God Doesn’t Have Grandchildren
- Hannah Tekle
- May 31, 2023
- 4 min read
Tents of Mercy Congregation
Kiryat Yam, Israel
I couldn’t help but stare.
The face in front of me was impossibly familiar, but I knew I had never met this tall young man with his wavy blond hair in my life. As he approached the table where I sat, the scene before me played out as if in slow motion. Scanning through my mental contact list at whirlwind speed, I suddenly realized who he was. It was all about the eyes. The man standing before me gazed back at me with eyes just like his father’s - a guy I had grown up with, nearly four decades ago, during the most significant years of my childhood. I greeted him fondly, with a silly grin of humor and disbelief.
As teenagers, his father and I had shared some important moments growing up in the same congregation and learning at the same schools. Going to youth group together, we struggled to grasp, believe, learn about and hold onto faith in the Messiah. Second generation Messianic believers, it was our inheritance of faith and Jewish heritage that made adolescence at times even more confusing – yet also offered an anchor which we eventually both chose to cling to.
The ten or so teenagers sprawled out around the room, as only teenagers can do. A few curled up on the cozy recliner, and others nibbled on chocolate chip cookies around the table. They had already been singing Karaoke for hours and were slaphappy with tiredness and dopamine from the joy of easy friendship. In between songs, they foraged for more snacks in the kitchen. One minute they giggled together over goofy videos and the next, they felt heaven open while singing together in true and original worship to the Father.
A few hours into the sleepover, while telling funny stories about their parents, they realized that all of them were daughters and grandaughters of Messianic Leaders. The girls told us later how much fun they had being together and talking about their faith and what it was like to grow up in Israel as third generation believers. It was precious to hear about the weekend and see the silly and sublime videos they had done together. Knowing the difficult reality of walking in faith as multiple generations, tears came to our eyes.
As a rebellious teenager growing up in the 80s I never would have imagined that 35 years later I would be serving in ministry with my husband alongside my parents and my young adult children.
It was with a certain violence of decision that I chose to walk in the same faith as my parents. Hearing their dramatic testimony while growing up, it was a little embarrassing to feel like I didn’t even have one. But the quiet and persistent love of the Father met me time after time – surrounding me as a small girl in His undeniable presence, confronting me as a teenager with the knowledge of His incomparable love, and allowing me in His grace to know the fullness of joy that is found in His presence.
Refusing to give in to adolescent shame, I insisted on choosing what I felt to be true – even though it was exactly what was expected of me. Rebelling against rebellion itself, I chose to embrace Yeshua as my Lord. About 15 years later I would find myself in full-time ministry.
It is no coincidence that our God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Why would El Elyon (the Most High God) choose to identify as the God of three generations – three generations who didn’t always walk in perfect love and harmony and faithfulness with one another? In fact, this original Israeli dynasty was often beset with drama, scandal, betrayal, jealousy and disappointment. Why would El Shaddai choose to be known as the God of a flawed family, fraught with fears and unfaithfulness?
Hebrews 11 tells us the story of Abraham stepping up in faith – leading the way for all humanity to walk in a raw, human expression of trusting – reaching over the divide of eternity to be a picture of familial faith and faithfulness – eventually paving the way for the sacrifice of Yeshua Himself.
It is in this intersection, and in this gap, that we as multiple generations of believers find ourselves desperately walking out the paradox of personal faith and free will. We choose to keep the faith of our fathers while seeking a fresh perspective and an individual touch from Ribon HaOlam (The Sovereign of the World).
My own personal experience of growing up in a believing home and as a daughter of congregational leaders has uniquely qualified me to understand what my own children may be experiencing as they grow up. Granted, it is a vastly different generation, and I am painfully aware of how easy it would be to walk away. What a sad but true reality that as children we tend to rebel against and despise the inheritance of our parent’s choices. So often, what is radically important to them and what they fought for becomes the polar opposite of what we seek.
It was sweet to meet the son of my childhood friend. But merely reminiscing about that friendship was not really the thing that made the biggest impression on me. What really made a huge impact on me was hearing this young man declare his faith in Yeshua. In this super-fast, super smart, super self-capable generation – to witness him choose to walk in personal faith, against all the odds, where many are choosing other paths – was precious indeed.
No doubt there is a generational inheritance that bolsters him up – with prayer and scripture and godly love--while his own personal encounter with the Messiah emboldens him to stand individually in his faith.
This is our current challenge and blessing – three generations of Messianic believers walking out faith in fear and trembling before a gracious and compassionate but jealous God. We earnestly desire a genuine and true expression of faith. We acknowledge the different needs and styles of the generations, and see the richness of the inheritance we walk in together before God.
God chose to be identified as the God of generations; He gives an inheritance of blessing like the blessings passed down from Jacob to the tribes.
Yet He also meets us individually in the way that each one needs, showing up generation after generation personally.
