The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.

Judges 2:7-10

7 The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.
8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.

Today’s title is “What to do with Lost Generation”

Prosperity and peace are good. We all aspire to have peace and prosperity. We pray for it. We fight for it. When we fight for peace and prosperity, we do it more for our next generation than ourselves. What’s ironic though is that the generation who received the peace and prosperity from the previous generation without themselves fighting for it tend to lose it so quickly. What should we do about it? How can we prevent our next generation from falling into such a trap? Today’s passage raises such questions. After Joshua and the elders of Israelites who conquered the promised land died, the same fatal pattern of human life started to creep in the Israelites. We see the drastic fall of God’s people throughout the book of Judges. What was their problem? The book of Judges shows the answer upfront in verse 10 of today’s passage. “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.” That’s very forgetful and ungrateful. What’s even more frustrating is that Joshua knew and was highly concerned with this issue in the later stage of his life. We see Joshua trying his best to make sure that the next generation does not forget what God has done. We can see it from his farewell address which amounts to his last will for the next generation. He repeatedly reminded Israelites what God has done in the exodus, during the wilderness, and in conquering the promised land. He gave clear precautions against forgetting God. He earnestly asked them to keep the words of God and obey them. But the next generation somehow all abandoned what he so earnestly pleaded so quickly. “How could they be so forgetful and ungrateful?” we might wonder. Should Joshua and elders have done something more to keep the next generation spiritually awake? Those are all valid questions. But I don’t think that God gave the book of Judges to raise such questions for us. What stands out clearly again from such pattern of behaviors including behaviors of God’s people is the forgetful, ungrateful, sinful and rebellious nature of sinners. We should do what we can to keep them in faith. Education and training are needed. But never rely on them. They need the Savior Jesus. They need Jesus living in them and with them. The book of Judges so points people to wait and pray for the godly leader such as king David who truly loves God and leads people to God, But it ultimately points us to Jesus the savior. Only He can clean this mess of sins in us. Nothing else works. So it’s Jesus. Jesus for us, Jesus for the next generation. Nothing else. I believe that’s what the book of Judges ultimately says. Do you hear the same message?