G. Campbell Morgan was an excellent teacher, the pastor of The Westminster Chapel, and frequent speaker at the Moody Bible Institute in its early days. I find myself reading from his set of sermons regularly and am never disappointed. As was common in this period, Morgan would take a verse, or part of one and expound on it powerfully. In a men’s meeting recently, we discussed this sentence taken from one of these powerful sermons based on Deuteronomy 8:2 – “As you face the new, never forget the old, for the most absolute certainty that we possess as we face the uncertain is that of the things of the past.”
God, in the Scripture, was constantly reminding His people to look back, remember and never forget. Why? Because we do so easily, it seems. The Bible in many ways is a sweeping drama focused on prior events, - Creation, the flood, the Exodus, the conquests, the dispersion, the cross and resurrection, etc. Each event plays a crucial role in our understanding of God, His character and will. Each one also is in our past. In fact, other than some events in the final book of the Bible, everything that has taken place in the pages of Scripture is in our past. We all must become lovers of history, and it seems that God has designed it that way. We must never forget.
Many of the commands given by God to remember also include additional direction – make sure your children are told as well. Why? Because they most likely will not know unless someone tells them! That someone is supposed to be us. God expects us to tell our children about events that took place before they were born. Why? Because their life has a context, and they are part of a continuum. They have roots and there is a reason they are where they are today. We all are. None of us just simply appeared with no connection to the past. We are connected to those that went before us. Our lives are impacted by our ancestors. From Adam to my parents, each one played a part in forming my world.
God commands us to remember and to make sure our children understand where they came from. We all can face the uncertain future with the certainty of the past. We learn how God acted, what He did, and what He has said in His Word. God does not lie and He is not a respecter of persons. What He has said, He will do. As parents, it would be wonderful if we began to chronicle what God has done in our lives, including how He answered our prayers and how He affected our lives. Why? So we can better explain to our children the reality of God and give them reason for hope in an uncertain world. Moreover, God commands us to do so.
I may not know much about the future, but I can learn a great deal about the past and then face the future with that understanding. I know God and He knows everything, so why do I have to worry or walk in fear as we face uncertain times? My God is the same God that created the universe and holds it all together. My God is the same God that parted the Red Sea, established and removed kings at His command, raised the dead, healed the sick, and defeated death and the devil at the cross. My God is the One that will create a new heaven and new earth. My God is the One that has always delivered His people according to His timing and purposes. The past clearly reveals who My God is and that He is unchangeable. Will He fail me or my children now? Not my God. How about yours?
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