Be careful, one of the biggest dangers that threatens the human race, is forgetting the past!
The book of Ecclesiastes gives the explanation about why we must not forget the lessons of the past, in chapter 1, verses 9 to 11:
" 9 That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us. 11 There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come by those who will come after. "
The believer must be very careful to learn from the important events of the past. To act in this way is to become a knowledgeable person in the future so as not to be caught off guard against the dramatic things that are at the forefront of humanity.
The causes at the origin of oblivion.
1. Routine with a lack of open-mindedness and vigilance.
The first cause of oblivion is certainly the repetitive nature of everyday’s life as Ecclesiastes is telling us in chapter 1, verses 3 to 7:
" 3 What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun?
4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes; but the earth abides forever. 5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it arose. 6 The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; the wind whirls about continually, and comes again on its circuit. 7 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place from which the rivers come, there they return again."
Human nature loves habits and the daily repetitive actions. We aspire to become like machines that do not think. This is why little by little, we could reach a stage of not thinking anymore and not meditating at all. The texts of the Bible show that men who were walking with our Father made meditation a practice; here is for instance the example of Isaac (Genesis 24: 62):
" And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming."
Today, on the contrary, the mind is usually busy with repetitive and no time is devoted to meditation. Consequently, we might face what occured in the time of Eli, the judge Judge (I Samuel 3: 1):
" Now the boy Samuel ministered to Yehoah before Eli. And the word of Yehoah was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation."
Indeed, Yehoah spoke less at that time because the Children of Israel had put him more and more into oblivion by no longer consulting Him and not honoring Him. Samuel is in the best position to explain this situation, since it is through him that Yehoah will renew a dialogue with His people; let's read that in I Samuel 12, verses 6 to 10:
" 6 Then Samuel said to the people, “It is Yehoah who raised up Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. 7 Now therefore, stand still, that I may reason with you before Yehoah concerning all the righteous acts of Yehoah which He did to you and your fathers: 8 When Jacob had gone into Egypt, and your fathers cried out to Yehoah, then Yehoah sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. 9 And when they forgot Yehoah their Elohim, He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them. 10 Then they cried out to Yehoah, and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken Yehoah and served the Baals and Ashtoreths; but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve You.’ "
Samuel has an entirely different experience because he is vigilant and open minded to discover and enrich himself. From his early childhood, he was offered by his mother to Yehoah. Nobody prepared him to meet with the Lord. This explains his reaction when Yehoah speaks to him for the first time, I Samuel 3, verses 3 to 14:
" 3 and before the lamp of Elohim went out in the tabernacle of Yehoah where the ark of Elohim was, and while Samuel was lying down, 4 that Yehoah called Samuel. And he answered, “Here I am!” 5 So he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” And he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” And he went and lay down. 6 Then Yehoah called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” He answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 (Now Samuel did not yet know Yehoah, nor was the word of Yehoah yet revealed to him.)
8 And Yehoah called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.” Then Eli perceived that Yehoah had called the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, Yehoah, for Your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 Now Yehoah came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”
11 Then Yehoah said to Samuel: “Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. 14 And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
This shows how Samuel since his young age is not enclosed in habits of the day to day activities and is open for anything that can open his understanding. Even in the middle of the night, he is listening to what is around him with an open mind that is never tired of being called and called again.
2. Excess food and drink.
A second cause behind us forgetting our Lord is the attribution of excessive importance to food and drink.
Let's see what Jehovah writes in Deuteronomy 6, verses 10 to 12:
" 10 “So it shall be, when Yehoah your Elohim brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, 11 houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full— 12 then beware, lest you forget Yehoah who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."
Unfortunately, Israel did the opposite and he forgot Yehoah his Elohim and that is why he also entered the world of the forgotten as we are told in Deuteronomy 32, verses 7 to 21:
" 7 “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you: 8 When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. 9 For the Yehoah’s portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. 10 “He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. 11 As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, 12 So Yehoah alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him. 13 “He made him ride in the heights of the earth, that he might eat the produce of the fields; He made him draw honey from the rock, and oil from the flinty rock; 14 Curds from the cattle, and milk of the flock, with fat of lambs; and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the choicest wheat; and you drank wine, the blood of the grapes. 15 “But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; you grew fat, you grew thick, you are obese! Then he forsook Elohim who made him, and scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation. 16 They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; with abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17 They sacrificed to demons, not to Elohim, to gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear. 18 Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, and have forgotten the Elohim who fathered you. 19 “And when Yehoah saw it, He spurned them, because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters. 20 And He said: ‘I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, Children in whom is no faith.
