05-28-06 Memorial day Sunday
Last Monday of May observed as a legal holiday in most states of the U.S. in remembrance of war dead
Prayer
Memorials—things established to commemorate an event or a truth
“memorial” is used almost exclusively for an activity that remembers or honors the dead, for example, a memorial service, a memorial garden, or a war memorial.
It is also used to preserve the memory of a person, thing or event, but also for an act of commemoration, and even for memory itself
In the Bible, the verb “to remember” often represents a broader idea than simply to recall something from the past because it implies and includes resultant action as well.
It is not just recalling, but recalling in a way that affects one’s present feeling, thought, or action.
I. Bad memorials or reminders…..
A. Let these be a lesson to you type memorials
1. Lot’s wife
a) Disobedient, becomes pillar of salt
Genesis 19:17 (NASB95)
17 When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.”
Genesis 19:26 (NASB95)
26 But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
b) Event to be remembered Luke 17:32
Luke 17:31-32
31 “On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back.
32 “Remember Lot’s wife.
c) Lot’s wife kept looking back on what she should have left….
2. Korah
a) The censers used by the rebellious Korah and his company
(1) Korah challenged Moses and made up his own priesthood of 250, and brazen fire pan censors, Korah and his followers were consumed by the earth swallowing them up… Numbers 16:1-18:32
(2) Were hammered out into plates as a covering for the altar, not as a “memorial” (kjv) to the sinners but as an ever-present “reminder”
(a) “To remind”; “a warning”)
(b) That no person who is not a priest should burn incense before the Lord
Numbers 16:40 (NASB95
40 as a reminder to the sons of Israel that no layman who is not of the descendants of Aaron should come near to burn incense before the Lord; so that he will not become like Korah and his company—just as the Lord had spoken to him through Moses.
(c) No pretend servants or ministers of God
3. Altar at Jordan
Joshua 22:9-16 (NASB95)
9 The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home and departed from the sons of Israel at Shiloh which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession which they had possessed, according to the command of the Lord through Moses.
The Offensive Altar
10 When they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a large altar in appearance.
11 And the sons of Israel heard it said, “Behold, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the sons of Israel.”
12 When the sons of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered themselves at Shiloh to go up against them in war.
13 Then the sons of Israel sent to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,
14 and with him ten chiefs, one chief for each father’s household from each of the tribes of Israel; and each one of them was the head of his father’s household among the thousands of Israel.
15 They came to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them saying,
16 “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this unfaithful act which you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away from following the Lord this day, by building yourselves an altar, to rebel against the Lord this day?
II. Good memorials
A. Things we should Selah
1. Noah, when it is said in
Genesis 8:1 (NASB95)
1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.
a) This does not mean that God merely recalled that Noah was in the ark
b) It includes this idea to be sure, but more than this it means that God is acting on Noah’s behalf
2. Jacob’s stone
Genesis 28:18-22 (NASB95)
18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top.
19 He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz.
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I 1take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear,
21 and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the Lord will be my God.
22 “This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
a) God’s breaking in our day to day
b) When we get saved
c) When we have a course change in our lives
d) God’s miraculous provision
e) God’s promises fulfilled
3. Feast of Purim
Esther 9:28 (NASB95)
28 So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province and every city; and these days of Purim were not to fail from among the Jews, or their memory fade from their descendants.
a) God’s answers to prayer
b) God’s deliverance
c) YOM Kipur
4. God’s name and character is the same to every generation
Exodus 3:15 (NASB95)
15 God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.
The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob
a) “This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations”
b) Tells them that this is how God is to be remembered throughout all generations
c) The God of generations
d) The name by which I am to be remembered.”
5. Jesus’ comment on the action of the woman who poured costly ointment on his head closes with the words:
Mark 14:9
“Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.”
Mark 14:9
“wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her”
Mark 14:9 (NASB95)
9 “Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”
Matthew 26:13 (NASB95)
13 “Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”
The nasb, niv, and rsv have “in memory of her”; nkjv has “as a memorial”; and nlt, “
a) In her memory
b) Why did we not remember her name?
c) That was not the important thing
(1) The act of devoted love and sorrow for sin
(2) The act of open public unabashed repentance
Genesis 31:44-45 (NASB95)
44 “So now come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me.”
45 Then Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.
6. Pot of manna
Exodus 16:32-34 (NASB95)
32 Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded, ‘Let an omerful of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ”
33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omerful of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.”
34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony, to be kept.
a) God making a way where there was no way
b) God’s provision
c) God’s foreshadowing a type of Christ the bread from heaven
7. Covenant memorial
Exodus 13:12-16 (NASB95)
12 you shall devote to the Lord the first offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to the Lord.
13 “But every first offspring of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.
14 “And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘With a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of 2slavery.
15 ‘It came about, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the Lord killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord the males, the first 1offspring of every womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’
16 “So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and as phylacteries on your forehead, for with a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”
8. Living memorial
1 Samuel 7:12 (NASB95)
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
9. Ebenezer stone
Genesis 9:13-16 (NASB95)
13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
14 “It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud,
15 and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 “When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
10. The rainbow, a reminder that God would never again destroy the world by a flood
Joshua 4:7 (NASB95)
7 then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”
11. Twelve stones, a reminder of God’s mighty power in bringing Israel across the Jordan into Canaan
12. Another usage of the term is found in connection with the “stones of remembrance” attached to the front of the ephod worn by the high priest
Exodus 28:12 (NASB95)
12 “You shall put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for a memorial.
Exodus 28:29 (NASB95)
29 “Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment over his heart when he enters the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually.
Exodus 39:7 (NASB95)
7 And he placed them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
a) The significance of these stones was that they were to bring the names of the sons of Israel before the Lord
b) This is not simply in order for the Lord to recall their names
c) But to assure the Israelites of his present concern for their well-being
III. Best memorials
A. What God established
1. Passover
Exodus 12:14 (NASB95)
Feast of Unleavened Bread
14 ‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.
a) God’s judgments
b) God’s grace
c) God’s salvation
d) God’s deliverance (multiple times)
e) God’s sovereignty over the affairs of men
2. Lord’s Supper
Luke 22:19 (NASB95)
19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”