Lessons from History

INTRODUCTION

I’m sure you had your favorite subject in school. For some of you, it was math. Others it was art. And then if you were like me, it was recess or lunch. I guess they don’t qualify as subjects.

But a few of you enjoyed history. History appeals to many because it is the story of people, their decisions, their reactions, events beyond their control, etc.. Many of us enjoy history because it gives us a perspective and teaches us to enjoy life or find it interesting.

Peter Stearns of Carnegie Mellon University, lists several reasons why history is so attractive to us (Why Study History? (1998) | AHA (historians.org). They are the following:

History helps us understand people and societies;

History helps us understand change and how the society we live in came to be.

History contributes to moral understanding.

History provides identity.

Studying History is essential for good citizenship.

The Bible has a good bit of history. There are those books that are even called: “historical books,” that tell the story of God’s people, their leaders, their decisions, and their reactions to others’ decisions and events.

The book of Esther is one of those historical books. Its author is unknown, but we do detect a deep pride and identification as a Jewish person, living probably in the 5th century B.C., who tells the story of deliverance and why Jewish people celebrate the festival of Purim.

As one commentator states:

“Positively, the Book of Esther testifies clearly to the invisible hand of Providence, which will not allow the covenant people to be utterly destroyed.” (New Geneva Study Bible, 686).

Since the Salford Pilgrimage is a bit of going back in time, tonight, I ask: “What can we learn from history?” especially in light of the story of Esther, and while we are at it, the Schwenkfelders.

History is the story of God’s hand.

History is the testimony of actions, reactions, decisions and their consequences. Mordecai told his niece Esther, when the Jews were threatened with extinction, Esther 4:12-14

Esther 4:12–14 ESV

12 And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Mordecai, the uncle of Esther, tips his hat to history with profound faith in God. He believes that the Lord will rescue God’s people, with or without Esther.

Others in the Bible have also acknowledge the bigger picture and God’s hand in it. For instance, Paul referred to himself as “one untimely born,” yet privileged to witness the risen Christ (1 Corinthians 15:8).

And Galatians 4:4 tells us...

Galatians 4:4 ESV

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,

Finally, “at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6)

God’s timing is impeccable and full of grace, as we trace His hand in the dealings with sinful humankind. He has always been engaged and still is and ever will be. Secondly...

History causes you to appreciate what you have.

The past two years have been difficult with something that none of us have had to encounter, the dawn of a pandemic. Now, experts are saying that we will always have the Corona virus with us; that it will be just another type of flu.

Yet, from the pages of history, we know that we’ve been down this road before. During the pandemic, there were many discussions about Spanish flu that lasted from February of 1918 to April 1920 and took 675,000 lives. Or the Polio outbreaks in 1916 and 1952. Although the virus only took 3,145 people, it did cause paralysis in its survivors. My dad tells the story about a young girl who contracted it in his small Southwest Missouri town and it put the whole town on edge.

History reminds us of the pivot point of history, which is the cross.

The Old Testament points to the cross, predicting the life and passion of Jesus. Isaiah is often called the Romans of the Old Testament because it gives the gospel in arguably the clearest form from that first two-thirds of the Bible. Isaiah 53:5-7

Isaiah 53:5–7 (ESV)

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

History should encourage you that God is active in the past, present and future.

In Biblical history, God is the main character. The book of Esther is not chiefly about Esther, or Mordecai, or King Ahaseurus of Persia (aka Xerxes I). Rather, it is about God.

And God is active in the present. He guides and directs the believer’s life in such a way that everything that happens to him or her only occurs by permission and design. Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28 ESV

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

In the New Testament, God’s faithfulness is recorded again and again by referring to the Old Testament. In Acts 4:23, the disciples prayed for boldness in speaking the gospel, recalling David, God’s promises and what the Lord Jesus had endured for them. Their remembering these things gave them power to be the church in a culture that was not church friendly. Prayer is telling God He is faithful for your own benefit!

Listen to Acts 4:27-28:

Acts 4:27–28 ESV

27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

So history is tracing the hand of God, so as to discover His will that is tied to His decrees, which are defined in the Westminster Shorter Catechism as

“... his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 7 found at Westminster Shorter Catechism – The Westminster Standard)

If we do not make an effort to remember God’s goodness and recall Biblical or secular history on the things He has done, we easily forget and are at the mercy of our own desires and devices. We slip into hopelessness, selfishness, pride and are prone to forget about God. Interesting that the Psalmist, did not recover this prospective until “...he went into the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 73:17) We must remember! We must know history! God’s people had many reminders in the way of monuments, festivals and articles to remind them of His faithfulness. You and I have the cross, which is enough.

In Biblical history, God is the main character. Cyrus was anointed as “God’s servant,” although he was a Zoroastrian and the Babylonians before him were tools in the hands of God.

God is never mocked (Galatians 6:7). He rules the universe. Psalm 115:3

Psalm 115:3 (ESV)

3 Our God is in the heavens;

he does all that he pleases.

The Lord is sovereign over our lives. We must trust that He knows what He is doing. Nothing is stronger or wiser than Him! Not cancer, not tragedy, not acts of nature, not anything! Therefore we place our faith in him and do not worry.

What can you learn from the Schwenkfelders?

We can never forget what the early Schwenkfelders endured in Silesia. Reading from Dr. Viehmeyer’s translation of the reports of John Martin and Balthazar Hoffmann, otherwise known as The Tumultuous Years, listen to this account.

(READ FROM PAGES 4-6).

Such is a story of survival, a story of perseverance, and a story of faith. Or, as someone else put it better: “a story of faith, hope and love.”

CONCLUSION

How did it turn out for Esther, Mordecai and the Jews? They were granted the permission to defend themselves against Haman’s plot. Haman, the evil conspirator got what was coming to him. And the Jews celebrate God’s deliverance to this day in the festival of Purim. Ironically, He was hung on the very same gallows that he had built in hopes to execute Mordecai. Again, Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”