21 They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not Elohim; They have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation; I will move them to anger by a foolish nation."
3. Attractiveness towards foreign women.
Here again is one of the most insidious causes at the origin of forgetfulness: the attraction towards foreign women, a phenomenon that must be associated with
adultery in the broadest sense of this word!
Indeed, being attracted to a woman other than hers is a woman who is not in one’s home. Jesus also insists that this kind of adultery is already consumed when it is only born in our thoughts:
" 27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5: 27-28)
In a much broader sense, addressing possibly even to single persons, it is necessary to flee the attraction of foreign women, adhering or being part of foreign people having beliefs in gods other than the Lord’s family as they are defined in the Bible. But there are some famous exceptions to this rule, namely the prostitute of Jericho and Ruth the Moabite. They are exceptions because they have somehow rejected their people and their beliefs to believe in the Yehoah. These women have ceased to be foreigners to become members of the people of our Elohim.
To avoid this kind of forgetfulness, there is a very simple and gratuitous way like all that is offered to us by our Father:
Ask for wisdom!
Let's read in Proverbs 2, verses 10 to 19:
" 10 When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
11 Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, 12 to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things, 13 from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked; 15 Whose ways are crooked, and who are devious in their paths; 16 To deliver you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words, 17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her Elohim. 18 For her house leads down to death, and her paths to the dead; 19 None who go to her return, nor do they regain the paths of life—"
To forget the words of Yehoah, our Father
is a serious mistake!
Forgetting what we hear from our Creator's family is like committing a serious sin because it amounts to scorning Yehoah who is our Father.
In many places, the Bible is encouraging us to never forget.
So at every weekend, the Sabbath is coming as a day during which we are invited to Fight forgetfulness (Exodus 20: 8-11):
" 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Yehoah your Elohim. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days Yehoah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore Yehoah blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
The Sabbath day is offered to us each week to make war on everything that can make us forget the Creation and their Authors, Jesus and the one who became his Father.
This fourth commandment concerning the Sabbath rest is a natural remedy for the first of the reasons causing obliviousness mentioned above:
Thoughtless habits behind our day-to-day’s way of life.
The commandment about the sabbath tells us that we must actually work the first six days of the week, from Sunday to Friday, and even that we must do everything we have to do BUT the seventh day, we must "switch". The word BUT announces a change since our Father is asking us to stop any work and even to forbid anyone under our responsibility to do any work in our place. In this way, we can turn all our thoughts to the Lord and to His present and future creation; we can admire His works and glorify Him with gratitude. Is this not the best way to remember our Father?
The Bible very often asks us not to forget our commitments to Him as in Deuteronomy 4, verses 1-2 and 23-24:
" “1Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which Yehoah Elohim of your fathers is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yehoah your Elohim which I command you.....
23 Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Yehoah your Elohim which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which Yehoah your Elohim has forbidden you. 24 For Yehoah your Elohim is a consuming fire, a jealous Elohim. "
The Bible, a necessary tool to keep a good memory, the Bible in your heart implies "the memory in the skin! "
The Bible of Yehoah continually draws our attention to the usefulness of pondering the events of the past and retaining important lessons for the future. Let us read as an example the recommendation of Moses in Deuteronomy 4, verses 32 to 40:
" 32 “For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that Elohim created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard. 33 Did any people ever hear the voice of Elohim speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34 Or did Elohim ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Yehoah your Elohim did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is Elohim; there is none other besides Him. 36 Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power, 38 driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that Yehoah Himself is Elohim in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. 40 You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which Yehoah your Elohim is giving you for all time.”
Yehoah, who knows our carnal nature with all its weaknesses, including our tendency to forget so quickly is providing us with what is written in the Bible, so that if we read it and meditate it, we have many opportunities to hear the words of His covenant.
Thus, although the Ten Commandments were given on Mount Sinai, they are repeated many times throughout the path that leads to the Kingdom of our Father.
