Deuteronomy 32:7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee
Last night I was holding a baby who was twenty-two days old. As I was holding this precious little guy, his eyes were back and forth looking at the ceiling tiles or some such thing, and every once in a while, he would furrow his brow and look like an old man. I thought, “What is in his little head? What is he thinking?” Do babies even think? They have no language with which to think, so they do think, but what do they think? What does a thought look like in the head of a twenty-two-day-old baby?
What does that child know? He knows nothing. He doesn’t know his name, his family, his country, or anything else. All he knows is what you might call human instinct. What does he remember? He doesn’t remember anything. He has twenty-two days to his life, and if he does remember his first day, he will have forgotten it by the time he can tell us about it. So, he doesn’t know anything because he doesn’t remember anything.
A lot of adults are that way. They know very little, and they know nothing of the future because they have not paid attention to the past. They don’t know what has happened. They don’t remember. They are in question about their very identity. Everything is new to people who will not remember.
My sister sent me a photo a couple of days ago of me and my two sisters decades ago at my grandparents fiftieth wedding anniversary. In the picture my little sister was making a funny face and my other sister had a hairdo that was in style many years ago. Then there was me, suave and debonair with a blue oxford shirt, a tan jacket, a knockoff Ralph Lauren tie, and very plaid pants. She probably sent that picture to torment me, but also because it is a memory. It helps me remember. Remembering who I was helps me know who I am and where I am headed.
Israel was to remember. They were heading into a new land and unknown future led by a man, Joshua, who had never been their leader. God reminded them over and again the importance of remembering. When we encounter the new, we are to remember the old. In Deuteronomy 31:2 Moses says, “I am 120 years old. I can’t get around like I used to. I’m not going in the land with you, but Joshua is going with you.” Moses is out; Joshua is in. Egypt is behind them; Canaan is before them. And, God is with them. God exceeds all the people through whom He has done His work through the ages. So, there are new things every day. We are not to fear those things. We are to encounter the new by remembering the old and the timeless Jehovah God Creator.
When we remember what is past, when we remember God, it does two things for us. First, it helps to lessen fear. All of us face fear, but remembering who God is and therefore who we are helps with that by giving us perspective. In Deuteronomy 31:3 Moses is talking to Joshua in particular and says, “The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations before thee…and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said. And the LORD shall do unto them [their enemies] as he did…” God is saying, “Remember who I am.” God did, so He can. God can, so He will. Their view of the future was based on their estimation of who God is and what God is able to do.
Verse 13 says, “And that their children, which have not known any thing may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live…” So, when you remember God, it helps you to face the future with courage. In fact, the entire chapter of Deuteronomy 32 is a song that God gave Moses to help them remember.
Second, when we remember God as we face the future, it lessens our innate arrogance. Arrogance really is ignorance. Sometimes I look at people who seemed to be inflated in their view of themselves and think, “Don’t they have a mama? Don’t they have a spouse, kids, and real friends who know who they actually are, who know all the faults they actually have?” How can anyone be inflated in their view of themselves if they have people who actually know them?
Deuteronomy 32:6 asks regarding Israel, “Do ye thus requite [repay] the LORD, O foolish people…?” The verse is asking, “Do you repay God this way after all He has done for you? Are you forgetting Him?” That was a valid question. Verse 7 says, “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will show thee: thy elders, and they will tell thee.” Verse 9 says, “The LORD’s portion is his people.” He found Israel. He led them, instructed them, kept them, protected them in the wilderness, and provided for them in amazing ways. But Israel became prosperous and forsook God, going after new gods.
So, when you face the new, remember the old. When you do this, it keeps you from fear and arrogance. God had been so good to Israel, yet when they prospered, they were tempted to forget God. We are told to pray for our daily bread, yet most of us have never prayed for daily bread because we don’t need God for that. We don’t need God for anything. That feeling is a bad place to be because we do need God. Someone who remembers, remembers that we do need God.
In verse 29 Israel was to consider their latter end. Everyone has an end. Are you ready for it? Perhaps you have read a news story about someone with amnesia or age-related memory loss who is wandering aimlessly in the streets before their family comes to shepherd them home. This is a person without a past, a future, an identity, or any memory or knowledge. I am not to live that way.
In my house I have pictures of me with my beautiful wife, my brilliant kids, my well-trained dog, my beautiful house, and my perfect life. I’m not going to post those pictures because they are for me; they are not for you. They are there to remind me of who I am, who is mine, and to whom I belong. Friend, it is helpful to remember who belongs to you, the God of Heaven, and to whom you belong, the God of Heaven if you have trusted Him by faith for salvation. We can face the future without arrogance and without fear because we remember who God is and therefore, we know who we are.