What does the Bible say about history?

God's active role in history, sovereignly holding all things

• Genesis 45:7, "But God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors
• Ecclesiastes 1:9, there is nothing new under the sun
• Isaiah 41:4, the Lord will be the first and the last
• Acts 2:23, God had foreknowledge

God is more powerful than events by which we mark time

• Isaiah 37:26, God determined it long ago
• Daniel 2:21, God changes times and seasons
• Acts 17:26, God alloted the times of our existance and the places where we would live

God's authority over history is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ

• John 21:25, Jesus did many things
• Colossians 1:17, in Christ, all things hold together
• Revelation 22:13, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end"

God's people tell the story of God's faithfulness

God's people tell the story of God's faithfulness in generations past. This is a prompt for thanksgiving and encourages proper living in the present.

• Leviticus 23:42-43, command to live in booths to remember the time that God brought them out of Egypt
• Joshua 4:20-22, 12 stones at Gilgal
• Psalm 77:11-12, "I will meditate on all your work and muse on your mighty deeds"
• Psalm 136:1, 10-11, recitation of God's faithfulness throughout history
• Micah 6:5, remember that you may know the saving acts of the Lord
• 2 Peter 1:16, we are eyewitnesses

Sermon ideas about history

Some places in the Bible, such as passages in the Gospels that are similar to one another but still different, remind us that while the Bible tells the true story of God, its primary goal is to tell redemptive history. The Bible should not be expected to adhere to standards of modern historiography. At the same time, the redemptive focus of the Biblical story should not be seen as a detraction from the truth contained within.

An emphasis on the sovereignty of God suggests that, because God rules over all things, the story of the past is also the story of God at work in the past. Of course, as with all things related to the sovereignty of God, we must be careful before we claim to know definitively the will and plan of God. If we are insensitive, we may write off tremendous evil and suffering as "God's will." At the same time, we can recognize and affirm that even in the midst of such tremendous suffering, God offers hope and redemption, as in the story of Joseph.

With increasing mobility, greater geographical distance between families, and delayed childbirth, some of the means by which family stories were passed down are becoming less a part of the cultural landscape. Scripture repeatedly warns Israel to know its story, to learn from it and to celebrate God's faithfulness. The church remains one of few social institutions where young and old alike are brought together in the same place and cross-generational learning can occur. Churches can facilitate relationships between young and old where the stories of God's faithfulness in generations past can be told once more.

"One Generation to the Next"

"We will extol you, God and King, and bless your holy name.
Day after day we'll sing your praise, forever and forever.

One generation will call to the next:
"Our God is good and his hand is strong!"
All of the world sings his marvelous acts
and our voice will join with theirs in the song.

Great is the Lord! In all his ways he's greatly to be praised.
Were we to search for endless days, his greatness none could fathom.

We contemplate the splendor of the world your hand has made.
Far greater still the majesty we see in the Creator!

Now may your name be sung in every tongue, in every place.
Singing the fame of your great love in ev'ry generation."

(Greg Scheer, "One Generation Will Call to the Next," Faith Alive, 2006.)

Others tell our story

In Lin-Manuel Miranda's "Hamilton: An American Musical," George Washington sings to Alexander Hamilton: "Let me tell you what I wish I'd known / When I was young and dreamed of glory / you have no control: / Who lives, who dies, who tells your story? I know that we can win / I know that greatness lies in you / But remember from here on in / History has its / Eyes on you." (Lin-Manuel Miranda, "History Has Its Eyes on You," Hamilton: An American Musical, 2015)