That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
That which has been is brought back by God to be reckoned with, and its instruction is carried forward into the present. God recalls His own dealings through the ages and generations, both in judgment and in mercy. For that reason what occurred before is repeated again in later generations.
The written histories and experiences of believers keep their worth to the church because they preserve the pattern of faithful obedience confronted by evil, the account both of the righteous and of those who stood against them. Those records make later believers ready for the time when history repeats itself, when human authority is lifted above the Word of God and obedience to God is counted as a crime. The same requiring of the past also reaches the individual, for God calls persons to answer for former transgressions when He visits them for those wrongs, even though the record of their past lies beyond their power to change.
That which has been is brought back by God to be reckoned with, and its instruction is carried forward into the present. God recalls His own dealings through the ages and generations, both in judgment and in mercy. For that reason what occurred before is repeated again in later generations.
The written histories and experiences of believers keep their worth to the church because they preserve the pattern of faithful obedience confronted by evil, the account both of the righteous and of those who stood against them. Those records make later believers ready for the time when history repeats itself, when human authority is lifted above the Word of God and obedience to God is counted as a crime. The same requiring of the past also reaches the individual, for God calls persons to answer for former transgressions when He visits them for those wrongs, even though the record of their past lies beyond their power to change.