I'm no longer surprised to find references to generational transference of faith and leadership in scripture… but I am still surprised that it took me so many years to clue in to how regularly the Bible addresses the topic. It's as if I had been reading the Bible for my-self… rather than reading the Bible for the sake of God and others. The writers of the Bible were not self-absorbed (like so many readers are) but were attentive to the Good News being shared among successive generations far into the future.
Psalm 22, an intriguing-Messianic-lament-intermingled-with-hope, offers a benediction for future generations who, after being transformed by a prior generation's unselfish faith, will themselves proclaim God's message to the generations beyond them. The vision goes beyond the immediate stresses of our time and peers into a future of generations who are yet to come.
The unborn take a remarkable place of importance in this vision. They are, perhaps, the most important generation to be considered in the blessings given by the current generation. In other words, the work of those alive today is to definitively consider the practice of faith of those yet to be born (See also Psalm 78). One generation is to equip the faith of the next, who in turn equips the faith of the next, who in turn equips the faith of the next, and so on, for generations to come in the future.
So what we do today impacts what generations not yet born will do in the future. Our faith is not our own, but has been entrusted to us to share.