“When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.” –Alexis de Tocqueville
We live in a world that devalues the past and is quick to disregard anything that is considered old, traditional or “outdated.”
This includes not only old ways of thinking, doing, and behaving, but old systems and structures that have formed the very underpinnings of society – everything from the family unit to the rule of law and order.
This general disdain for the past isn’t just confined to things and ideas; it can also be seen in the devaluation of older people – a casting aside of those who have gone before us, predicated on the belief that the younger generation is more enlightened and knows better.
But, this is not part of God’s design, nor is it reflective of His heart. Because while our world may be trying to forget the past, God is whispering an 8-letter word that has reverberated across generations since the beginning of time:
“Remember.”
Remember God (Deuteronomy 8:18). Remember God’s teachings (Malachi 4:4). Remember God’s glorious deeds, His might, and the wonders He has done (Psalm 78:4).
That God commands us to remember Him and His faithfulness is hardly surprising when we consider the human propensity to go astray, forget the good, and dwell on the bad. The Israelites themselves proved they were better at complaining than remembering, and the disciples of Jesus struggled to remember His power in the midst of storms, food shortages, and during His final days on earth. We are, indeed, a forgetful people.
But the command to remember is more than just an exhortation not to forget something; it’s an invitation to learn something – something deemed valuable and important by the mere fact that it’s being called to remembrance.
When God dried up the Jordan River so the Israelites could cross over into the promised land, He instructed them to build an altar of 12 stones to remember what He had done for them:
And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; for the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” Joshua 4:20-24
Remembering the past, then, has a purpose for the present – it has something to teach and show us: “that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” As such, the command to remember carries with it a reverence for the past precisely because it has something to offer – in this case, knowledge of God and His mighty deeds.
“I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.”
Psalm 77:11
This is not to say that everything from the past is good; it is certainly not. Just like our world’s more recent past, the Israelites’ past was full of missteps, greed, self-indulgence, and outright terrors. And yet, even then, they were told to remember – to learn from their errors, correct their step and guard against future calamities:
“O people of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel…do not be like your ancestors and your kindred, who were unfaithful to the Lord God of their ancestors…do not be stiff-necked as your ancestors were, but yield yourselves to the Lord…and serve the Lord your God.”
2 Chronicles 30:6-8
But just because some parts of the past aren’t good doesn’t mean that everything from the past is bad. Nor does it mean that those who are old have nothing to offer. On the contrary, God says that “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life” (Proverbs 16:31).
We can only uncover eternal truths and lessons from the past, however, if we’re willing to remain curious and ask questions about it – not dismiss it altogether. In the story of Joshua, notice the action on part of the children, who ask: “What are these stones?” In Joshua 4:6 it says, “What do these stones mean to you?” (emphasis mine).
We are missing out on stories that contain beauty, wisdom and markings of God’s glory by not asking questions, by denying voices from the past and by rejecting everything they represent.
And so today, instead of tearing down the old, instead of silencing the generations that have gone before us, let us turn to them and ask them about their “stones” – their altars of remembrance, the markers of God’s goodness and faithfulness.
Let us allow them to fulfill the role they’ve been given, the role they’ve been commissioned by God to carry out, the role that we, too, are required to fulfill in our own time – to pass on wisdom and faith to future generations:
“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, ‘Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.’” Deuteronomy 4:9-10
May we be willing to ask. May they be willing to proclaim. And may there be an eternal echo of God’s goodness and faithfulness from one generation to the next.