Joshua 4:5b-7
Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, "What do these stones mean?" tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.
Our forefathers were imperfect men who recognized a perfect God. ~Jenna Ellis, Constitutional law attorney, Fox News contributor.
We celebrate our Independence Day this past weekend in a vastly different way than in years gone by. With the shadow of Covid-19 stalking our land, many communal events commemorating our nation's birth are sadly cancelled.
Add to that, the minuscule, yet vocal and violent, anarchists terrorizing cities, and tearing down or defacing historical statues and monuments, and have a poisonous pill prescribed for Americans who still see our history as a country worth preserving.
Our forefathers, and the many presidents and statesmen, pioneers and abolitionists, who followed in their footsteps, left their indelible marks on society. Some are so honored as to have statues erected in cities and towns so their accomplishments are remembered for generations. It is grossly unfair to judge them as nonessential in the present times, when the only responsible, reasonable way to view them is from the perspective of the times in which they lived.
And what about all the memorials to our brave soldiers, who fought and died to protect the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution? Should any acknowledgement of their valor and sacrifice be buried away with their bodies? Whether we agree with the wars in which they fought, be it the Civil War or Vietnam, for instance, these men and women believed they were fighting for our nation in the context of their experience at than point in history.
Let's think of it this way: What if we, as Christians, decided that the Old Testament is irrelevant to the eventual message of Christ Jesus? I mean, all that nonsense about clean and unclean, God's Big Ten, and His seemingly vengeful tendencies. Who needs that?
WE DO! Because if we don't understand the history of the Jewish people, we can't begin to comprehend our overwhelming need as human beings for a Messiah.
The Bible is full of flawed, imperfect people, just like us, who recognized their need for a perfect God.
We glean empowering wisdom from their stories, and we can claim the same by honoring the history of our own nation. May the stones we carve and erect serve to remind of this unique American journey upon which we are all embarked.
Together.
Amen!
We learn from history. Wipe away history and it tends to repeat itself. Re-write history to suit you in today's context and you confuse future generations as to what to believe. Past history is sometimes bad. So is present history. That is because we humans are not perfect. We make mistakes. Let us pray we learn from them, and not repeat them.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you all.
Amen, Victor! May we learn from our history, just as it stands, and pray we can do better moving forward with God's help.
DeleteLove and blessings!
Very very well stated Martha. I am tired of the old arguments of injustice while rebels pillage our history. it started with revisionism years ago and now continues in more revisionism of a different kind. History is history. It/mine is both shameful and proud. I can look back on my own and know there are moments of pride and moments of shame. But I can't change it. And no tearing down of events changes that. Rational minds say, "Leave the monuments and learn. Don't make the same mistakes. Make new heroes."
ReplyDelete"Make new heroes . . ." I like that, Bill! No, we can't change the past, but we can certainly acknowledge the failures and successes and move forward, praying to leave a legacy for the better in this broken world.
DeleteLove and blessings!
Amen.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Regine!
DeleteLove and blessings!
It is sad what is happening with regard to statues being brought down. You made some great points regarding the times and the significance of the statues. Seems like Satan is roaring trying to cause chaos and destroy America’s foundation. We need to honor the history of our nation and not try to create a new one based on flawed beliefs.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Valerie! We can't undo the past - it is where it is - but we can certainly still honor our history and move forward in hope.
DeleteLove and blessings!
Beautifully, eloquently stated, Martha! Yes, the enemy is ever present; we must not engage. I'd not read that quote by Jenna Ellis, but sure like it.
ReplyDeleteI actually heard that quote of hers while watching the news; luckily, I could rewind, so to speak, to make sure I got it right. It blew me away, Myra, because I was already contemplating writing this post, and it fit perfectly! God works that way sometimes, doesn't He?
DeleteLove and blessings!
Well said, Martha Jane. Amen!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Terri!
DeleteLove and blessings!
Martha, you hit the nail on the head with this post. It's heart-breaking to see our history--good and bad--being destroyed. Pretending like nothing happened isn't good at all. Not knowing our history is one of many things that is causing some/all of what we're now witnessing.
ReplyDeleteYes, the Bible is full of imperfect men, some of whom acknowledged their need for a perfect God.
Love and blessings!
