by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
Among the many lessons we learn from studying the children of Israel is that apostasy can happen within a single generation. Proximity close to the original is no guarantee of holding to the truth. This pattern happened quickly and more than once. The first generation that came out of Egypt under Moses fell into disbelief and couldn’t enter the promised land (Hebrews 3:18-19). The next generation that entered under Joshua was better, but as soon as Joshua and the elders with him were gone, they quickly fell again. The warnings were given. The exhortations were strong (Joshua 1:1-9). But it still only took less than one generation to falter. Again, proximity close to the original is not fail-proof. This is why we must continually reassess where we are and make that commitment of faithfulness to the Lord based on His revealed will. Each one within each generation bears responsibility, and the standard for behavior is the same for each. We don’t measure ourselves by the next generation in close proximity to the original, but by the standard that was to shape the original itself. Even in Scripture, while the apostles lived and taught, apostasy was happening (e.g., Corinth, churches of Asia in Revelation). The appeal was to the standard given (cf. Galatians 1:6-9).<\/p>\n
While we appreciate the writings of early Christians from the second century onward and gain important insights (I do profit from reading them), we would be foolish to think that, because they were close to the first century, they were necessarily correct in all their practices. Nor should we think today that we should judge faithfulness by what Christians were doing in the 1950s or any previous decade.<\/p>\n
If we follow Jesus, then we need to keep this before us continually: “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day<\/em>” (John 12:48).<\/p>\n “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so<\/em>” (Acts 17:11).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Doy Moyer Among the many lessons we learn from studying the children of Israel is that apostasy can happen within a single generation. Proximity close to the original is no guarantee of holding to the truth. This pattern happened quickly and more than once. The first generation that came out of Egypt under Moses…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[617],"class_list":["post-92557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-apostasy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92017,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-you-a-member-of-the-church-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":92557,"position":0},"title":"Why Are You a Member of the Church of Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Vance E. Trefethen via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 3, September 1992 A full-page ad for the book \"Why I Am a Member of the Church of Christ\" recently caught my eye, with its bold headline: \"Now Is the Time to Act.\" Much of the message carried in this conservative\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43738,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/teaching-the-next-generation\/","url_meta":{"origin":92557,"position":1},"title":"Teaching the Next Generation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Sochor It has been said before that the church is just one generation away from apostasy. This is certainly true. While there are exceptions to any rule, generally what the wise man said is accurate: \"Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/teaching-2-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17553,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/achans-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":92557,"position":2},"title":"Achan’s Sin","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edward O. Bragwell, Sr. Fresh on the heels of an astounding victory at Jericho, the young Israelite nation, under Joshua's leadership, focused on the next objective in their campaign to capture Canaan - the land promised by Jehovah. Ai, a small town, was next on the list. Upon their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scan0048-3-300x269.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39624,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-had-seen-the-great-works-of-god-in-judges-27\/","url_meta":{"origin":92557,"position":3},"title":"Who had seen the great works of God in Judges 2:7?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I would like to ask a question about the who's who of a biblical passage. Regarding the \"who\" in Judges 2:7, who are they in this passage? Are they the same people who served the Lord in the days of Joshua and in the days of the elders who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57598,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/joshuas-encouragement\/","url_meta":{"origin":92557,"position":4},"title":"Joshua\u2019s Encouragement","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer As the children of Israel were preparing to go into the Promised Land, Moses delivered a series of speeches to help them understand how important their love and obedience to God would be (see Deuteronomy 6:1-9). Moses would not enter the Land himself, but Joshua had been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28621,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-kill-the-amalekites\/","url_meta":{"origin":92557,"position":5},"title":"Why did God kill the Amalekites?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was wondering, for example, when the Israelites were attacked or they attacked someone else, Moses held up his staff and it helped Joshua's army, but if the staff was held down then the war went for the enemy. 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