1st Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
The best, easiest, and safest way to learn is by studying carefully the history of the victories and defeats experienced by others in bygone years, so that we can make straight paths for our feet. The above passage tells us why the sacred history of the rise and fall of many nations and individuals was recorded; it was done so that future generations would not make the same mistakes. For instance, the history of king Nebuchadnezzar was faithfully chronicled so that those who came after him could make wise choices.
However, his son who had the history of his father's mistakes before him, chose to ignore the facts, and went deeper into sin than his father, by sending for the sacred vessels of the temple of God, so that he and his many wives and concubines might drink fermented wine in them. This particular disposition to ignore sacred history was directly pointed out by the prophet Daniel, after a hand appeared out of nowhere and etched in stone, the imminent doom of the abandoned king. Let's read:
Daniel 5:3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. 5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. 6 Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.
The prophet Daniel was then called upon to interpret the writing, and the interpretation he then gave is what we call really bad news. In his reproof to Belshazzar, Daniel referred to the king's knowledge of his father's history, knowledge that was deliberately disregarded with devastating results to the king. Let's read:
Daniel 5:18 O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: 20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: 22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; 25 And this is the writing that was written, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the thing: Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. 27 Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
Christians in our day need to be very careful lest we forget the sacred lessons of the past, in which God's will was made abundantly clear. When God has rescued us like brands out of the fire, we cannot with impunity walk in the same old ways, nor continue to make the same old mistakes as we used to. God desires that as we study the history of His dealings with us and with others, that we will reason intelligently, and avoid the same pitfalls as in former years.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture that calls on us to remember the history of the past, so that we can walk securely into the future, for if we do not know where we have come from, we cannot know where we are going. Let's read:
Psalms 78:1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: 3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. 5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: 6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: 7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: 8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
May the study of sacred history cause our hearts to be subdued by God's grace. God bless!