MEMORIES OR SELECTIVE MEMORY ~ A Study in Jeremiah

 

We have all heard the expression, “History has a tendency to repeat itself.” Someone has said this is because our memories fade to the point that events from the past become events of the present. Some historians believe this is due to the cyclical nature of history based on generations. They say four generations are needed to cycle through before similar events begin to occur. Some have even gone so far as to have predicted back in early 2019 that based upon this theory, our current age should parallel the events of the early 20th century. One article I read said that if this is true, American society is inching dangerously close to mirroring events of a century ago. History tends to repeat itself because we tend to want to forget the difficulties in life.

Everyone in prison wanted out of prison! Duh, right? Those who were unexpectedly released were ecstatic beyond belief. In fact, everyone around them was ecstatic at the news because that gave them hope, too. Most who are incarcerated say they only want to forget their time in prison once they are released. I never want to forget. Why? Because I learned so many valuable lessons there. I learned more of what it means to be content. I learned not to take even the smallest of blessings for granted. Yet even when we promise to remember, we do forget. A common theme for Americans after 911 was, “We will never forget.” That does not mean if we remember we will not heal.

We know of the expression, “Time heals all wounds.” As time moves on, life propels us forward lest we linger too long in the past. Trying to stay in the past while life is moving on without you is not healthy. We should be able to remember with a positive objective in mind. That objective is to remember so that we may move forward having learned and grown through seasons of sorrow and loss. Sometimes we remember so as not to make the same mistakes again. Sometimes we remember so that we are thankful for the present-day blessings. Sometimes we remember so that we can have hope in God’s promises and faithfulness to us in the past.

My mother-in-law shared a memory ‘life lesson’ with me when I was newly married that I have never forgotten. I have shared it with many other young women over time. She said that there was a time in her life raising four boys that she spent countless hours in the laundry room washing jeans. She often thought at the time how she viewed this tedious chore as drudgery. She said to me, “I thought I would never get done washing jeans.” This was in response to my comment, “It seems as though I will never be finished changing diapers.” She then looked me in the eye and said, “Listen to me! I would give anything to go back to those days of hanging up jeans.” I took her comment to mean that those were the most precious days of her life even though a mundane task was often burdensome to her.  

The word remember is used 14 times in Jeremiah. It was interesting to me to do a quick look to see how many times the word remember or remembrance is used in Scripture. It would make an excellent topical study. In Exodus 20:8, God told the children of Israel: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exodus 13:3—Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for by a powerful hand the Lord brought you out from this place. And nothing leavened shall be eaten.” Even the Lord says He remembers in Jeremiah 2:1-3—Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth, the love of your betrothals, your following after Me in the wilderness, through a land not sown. Israel was holy to the Lord, the first of His harvest. All who ate of it became guilty; evil came upon them,” declares the Lord.’”

Let’s say a generation in the Bible is between 30-40 years. The children had been sprung from their bondage to slavery in Egypt. They had walked through the Red Sea that parted for them on dry land. The sea that was held back then came crashing down on their enemies. They certainly knew the joy of the Lord. They sang and danced and praised the Lord…until they began looking back. Dissatisfied, they decided they deserved better. Still on their way to the Promised Land they falsely reasoned, “Hey, maybe things weren’t so bad back there. After all, we had this and that, but now we don’t.” Worst case scenario, it was not even a generation of years since they were led out of Egypt by the Lord’s strong hand. Numbers 11:1-6—Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the Lord; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord and the fire died out. So, the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them. The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also, the sons of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.” Turning up their nose in disgust at manna as they salivate over their memories of the savory fare they had access to in prison…I mean slavery…I mean Egypt…they reveal their discontented hearts. Manna—a blessing from God’s hand. God’s provision on their journey.

Fast forward to John 6 some 1,300 years later. Jesus has just performed a miracle feeding an enormous group of people. He multiplied a small amount of food by literally creating more. Food did not come easy to this people, so this was an incredible blessing to them. This was one of the many miracles that proved Jesus is God. He is the Bread of Life. Turning up their noses at the Bread of Life, they are concerned about one thing alone. They want bread for their temporal lives. They want to fill their bellies, not their souls. When He tells them there is no more food because they only want food to sustain their physical bodies, not Him (the Bread of Life able to give them eternal life), they challenge Him using ‘manna’ as bait. They say, “Do a sign that proves you are God.” (He already did.) They are the Jewish people, so they begin by bragging on their ‘fathers’. They say, “Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.’” Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.” Sounds good at first. “We really want this bread! Give it to us! Amen, brother! Preach it!!!” Jesus says, “I am the bread of life and he who comes to Me will never hunger and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” Their tune changes mid-song as they walk away grumbling because Jesus said He is the bread that came down out of heaven.

