Initiators of Remembrance

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INITIATORS OF REMEMBRANCE

What we have learned about writing prophets so far follows themes from the beginning of this course as it relates to revealing Christ. We understand that this revealing includes the revealing of His identity, his will, purposes, plans, motives and intent.

Remembrance is the reason for memorials.

It is a cry to never forget the sacrifice and covenant God has made with humanity through His son Jesus. It is a cry TO REMEMBER... one of the core functions of Holy Spirit! All roads of prophecy flow from this powerful river of truth.

The concept of “remembering" recurs prominently in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament. Every single prophet SHOOK WITH AUTHORITY in demanding that the people RECALL THE WORKS AND INTENTION OF GOD! This is a truth that is SORELY AND DESPERATELY MISSED BY PEOPLE WHO TEACH ON THE PROPHETIC TODAY.

One day as I pondered this the Lord said to me: Many can't see it because their eyes are fixed on using the gifts of the Spirit, not understanding what the gifts of the Spirit are for at heart. I was grieved to the bone.... and asked Holy Spirit to help me never become a person who worships the gift and forgets to remember the intention of the gift-giver.

God remembers his covenant with his people, where upon God's people are enjoined to remember Him. Remembering, frequently placed in opposition to forgetting by the prophets, focuses not only upon the past, but upon the present and future as well (Eccl 11:8).”[1]

The term is translated accurately from the Hebrew word zakar. It is also translated as “think, mention, to recall, to be mindful of, to think on, to bring into remembrance or to record.”

Let’s stop here for a moment and take this in.

I want to challenge you to consider everything you know or are learning about God. Make it personal and consider what He has done for you. Meditate on Christ’s life, crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection.

Then, stand in this truth: “God REMEMBERS His people. He chooses to forget their sin.”

God remembered Noah, the animals and every creature with him (Genesis 8:1).

God remembered Abraham (Genesis 19:29).

God remembered Rachael (Genesis 30:22)

God remembered Hannah (1 Samuel 1:19)

God remembered Ephraim (Jeremiah 31:20)

Even Christ chose to remember the woman with the alabaster jar, whose name is tied forever to the preaching of the Gospel (Luke 7:37-38).

His list of what he REMEMBERS is extensive if we search it out.

THEN... as God remembers us, He longs for us to remember Him. I'm just going to tell you that this SHOOK ME TO MY BONES when I re received a greater revelation of it.

He desires this so much that He promised to “WRITE HIS WORDS” on our hearts (Deuteronomy 6:4-12, Romans 2:15, Isaiah 59:21, Hebrews 10:16). He longed for it so much that he sent THE WORD and sent His son as THE WORD MADE FLESH.

He so desires to be remembered... and recalled that even the heaven’s and the earth remember him as they show forth His glory. How much more is required of us?

Remembrance is at the core of faith and belief. RECALL is at the core of our renewal and strengthening. Remembrance ensures recall. Remembrance is the hope and glory of the Gospel. Without it, the foundations of our faith would come tumbling down.

All areas of PROPHETIC scribal ministry is glued together by a thread of remembrance and recall that GOD ENSURED became written documents. Remembrance exists to bring the people of God into a state of recall concerning God’s promises, judgments and love. It is the force that causes us to recount what pleases and displeases Him… and moves us into obedience, sacrifice, knowledge of Him and understanding.

The entire concept of the Eucharist is built on remembrance and making a memorial.

1 Corinthians 11:22-23 NIV says, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

The most prevalent use of remembrance in the Bible is the command to remember the Lord and his mighty deeds.[2]

Joshua 4:4 NIV states: “So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

The ministry of many scribes are initiators of remembrance ESPECIALLY THE CALLING OF THE WRITING PROPHET.

Were it not so, they would not have gone to such great lengths to preserve and protect Torah. We would not have historical records or genealogies passed down. At the core of the scribal calling is this mandate to bring things into accountability, to stand as a witness or to initiate recall.

We see repetition often in remembrance. We see a push to affect memory and establish recall by the Lord himself.

Writing prophets are the INITIATORS OF REMEMBRANCE. They are the MAKERS OF CRITICAL MEMORIALS. THEY ARE THE KEEPERS OF THE WILL OF GOD FOR HIS PEOPLE.

[1] Walter A. Elwell. Bakers Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Edited by Walter A. Elwell, Baker Books (Baker Book House Company: Grand Rapids), http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/memorial/

[2] Ibid.