“Make it known to the descendants”

[Psalm 78:1-22]

An article titled “The Secret of Jewish 3-Dimensional Gifted Education: Raise Children with a Heart Like a Dove and a Mind Like a Serpent” explains that to succeed in a competitive society, one must have a good heart (EQ) and a smart mind (IQ). Jesus also instructed His twelve disciples this way: “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). The Jews believe that the heart (EQ) should be pure, but the mind (IQ) must surpass worldly wisdom. Therefore, Jewish parents start teaching their children the difficult laws persistently from the age of three. Learning the law makes a person meticulous and not prone to carelessness. This is the secret of why Jews have become a top nation.

The author of the article wondered, “What is different about Jewish education compared to ours? Koreans are also very focused on educating their children, so why don’t they produce as many outstanding talents?” This led him to focus on Jewish child education methods, and an interesting point is the Jewish gifted education system’s three stages:

• First dimension gifted education: Intelligence development centered on knowledge, including IQ education given in regular schools.

• Second dimension gifted education: Development of shrewdness, cleverness, and practical wisdom.

• Third dimension gifted education: Development of wisdom.

Organized from lower to higher stages, these three dimensions are knowledge, shrewdness, and wisdom. The goal of education is naturally to raise children to the third-dimensional wisdom stage, but the reality in Korea is that it usually remains stuck at the first-dimensional stage. In contrast, Jewish gifted education first teaches the highest third-dimensional wisdom, then the shrewdness education, and finally knowledge in schools. In other words, they develop wisdom and shrewdness within a character education process based on the Bible (according to internet sources).

This is a fascinating Jewish 3-dimensional gifted education system. Particularly interesting is that Jewish education prioritizes wisdom development (third dimension) over intelligence development centered on knowledge (first dimension) for their gifted children. From an early age, Jews receive wisdom education through religious life and apply it to real life. They believe that wisdom is a gift given by God and that the foundation of wisdom is the fear of God. This means we must live remembering that God gives wisdom to the humble.

Jewish wisdom is concentrated in Old Testament Jewish literature such as Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job, as well as in the Talmud and the Law. They structurize these contents and forms into life so that wisdom deeply and broadly permeates their unique vertical culture. Vertical culture refers to the culture formed by the internal spiritual world of humans — history, philosophy, ideas, traditions, classics, and religion. In contrast, horizontal culture refers to the external physical world — material things, power, honor, fashion, modern scholarship, and modern science.

If vertical culture is the value for the unchanging soul, horizontal culture is for the ever-changing flesh. Vertical culture is a deep culture that seeks the meaning of life, while horizontal culture is a surface culture that seeks life’s enjoyment. Vertical culture fortifies the human spirit and forms a vessel to nurture inner confidence. If vertical culture is the hardware of a computer, modern scholarship and science would be the software. Wisdom must be great for knowledge to be properly used within it (internet).

Today, in Psalm 78:4-5, the psalmist resolves to "declare it to the next generation" (verse 4) and urges us to "make it known to their children" (verse 5). Therefore, under the title “Make it Known to the Descendants,” I want to learn three lessons from today’s passage about what exactly you and I should make known to our descendants.

First, what we must make known to our descendants are the works of God.

Look at Psalm 78:4 and 7: “We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, his might, and the wonders he has done” (verse 4), and “…so that the generations to come might know, and so that they might rise up and tell them to their children” (verse 7). The works of God that the psalmist made known to the Israelites in today’s passage began “from the crossing of the Red Sea and all that appeared in the wilderness” (verses 12-22) (Park Yoon Sun).

Starting from verse 12, the psalmist says that God performed “wondrous deeds” in the land of Egypt before the ancestors of the Israelites of his time. What are these “wondrous deeds”? They include God dividing the Red Sea so that the waters stood like a heap and the Israelites passed through (verse 13); guiding the Israelites in the wilderness by a cloud by day and by fire by night (verse 14); striking the rock to bring forth water so that the Israelites drank abundantly (verses 15-16, 20); and opening the doors of heaven to rain down manna as food (verse 23 and following), and so on.

