What does the Bible say about history?

The Bible passages below can be used in sermons, prayers, pastoral care, or worship planning focused on history.

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

• Genesis 45:7, God acted to preserve a remnant (God sent me before you to provide for you and your descendants)
• Ecclesiastes 1:9, history repeats (there is nothing new under the sun)
• Isaiah 41:4, God has been at work from the beginning (the Lord will be the first and the last)
• Acts 2:23, the plan of God (God had foreknowledge)

God is more powerful than events by which we mark time

• Isaiah 37:26, God's plan for history (God determined it long ago)
• Daniel 2:21, God's power within history (God changes times and seasons)
• Acts 17:26, God sets the boundaries of history (God allotted the times of our existence and the places where we would live)

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

• John 21:25, Jesus' significance in history (Jesus did many other things that aren't recorded)
• Colossians 1:17, Jesus holds things together (all things hold together in Christ)
• Revelation 22:13, Jesus, the beginning and the end (I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last)

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, acts of remembrance (command to live in booths to remember the time that God brought them out of Egypt)
• Joshua 4:20-22, stones of remembrance (twelve stones from Jordan River set up at Gilgal)
• Psalm 77:11-12, remembering God's deeds (I will remember and meditate on your wonderful works)
• Psalm 136:1, 10-11, God's enduring love (recitation of God's faithfulness throughout history)
• Micah 6:5, remember your history (remember that you may know the saving acts of the Lord)
• 2 Peter 1:16, witnessing history (we were eyewitnesses)

Sermon ideas about history

Some places in the Bible, such as passages in the gospels that are similar to one another, remind us that while the Bible tells the true story of God, its primary goal is to tell redemptive history. A sermon about history can note that 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 God's sovereignty, 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 today's cultural landscape. The Bible 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 come together in the same place and where 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. Sermons can also share this history.

Excerpts about history

Following are sample excerpts from Zeteosearch.org sermon resources about history:

• "In this psalm the message is clear – history and praising God go hand in hand; and if we deny or ignore that message – our own future is incomplete." Scripture Meditation by Joan Stott from The Timeless Psalms
• "The first observances of Black Catholic History Month took place in November 1990. These inaugural celebrations were held in historically Black Catholic parishes across the United States." Article about Church History by Shannen Dee Williams from McGrath Institute
• "From their heritage with its history of liturgical interaction with God, came the Jewish form of biblical worship, the basic structure, the 'origin' of Christian worship." Article about Church History from Liturgica
  
  

  Worship ideas about history

Following are sample excerpts from Zeteosearch.org worship resources about history:

• "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." Hymn by Greg Scheer from Hymnary.org