Look again at what just happened here in John 6. The people look back at history through their eyes (not the eyes of the ones who were grumbling and complaining who were actually going through it) but Jesus brings them to the present. “It is not Moses who has given you…,” “It is My Father who gives you…,” I am the bread of life,” “He who comes to Me…He who believes in Me”…right now. They were resting on their false spiritual laurels because they were the Jewish people…the chosen people. Therefore, in their minds, the only thing they needed was food for the present.

Paul says he learned to be content in Philippians 4:11-13—Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Whatever it takes to teach us to learn contentment is priceless. Those wandering in the wilderness had not learned that lesson, for the most part. The Jews in Jesus’ day knew not contentment. We will no doubt struggle with this as part of our unredeemed flesh for the rest of our lives. Even if we have learned the secret to contentment, we are still learning!

Everyone who has been to prison knows that there are certain food items you can get on the inside you cannot find on the outside (at the least, it is difficult). Occasionally, we would get a potato chip in the commissary called, ‘The Whole Shabang’. An internet search revealed twelve 6 oz. bags sell for $35.99 online, without shipping and tax! The chips are rightly named because they had every flavor of chip you can think of in one—the whole shebang! My bunky described them as BBQ, Salt and Vinegar, Bacon, Cheese, Sour Cream and Onion all rolled into one. When she heard they had gotten them into the commissary, it did not matter that her shopping day was two days away. She got every person she knew to get her as many bags as possible knowing they would sell out in one day. When she opened her locker, ‘Shabangs’ flew everywhere. Now, here is my point. For her to look back fondly at prison just because she missed eating ‘Shabangs’ would be ludicrous. But part of our human nature does that each time we refuse to think of the negative, only focusing on the positive. People who only focus on the positive really believe the world revolves around them and their happiness.

Knowing their sinful hearts, their human depravity, God told the children of Israel even before they had entered the Promised Land what they were to do once they got there so they would never forget. Numbers 15:37-41—The Lord also spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord your God.” They were never to forget their great deliverance from bondage.

Believers are called to remember the sacrifice Christ made for our behalf on Calvary every time we partake of the Lord’s Supper. We remember our great deliverance and redemption. We also remember what we were saved from and why it was necessary. We must! 1 Corinthians 11:24-25—And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

Remember! Do not forget!

They forgot. They had forgotten the miseries of real bondage in Egypt. There had been an unbearable yoke of slavery on them then. God broke that yoke and tore off their bonds. In Jeremiah 2:31, the Lord had asked, “Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will no longer come to You’? Jeremiah 5:5b said they knew the way of the Lord and the ordinance of their God, but they too, with one accord, have broken the yoke and burst the bonds. Jeremiah 2:20—“For long ago I broke your yoke and tore off your bonds; but you said, ‘I will not serve!’ For on every high hill and under every green tree you have lain down as a harlot.” Because they refused to wear the Lord’s yoke of love, they would find themselves under a very different yoke by a fierce nation who hated them and used them for their own ends. One day, however, things would be very different…when the remnant would come to bow their knee to His Lordship. There was a future hope for God’s people. Jeremiah 30:8—‘It shall come about on that day,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘that I will break his yoke from off their neck and will tear off their bonds; and strangers will no longer make them their slaves. But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.’ We who love Him and serve Him now know of this yoke and would never want to struggle against it to break free from it. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-29—"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.” ‘You will find rest for your souls,’ is quoted from Jeremiah 6:16. Galatians 5:1—It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. We can be a slave to Christ or a slave to sin. Those are the only two options in this life. If Christ sets us free, we are free, indeed.

We are not unlike Israel. At times, we may be tempted to look back longingly at life before Christ when things get hard on earth. Persecution brings a great temptation with it to turn back. We must remember not only the good but the bad and the lessons we learned there so that we can press on in perseverance.