the same time as Jonathan Edwards but was an atheist. The study he conducted was meant to look at the descendants of these two men about 150 years after they died. He wanted to see how their faith impacted the generations of kids they left behind. The results he found were fascinating. In his study of Jonathan Edwards, he found that he married a woman of like faith, and from this union, they had over 1,000 descendants. Of this number, he notes that there were 285 college graduates, 100 clergymen, 100 lawyers, 80 public office holders, 75 military officials, 65 professors, 60 doctors, 30 judges, 13 college presidents, three mayors, three governors, three United States senators, one dean of a medical school, one dean of a law school, and one vice president of the United States. In his study of Max Jukes, he found that he married a woman who was also an atheist, and from this union, they also had over 1,000 descendants. Of this number, he notes that 440 were physically wrecked by addiction to alcohol, 300 died prematurely, 310 were paupers (which means recipients of government aid), 150 convicts, 190 prostitutes, 60 thieves, and seven murderers.
1. What stands out to you with this study?
The findings of this study are astonishing. If you are like me, it is even a reality check that makes me realize what I do now will greatly impact the generations that come after me. Now, just because we raise our kids in a Christian household does not mean that the generations after us are guaranteed to be successful and follow the Lord. However, many studies have come out that have similar findings. Our faith and how we raise our children greatly impact the generations to come after us. Today, we are going to continue our study of the life of Abraham and discuss the things that we are leaving behind for our children and their children after them.
Genesis 25:1-5 records, “Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. Abraham gave all he had to Isaac.”
As we come to the end of Abraham’s life, we see this very interesting passage of Scripture. Look at verse 5 again, “Abraham gave all he had to Isaac.”
2. What are some of the things that you think Abraham gave to Isaac?
3. Do you think this passage is talking specifically about material possessions? Why or why not?
This verse is talking about a couple of things. While it discusses the material possessions that Abraham left for Isaac, there is more to this verse than just cattle and wealth. The most important inheritance that Abraham left for Isaac was the promise that God had given to him. It is not only the Promised Land that God had sworn to give to Abraham’s descendants but the promise that God would be their God. Genesis 17:8 reads, “And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” This is a huge promise, and Abraham most certainly would have taught it to Isaac. Abraham would have shown Isaac how God had been faithful to him throughout his life and that Isaac should put his faith in this mighty God.
4. What are some ways that Abraham would have reminded Isaac about this promise and his faith?
5. What are some ways you share your faith with your children?
Abraham did not only leave behind an amazing promise, but also some generational sins that plagued Isaac the same way they did his father. Just a chapter later in Genesis 26, we read that there is a famine in the land. Isaac wanted to go to Egypt to find food and relief from the famine, but the Lord appeared to him and told him not to go. The Lord again recited His covenant that He had promised to his father, Abraham, and told him to settle in Gerar. So, Isaac listened to the Lord, and as he settled in this land, we see that Isaac encountered a situation similar to that of Abraham.
Genesis 26:6-10 reads, “So Isaac settled in Gerar. When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, ‘She is my sister,’ for he feared to say, ‘My wife,’ thinking, ‘lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,’ because she was attractive in appearance. When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah his wife. So Abimelech called Isaac and said, ‘Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?’ Isaac said to him, ‘Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’’ Abimelech said, ‘What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.’”
6. How is this situation similar to the situation Abraham experienced?
7. What did Abraham leave to Isaac that may have caused him to sin here? Is this an example of generational sin?
I believe this passage is a picture of what generational sin being passed down looks like. Although Abraham passed down his faith in the Lord to Isaac and Isaac picked that up by following the Lord, he also picked up the sins his father had. The Bible teaches about this aspect of generational sins or “curses” in Exodus.
Exodus 20:5 reads, “You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me.”
8. Is this passage teaching that God punishes children for sins their parents committed, even if they have not committed those sins? What do you think this verse is teaching?
Although this verse may be a bit confusing and seem like God is being unjust, it is not teaching that God just punishes children for sins their parents commit even if they have not committed those sins. Rather, it is teaching that children will choose to repeat the sins of their fathers. What a child sees is what they do.
9. Has there been a time when your child did something that you did that you did not want them to see?
I am sure all of us can think of a time when our child did something because they saw us do it, and our immediate thought was, “I have to be better than that.” I know I have. Sometimes, more is caught than taught. The truth of the matter is that what we show our children, they will pick up, whether good or bad. That does not mean we need to be perfect, and if you are worried that you have not done a good job of teaching your child how to follow the Lord, I want to encourage you to look at the very next verse after that warning in Exodus 20:6, “But showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
10. How does this verse encourage you to lead your family to follow the Lord?
11. What are some habits that you are passing down to your children? Are they godly or worldly things?
12. What do you need to start doing to sow more of these godly seeds in your children’s lives?
The idea that the way we live greatly impacts how our children will turn out is a scary thought. Many of us can feel inadequate to pass on these godly habits to our children, and the truth is that on our own, we are inadequate to do so. However, we know that we are not alone in this. God is the One who works through us. The Holy Spirit is able to provide us with all that we need to take on the important task of being godly fathers and mothers to our children. Not only that, but you have a church family who is here for you every step of the way, and when you need advice or some assistance, you can go to your Growth Community or Pastor, and they will be more than willing to help you.
In 2 Corinthians 9:8, we read, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”
13. What are some ways that you could encourage each other as a group to continue teaching our children to follow the Lord?