“And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it. . .”
Isaiah 30:21
World War I, often called the Great War, was so horrible that people began to call it the “war to end all wars”. Learned men began to acknowledge the cost of war was just too great for men to use conflict as a reasonable means of settling their disputes. Weapons were becoming too destructive. Men were promoting the use of airplanes and chemical weapons against their enemies. Bombs were becoming more powerful. Casualties were no longer restricted to the battlefields. Civilians were dying by the thousands. Surely, with all of man’s knowledge and evolutionary progress, he could find a way to avoid such carnage in the future. Countries should be wise enough to learn from history that war is a game where everyone loses.
However, man did not learn. In less than twenty years the seeds of World War II were already being sown. Then came the Holocaust and the wholesale slaughter of entire cities of civilians. Voices from the past were speaking; trouble was, no one cared to listen. It has been said: Wise people learn from the mistakes of others, intelligent people learn from their own mistakes, and fools never learn from anyone.
Such is the history of mankind. There are voices that speak from behind us, and when we are willing to listen and learn, some of life’s most meaningful teachings come from those who speak from the past. They have traveled the very roads we are traveling now. They have a personal experience that can help guide us to make the right choices. All too often, we ignore their counsel and allow history to sleep undisturbed.
We can see this being played out in many aspects of life. Many professions use an apprenticeship program to train young workers. These aspiring professionals act as interns shadowing experienced veterans to learn from their experience and wisdom. This method is used in professional settings such as medicine, technical trades, and in the field of athletics and sports. Actually, it is pretty hard to imagine a situation when it would not be worthwhile to consider the first-hand experience of others.
The men who founded our great nation obviously felt that way. Men like Adams, Jefferson, and Washington believed that knowledge of the past was vital in making the right decisions in the here and now. They believed that a study and application of history was one of the most important things for citizens of a free republic to undertake. History embraced accurately and diligently could be utilized to help build a better society. To them, history was not mere academics; it also had a moral purpose. This was a concept they gleaned from their own study of history as they adopted the view of the classical Greek and Roman historians, like Herodotus, Thucydides, Livy, and Tacitus.
Of course, there is no shortage of history (with varying degrees of accuracy) available to the modern American. The library shelves are full of history books, and many sources of historic data can be found on-line. Furthermore, there are several history channels available on television today. You might say we are awash in information about the past. The trouble is history does not enter into the realm of our day-to-day decision making. We simply do not think about things historically. Most of our higher educational institutions teach about how the world should be, rather than how it actually is. Therefore, there is very little personal connection to encourage the student to apply the lessons of the past in making decisions for today or plans for the future. When some event occurs, we simply do not consider the “history of the now”. The modern world suffers from a fatal delusion. We believe we are exempt from the lessons of history. For example, we may remember what happened when other nations devalued their currency or plunged into immorality, but we believe with our technology and modern way of thinking we will avoid those pitfalls. In other words, our great intellect has lifted us above needing the lessons history can teach us.
Many modern thinkers in the world of business, government, and theology do not believe the lessons of history apply to them. They think the future is like a blank canvas for them to create their own vision for the world.
Karl Rove, senior advisor to President George W. Bush once said:
“We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”
I guess that means our leaders feel they have the right to invent all sorts of programs and regulations to destroy our freedoms, hurt our children, destroy our economy, and even take our lives, and they will do it just because they can. After all, the old realities—the old rules of cause and effect—do not apply to them.
Franklin Roosevelt said, “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.” His speech given at his first inaugural address on March 4, 1933 was a great motivational dissertation. However, he was wrong. The Word of God teaches us the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. The Almighty God is the first thing we should fear. I think the second greatest fear should be a fear of ourselves and the destruction we arrogant and foolish human beings are capable of.
The founders of our republic knew better. They understood the lessons of history remain constant because human nature has remained constant. Deep down we still think just like the ancient Greeks and Romans. We can still be kind, generous, and loving; just as we can also be wicked, selfish, and hateful. Humanity, with all of its good and bad is still very much present in these tabernacles of flesh.
If we start asking the right questions, there are countless life-giving lessons we can learn from our past. We might learn the great expense of our foolish decisions and bad habits. We could learn the folly of wasting resources (money, time, energy, etc.) and yielding to temptation.
History is our opportunity to remind ourselves of who we are, what direction we are heading, and ask ourselves if that’s the direction we ought to be going. History reminds us of the mistakes our ancestors made and gives us the opportunity to avoid those mistakes. History is the record of our triumphs, our failures, and our corrections. To ignore it, or to twist it, does a gross disservice to ourselves and to those who come after us. Without it, we will continue to make the same mistakes as our fathers did, and those mistakes will be magnified by the greater amount of damage we can do with it. Although we may not attain his age, with all of the history behind us, we should all have more wisdom than Methuselah.
About 75 years ago we stopped looking to the past for answers and started looking to the future. Politicians, rather than looking to Jefferson or Adams, started looking ahead for direction. The Supreme Court, rather than look for precedents of the past, started interpreting law based on what sounded good to them in the now. Churches have done the same thing. Rather than accepting what has been proven, we decided that new stuff was better than the old. We ceased listening to the voices behind us. In Isaiah chapter 30, God describes what happened to Israel when the people refused to listen to the voice behind them.
Our Lord commands us to remember the days gone by:
“Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.”
Deuteronomy 32:7
Just like any accurate source of history, God’s word is also a reliable voice from behind. Although written years ago, it is still very much relevant to our modern society. Although the Bible does speak of secular history, it speaks more of the unchanging nature of man. Man can learn much from studying what the Word of God has to say about him. We learn of man’s strengths and weaknesses which have brought him success or failure. History, rightly understood and applied, can help us save ourselves from greater harm and help us build a better future for our children.
Dr. Worthington has been in the ministry over forty years and serves as President of Pathway Ministries.