Remembering 1865 and Juneteenth

Podcast

This year marks 163 years since The Emancipation Proclamation (the abolishment of slavery) in the United States, and 161 years since the end of the Civil War in 1865.

Why look back to remember what happened in our history regarding The Emancipation Proclamation and the ending of the Civil War? It has also been said that those who don’t know their history are certain to repeat it. Each generation should know the history of the past generations and understand how things came to be.

Retelling history is a biblical principle. Scripture reminds us that history should be taught to prevent the people from forgetting God’s power and His work. In Joshua 4, Joshua instructed twelve men from each tribe to take a stone from the middle of the Jordan River to serve as a memorial of God’s miraculous deliverance. He stated that in the future, when the children asked about the stones, parents were to share the story of God’s power. Likewise, lessons about our history should tell of God’s power. Our lessons about what happened in 1865, Juneteenth, before and after, are the stones, “memorials of God’s work.” We are to keep teaching our children about these stones so they don’t forget where God has brought us from.

There are those who would rather move on, forget about the past and simply keep it where it is without retelling it. But, a powerful quote by James Baldwin, an African American writer, playwright and civil rights activist, reminds us of the importance of keeping history alive. He states, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

This month, our MDL Podcast celebrates Juneteenth by retelling some important facts you should know about our history and this holiday, so that we don’t forget what God has done for us!

Food for Today:

Psalm 78:4, “We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deed of the lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.”

Cover picture

Opal Lee courtesy of CNN