“Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past.” Deuteronomy 32:7 NIV
I am of the opinion that God is always speaking to us. Undoubtedly, God speaks to us through His word, the Scriptures, but also through times past. As Paul said in his letter to the church in Rome: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). One major part of this Salvation and Stuff is biblical theology in which we will find instruction, encouragement, and hope that is sensible and practical.
But God speaks to us in other ways. He often speaks to us through us. That is, we all have a story to tell. Millions of people in past generations have encountered God and lived in both peaceful and precarious times. These are men, women, and even children from various countries and cultures, spanning across generations who had with nothing in common with each other except that God played a role in their life.
Their stories are waiting to be told.
Here’s one well known story: In the ancient book of Deuteronomy, Moses, not only the most prominent figure in the Old Testament but the most important religious leader in world history, is nearing his death. God informs Moses that he will not enter into the “promised land,” and furthermore, that the nation of Israel will soon forsake the covenant and begin to serve other gods from the new land they will be entering. So God writes a song and tells Moses to copy and write it down and to teach it to the people so that in the near future, when they are suffering the consequences of following after other “gods,” it will serve as a reminder. It would testify against them in the hope of drawing them back to God.
Moses obeys and reads the song aloud to all the leaders of Israel. And in one verse (verse 7 of chapter 32), the lyrics implore the people to “Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations.”
In this, we see that part of God’s solution to Israel’s misery would be to “remember and consider” the days of old and the years of many generations.
Because all of us like the children of Israel have followed our own will instead of His and we have all made idols out of things that we shouldn’t, we can all relate to this. As a result we have been troubled by the consequences. One way to get us back on track with God is the same solution given to the Israelites over 1600 years ago. It’s to remember or look back to those people and times that give witness to the glory and goodness of God.
That is why on Salvation and Stuff we are going to try to “remember” and “consider” those who have gone before us and the generations that have preceded us because we have so much to learn from them. We agree with the friend of old Job, that “we were born only yesterday and know nothing.” What’s the remedy for knowing nothing? “Ask the former generation and find out what their ancestors learned” (Job 8:8,9).
The aim of this Salvation and Stuff is to engage, encourage, and enlighten all people towards a deeper faith in Jesus. No matter who you are, where you find yourself, or what you’re doing in life now, if you appreciate history and inspiring biographies mixed with practical theology, all delivered in my absolutely stunning, soothing, masculine, and comforting voice (albeit sometimes unclear), I hope you’ll find this podcast worthy of your time. If so, please subscribe and share it with a friend. To find out more about Salvation and Stuff and to connect with me, please visit my websites at: salvationandstuff.com, salvationandstuffblog.com, or salvationandstuff.simplecast.com
Micah Coate, President and Host of Salvation and Stuff
To enjoy this in a Podcast go here: https://salvationandstuff.simplecast.com/episodes/trailer
Works Cited:
Photo, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Creation_of_Adam
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