"So these nations feared the LORD, yet served their carved images; also their children and their
children's children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day." (2 Kings 17:41)
Several years ago the Christian Life and Faith Magazine presented some unusual facts about
two families. In 1677 an immoral man married a very licentious woman. Nineteen hundred
descendants came from the generations begun by that union. Of these, 771 were criminals, 250
were arrested for various offenses, 60 were thieves, and 39 were convicted for murder. Forty of
the women were known to have venereal disease. These people spent a combined total of 1300
years behind bars and cost the State of New York millions of dollars.
The other family was the Edwards family. The third generation included Jonathan Edwards who
was the great New England revival preacher, and who became president of Princeton University.
Of the 1,344 descendants, many were college presidents and professors. One hundred eighty-six
became ministers of the gospel, and many others were active in their churches. Eighty-six were
state senators, three were Congressmen, 30 judges, and one became Vice President of the United
States. No reference was made of anyone spending time in jail or in the poorhouse.
"Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it." (Prov. 22:6)