Why Is Our History So Important

Question #1

WHY IS OUR HISTORY SO IMPORTANT?

One of the premises of this study guide is that the recounting of the hand of GOd in the founding and preservation of our nation must of necessity be given priority if there is to be hope for a cultural and spiritual restoration. The Bible clearly teaches that reformation cannot occur in a vacuum without historical reference. In the book of Deuteronomy a pattern is laid down for the renewal of a nation and its people. The pattern is repeated in both testaments (see the sermons of the Apostles in the book of Acts) with variations, but it begins with the concept of remembering God’s deeds in history. Remember” is the key word in Deuteronomy, repeated frequently throughout the book as a command that was to begin the repentant process of rebuilding. Deuteronomy (second Law) was the second statement of the Law to a new generation about to enter the Promised Land. Their fathers had died in the wilderness having forgotten god’s Law and their covenant. Now a new generation needed to be reminded why they had fallen. God had long prepared their deliverance from Egypt and they were commanded to recount it and give God the Glory.

Deuteronomy 5:15 says: “And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm.”

But the generation that Joshua led into the Promised Land soon forgot this admonition and in Judges 2:10 we read after the death of Joshua and the elders, “And there arose another generation after them which knew no the Lord, nor yet the works which He had done for Israel.” As a result it goes on to say that they went off and worshipped the Baals and pluralized their faith in godless idolatry. Does this sound familiar?

Constantly, in addresses by the prohets, Apostles, and our Lord, we see the admonition to remember God’s deeds and to recognize how they have abandoned His way. The major sermons of the Apostles quoted in the Book of Acts begin with an historical treatise on the falling away of God’s people from His blessing (Acts 7). In Revelation 2:5 Jesus says to the church at Ephesus: “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works.” Notice here that they had to REMEMBER even before they could repent.

We in the United States today have forgotten what God did for us. Many americans would say that they do remember and acknowledge Christ as their personal liberator from the bondage of sin. But how many of us celbrate God’s work in liberating us from 2500 years of domination under the totalitarian rule of the Divine Right of Kings? since the time of samuel the prophet in 1120 B.C. until the founding of this nation the pagan idea of man and government had dominated the world scene. But since the American Christian today does not know what God has done for him, it is any wonder that his personal repentance only works a personal reformation? For there to be a national reformation there must also be repentance for sins of omission and commission by the Christians who have forgotten the covenant of their fathers and the hand of God in our history.

Our Christian foundation and all of the godly institutions that were by-products of the Biblical faith of our forefathers, are to be passed on as a legacy and we, as Christians, are held accountable for what we do with this unprecedented heritage. Jesus said, “to whom much is given, much is required.” We had better remember and recount God’s history – His story – to our children and to a perishing generation or be prepared to lose our freedom.

Rev. S.W. Foljambe summarized the importance of our history on January 5, 1876 sasying: “The more thoroughly a nation deals with its history, the more decidedly will it recognize and own an overruling providence therin, and the more religious a nation it will become; while the more superficially it deals with its history seeing only secondary causes and agencies, the more irreligious will it be.

Verna M. Hall summarizes the way of restoration and its roots in historical remembereance in the introduction to Christian History of the American Revolution, page XXXV. She says: “America from the days of creation has been for God’s glory and for His people and if His people will be willing to learn what He done for them in the days past, repent, and ask God’s forgiveness for forgetting what He has done in bringing America into being, God will deal with her enemies within and without.”

Is history important to study? it is so significant that the future of our Republic may well be determined by what we do with our great legacy.

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