Why Remember?

Yesterday was the 2 year anniversary of the attack on Israel by Hamas. I have been very disappointed by how many people in the world seem to side with the Palestinians, thus supporting Hamas. It boggles my mind how many people are willing to stand with terrorist who willingly use their own people as shields, over the country that was attacked and are trying to get their own hostages back. Many in the world trust those that consistently lie, over a nation that God has protected over thousands of years. A tiny nation is attacked by a portion of the Arab world and yet they still stand. To understand the loss Israel faced, if the same percentage of our population were attacked and killed, it would be about 40,000 people. Any nation would have a right to defend themselves. So why remember? We remember here in other countries, realizing that we are not immune from attacks. Israel remembers so that they don’t drop their guard and a solemn remembrance of those that lost their lives. It is remembering a country that rose up to defend the land God gave them and honoring those that fought for freedom. To forget history is to allow history to repeat itself. God’s people were also asked to remember other things. There were several festivals that reminded them of God’s miracles, provisions, protection, etc. One in particular is the Passover. After many plagues sent by God to get Pharaoh to release the slaves (God’s people), the 10th plague would finally crack Pharaoh’s hardened heart. The angel of death would pass through the land and kill the eldest male of every family and livestock. The only remedy was to slaughter a lamb, a year old, without blemish and take its blood and paint it on the door. Only this shed blood caused the angel to “pass over” them. They celebrate the meal, depicting the haste in which they were to leave, as a reminder of God’s provision. Today, it would be good for Israel, as a nation, to turn fully to God, and in doing so, hopefully more would come to know Jesus. We too are called to remember, “Take, eat, this is my body/blood given for you for the forgiveness of sins. Don’t forget. Father, You have been faithful through all generations. Continue to watch over Israel and restore her once again. Amen