Short memories

April 16, 2007

By Scott McChrystal

“And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, ‘In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, “What do these stones mean?” tell them, “Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.” For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God’" (Joshua 4:20-24, NIV).

When it comes to the things of God, human beings seem to share some common tendencies. One is that we forget. Although we witness God’s mighty hand at work in our lives, we forget. This tendency is not peculiar to our present generation. It is as old as mankind. The people of Israel continually witnessed the mighty acts of God on their behalf. But they had short memories.

In their crossing of the Jordan, the Israelites knew without question they had witnessed a divine act. They could claim no credit. Only God could have done it. But as magnificent and faith-building as the experience must have been, God knew the condition of the human heart. He knew it would be but a brief time before His chosen people would forget His intervention on their behalf. They would forget His awesome display of power. Soon the people of Israel would experience yet another crisis in their faith.

Although the Israelites were quick to give up on God, the Lord didn’t give up on them. He continued to reveal himself to them through the Law, the prophets, and especially through His mighty acts. At times, He instituted ways to help cure the memory problem.

In the Scripture passage above, God directed Joshua and the Israelites to build a monument to help them remember His intervention as they prepared to cross the Jordan River and take possession of the Promised Land. The 12 stones would serve as a lasting memorial to the great work God had done halting the flow of the Jordan River so His chosen could cross on dry ground.

More than 3,000 years have passed since Joshua set up those stones at Gilgal, but I am convinced God still intervenes in the affairs of men. The nature of His intervention varies — often in the natural, but at other times in the supernatural. Sometimes He chooses to reveal His specific purposes. Other times He does not. But of this much we can be sure — the God of the Bible has revealed himself to mankind in many unmistakable ways. He wants us to know His power. He also wants us to fear Him as the one and only God of this universe.

Chaplain (Col.) Scott McChrystal, USA (Ret), is military/VA endorser and representative for the Assemblies of God.