A Life in Exile

Forgetful by nature, humans make mistakes. We do it in the miscalculation of a math problem, missing the turn off of the interstate, or forgetting someone’s name. Not earth-shattering problems, but mistakes, nonetheless, which cause us headaches and U-turns and overdrawn bank accounts.

We all know the saying about how history repeats itself. Why? Because we forget that a certain past way of thinking caused a war or past actions caused a crash in the markets. Our inability to remember and learn leads to continued strife and discord.

Forgetting past events hurt God’s people.

This inability to remember is nothing new. Started in a garden, actually, when a certain woman didn’t remember God’s words to her and her husband. However, we might think that not remembering words is understandable, but when something great happens, how can we forget that? Simple. We do.

There are several reminders to this inability to remember God’s actions on behalf of his people that we can find in Scripture. This week we’ll look at Old Testament references and move to a few in the New Testament next Friday. Psalm 78 is an entire lesson on the need of God’s people to learn from their past. This included not only what God said but what he did—events that happened in their history.

He points out the failures of archers from the tribe of Ephraim due to their inability to remember.

The Ephraimite archers turned back on the day of battle. They did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his law. They forgot what he had done, the wondrous works he had shown them. (Psalm 78:9-11 CSB, emphasis added)

The psalmist goes on to list exactly what he was talking about by detailing the wonders God had done in Egypt, how he split the sea, led them by cloud and fire, and brought water from rocks for them to drink. How could they forget these amazing things?

But Israel’s forgetfulness is fully recorded, and the writer of Psalm 106 gives examples of their rebellion and cause for their sin.

Both we and our ancestors have sinned; we have done wrong and have acted wickedly. Our ancestors in Egypt did not grasp the significance of your wondrous works or remember your many acts of faithful love; instead, they rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea.

They soon forgot his works and would not wait for his counsel. (Psalm 106:6-7, 13, emphasis added)

When a people forget all God has done in the past, they turn away from him and no longer seek his help or counsel.

Not only do we fail to remember the mighty works of God, but we also forget the evil acts of our own people and the consequences paid. God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah these words to Jews who were living in Egypt.

You are angering me by the work of your hands. You are burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to stay for a while. As a result, you will be cut off and become an example for cursing and insult among all the nations of earth. Have you forgotten the evils of your ancestors, the evils of Judah’s kings, the evils of their wives, your own evils, and the evils of your wives that were committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? They have not become humble to this day, and they have not feared or followed my instruction or my statutes that I set before you and your ancestors. (Jeremiah 44:8-10, emphasis added)

We must not forget what God has done in the past nor the price God’s people (Israel and the Church) have paid for sinful acts. We hear of them in the news today, of pastors and Christian leaders or artists who have sinned and lost their families, ministry, and future. Will we not remember?

When it’s right to forget past events.

While we must remember in some ways, there is a hopeful verse Isaiah that tells us it’s important to forget some past events.

“Do not remember the past events; pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Isaiah was pointing God’s rebellious people to a new day. It would be a day when God would redeem his people once-and-for-all from their sin. The past would be in the past. Their sins remembered no more. He would do something completely new through the coming incarnation of the Son of God.

Only through faith in Christ’s work on the cross and conquering of death through the resurrection can we put our own sinful past behind us. We can forget it because God does. As we’re covered in the redemptive blood of Christ, our past no longer has a hold on us. We are free—free at last!

Remember that which draws you closer to God—Forget that which drives him away.

Grace and Peace

If you missed the last Friday Focus post, click HERE, or start from the Beginning.