The Future

The Future

God’s Law points His people to the generations.

“…for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20:5, 6

The orientation of God’s Law is decidedly toward the future, and the assurance that God gave His people in His Law was that He would continue His promises and blessings into the future for generations of those who loved and obeyed Him.

The only “seen” reality Israel could have known would have been their own moment in time. In each of those moments they were to obey the Lord and serve Him, but not for the sake of that moment alone. God taught His people to live in the present, with a view to the past, and an eye for the future. The decisions and actions they took in the present, based on what they knew from their past, would determine the course of Israel’s experience for generations to come.

The future was unseen, but that does not mean that it could not be known. God had promised in His Word to bless for the generations those who loved Him and kept His commandments. We live faithfully, and in obedience to God, when we remember that our decisions in the present affect not only us but the generations of those who come after us. The future may be yet beyond the horizon, but by faith in the present we can help to ensure that the people who succeed us will know the promises of God for themselves and the generations who succeed them.

For more insight to the nature of God’s Covenant, order a copy of T. M.’s book, I Will Be Your God, from our online store. Visit our website, www.ailbe.org, and sign up to receive our thrice-weekly devotional, Crosfigell, featuring writers from the period of the Celtic Revival and T. M.’s reflections on Scripture and the Celtic Christian tradition.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T. M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.