while today

The stories at the end of the Book of Judges are shocking. It is hard to find a “good guy” in them. Why are we told such stories? They illustrate how bad things become when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

One such story is of Micah and the Levite. Micah steals silver from his mother. She places a curse on whoever stole her silver, so Micah returns it. On the return of the silver, Micah’s mother makes an idol. With possession of the idol, Micah also makes an ephod (the outer garment for a priest) and sets up one of his sons as priest (however Micah is from the tribe of Ephraim). Micah now has his own homemade temple.

A Levite shows up looking for a place to stay. Micah makes him his priest. Now, Micah has everything including a Levitical priest.

A scouting party for the tribe of Dan arrives at Micah’s house. The tribe of Dan has failed to capture their allotted territory, so they are in search for a new place to live. They learn of Micah’s “temple” and priest. When the tribe of Dan returns in full force, they steal the idol and entice the Levite to become the priest of a whole tribe instead of one man. The story ends with this startling revelation:

And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. (Judges 18:30, ESV)

The grandson of Moses is an idolatrous priest, and the idol remains in the city of Dan until the captivity.

Now some translations will say “son of Manasseh” (KJV, NASB, NKJV) instead of “son of Moses” (ASV, ESV, NIV, NET). There is only one letter difference between Moses and Manasseh in Hebrew: Mšh vs. Mnšh. Support for reading “Moses” is found in many Hebrew manuscripts and some manuscripts of the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate.

How did the two readings arise? In many Hebrew manuscripts that have Manasseh, the letter nun (the Hebrew equivalent to the letter “n”) is suspended over the first two letters of the name. This likely means that the reader is to pronounce aloud “Manasseh” while realizing that it is “Moses” in the text. It was a scribal way of protecting Moses’ reputation. This is a place where Manasseh means Moses.

As a grandfather I ponder what I want for my grandson. The most important prayer is that he will become a man of faith. This passage warns that it hasn’t always happened. We must be intentional for faith to transcend generations (Psalm 145:4-7).

Fathers, what is your legacy? The word means more than the money and gifts that you will leave behind bequeathed in your will. It also means anything “transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor” (Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary). For many of us with the monthly pressure of paying bills, we are probably not expecting to leave our kids a great monetary inheritance anyway. But the truth is every father has a legacy.

Let me tell you the legacy of three fathers. The first is Jonathan Edwards, the famous Puritan minister. Edwards and his wife, Sarah, had eleven children. Besides the religious influence from his studies and work, he made it a point to spend an hour a day with his children. A sociology study charted the 1,394 known descendants of Edwards. It found that from his known descendants there were 13 college presidents, 65 college professors, 30 judges, 100 lawyers, 60 physicians, 75 army and navy officers, 100 ministers, 60 prominent authors, 3 United States senators, 80 public servants (from state governors to foreign diplomats), and one vice-president of the United States.¹

A contemporary of Jonathan Edwards was also studied. His name was Max Jukes. Jukes had a drinking problem and had a hard time holding down a job. He disappeared for days at a time on a drinking binge. He showed little concern for his wife and children and spent little time with them. The study was able to trace 540 of Juke’s ancestors. From Juke’s known descendants 310 died as paupers, at least 150 were criminals (including 7 murderers), more than 100 were alcoholics, and half of his female descendants ended up as prostitutes.

This is not to say that our character is predetermined by our parents and grandparents. It is not to suggest that positive or negative character traits are inherited. Individuals can overcome bad environments, and good environments do not necessarily guarantee good moral choices. However, it does argue that environment plays a vital role. “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6, ESV). Proverbs 22:6 may not be a guarantee, but it is a general rule about how things usually work. Fathers, we can have a profound influence for good or ill on our children and descendants.

Finally, consider the spiritual legacy of one more father—Joshua. The book of Judges reports, “And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel” (Judges 2:7, ESV). Doesn’t this say something about Joshua as a man and as a father? Could the faithfulness of the following generations have something to do with Joshua’s spiritual legacy? Isn’t there a connection between this passage and Joshua’s great challenge and choice, “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15, ESV).

Fathers, what is your legacy?

¹Mark Merrill, “A Father’s Legacy.” http://www.familyfirst.net/pressroom/fatherslegacy.htm

Confess means to disclose, acknowledge, or admit something. Both our English word, confess, and the Greek word behind it are used for confessing sin and also professing faith. Some English translations have adopted “acknowledge” for the confessing faith passages.

One of the great passages dealing with confessing faith is Romans 10:9: “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (ESV). Some might ask us, “Doesn’t that exclude baptism?”

Many who might ask that question believe in unconditional election. Yet what is a sentence that states “if you confess and believe, you will be saved” but a condition. Further, Paul’s emphasis in this verse is on the resurrection, yet we know from all of Romans that the basis of salvation also included the atoning death of Christ. Paul mentions a part for the whole. Maybe the same is true for the conditions of salvation. We need to consider all that is said about salvation in the New Testament.

Paul is dealing with the problem of Jewish unbelief in Romans 9-11. Paul underscores that salvation is available to all with his use of the quotation from Joel 2:32, “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Romans 10:13, ESV). The quote also explains Paul’s discussion of confession.

Interestingly, Joel 2:32, confession, and baptism intersect in a number of passages. Peter quotes Joel in his Pentecost sermon (Acts 2:21) but commands his listeners to repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38). When Paul recounts his own conversion in Acts 22, he quotes Ananias as saying, “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name” (22:16, ESV), which obviously alludes to Joel 2:32. Peter writes, “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21, ESV). Confession and baptism are not at odds with one another, but seem to go together in the New Testament.

Confessing our faith in Jesus brings us out into the open. It makes our faith public. Jesus does not want secret disciples (see also Matthew 10:32-33). Clearly Jesus and Paul link confession to salvation.

Graduation is surrounded by many traditions. It is a human way of expressing the significance of the event. Graduates are most often dressed in a cap and gown (and there may be hoods and stoles involved too). This academic dress dates from the medieval universities of Europe when robes were the daily dress of those in the academy and not a special occasion attire.

Many of us will hear the strains of “Pomp and Circumstances” as graduates march in and out of the ceremony. This tradition is not nearly as old as caps and gowns. It dates back to 1905. Yale University bestowed an honorary doctorate on the composer, Sir Edward Elgar. In the ceremony, the New Haven Orchestra played a small part of his 1901 “March No. 1 in D Major.” The music caught on for graduations, and the rest is history.

Many will hear a commencement address. Such speeches celebrate the accomplishments of the graduates and often give advice for the next phase of life. Graduation is a transition. Graduation represents the closing of one phase of a person’s life and the beginning of a new phase. It is a time full of promise, even though transitions are not always easy. Graduates are often thinking and planning what’s next.

What message do I have for parents and graduates? Raising children is a gradual process of letting go. We train. We instruct. We discipline. But the goal is always for these lessons to be internalized, so that our children reflect Christian character as they make their way in the world. It is rewarding but never easy.

Youth is a time to follow dreams. As you get older responsibilities may increase and certain doors of opportunity may close or at least become harder to go through. Test your dreams by the will of God (see Ecclesiastes 11:9), but recognize that this is a unique time in your life to work towards what you will become.

Whatever else you pursue in life, my prayer is that you will seek first the kingdom of God. (See Matthew 6:33.) For those who are leaving home for the first time, there may be challenges to your faith. I want you to know that there are good answers to the skeptical questions people ask. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you seek God, you will find answers and your faith will be strengthened.

We are looking forward to our son’s graduation. We are proud of his accomplishments and look forward to celebrating this important event in his life. Congratulations to all of our graduates and their parents! It is an exciting and important time for you.