Discernment, Deception, & Descendants

“We are going through a great crowd derangement. In public and in private, both online and off, people are behaving in ways that are increasingly irrational, feverish, herd like and simply unpleasant. The daily news cycle is filled with the consequences. Yet while we see the symptoms everywhere, we do not see the causes.”

(Douglas Murray, The Madness of Crowds, p. 1)

Indeed, "madness" is a good word to describe the world right now. The only thing that is certain is uncertainty. People are fearful and angry resulting in a climate that is increasingly unpleasant.

Doesn't this seem like a perfect time to raise a family!

As parents, we want to protect our kids from dangerous people, circumstances, situations, and ideas. Yet, the Bible never retracts the mandate to be fruitful and multiply. Even in times of war, famine, and exile, God encourages His people to faithfully bloom where they are planted. In Jeremiah 29 the prophet tells the people, exiled in Babylon, it is not time to give up. Jerusalem has been destroyed and the nation was defeated and devastated.

"Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jer. 29:5-7).

In Deuteronomy 11:13-32, Moses is finishing the introduction to his second speech in which he is going to review God's instructions and commands for them. The words he gave are timeless and shockingly relevant for us today.

He warns them that in the days ahead they must continually use discernment as they will be confronted with many deceptive forces. Most importantly he reminds them this must shape their approach to parenting and passing their faith on to their descendants.