Remembering Past Sins: Lessons from the Prophets

We have a tendency to lean toward the positive when looking back. People talk about the good ol’ days, not the bad ones. It’s natural. We want to forget the bad and remember only the good things. Easier said than done, but with time, painful memories can fade.

It is not this way with the Lord. He knows that if we forget the bad, we never learn the lessons he intends for us. Without remembering our sin, we lean on our own self-sufficiency and forget the God who saved us and protected us. Today, we’re going to look at how God used the prophets to call the people back to the reality of past sins. They needed to be woken up to the reality of God’s sovereignty and provision, despite their poor choices.

Jeremiah makes this personal.

Few people will admit to enjoying reading the book of Lamentations, but I find in it some of the sweetest reminders of God’s goodness and faithfulness. It’s a very personal book and a good place to turn when you feel like you’ve dug a hole for yourself you can’t get out of it. Jeremiah would not let himself forget, and it turned him to the only source of help and redemption.

Remember my affliction and my homelessness, the wormwood and the poison. I continually remember them and have become depressed. Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! I say, “The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:19-24 CSB)

Jeremiah had good reason for his depression, but he also knew he had good reason to hope. He knew this for himself personally, and he knew this for the people of God.

Remember God as you go into exile.

They’d done it to themselves. Their love for the idols and gods of the surrounding nations was the cause of their own defeat. Foretold since the time of Moses, the people failed to heed the warnings and gave into their lusts and evil desires, putting other gods before the Lord God Almighty. As they would leave the land of promise and move into exile in Babylon, God did not want them to forget the why.

“Remember this and be brave; take it to heart, you transgressors! Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and no one is like me. I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: my plan will take place, and I will do all my will.” (Isaiah 46:8-10)

In remembering their sin they would also remember the God they dishonored by their actions. Once they remembered God, they would remember the prophecies about not only their exile but about their redemption and return to the land. Remembering would strengthen their courage and determination to trust God once again.

Remember you sin and your God when you return.

Ezekiel preached to a people in exile. Their sin had caused this, and they needed to acknowledge that truth. Ezekiel brought great hope to the people about the certainty of their return to the Land, but he did not speak this truth without the reminder of their need to remember the underlying cause of all their trouble, lest they fell again into sin.

“When I bring you from the peoples and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, I will accept you as a pleasing aroma. And I will demonstrate my holiness through you in the sight of the nations. When I lead you into the land of Israel, the land I swore to give your ancestors, you will know that I am the Lord. There you will remember your ways and all your deeds by which you have defiled yourself, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil things you have done. You will know that I am the Lord, house of Israel, when I have dealt with you for the sake of my name rather than according to your evil ways and corrupt acts. This is the declaration of the Lord God.’” (Ezekiel 20:41-44)

It is a reminder that only with confession and repentance is there forgiveness and redemption. They needed to keep their slate clean before God upon their return.

Remember that God has good reason to sue you.

In speaking through the prophet Micah, God paints this great scene of a courtroom. God sits on the throne, and the people stand before him as the accused, guilty in their sin. They needed to remember how many times the Lord had protected them despite those sins and acknowledge his goodness to them. In the end, God reveals what he requires of his people, and it’s not the sacrifices they expected him to demand.

My people, remember what King Balak of Moab proposed, what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and what happened from the Acacia Grove to Gilgal so that you may acknowledge the Lord’s righteous acts. What should I bring before the Lord when I come to bow before God on high? Should I come before him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousand streams of oil? Should I give my firstborn for my transgression, the offspring of my body for my own sin?

Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:5-8)

Remember, we too were lost in our sin.

These lessons from history should be constant reminders of the goodness of God. We are unworthy of his love, protection, salvation, and care. We deserve to stand before the judgment of a Holy God and face our punishment. But…the Judge on High has flipped the tables and laid our judgment on the back of his Son, not because we deserve it, but because of his love for us.

May we never forget our lost state without Christ. May we never forget how we’ve been redeemed from exile into darkness to live within the borders of the light of his presence. May we strive in response to his great love to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk in humility with our God.

Grace and Peace

If you missed the last Friday Focus post, click HERE, or start from the Beginning.