It’s easy to overlook the role of grandparents in the Bible until you become one. Then you notice and appreciate the special role God has for them. Actually, most of the well-known people in the Bible were grandparents.
The Bible tells us something about their grandchildren and the impact they had on them. Let’s look at some.
ENOCH was the grandfather of Lamech and great-grandfather of Noah. He “walked with God” (Genesis 5:22) for 300 years, even during times of terrible corruption. It was so bad God wiped out everyone on earth except his great-grandson Noah. Enoch learned how to commune with God despite the circumstances of life. He did not die but was taken up to heaven (Hebrews 11:5), ‘raptured.’ In examining the life of Enoch, we see that our walking with God must not be out of duty but our greatest delight. How did Enoch’s walk affect his relationship with his grandson Lamech? I think it’s safe to say that Enoch passed his belief in and love of the Lord on to his grandson Lamech and great-grandson Noah, whose family was the only one to be saved from the flood. What are you doing today to pass your faith on to your descendants?
ABRAHAM was Jacob’s grandfather (Genesis 11). He obeyed God and left all he knew to follow God’s leading to an unknown destination away from his home and family. His prompt obedience showed His faith in God (Hebrews 11:8). His faith was passed on to Isaac who was willing to be offered to God as a sacrifice on an altar and on to Jacob as well. Sometimes we forget that our grandchildren are watching us and our example. What a great opportunity to point them in the right direction! Our lesson from Abraham is that a confident belief and trust in God comes from knowing Him (James 2:23). Do you regularly talk to your grandchildren about your faith and what it means to you?
ISAAC was the grandfather of Joseph through one of his twin sons, Jacob. Unfortunately, some of the strongest parenting and grand-parenting lessons we learn from Jacob are about things not to do: show favoritism (Genesis 25:28), put your own comfort first instead of the family, etc. Isaac and Rebekah demonstrate to us the negative outcome of showing partiality. In His Word, God instructs us not to show favoritism (James 2:1, 9). As well, we know from Scripture that Christ died for all (John 3:16), and that God Himself shows no favoritism (Romans 2:11). It is clear, as grandparents, we must avoid ever playing favorites among our grandchildren. We see positive lessons Isaac passed on as well: willing to give up his very life if that is what God wanted and a close relationship with his wife Rebekah. These were also passed on. It’s natural to be closer to some grandchildren than others, but are your other grandchildren even the slightest bit aware of it? Go out of your way to keep them all equal.
JACOB was the grandpa of Ephraim and Manasseh (Joseph’s sons). He has a lesson to teach grandparents about the act of giving a blessing. Esau didn’t care about his (Genesis 25:29-34; 27:34) but Jacob did. He passed it on to his grandsons as well. Old Testament blessings from father to son included words of encouragement and affirmation, details regarding the son’s inheritance, and prophetic words concerning their future (Genesis 48:9). Blessings are powerful and important in the lives of others. This is still true today. To receive a blessing is a high honor. Not receiving one is equal to a curse. It is very powerful to speak blessings to our grandchildren: affirm their worth as a child of God, encourage them in their faith and obedience to God, give godly advice and teaching as they grow and mature and pray for them regularly. When is the last time you blessed your grandchildren by verbally praising and encouraging them? Did your grandparents do that to you?
BOAZ & RUTH were the grandparents of Jesse and great-grandparents of David. They teach us a lot about God’s sacrificial love and redeeming grace. Ruth was a Moabite and daughter-in-law to Naomi, an Israelite living in Moab. Upon the deaths of all the men in the family, Ruth was the one to take a risk by leaving her home, her family, and her gods to follow Naomi back to Israel. Ruth was a foreigner and a stranger, from a nation that were enemies of Israel. Boaz, Ruth’s eventual redeemer-husband, was most likely the son of Rahab. Recall that Rahab was a non-Jewish woman and former prostitute who survived Israel’s conquest of Jericho because she hid the Jewish spies and helped them escape. Can you imagine the stories Boaz heard as a boy? Stories of God’s incredible work in Jericho and in the lives of Rahab’s family? The redemption story of a foreigner and harlot who was saved by the grace of God and grafted into Israel’s tree? We can be sure the personal testimony of God’s lavish love poured out on Rahab affected the way Boaz viewed Ruth the day he saw her gleaning in his field and discovered who she was. Quite likely, he saw something familiar that reminded him of his grandmother and dear in a woman who had left everything to embrace Naomi, her nation, and her God. Many lessons come from this pair of Bible grandparents. They teach us the importance of sharing our God stories with our children and grandchildren. They teach us to trust God with our grandchildren as the two of them share their story of God’s love for reconciling enemies, redeeming sinners, and making foreigners His children. Can your grandchildren repeat the stories you told them about God’s grace in your life from your youth to the present?
HANNAH is known as a mother of faith (1 Samuel 1). God gave her Samuel when she couldn’t have any children. But she was also blessed by being the grandmother of Joel. She sets an example of persevering prayer and trust, awaiting first a son and then a grandson. She never gave up. When God did give her a son, she offered him back to God to serve Him all his life. From Grandma Hannah, we can learn that God, working in a multitude of way, uses our waiting to grow our faith. Additionally, we can follow her example of perseverance – when finances are tight, when family dynamics are strained, when our grandchild walks away from God. Rather than giving up, we can know that perseverance produces character, and character produces hope (Romans 5:3-5). Are you persistent in your prayers for each of your grandchildren? Who have you stopped praying for?
LOIS is not the only grandparent who showed strong faith in God, but it caught Paul’s attention. It is recorded in the Bible that Timothy’s grandmother was the starting point of a sincere faith that was seen in both her daughter and her grandson (2 Timothy 1:5). And later in the same book of the Bible, we learn from Paul that Timothy had been learning about God from his grandmother since childhood (2 Timothy 3:14-15). Lois had a generational mindset. She did not work hard to cultivate faith in her daughter and stop there. No, she continued working, investing in the next generation. Lois discipled Timothy, influencing him just as she had her daughter. Grandma Lois set the foundation for Timothy to develop into the man that he did. This New Testament grandmother teaches us that we, too, need to have a generational mindset as we work to cultivate a sincere faith in our grandchildren. In a culture that shouts to us that our work is finished, and we have earned time all to ourselves, we would do well to keep Lois and this lesson in mind. Are you doing all you can to teach your grandchildren about Jesus, or are you letting their parents and the church do it? They are your responsibility as well.
The grandparents of the Bible have much to teach us about our role if we will but look and listen. May it be said of us as it was of Grandpa Jotham (Hezekiah’s grandfather), “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord (2 Kings 15:34). And may we be models of God’s love and grace to our grandchildren who are watching and will surely be affected by the lives we choose to live.
Deuteronomy 4:9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
If you were privileged to have godly grandparents, thank God for them. What did they do right that you can learn from and pass on to your grandchildren?
Which of the Bible grandparents above speaks to you today? What can you learn and apply from their lives?
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
(India & Africa Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling, World View)
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