Wake you sleeper! Give cry to your heart's desire! Scream until you are awake!
3 And Moses said to the people: “Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. 4 On this day you are going out, in the month Abib. 5 And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. 6 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. 8 And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of what the LORD did for me when I came up from Egypt.’ 9 It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt. 10 You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year. 11 “And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you, 12 that you shall set apart to the LORD all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be the LORD’s. 13 But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14 So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘By strength of hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 15 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16 It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.” (from Exodus 13 NKJV, emphasis added)
So many Israelite generations forgot their God and tumbled into the darkness of forgetfulness, passivity, and apathy. Sin. They forgot who they were, where they were going, and the God who brought and was bringing them there. So it's interesting that God often describes Himself by retelling Israel their personal history. “I am the God of your ancestors, Abraham, Issac and Jacob. I brought you out of slavery and idolatry. I provided for you.” But Israel sins. Again God says “I am the God of your fathers. I saved you by my powerful hand. I provided for you, but you turned on me. And I punished you, and forgave you.” Again and again this happens. Why is Israel failing? Why does God re-introduce Himself this way to each generation?
And why does Israel care about their lineages? Why do they keep their histories? Why does God end Moses' ministry with a song of history-- a song to be sung throughout their generations (Deut. 31-32)? Why does Joshua end his ministry by telling the Israelites their history (Joshua 24)? Why does the Psalmist rebuke his own soul to remember what the Lord has done for him? Why do Jews actually wear the law? Why are we called to take seriously the testimony of our elders concerning the works of the Lord? Why should we study the movements of The Spirit through Church history? Why share our own testimonies?
Because we must remember! We are made of the same stuff as the Israelites and will fall in the same pit of forgetfulness otherwise. (I want to get blue tassels on my shirt and get some tefilin, don't you? :-)) John Wimber discovered that most Church movements lose their vitality after 40 years-- the initial outpouring of God isn't picked up by the next generation. So we must also pray that our spiritual descendants do see and run with the Jesus we've found. God's revelation can't be passed on from person to person by human will. Flesh gives birth to flesh, and spirit to spirit. We must pray the The Spirit will take what we've found and give it on to others (the revelatory part), just as we work to continue the part that we can (share our testimonies).
Bring to remembrance your godly dreams (God's dreams which He has put in you, and wants to live through you) and what God has done for and through you already. Remember who God is in terms of what He has done. Remember how much our spiritual ancestors paid for not remembering. Listen to their calls to remember. Do not just muse about the days when you felt the Spirit-- read through your old prayer diaries, talk through old testimonies with friends. And grab on to those memories until you can taste them again.
-andrew