Moses insists on our duty to listen to them, to learn them and put them into practice, like for instance in Deuteronomy 5:
" 1And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them. 2 Yehoah our Elohim made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 Yehoah did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive. 4 Yehoah talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. 5 I stood between Yehoah and you at that time, to declare to you the word of Yehoah; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain. He said:
6 ‘I am Yehoah your Elohim who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
7 ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.
8 ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 9 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, Yehoah your Elohim, am a jealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
11 ‘You shall not take the name of Yehoah your Elohim in vain, for Yehoah will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
12 ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yehoah your Elohim commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Yehoah your Elohim. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yehoah your Elohim brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore Yehoah your Elohim commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
16 ‘Honor your father and your mother, as Yehoah your Elohim has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which Yehoah your Elohim is giving you.
17 ‘You shall not murder.
18 ‘You shall not commit adultery.
19 ‘You shall not steal.
20 ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
21 ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’
22 “These words Yehoah spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
23 “So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. 24 And you said: ‘Surely Yehoah our Elohim has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that Elohim speaks with man; yet he still lives. 25 Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of Yehoah our Elohim anymore, then we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living Elohim speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 You go near and hear all that Yehoah our Elohim may say, and tell us all that Yehoah our Elohim says to you, and we will hear and do it.’
28 “Then Yehoah heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and Yehoah said to me: ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. 29 Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever! 30 Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But as for you, stand here by Me, and I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.’
32 “Therefore you shall be careful to do as Yehoah your Elohim has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 You shall walk in all the ways which Yehoah your Elohim has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess."
If Moses is taking time to repeat these commandments many times, it is because he knows the danger of their being forgotten that threatens us.
In chapter 6 of the book of Deuteronomy, Moses continues with the duty of believers to teach these commandments to future generations. It's another way to fight obliviousness!
" 1Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which Yehoah your Elohim has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2 that you may fear Yehoah your Elohim, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as Yehoah Elohim of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’
4 “Hear, O Israel: Yehoah our Elohim, Yehoah is one! 5 You shall love Yehoah your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 “So it shall be, when Yehoah your Elohim brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, 11 houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full— 12 then beware, lest you forget Yehoah who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 13 You shall fear Yehoah your Elohim and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you 15 (for Yehoah your Elohim is a jealous Elohim among you), lest the anger of Yehoah your Elohim be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.
16 “You shall not tempt Yehoah your Elohim as you tempted Him in Massah. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yehoah your Elohim, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. 18 And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of Yehoah, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which Yehoah swore to your fathers, 19 to cast out all your enemies from before you, as Yehoah has spoken.
20 “When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which Yehoah our Elohim has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and Yehoah brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; 22 and Yehoah showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. 23 Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers. 24 And Yehoah commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear Yehoah our Elohim, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. 25 Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before Yehoah our Elohim, as He has commanded us.’ "
An infallible cure against forgetting the commandments is offered to parents when they are encouraged to teach the words of our Creator every day to their children.
So how can you forget these things?
Examine you well in the mirror!
If we are forgetful of our Father and his Son, it is as if we become voluntarily amnesic. Indeed, to forget how our Creator is to forget how we should be since we were made in His image. Just like Jesus, we are His imprint (Genesis 1: 26):
" Then Elohim said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
James gives us the same message but with a different approach, in chapter 1 of his epistle, verses 22-25:
" 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. "
So let's follow the good advice that James gives us a little bit earlier in this same chapter, verses 16 to 21:
" 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of Elohim.
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and [d]overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. "
Fight with energy against obliviousness!
You'll then remember how you were yesterday and
you're getting ready to become creators for tomorrow !
If we progress every day in this way that is traced in front of us, we will examine ourselves attentively in the mirror of the new covenant of our Father. We will be able to observe the changes we achieved since we will not have forgotten how we were yesterday and the day before yesterday!
We will become the opposite of the mechanical and repetitive man that our carnal nature impels us to become. On the contrary, we will become creators like our Father insofar as we will first be able to change ourselves. Every good change in us will bring us more and more out of the darkness in which the world is now (Isaiah 9: 1-6):
" 1Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, as when at first He lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy; they rejoice before You according to the joy of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. 5 For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle, and garments rolled in blood, will be used for burning and fuel of fire.
6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty Elohim, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."