A Generation Left Behind

Judges 2:10-11
10After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. 11Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served Baals.

A generation gathered to their fathers means those that have died. African slaves within the Diaspora were not allowed to read and write so they relied on oral history to be passed down to the younger generations about who they were. But the Israelites that died never bothered to pass on what they knew of the Lord and His mighty acts. Not talking to the younger generation was a catalyst for them straying away from the Lord. Hosea 4:6 says that people perish from a lack of knowledge. A whole generation suffered not only in sin but in defeat because no one sat down to explain who the Lord is. It's no different from where we are now. Failing to teach children or anyone under our care about the ways of the Lord, the miracles witnessed and His saving grace is like setting them up to fail. The idea that they'll get what they need the best way they know how is assuming they actually know how. And like the next generation of Israelites, they not only didn't know but they started serving and worshiping things that were not of God. The price they paid was great because they were constantly defeated by their enemies.  If as the parent you are unwilling to take the time and tell them the right way, you not only set them up to fail but ultimately they are a reflection upon what God entrusted you to do that you did not. A generation left behind is often at a price no one bargains for after it's too late.