All of this has Happened Before
Our nations are lost in moral, spiritual and economic decay. But this situation should not be unexpected. Even our entertainment sheds light on this fact, as it was said multiple times in Battle Star Galactica,
“all of this has happened before, and it will happen again”
The science fiction series was recycling this age-old wisdom from the scriptures,
Solomon put it succinctly, “…there is nothing new under the sun
This saying rings true to our modern age as we, the western civilizations of the US, Canada, Britain, Australia and elsewhere have forsaken our basis in the one true God. We hve traded Him for idols of flesh, paper, silicon, steel and carbon .
“All of this has happened before, and it will happen again”
The bible has reiterated this message with examples of previous generations making the same mistakes over and over again resulting in ruin. Don’t get me wrong, this is not eternal recurrence where the same people play out the same events over and over in time. Rather history has a tendency to repeat itself when the students of history do not learn the lessons. Who are the students of history you ask? Well, in fact, we all are, but as many know it is possible to be a student and yet not learn the lesson. Hopefully you and I pay attention so that we can pass the test, and not continue to relive the failed scenarios of the past.
Lets take a look at a couple of examples in the Bible of a people who rejected God.
Samuel wrote of the events in his day, and it was not a good day for the nation:
And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them…17 Then Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah, 18 and said to the children of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all kingdoms and from those who oppressed you.’ 19 But you have today rejected your God, who Himself saved you from all your adversities and your tribulations; and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us!’
Jeremiah lamented about the state of the nation and the destruction that would come because the people had forgotten God and followed evil counsel:
Has a nation changed its gods, Which are not gods?
But My people have changed their Glory for what does not profit.
Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid;
Be very desolate,” says the Lord.
“For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water...
Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?
Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.
“Therefore I will scatter them like stubble
That passes away by the wind of the wilderness.
This is your lot, the portion of your measures from Me,” says the Lord,
“Because you have forgotten Me, and trusted in falsehood…
“Because My people have forgotten Me,
They have burned incense to worthless idols.
And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways,
From the ancient paths, to walk in pathways and not on a highway,
To make their land desolate and a perpetual hissing;
Everyone who passes by it will be astonished and shake his head.
I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy;
I will show them the back and not the face In the day of their calamity.”
Really, we are no different than those nations and peoples who came before us, for human nature has not changed . The difference in our time is that we have advanced technology. It could be used for good. Or, it will lead us at a fast pace straight down the path to our own self-destruction, if we neglect God and the moral guidelines he has provided.
So it is a paradox that it is possible to be at a point in history right now that is as never before and yet seems to have happened previously. For us it is likely a pivotal point without precedent in recent history with the escalating debts, the lack of moral guidance, increasingly violent and brutal acts committed and sometimes celebrated every day in our media. But on the grander scheme, through the millennia of world history, men and women turning their backs on God, going their own way, and seeking whatever the human heart desires, these things are not new. It is this human nature that is constant that causes similar situations to arise, for the many and varied negative consequences of selfishness, greed, hate, lust and turning away from God and his teachings have all happened many times in the past.
The lesson for the student of history is simple; if we forsake God and go our own way, he will not protect us and we are headed for similar disasters as seen in history unless we turn back to Him. Not a half-hearted turning back with words, but a full-hearted turning to God through our actions, through national repentance, by personally seeking Him and His ways as given in his word. Only when every man woman and child seeks him first will we break the cycle.
It is your personal choice to choose God’s way and receive blessing and life, or to choose your own path filled with no end of troubles, that leads to death. On a personal and national level there is always the opportunity to return to God, change our course, adopt God’s values and be restored and healed.
if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
