Moses Has a Word of Advice for Parents and Grandparents.

Deuteronomy Chapter 4 – Part Two: Moses Continues His Advice to the Next Generation by Reminding Them of What God Expects of Them and Us

Deuteronomy 4:9-14 -- The Passage and Some Thoughts

David Guzik points out how this passage starts off. It is with the words “Only give heed to yourself . . .”. The New Living Translation says, “But watch out.” The New International Version says, “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely.”

In verse 9, the sons of Israel are told to “keep their souls diligent” not to forget that they saw what God had done for them, to keep these things in their hearts, and to share them with their children and grandchildren. This concept of keeping our “souls diligent” is an interesting one. How well have we done in those four things? Well, I guess it depends in what ‘generation’ you lived in. Since God created what He created in Genesis, and assuming the average generation is 25 years (everything I could find ranges from 20 to 40 years), there have been as many as 240 generations that have come and gone. I regret to inform you that each ensuing generation is doing worse on this account. In my own generation, I feel that while we older ones are happy with our ability to keeps our souls diligent, to remember what God has done for us, to keep these things in our hearts, we have failed, for the most part, to pass these things on to our children and grandchildren. And one wonders why.

Let me suggest a few possibilities. Society seems to have adopted an overall pluralistic approach to life and faith. Multiculturalism within our communities has facilitated that. Our history as a People of God (Jew and Christian) is no longer the dominant history of the world to many. The educational system has challenged the Judeo-Christian principles, encouraging experimentation in other religions, or no religion, or worse still perhaps, that you are a ‘god’. The granting of rights to minorities has been extended to minors as well. Children have more power and encouragement now than ever before to ignore their parents. And heaven help you with your grandchildren if your children weren’t 120% satisfied with the way you brought them up – it’s their turn to treat their children much better. The nuclear family is no longer the family we grew up in. More divorces than ever mean more single-parent families, and that means the children have to split their available time with the two parents, and so on.  And so, the opportunity for sharing the history of our faith is minimal. We are relegated to the task of praying for them. But here’s the good news – that is an incredible responsibility and all that God needs to do His work with them.,

In verse 10, Moses reminds the sons of Israel of the day God had called them together at Horeb so they could hear His words and “learn to fear Him all the days they live” and to “teach their children the same”. Nowadays, fearing the Lord has become a thing to be avoided – because God loves us. Newsflash folks – a loving father is often feared by his children for they know that if they defy him, there will be a consequence. We’re not talking about making mistakes or not having yet learned a lesson – we’re talking about out and out disobedience. I have always feared the Lord God and I have always seen Him as a loving Father. The other day when we were taking care of our almost six-year grand-daughter and we were all playing in the backyard, we noticed that she was nowhere to be found. We were frantic for a moment (as most grandparents would be) and run around the front looking for her. She had decided to go and hide on us in front of the garage. Yes, I raised my voice and she knew I was angry with her. And she knew why. That was out and out disobedience. She had been warned before. But she soon got over it. Hopefully, it won’t happen again. My older grandson said, “You didn’t have to yell at her.” I chose to ignore him. He may have been right. But sometimes, a low quiet voice doesn’t always work with ‘children’ of any age.

In verses 11-13, Moses tells the sons of Israel how God had declared His covenant with them that they were to carry out and had given them the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone.

A number of commentators make the point that in verse 12 Moses reminded them that while they heard God’s voice in the fire, they did not see Him or a form of Him.  They contend that this is a reminder to them that they were not to make any graven images of God because they thought they knew what He looked like. This practice was left to the heathen and idolatrous nations all around them.

And verse 14 states that Moses reminded them how he was told to teach them those statutes and judgments, and the Ten Commandments, because they would need to follow those in the Promised Land, in order to be successful.

Here’s the funny thing. God expects the same of us. We’re failing. We need to figure out a way how we can take that up a notch.

Wrap-up

Here’s what I know for certain. God wanted the sons of Israel to learn what He wanted to teach them and to teach these things to their children and grandchildren. He wants the same for us. I also know that He does not want to live of life with our children that says, “just do as I say, not what I do”.

So, in a day and age when some of us find it hard to sit down with our children and grandchildren for the reasons noted above, not only can we and should we pray for them, but we also have the incredible opportunity to “model for them what they may hear us tell them”.  That’s big and great news for parents and for grandparents. Take heart. Your job is not finished yet.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.