INTRODUCTION-- EPHESIANS 6:1-4
A.This passage places obligations on both child and parent.
1.Children obey (in the Lord)--fathers do not provoke, but nurture.
2.What are the limitations, or the extensions of this instruction?
B. Would we be happy, if we could foresee that our descendants to the 10thgeneration would be walking in the truths we taught our own?

LESSON-- Compare two righteous fathers, Jonadab and Lot, and their heritage.
A. Jonadab appears during the reforming purge of King Jehu of Israel.
1. Jehu was commanded to destroy Ahab's dynasty. 2 Kings 9:1-10
2. Jehu invited Jonadab to witness and give moral support to his effort toeradicate the worship of Baal in Israel. 2 Kings 10:15-28
3. Jonadab is not mentioned again until Jeremiah 35:1-19.

B. Lessons to be learned from Jeremiah's contact with the Rechabites.
1. The incidents of Jehu's time, and those of Jeremiah's, are separated by about270 years, yet the Rechabites were still obedient as far as possible to the willof their ancestor.
2. If only two children were born in each generation, about 2000 descendants ofJonadab would have survived (perhaps many more).
3. What secret trait did Jonadab have that caused his children to the 10thgeneration to remember, and honor, and abide by his words?
a. We cannot doubt that the Rechabites were sincere.
(1) They were not just "tradition-bound."
(2) God would not have used them as an example, if they were insinceretraditionalists (think of the many rejections of Jewish tradition in theteaching of Jesus).
b. To achieve the success that Jonadab had, we must cultivate the wisdom ofGod. James 3:17 (Compare James 1:5-7.)

C.In contrast to Jonadab, righteous Lot failed. See 2 Peter 2:6-8
1.Lot's separation from Abraham showed his nature. Genesis 13:6-13
2.Genesis 19 shows the result of his choice. While he "vexed his soul, he lost hischildren. (There are other ways to lose them!)
3. The end of the World will reveal others like him. Luke 17:28-30

APPLICATION--
A.Teaching our grandchildren is important. Deuteronomy 4:7-9
B. God Emphasizes the role of righteous fathers. Ephesians 6:4, Colossians 3:21,Proverbs 19:18, Hebrews 12:9-11