Repetition and Remembrance
Repetition and Remembrance
Judges 8:33-34
As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. And the people of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side …
Over the past few years, I’ve found it hilarious how certain words and phrases seem to get invented overnight, by an ad marketing agency or by an editorial board, and then seamlessly get grafted into common vernacular as if people had been speaking that way from the beginning. For instance, at the outset of Covid, I remember hearing the combination of the words ‘misinformation and disinformation’ and initially finding it novel, until I saw humorous montages of a hundred different talking heads suddenly using that same phrase at the exact same time. But repetition matters in messaging, doesn’t it? And the stories we tell from day to day become the stories we live out.
As we watch yet another godly leader bite the dust only for his posterity to immediately trample on his grave in haste for renewed blasphemies, it makes me wonder whether something went wrong with Gideon’s messaging? I’m not casting blame here—just exploring all the possibilities. Why has the next generation risen up without remembering the LORD? Is it possible that Gideon sort of retired from public ministry after his exploits? As the years went by, did he stop inviting neighbors to the annual feast of remembrance to retell the wonders God had performed in delivering his generation from oppression? He'd lived through a great depression brought on by idolatry; did that experience not invigorate him to warn the people of the consequences of running from God? Did he ever pull out that fleece for his grandchildren, set them up on his lap, and tell them the marvelous tale of how God had called him even when he was weak and fearful? And what about those 300 warriors who’d fought at his side? What message did they pass down to their clans? Was it a highlight reel of divine mercies or a highlight reel of their own exploits?
Friend, the enemy will whisper through the static whatever he can to make the next generation forget about God. So, make it your vocation today to proclaim the gospel of our LORD, because it is.