A Return to Baalism: 'The Generation that Forgot God'

THE Book of Judges records a sobering indictment of God's people:

“There arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10).

This was not a pagan nation ignorant of God, but the children of those who had seen miracles—deliverance from Egypt, manna from heaven, victories in the land.

Yet familiarity with sacred history did not translate into living faith. Forgetting God did not happen overnight; it happened through neglect. What was not taught, rehearsed, and lived was eventually lost.

The tragedy of Judges reveals a pattern that repeats across history. God delivers His people. Peace follows. Gratitude fades. Memory erodes. Idols replace obedience. Then bondage returns.

Judges 2:11 states plainly that Israel “did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.”

This forgetting was not merely intellectual; it was relational. They knew about God, but they did not know Him. Knowledge without obedience hardened into indifference (James 1:22).

God had warned Israel against this very danger. In Deuteronomy 6:6–7, He commanded parents to impress His words diligently upon their children—talking of them at home, on the road, morning and night. All these were to help refresh God's people not to forget--

"Be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery" (Deut.6:12).

Faith was never meant to be occasional or institutional only; it was designed to be embodied in daily life. When instruction became sporadic and example weakened, faith ceased to be inherited.

Following a period of moral chaos, idolatry, and internal conflict, their history showed a downward spiral of unfaithfulness and lawlessness without godly leadership or divine guidance. Judges 21:25 observes:

"In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in their own eyes" (appearing in Judges 17:6, 18:1, 19:1, and 21:25).

As Scripture later laments, “They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths” (1 Samuel 12:9).

The modern world mirrors this condition with alarming clarity. We live in an age saturated with information yet starved of transformation. God’s Word is accessible, but often treated as optional content rather than authoritative truth.

Secularism trains hearts to live as if God is irrelevant. Faith is compartmentalized, reduced to tradition, while allegiance is quietly transferred elsewhere. As Jesus warned, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

Today’s “Baals” rarely resemble ancient statues. They are more subtle and socially acceptable: technology that commands our attention, careers that define our worth, pleasure that dulls conscience, self-reliance that crowds out prayer.

Even religious activity can become an idol when it replaces humble obedience to God. The modern calendar and its widely observed holidays (New Year, Lent, Easter, and Christmas, etc.) stand as a quiet but powerful indictment against God’s appointed ways, revealing a pattern of spiritual compromise and rebellion.

Pride, autonomy, and constant distraction make it easy to forget God—not by denying Him, but by sidelining Him.

Yet Scripture also provides the remedy. God repeatedly instructed Israel to remember—through testimony, memorials, and retelling His acts (Psalm 78:4–7).

Faith must be modeled before it is taught. Children must see repentance, prayer, and trust lived out. Parents and mentors must speak openly of God’s faithfulness, not merely in crisis but in ordinary days (Joel 1:3).

A generation forgets God when truth is assumed rather than affirmed, when faith is inherited but not practiced.

But a generation remembers God when righteousness is lived, truth is loved, and obedience is joyfully chosen. The call is urgent: “Choose this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15).

The future of faith depends on what we choose to remember, and to pass on today.