People Forget
3/14/20
It is easy for some to jump on the unforgiving bandwagon
against those who do not remember things or events of the past. There are endless reasons why folks forget
these conditions with a lack of interest being the most important as current
life experiences heed the day. But how
would our lives be different if we did not forget these past experiences and
then used them to avoid such diabolical dangers of today? God placed into our lives a wonderful gift
called memory and He expects us to learn from our mistakes and not to repeat
them over and over. The world shall wish
upon us destruction and death which are direct measurements of this lacking in
wisdom. God, however, wants us to think
of Him first so that He can continue to communicate with us the blessings of
life and skip the events that cause us harm.
About twenty or so years ago I attended a short
conference about how many of the World War II veterans have been forgotten
along with the job they performed during this period of time in world
history. To be honest, I did not realize
just how many people had been called into service from this small area of
Colorado. It is easy to believe that the
major cities had plenty of contributors but not so much the smaller areas of
the nation. As I sat and listened to the
producer of this conference introduce these brave men to the audience, I
quickly sank into my seat because of my embarrassment concerning the lack of
knowledge I had about these men in the area.
I watched the video of the producer with tears in my eyes, hardly being
able to focus my eyes due to the watery state I was in. Ever since that evening, I never had
forgotten these wonderful patriots who served our nation so that we may have
the continued blessings of life and of freedom that God intended all mankind to
have. I thank these men and women
throughout our nation’s history for what they did and what they fought for
every day, and I and my wife have done our best to teach our children this
memory as well.
Many experts say that it takes only a single generation
down the line to forget the historical memories of some type of cultural
bond. A good number of us that are fifty
years and older remember living in a condition referred to as the Cold
War. For the main part, this war was
fought in the government office buildings of two superpowers that stretched
their empires across the globe. A few
heated exchanges and regional wars did manage to begin and end but even after
such encounters concluded, this cold status between brothers and sisters
continued with covert actions of strategy that are just coming to the surface
today. Almost every country in the world
fought this type of war setting during the 1950s until the late 1980s. There was a sense of survival tactics that many
of us were taught extending all to the way to bomb shelters being built on many
properties while a few people sat in their chairs with their nuclear keys at
the ready waiting for orders to turn and launch. These times were not always the best I have to
admit but at the same time, we had the complete confidence in God and in our
government to see that our lives prevailed over the enemy. No, we did not do everything perfectly by any
means but at least all of us strove to make our lives the best we could while
tense moments in history walked with us.
This war too eventually ended and tensions between nations actually
warmed and friends began to emerge from such ugliness. This type of friendly activity became
encouraged even though some still held their affections at arm’s length, but
the doors were opened and the choice of peace existed.
Today, we face another type of war that is even more
frightening than the services of the world wars and that of the Cold War and
that is the war of ignorance and forgetfulness.
Building upon the proven fact it takes only one generation to forget
the past; it is this war that provides the greatest danger to our existence
today. Even though some of the younger
crowd was taught these wars none of them have had to live in constant worry
about an immediate threat to their way of life.
Most of them do not understand how to live when there is not an
abundance of food, electricity, gasoline, communication, housing, etc. In other words, they have no clue about how
to survive when disasters occur, large enough ones that totally interrupt
everything and everyone around them.
Furthermore and more importantly, they do not know how to trust those
around them when emergency situations arise because it is a known fact that
when disastrous times occur people who you believed to be friends will sell you
out in order to provide for their own wants and needs.
What does this mean to us? It means that not all of the younger
generations that are growing up understand the necessity of having to fight for
what freedoms and beliefs really mean. I
am not saying that everyone should be living in a war-torn state or have had
fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, or any other family member fall in the
line of military duty but it means that they do not know what it is like to
have to fight to keep and dress such God-given privileges. If this is the case,
it does not take too much longer for these folks to lose the memory of why they
are allowed to live in such standards and grace, and in turn, lose the concept
of the dignity of such standards. In
this progressive stance, it is easy for one to forget about those who fought
and died for the freedoms of today and in this state of “new ways” one can come
to the conclusion that nothing in the past matters but only what occurs today
can provide guidance for the future. In
truth, one cannot become closer to today unless we understand and receive from
the past, but the world shall never tell you this because its ruler is the
prime example of why God wants us to remember the past as well as look toward
the future. This process of remembrance
must include God for if we do not then we shall fall into the satanic trap of
eternal forgetfulness just as Egypt did when they decided to enslave Israel
instead of remembering that it was Israel who saved them and gave them the
status they enjoyed.
Exodus 1:8
“Now there arose
up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.”
Hebrew
“Then a new king
who knew nothing of Joseph, came to power in Egypt.”
From this short verse, it does not take very long to
realize that an entirely new leadership course has occurred in Egypt, one that
really does not care about its past or how it came to be the greatest nation
(empire) of the day. This type of
gregarious conduct of power probably was not the first of its kind but here we
find that it is solely in charge and has no inkling to change any type of
leadership contents to outside sources.
This verse clearly states that the new king had no clue about who Joseph
was and what he did through God in order to save the kingdom of Egypt. Through the wisdom of God, Joseph was
considered the savior of the land by foretelling of how Egypt could survive a
great famine as long as they heeded the Word of God concerning storing and
preparing. God also made it
understandable that no other nation was included in such knowledge and that
since Egypt was good to the family of Joseph, that good tidings would flow from
Egypt enough to weather this storm.
