As a huge fan of the former tv show, Entourage I had to see the movie version last summer. In this film, they are trying to get a movie financed by a guy named McCredle played by Billy Bob Thornton. McCredle sends his son to Hollywood to be wined and dined by Vinny Chase and his posse. The son, played by Haley Joel Osmet (that kid from Forrest Gump is almost 30!) starts a vendetta against Vince when Emily Ratajkowski chooses Vince over him. In his disappointment, McCredle’s son does everything he can to sabotage the movie and show Emily Ratajkowski that he is a, “big man”.  In the end, McCredle admits his son is being a fool and apologizes for him.

The Bible has many similar stories of sons playing the fool. I was in the book of Jeremiah the other day because I wanted to examine closely my favorite verse in the whole Bible.

It is Jeremiah 22:15-16

15
“Does it make you a king
to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just,
so all went well with him.

16
He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know me?”
declares the Lord.

I always knew that these verses were about Josiah but I realized, upon close examination, that the Lord is actually speaking to Shallum, the son of Josiah. Now, Josiah had 4 sons: Johanan the firstborn, Jehoiakim (also known as ELIAKIM), Zedekiah (also known as MATTANIAH), and Shallum (also known as JEHOAHAZ). They were born in that order. Now according to the following website: https://3amthoughts.com/article/people-and-places/josiahs-sons and the Book of Jeremiah. They all seemed to be fools.

Johanan was the oldest and is not mentioned in the Bible to have ever reigned (maybe he was the smart one). Jehoikim burned the scroll of Baruch and seized Jeremiah. He was sent to Babylon. His son was evil too. However, out of his line Jesus came. Then came Zedekiah. He was no prize son either. He reigned 11 years but then the Lord called him a “bad fig” (Jeremiah 24:8). Then Shallum reigned only 3 months and was then taken into Babylon never to see his homeland again. Again, the Lord told him to straighten up in the whole of chapter 22.

Now, I do not know what went wrong. I am sure that Josiah tried to raise his sons the right way! Josiah was obviously faithful to the Lord! Aren’t  there promises in the Bible regarding generational blessings and curses?There sure are.

Jeremiah 32:18 Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands and recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them.

If we honor the Lord, will that guarantee that our sons and daughters will make Lord-honoring choices? It sure did not work out that way for Josiah. However, I am sure that we all wish that these guarantees were true every time. We all wish that if we do what is right,  then our children and our children’s children will honor the Lord and their names will be written in the Book of Life.

Now I am not debating the Lord’s Word since He said it and maybe there is something to it. Maybe if we do honor the Lord, the Lord will guarantee it meaning something to our children. To some extent, we will never know since our sons and daughters are their own human beings and they will have to stand before the Lord themselves. And we can not lead their lives for them. They need to make their own mistakes.

I know this is a struggle for me. I hope and I pray very hard that my son and my nieces and nephews will know the Lord and that we will all be able to experience the Lord’s provision for us in this life and in the next. I worry if I am doing too much and I worry that I am doing too little. We all want the best for our sons and daughters.

However, there is something that we need to and can do to help this happen. We can obey the Bible and train and teach our children the RIGHT

way. We don’t have to, “just look at them and sigh” as per the song Teach Your Children Well by Crosby, Stills, and Nash nor do we have to be brutal demagogues.

To some extent and degree and up to some time in their lives we need to take our responsibility as parents seriously enough to lead, guide, instruct, teach, punish, and be intimately involved in their decisions, responsibilities, and lives. It would have probably made a huge difference for Josiah and his sons and for McCredle’s son!

Proverbs 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.

———————————————————–W.