Deuteronomy 11:21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.
What we often call the holiday season, the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, is a time when we see something very graphically illustrated that is always true but not always obvious. We see the generational play between the elder, the parents, and the younger, the children. You can see those generations interacting one with another. That is very important because no matter your age, you are the link between what was and what will be, or at least what can be.
Before Israel entered Canaan, Moses addressed people who were neither the adults who came out of Egypt nor the children who would be raised in this new land. In Deuteronomy 11 Moses says, “Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God…and know ye this: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm, and his miracles, and his mighty acts…and what he did unto the army of Egypt…and what he did unto Dathan and Abiram…but your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did…therefore shall ye keep all the commandments…that ye may be strong… and that ye may prolong your days in the land.”
You see here a direct address to the people who would be making the decisions. The previous generation had passed off the scene. So Moses makes reference to “your fathers” and what they had seen and to “your children” to whom God was not speaking directly at that moment.
The Bible often talks about the “land of the living,” by which it means the here and now. The “land of the living” includes you, regardless of your age. What we enjoy in the land of the living is the brief time between the past and eternity. The end of the previous chapter says, “Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons,” and God brought them out a nation.
Then Moses addresses the next generation directly in chapter 11. He says basically, “Now, I’m not speaking to your children. I am speaking to you. So, you are not your fathers; you are not your children; you are the link between what was and what can be.”
Later, he says, “That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.” So, you are the link between your fathers and your children.
Years ago, old people in some cultures would sometimes box the ears of young people at important events like a royal wedding or some other notable event. It sounds cruel, but they would box their ears to help them remember the important event. We remember what is dramatic and traumatic. So, when you are five years old, you may not remember the importance of a royal wedding, but you might remember getting your ears boxed. It was a way, crude though it might have been, to pass on the memory of something significant well beyond the life of the elders, helping the young to remember.
Today, you are the link between what was and what can be. You are not a slave to the past, but you are a link to the future.
Regarding the fathers, they were told to remember. Remember what God did, how He brought you out of Egypt. Remember how He provided for you and conquered the armies of Egypt. Remember how He disciplined and judged Dathan and Abiram when they rebelled against God. Remember your fathers. It is important to remember.
Both personally and collectively, we have such a short memory, and it is important to remember the things that matter because the way to know what is coming down the pike is to know what has been. So, remember the fathers.
Then, regarding children he says, “Teach your children. They weren’t there when you left Egypt, and you will not be there in the future.” God says, “Honor me that I can prolong your days.” Then God says, “Honor me that I can multiply your days.” Is there is a difference between prolonging one’s days and multiplying one’s days? Well, there was a very specific and literal blessing for those that honored God as His chosen people Israel. God would prolong their days in the land that He had given them.
But there is a difference between prolonging and multiplying. God told Adam and Eve to multiply and replenish the earth. Well, along with multiplying and replenishing the earth, we ought to multiply and replenish days and the truth that gives them joy.
So, as we lead children on this earth, we ought to leave them with the memory of what has been and a determination to honor God in what will be.