But what is the problem? The answer is found in verse 11: “They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.” Although God performed many wonders for the Israelites, they forgot all the miracles He had done. They forgot very easily. However, this does not seem to be a problem only for the Israelites. We also easily forget the things God has done in our past lives and the grace He has bestowed upon us. Therefore, just as the psalmist resolved and put into practice (Psalm 77:11), we too must decide and act to remember the “wondrous deeds of old,” the things God has done in our lives.

Second, what we must make known to our descendants are God’s commandments.

Look at Psalm 78:5 and 7: “For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children” (verse 5), “… that they should keep His commandments” (verse 7). God established “laws” for His covenant people, Israel, and commanded that they be taught to their descendants (verse 5). And God also commanded that those descendants teach their children to keep only God’s commandments (verse 7).

Here, the word “law” (법도) can be narrowly understood as referring to the Ten Commandments that Moses received on Mount Sinai during the Exodus, or more broadly as referring to all of God’s commandments. Besides the word “law,” in the first half of verse 5, the psalmist also uses the word “testimony,” meaning the testimony of God’s revelation of Himself to His people, which is to be passed down through generations (according to Park Yoon Sun). One of these revelations is found in Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

However, the problem is recorded in Psalm 78:10: “They did not keep the covenant of God, and refused to walk according to His law.” This refers to the tribe of Ephraim, who originally were strong fighters (Genesis 49:24) but were defeated during the conquest of Canaan (Judges 1:29) (Park Yoon Sun). The reason for their defeat was disobedience and unbelief in keeping God’s commandments.

The psalmist records the sins of disobedience and unbelief of Israel’s ancestors this way: the people “continued to sin against God and rebelled against the Most High in the wilderness” (Psalm 78:17), in their greed they “tested God in their hearts” (verse 18), and doubted God’s power (verses 19-20). Furthermore, they spoke against God, saying, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? He struck the rock and water gushed out; can He also give bread? Can He provide meat for His people?” (verses 19-20).

The one true God commands Israel’s ancestors and us: “These words which I command you today shall be in your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). God commands Israel—and also us—to engrave His commandments on our hearts and to diligently teach them to our children.

Third, what we must make known to our descendants is to place hope in God.

Look at Psalm 78:7: “That they might put their hope in God ….” In today’s passage, the psalmist recounts the sinful history of Israel to warn the people of his own time and their descendants (Park Yoon Sun). The intention is that the people of Israel would not sin by forgetting God’s wondrous works and disobeying His commandments, as their ancestors did. In a way, the psalmist’s conclusion is not one of unbelief but of faith. In other words, the psalmist’s conclusion is that we should not doubt God but believe in Him. To do this, both the Israelites and we must remember God’s wondrous works and obey His commandments. On the other hand, only by believing in God can we remember His wondrous works and obey His commandments (Park Yoon Sun). The prophet Isaiah exhorts us: “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock” (Isaiah 26:4). Only God is our eternal refuge. We must place our hope in the Lord, who is our eternal rock. And we must show such a life to our children.

I want to share a story about my late uncle, Pastor Kim Chang Hyuk, who was hospitalized due to cancer. When I visited him one Monday morning, we had a long conversation and laughed a lot. During our talk, we naturally spoke about his wife and his two children. Especially, the pastor shared the names he planned for his grandchildren. If his eldest son had a boy, he thought to name him “Seung-gyeom,” and if a girl, “Yeson.” For his younger son, when he marries and has children, the boy would be named “Seung-ye,” and the girl “Yebang.” Why did the pastor choose these names for his descendants? I think there are two reasons: first, “humility,” and second, “prevention.” The pastor admitted that he was proud and hoped his eldest son’s child would be humble, hence the name. For the younger son’s children, the names were meant to signify prevention or avoidance. Reflecting on the names the pastor chose for his children and descendants, I thought a wise person is one who is humble and also preventive. This is because a wise person fears God and cannot be proud before Him. Rather, the wise person humbly remembers the works God performs in their life and obeys His commandments. And a wise person never places their hope in themselves or the world. Only in the Lord do they put their hope. I pray that you and I, until the day the Lord calls us, will teach and make known with our words and lives to our children and descendants the works God has done, His commandments, and to place our hope only in God.

Thinking of Dylan, Yeri, and Yeeun, whom God has given me as gifts of grace,

Pastor James Kim
(With a heart devoted to teaching God’s works, His commandments, and to placing hope in God to our children)