This king forgot this Truth concerning his heritage and
forgot not only Joseph but why the nation of Israel was present in their land
as well along with the reason that Egypt survived. It is obvious that this king became self-indulgent with his potential thus creating his own image as an immortal entity
that deserved all entitlements no matter what the cost. We must consider the fact that not only does
this king not remember his history but he has also forgotten the ways and means
to which he has bestowed the throne of Egypt, meaning that not only does he
take the physical for granted but the spiritual as well. This king could not help but hear the songs
and praises of the Hebrew nation, noises that his people did not share and thus
separated from those who believed differently.
Even though God may have still been living within the nation of Israel
He no longer did in the lives of the Egyptians, and here lies the difference
between not remembering and forgetting.
The Hebrew word here for nothing is “lo” and means without, not, no
nothing before. This person had no
recollection that Joseph ever existed which means he held nothing in return for
Joseph or that part of Egyptian history.
It also meant that he did not and was not obligated to keep anything
sacred between the two nations. This is
what occurs when no historical memory or teaching occurs, both physically and
spiritually.
This lap of luxurious pleasure was not taken away and
forgotten by accident, it was voluntarily given up through the selfish greed of
power and influence not only from the leaders of Egypt but of the inhabitants
of the land as well. In sequenced verses
that follow we see that the Egyptian people were quite willing to go along with
the added conditions against the Israelites, no opposition to such demands was
contested only followed. This is what
occurs when God is taken out of a land that He was once allowed to inhabit, the
same goes for our hearts as well and the same outcomes arise just they did in
Egypt. We see this occurring right
before our eyes and it seems to be that we have no problem with this
transformation. This nation and many
other nations who at one time considered themselves to be true Christian
nations are now turning away from God and going on their own and we shall end
up just as Egypt did, broken on all levels of life and left as a ransacked
group of nomads with no effective leader to show us the Way. These times of interesting events serve as
only the beginning of what is to come, for as Egypt did its best to distance
herself from God, her time of leadership and power came to an end. We should understand the similarities between
Egypt and the nation of Israel for it resembles the modern world and the true
Church. Why beg for plagues and
pestilence to supernaturally invade our land, why must we continually defy God
and His Ways of Creation, and why must we fail to reach the lost as we have
been instructed? It is because we have
followed in the footsteps of Egypt and have forgotten the One who established our
existence and gone our own path.
I recently heard a story told by one of my dearest
friends that were born and raised in church but knew absolutely nothing about
what the Bible had to say about life. As
I stop and ponder this statement of his, I cannot help but hear my heartbreak
for many of the ministers of the Church no longer desire to know God and thus
do not share His passion for the lost.
This loss of Truth about life is most concerning to God for it means that
even those who believe they are saved shall not witness to those who are lost;
ironically, both are lost in the eyes of God and shall not be passed over when
it is time for the blood to be witnessed.
As leaders of the world, it is our duty to stand tall and firm against
all evil but we cannot even shake a person’s hand or give them a hug in true
honesty. Egypt may have risen up a king
that knew nothing about Joseph, but this nation now knows nothing about God. The Egyptian king believed himself to be a
god, therefore, did not need any dealings with anyone else claiming such Deity
status. We now define ourselves as
knowing “lo” about God and are proud of the fact that we no longer “need” Him
in our lives.
God says, “fine” and He will respect our choices to go it
alone. But keep in mind that what He has
Created in His name cannot thrive or live in sin, it must be dealt with
according to God’s definition of Truth.
Let us keep this in mind as our memories of Truth fade into the darkness
that we have created for ourselves. Also
keep in mind, that Egypt through its total denial and remembrance of Joseph
(God) lost everything because of this decision of theirs, never again did they
have an empire, glory, or power again.
Choosing the ways of the world is a grave and dangerous path and nothing
good can ever arise from choosing the world.
Only God can thoroughly clean our hearts and bring us back into His
fold, even when times are hard and devastation is all around. Paths are steps taken in a certain direction
and it looks like we have passed the time of directional choices. Let us take hold of God and focus on Him
alone as we leave the land of Egypt. No,
it shall not be easy and even while the wilderness was a result of Israel’s
lives, God still provided passage for those who chose Him over the world.
This is serious business Church, and we need to
understand what is transforming before our eyes. We need to be vigilant with our hearts so
that we can hear what God is telling us to prepare for. Israel did not have a lot of time to leave Egypt,
it was a quick exodus if you wish to put it in this manner. Are we prepared enough to make our escape
from the world around us or are we tied too much to our worldly
conditions? It is obvious that many
people in church buildings have completely forgotten about God and what He has
said for us to do, and God tells us to wake them up for they have forgotten
Him. Church, time is almost up and we
need to figure this out before things become horrid before our eyes. Take a hard and long look at your heart, is
it remembering what God has said to do or is it blackened with the process of
worldly forgetfulness? Allow God back
into our hearts before things change.
Pray and seek God hourly for He is the only One who shall keep up
groomed during forgotten times.
DLB
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