Moses is considered the greatest person on planet earth who gave the Law. Moses commanded the children of Israel to teach their children every day as they sit or walk or lie down or arise; the Lord promised to prolong their days in the Promised Land. (Deuteronomy 32. 46-47; 6:6-7)
Apostasy: Though Moses gave the Law, his descendant initiated the idol worship that corrupted the Nation for the next six centuries. They were misled from the worship of the Lord to idol worship.
Ignored Law: Gershom was neither chosen to be a priest like Aaron and his descendants nor as a political heir of Moses as it fell on Joshua. Displeased, depressed, and disturbed Gershom it is believed, neither read the Law nor taught his son Jonathan.
Individual Idolatry: Micah an Ephraimite created his own idol, by stealing his mother’s silver. (Judges 17:1-6) Jonathan, the grandson of Moses was engaged as a priest by Micah and was glad that he had Levite as the priest. (Judges 17:13)
Idolatry of the Tribe of Dan: Later some men of the tribe of Dan, took Jonathan along with idols that corrupted the tribe of Dan. “And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.” (Judges 18:30)
Official National idolatry: Jeroboam, four centuries later as the first king of Israel installed two golden calves as objects of worship, one at Bethel and the other at Dan. (I Kings 12:25-33) The Ten tribes chose to abandon the worship of the Lord and followed idol worship.
Ripple effect: The idol worship began with an individual, and extended to a family, a tribe, and the Nation.
Mandate on parents: Parental responsibility of teaching, training, and coaching children is an awesome mandate that should be fulfilled with diligence. Even after faithfully teaching children, there is no guarantee that children will choose the path of faith.
Do I diligently teach my descendants the Word of God?