Thank you, Kim, for your kind words here. We can't destroy our history and move into the future with any sense of direction or values. It is imperative to learn from the past, not try to obliterate it, or pretend it never happened. Imperfect, all of us, but never should we stop seeking our perfect Father.
DeleteLove and blessings!
I’m pretty sure the Germans do not like Hitler and even more sure they despise what he did.
ReplyDeleteHowever, that is part of their history. We can’t fault an entire nation for the actions of a few. Let’s look back at our history and endeavor not to make the same mistakes going forward. Some of our monuments and statues being destroyed are of people who fought to free a race from slavery. Put history back in the classroom lest we forget what a great nation we live in. God bless the USA, Thank you, Martha, a timely post for certain. Blessings
Nells, we desperately do need to put history, real history, back into the classroom. I do believe the liberal bias in education (and as a former teacher, I can attest personally to this) has produced the ignorant, ill-informed mobs we now witness tearing down what they don't even understand. It has to stop. We cannot lose our nation to the few who choose to hate it. Our tradition and Judeo-Christian values and ethics must be preserved at all cost.
DeleteLove and blessings!
Hi Martha. This is a sad time for our country with so many divided, with every subject politicized, with hate and distrust all around us. The enemy is having a field day.
ReplyDeleteMay God unite His church and our land.
I'm afraid the enemy is having a field day, Linda. We must not let him win. May we all stand up for the value of our history, learn from it, and become a better nation and people.
DeleteLove and blessings!
Oh, how true, how true, HOW TRUE! I wholeheartedly agree with every, single word you said! It is absurd and utterly ridiculous to think they can go back and erase or rewrite history!! Our forefathers must be rolling over in their graves. OH, dear Lord! I have never seen such a time and never been as burdened for our nation as I am right now. If we were in Old Testament days, we would be sitting in sackcloth and ashes proclaiming a fast. We need to pray HARD concerning this upcoming election. SO much is at stake. Dear Lord, please have mercy one more time for the sake of your trusting children!
ReplyDeleteAmen, Cheryl, may God show us mercy yet again! He knows the importance of holding onto our history and learning from it. Why else to we have the Bible? Lord, preserve your children . . .
DeleteLove and blessings!
Indeed Ms. Martha. We are imperfect men, living in an imperfect world. As Paul shows us in Romans 7, we will continue to life imperfect lives as we strive to one day become perfected, in Christ's likeness. As we journey toward that goal, we must remember that God's grace allows us to start over with each new day, but if we don't ever move forward, then we'll never achieve the growth God expects of us. Well said ma'am.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, J. D.! We do get a fresh start each day, but that would be meaningless if we weren't aware of where we'd been in the first place. May God continue to work in and through us to make us more in His image.
DeleteLove and blessings!
Yes, the patriarchs in the Old Testament and our founding fathers were not perfect men. No man is perfect, but we can all be used by God for His purposes. The tricky part now is to not glorify men who do not deserve our veneration.
ReplyDeleteLaurie, it is so true that we can all be used, gloriously, for God's purposes. We strive to do what is right in our eyes in the times in which we live. To elevate a mere human above God and Jesus will ever be wrong. But can we not identify with their strengths and weaknesses, acknowledging our own? God sends us persons in the right time and place, that we might more fully realize His will for us.
DeleteWonderful words of wisdom, Martha! I wish you would post that openly on Facebook, even though I know how people don't read what they really NEED to read, and if they do, it is only to scoff and ridicule and we feel like we have cast our pearls before the swine. But we need to keep speaking the truth regardless of whether or not people agree with us. God's Word is true, and we need that history of the patriarchs in the Old Testament to understand the redemption that comes through Christ, who also came from that line of patriarchs as well as directly from God. That "scarlet thread of redemption" runs all the way from Genesis to Revelation, and every Word of it is for our edification and salvation. Our nation need to learn from that example. Great post.
ReplyDeleteIt's so true, Pam, that our redemption story is told from Genesis to Revelation. All of the books in the Bible are there for a reason; God wants us to know Him and learn about our history as His people. I do post my blogs to Facebook whenever they are published. A lot more people read them, if I can trust the stats, than leave comments, so I do pray I'm reaching some hearts and minds for Jesus. So glad you liked the post!
DeleteLove and blessings!