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by Bill Seng

“Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and because they did this evil the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel.” ~Judges 3:12

It is important to obey God’s commands, not just for our sake, but for the sake of our children. And I’m not stating this in a manner that our poor decisions today will immediately affect our children. I mean that our children might be adults before they reap the consequences of our bad decisions. It’s possible that it won’t even be until our grandchildren are grown up that the consequences of our actions are fully manifest.

In the above passage, Israel suffered from the consequences of not only their immediate sins, but those of one of their distant relatives. Back in Genesis 19 you will remember the story of Lot, the nephew of Abraham. Lot fled from Sodom with his wife and two daughters. His wife was ultimately lost as they fled the city, leaving only Lot with his two daughters. His daughters became fearful that they would be unable to find husbands and decided to get their father drunk and take advantage of him so that they could become pregnant and have children. They were successful in their misdeed and one of them gave birth to a son named Moab. The descendants of Moab are the ones in this passage who were used to oppress the Israelites as a judgment from for the sake of their disobedience to God. It took many years for Lot’s sin to manifest fully, but it happened (Genesis 19:30-38).

Take a look at our present circumstances. Most people will recognize that our country is a shadow of its former glory. It’s difficult to find good jobs. Health insurance is a mess, along with the health care system. People who do have jobs are struggling to make a livable wage. And the majority of people are crushed by debt. The easy way to address this issue is to blame the current generation that suffers from these realities. The more difficult thing to do is to acknowledge how we got here.

The problems we are suffering today have been brewing for quite some time. Let’s look at illegal immigration as an example. Currently, it is projected that there are 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States. It is being touted as a serious problem that needs to be taken care of right now. Slick politicians that can maneuver an immediate fix in their favor have proposed what they would call compassionate solutions for the problem. But what they won’t tell you is that this was already done once before only to re-emerge as a bigger problem later.

In 1986, Ronald Reagan signed a bill that granted amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants. Although many would say that this distinguishes Reagan from the conservatives of today, they often fail to mention that it was a compromise. 3 million illegals would be granted amnesty, but a wall would be built to secure the southern border to prevent the influx of illegals from getting out of hand once again. Today, I believe 30 miles of that wall has been built, and not only do we have to worry about illegal immigrants but also terrorists infiltrating the droves of refugees who seek sanctuary in our country. It went from a bad situation to a dire situation.

Americans need to take note of the story of Lot and his daughters. His daughters behaved in a manner that reflected the culture of Sodom and resulted in wickedness upon wickedness. When we fail to consider the consequences for today’s decisions, not only do we suffer from their consequences, but our children will in the future. But there is good news.

Things do not have to remain as they are. We can humble ourselves before God, confess our past transgressions, admit our wickedness, and ask God to set us on the right course. This is a very intentional process that will make us uncomfortable, but if we desire a blessed life we must be willing to pay the price.

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