History Matters: Setting Up Memorial Stones

Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations… 1 Chronicles 16:15

History matters. At the beginning of the year, we should reflect on the lessons we’ve learned so they can continue to impact our lives in the coming year.

Memorial stones are historical markers that remind us of something or someone who made a difference, important things that should not be forgotten. At the beginning of the year, it’s important to reflect on lessons we’ve learned, which should continue to impact us in the coming year because history matters.

History Matters to God

Great change lay ahead as the last of the Israelites who had grumbled against the Lord in the wilderness died. A new generation was ready to move ahead and lay hold of the promise God made to their forefathers when they were still enslaved in Egypt.

God gave Joshua a message beforehand so the people would understand the importance of what He was about to do. We read it in Joshua 3:10: “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites.” God then set out to show them that He was with them.

As the Lord commanded, Joshua selected twelve men, one from each tribe. When the priests bearing the ark of the covenant entered the river, the waters dried up, and the people passed through on dry land. Then Joshua called the twelve men. He instructed them each to pick up a stone from the midst of the Jordan. Then he piled them up at Gilgal as a reminder for the generations.

Then Joshua explained what they were to tell their children. “‘For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” (Joshua 4:23-24)

History Matters for Our Protection

God made it clear that these things were important. He said it, then He did it, and then He repeated it. History matters. Remembering that the Lord was with them and would do amazing things for them would save them in the future. He told them not to forget!” But they did.

The Israelites remembered for a while. In Judges 2:7,10, we read, “And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel….” However, “there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.”

We all forget things. That’s why history matters. We write it down and teach it to our children because we need the lessons it teaches.

Most of the people who remember World War II and the atrocities Hitler committed against the Jews are dead. With the rise of antisemitism in the world today, it matters that our young people understand that World War II did happen. Even more so, they must understand that the Jews are God’s people, the apple of His eye. They need to know that evil is overcome when good people are silent, but when we seek the Lord, speak up for truth, and fight in His strength. We must remember so that history doesn’t repeat itself.

History Matters for Salvation

Likewise, I must never forget my life before I met the Lord and was saved through faith by His grace. It’s important for me to remember the joy I felt when I first knew the forgiveness of God, that I was saved and redeemed by His blood. I must tell others about my certainty of heaven, the gift of God that they need to know about. I tell others so they also can know Jesus as Savior and Lord.

As we continue in Judges 2, we see the results of Israel forgetting its history. Judges 2:11,12 reads, “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt.” God became angry with them and gave them over to their enemies. Verse 15 tells us, “[T]he hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.”

The Israelites forgot their history, and the lessons about what God had done for them in the past. They ignored the memorial stones, and it mattered. Lacking an understanding of who God was, of how He was with them in the past, how He fought for them, and the victory He gave, they abandoned the Lord. In turn, God abandoned them to their enemies.

Their history mattered. Forgetting it cost the lives of people who might have lived if they had only known who God was and what He would do. Evil proliferated where good would have reigned had they only remembered their history.

What History Will You Remember?

What blessings has God given you in the past year? How has He fought for you? What victories have you experienced because you trusted God to fight your battles for you? What lessons did you learn that are important to remember in the future? Are there memorial stones in your life, reminders of the times God did incredible things that you will remember for the rest of your life? How might your children or the people around you benefit from knowing how God has worked in your life?

Set up memorial stones in your own life because your history matters. Write down your testimony. Remember your victories and Who made them possible. Teach your children how the Lord fought for you. Explain to those around you how trusting Jesus changed your life. Tell people that God will do for them what He has done for you because history matters. People’s lives depend on it.

History matters.

But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments. Psalm 103:17,18