If You Build God's House, He'll Build Yours

2 MIN READ ◦ DOUG GILES

“Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands. Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever.” - Psalm 112:1-3 (NIV)

Dear Christian Dad: If you don’t think seriously honoring God is important to you or your progeny then please check out what happened to Max Jukes and his cursed brood in contrast with the blessings that cascaded down upon Jonathan Edwards and his extended family. Enjoy.

In 1874, Richard Dugdale, on behalf of the New York Prison Commission began to visit state prison facilities and, in doing so, discovered a particular family connection between some of the incarcerated guests in Ulster County.

The research led to a publication of a study entitled The Jukes: A Study in Crime, Pauperism, Disease and Heredity.

He traced the lineage of this family tree to a man of Dutch ancestry named “Max,” born in 1720 in the Hudson Valley and he wasn’t a particular fan of God or raising his kids in a righteous manner and his stupid, evil devil-wife was onboard with his goofy glide-path.

Dugdale estimated that there were 1,200 members of this family tree and was able to report on the details of 540 of these descendants, plus another 169 who married into the family line.

Of the total group of related individuals, Dugdale found that:

310 were paupers who spent a combined 2,300 years in poorhouses;
130 were convicted criminals;
50 women were prostitutes;
7 were murderers.

These paupers and criminals cost the state of New York $1.5 million to pay for their incarcerations and $1.25 million in public welfare and other costs to society apart from incarceration. That’s $35M+ in today’s costs.

In 1900, Albert Edward Winship published another supplemental study, Jukes-Edwards: A Study in Education and Heredity, this time tracing the descendants of America’s leading theologian, Jonathan Edwards to compare them with the Jukes family.

The results are fascinating. He reported that out of approximately 1,400 known descendants of Edwards ...

“Practically no lawbreakers”;
More than 100 lawyers and 30 judges;
13 college presidents, 100+ professors;
100 clergymen, missionaries, and theological professors;
62 physicians;
80 elected public officials, including 3 mayors, 3 governors, several congressmen, 3 senators, and 1 vice-president;
60 authors or editors with 135 books to their credit; and • 75 army or navy officers.

You see my brethren, Jonathan Edwards built God’s house so God built his house.

Max Jukes blew God’s house off, so God blew his house/family off.

“ ... for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” – 1Sam 2:30 (KJV)