THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS

“Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.” (Psalm 78:1-8)

It has been said that:

1. There was a generation that saw and experienced the move of God.  (First generation)

2. Then there was a generation that saw the move of God but didn’t experience the move of God. (Second generation)

3. Then there was a generation that neither saw nor experienced the move of God. (Third generation)

Another way of saying the same thing is:

1. The first generation knew the Lord of the work.

2. The second generation knew the work of the Lord.

3. The third generation knew neither the Lord of the work or the work of the Lord.

What is described here is a cycle.

If we examine Abraham’s life carefully, we will discover that he needed a drastic change in his life. God needed to do some work on him before he would be able to be the earthly head of a brand new plan of God. He needed to be a man of power and strength. He needed a power encounter with God to bring this about, and he had it. Then, symbolic as a new beginning and a new destiny as “the father of many nations,” God changed his name to “Abraham.”

Abraham’s son Isaac, on the other hand, had no real need to change. He grew up in the midst of a revival, of sorts. He had all the blessings handed down to him from Abraham, the first generation. All he had to do was sustain revival through prayer, but he failed to do this.

It was because Isaac failed to sustain the revival through prayer that his son, Jacob, was in need of a power encounter. Therefore, the third generation becomes most crucial because these people will usher in the next generation, the generation which will begin the cycle all over again.

There remains in this matter one last significant thing for us to consider. Joseph, the fourth generation, the generation of revival. I believe God wants us to get back to concerning ourselves with the salvation of our neighbors and the world. That would build our dependency on prayer once again.

God knows how to bring his church back to the place where we depend on Him again. He knows how to force us to our knees in prayer. He longs for a people who will spend time with Him once again in prayer.

I believe the world is looking for something different. However, if we do not again become a people who zealously go after God, we will never have that something different to offer them.