The Bible's Repetition

The first reference in the Scriptures regarding remembrance is the rainbow. God creates an external symbol to prompt memory.  After the story of Noah, there are countless prompts and calls to remember what God has done, beginning with Jacob in Genesis laying a stone to recall his encounter with God at Bethel and repeated multiple times, up to Samuel laying a stone to remember God’s help.

From beginning to end of the Bible, we see evidence after evidence that God is passionate about the topic of remembering: he is consistently encouraging us to remember, and we even see stark warnings for those who choose not to. 

God is always looking to deepen our relationship with him, and we do so through remembering. If we step back to take a look at the broad story of Scripture, it is one where God is constantly calling us ever closer to him. The story is not smooth; there are times when we forget and stumble and times when we have to retrace our steps before we can move forward, but ultimately, if we are walking in step with the Holy Spirit, we grow in our understanding of Jesus’s love for us until it’s perfected in eternity. And the only way we can do this while we’re on the journey is by remembering what’s already happened and by considering the experiences and knowledge of the heroes of the faith who have gone before us. 

Generation after generation, God reveals himself through stories. Stories of betrayal reveal his redemption, stories of need reveal his provision, stories of weakness reveal his strength, and so on. It’s not a coincidence that Jesus’s communication to us in the New Testament was not through difficult-to-grasp theology, but by appealing to our hearts through stories. Every story told reveals another layer of his relationship with us, and if we remember each one, we can learn more. 

Every old memory reveals a new depth to God’s nature. When we forget the learning in an experience, it has to either be relived so that the learning is restored, or the past stories need to be found and remembered so that we can build and build on who we know God is.

Questions for Reflection 

1. With a group of friends, whether in person or remotely, see how many books of the Bible you can find that refer to remembrance in its scriptures. 

2. Search the Scriptures for verses that contain the word ‘remember’ – what do you find? 

3. In your quiet time with God, reflect on how highly he values remembrance. Are your values aligned with God’s?