“The Greatest Historian in History”
Presenter: Dick Stetler – July 2021 Is there such a thing as a flawless historian?
Readers might be intrigued to learn that the answer is “Yes!”
Consider the news being reported these days.
The days of investigative reporting have faded. Today, the
headlines fall by the wayside when the urgency passes.
The idea is not to share vital information; it is about gains
being made in the ratings. Most of the news we receive is provincial.
How can we gather accurate history when we know so very little of
what is happening in China, India, Russia, and Brazil? In spite of the
history in the Bible, we have to recognize that all the drama on which
we base our religious faith took place in a relatively obscure area of
the world that was populated by people who could not read or write. Most
written words were recorded by Scribes.
How can there be a master reporter that is the best
in the world? Everyone
knows that person. That recorder of meaningful information is the face
that looks at us in a mirror.
YOU are the greatest historian in history that you will ever know
intimately. How can that
be? We are the ones who
must accept or reject what we see and hear.
We are the ones who must trust those who have their fingers on
the pulse of where life is taking us.
How does that work? The ancient Israelites passed information among
themselves that they were God’s chosen people.
Further, they knew that the first five books of the Bible,
The Torah, were written by Moses. They trusted what they were
taught. God fought
on their side. God loved
them when they were obedient and God turned away from them when they
were not. Are any of these historical events true?
Yes, absolutely they are true! Historical facts were not strong
enough to supplant the faith of the Hebrews.
Their history was true for them because of their beliefs and not
because of the accuracy of recorded events by secular historians.
For example, there is little or no archaeological
evidence to support that a Hebrew slave named Joseph, rose to be second
in command of Egypt during the seven years of plenty and the seven years
of famine. But the Joseph
story was recorded as one of the first saviors of Jacob’s family. The ten plagues that God inflicted on the
Egyptians, including God’s sending the angel of death to murder
the first-born child among the families of Egypt were true events.
So that the angel would pass over the homes of the Hebrews, the
Hebrews were directed to smear blood of a young goat on their doorposts
and on the beam above their door.
This was God’s design to soften the hardened heart of
Pharaoh who refused to give freedom to the Hebrews. The history from Egypt’s historians, written during
the same period of time, never mentioned the Hebrews nor the loss of a
sizable part of its military when the walls of water from the Red Sea
collapsed on Egypt’s charioteers.
In fact, the extensive history by Egypt’s historians indicates
that their nation was at a peak of its power during those years and was
respected by bordering nations. Historically, such a catastrophe did not occur
during 1440-1415 B.C. when the Exodus allegedly took place.
The plagues actually happened in 1642 B.C. two hundred
years before the Exodus. The entire region for hundreds of miles
experienced the most powerful volcanic eruption ever experienced by
human beings. Thera was a small island in the Aegean Sea, roughly
the size of Bermuda. It was
a caldera, the mouth of a super-volcano. Today, the same island
is called Santorini. When Thera exploded, it brought an instant end to
the Minoan empire headquartered on the island of Crete in 1642 BC.
This disaster that affected the entire Middle East region was
borrowed for use in the Exodus narrative.
What makes these and many other Hebrew stories
absolutely true is that most of the history of the Hebrews was written
with the understanding that God was totally in charge of the unfolding
of their tribal fellowship.
Regardless of what secular historians have written, the Hebrews saw
their history differently, through the eyes of faith. In their
eyes, they were God’s chosen people. Today, there are countless Christians who have
borrowed this point-of-view of the Hebrews.
Their lives are completely being guided by The Lord.
Their personal history is a blanket trust in their loyalty to
their concept of The Lord guiding life’s events.
The history that people who understand their lives in this manner, is
flawlessly accurate for them. Each person is the greatest
historian in their history. A man very close to me celebrated the life of his
wife who, after several years, experienced her death from pancreatic
cancer. Who could find
fault or be frustrated by the Lord’s design for all human beings?
He was comforted by his understanding that his wife is with Jesus.
Because of the alignment of certain clues, he feels that the Lord
wants him to sell his home and move to a continuing care retirement
community. He is acting on
that calling as he has done
all his life. For decades
his life has been in the hands of the Lord.
For him, there is no other logic, no other planning, no other
reading the tea of leaves, or casting lots.
He is totally at peace, without a single worry.
He is the greatest historian his world has ever seen, a history
that has unfolded due to his trust in the Lord for every major
decision. Who can argue with him when his life has resulted
in having joy, faithfulness, patience, service to the community, and
being a loved pillar in his church? His life has happened because
it was and is God’s will.
What will be will be. He is also a millionaire. His deep beliefs
and trust in the Lord have been his highest priority, exactly
like the evolution of the history of the Hebrews. We can better understand why history is so nebulous
and often a point-of-view or a system of beliefs rather than the facts
that may tell a different story.
Equally, we can understand how people can arrive at a very
different way of understanding the unfolding of their lives.
They may think, “I am a victim of racism, of poverty, of having
an alcoholic father, of being economically forced out of my job, or of a
cyclical theme of bad luck One person loves the Lord and another person
can curse God as being an absentee landlord.
Both are correct due to their assumptions.
One lives with a spirit of praise and gratitude while the other
blames God for a life condemned to hardship and victimhood.
As odd as this appears, we create our own reality.
Doing this makes us the greatest historian in the world.
Jesus recognized this when he said, “Those who sow sparingly,
will reap sparingly. Those who sow bountifully, will reap bountifully.”
Life is a matter of attitude. We need to ask ourselves, “What are we creating
with our thoughts, emotions, and spirit?”
After all, we are the greatest historian that our lives will ever
know. The only history that
matters to us is our personal story-line that becomes the judge of how
creative we have been. |