The Bible is rich in history for those who are history poor

4 min read

“Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.”

Edmund Burke

Did you know that Christianity is a belief system that depends largely on history? I know, I know, most of us don’t really care for history because it can be a bit dry and boring.

But before you check out, would you change your mind about the value of history if someone could show you how an occasional but focused look back in time tangibly benefits you in some way today?

Let’s give it a try. Here’s a quick 4-minute summary.

For starters, the Bible – the best-selling and most read book of all time – has a lot of history in it. When you read it, you’re reading history. In fact, in a sense, you could say the Bible is a documentary about humanity’s relationship with God, including the good times (the Garden of Eden – Genesis 1-2), the bad times (the Fall and the Fallout – Genesis 3), and then a long period of anticipation for the promised Messiah who would set right all that had been broken (Genesis 4-Malachi).

Then came the Gospels (Matthew-John), which document how God delivered on His promise by sending Jesus. Based on eye-witness accounts, the Gospels describe the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Next is Acts, which describes the beginning and formative years of the Church under the leadership of the Apostles.

Yes, the Bible reveals to us what God wants us to understand and believe about Him, about ourselves, and about our history with Him…how it started, how it broke down, and how we have opportunity to be reconciled back to Him through His Son.

But this story is told on the timeline of history. By telling us what happened long ago in a manger, then on a Cross and a vacated tomb, it gives us a sense of what we can expect next. In other words, for the believer, the future is predictable and infinitely hopeful because of something that happened back in time.

“The ultimate source of Christian theology is the Bible, which bears witness to the historical grounding of Christianity in both the history of Israel and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

Alister E. McGrath

Before closing, here’s one more thing to help make the case for the value of history. It’s a subtle point, but one we would do well to notice. It has to do with the kings in the Old Testament of the Bible. Read through them and you will find that most of them were uninspiring. In fact, out of the whole lot, only a handful were considered good kings.

But if you zoom in closer on the good ones, you’ll notice they had something unique in common. The narrative of only four kings (David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Josiah) includes a reference to a royal clerk, aka historian. These were the official note-takers. In Hebrew, the word for these individuals was zakar, which literally means to remember, recall, or call to mind.

The royal historian’s job was to make sure that the people, especially the leaders, did not forget their history.

But why? Because history is chock-full of invaluable lessons. The good kings believed that history had its place because it reminded them of how life’s outcomes are largely determined by the choices we make. History was their friend because it told them, “When you do this, this happens.” To enhance their future, in other words, they needed to consider the past.

Apparently for the other kings, history didn’t matter much. The historians of their day were unemployed. And as a consequence, the people kept on repeating their self-destructive ways. Like a well-known comedian once said,

“History repeats itself. It has to. Nobody listens the first time around.”

Woody Allen

Maybe the good kings of Israel were good precisely because they clung to the lessons of history? Their historians reminded them that to abandon God and his good plan was the most devastating thing that could happen. On the other hand, the record reflected that when kings and people honored God, things always worked out better.

These good kings chose to remember, and their remembering helped them make better decisions in real time.

The same still applies today. The way forward becomes clearer when we take a regular look back. As we read our Bibles, we can’t help but notice that folks from the past were always the happiest when they trusted God and sought to honor him. On the flipside, they were most miserable when for whatever reason they decided to uninvite him from their story.

Is it possible that at least part of the explanation for the dizzying increase in tragic circumstances these days is that we are repeating this error of history?

One last thought. Did you know the reason why your local church makes it a point to periodically observe communion is because it is a history lesson? Jesus started the Lord’s Supper a long time ago and instructed his followers to continue it in remembrance of him. The idea is that by looking back at what He did on the Cross, why He did it, and what it means for our future, we will make the most of our days on this side of Heaven.

Time’s up. That’s the Bible in 4 minutes.

It’s a new day with God. Run with it.