Why Does History Repeat Itself?

“What is happening to the world today?” We wonder what led us down this dark path, and we pine for the days of the past. How easily we forget the mistakes of the past. We forget that things like genocide, racism, slavery and oppression are not new concepts. They are horrors that mankind has continued to repeat countless times throughout our existence. We may vow never to repeat the mistakes of the past, but then we forget the past. We have an amnesic recall of the past. When we think of the “good ole days,” we only recall the positive memories and we long for a “simpler” time. But the world hasn’t really changed, only our recollection of it.

Writings document accounts of slavery, prostitution, genocide, child sacrifice, and varied sexual perversions as far back as 1410 B.C. More incredulously, many of these atrocities were considered forms of worship for pagan gods. So much for the “good ole days”. We like to believe that human beings have evolved since then, but human nature remains largely unchanged. Many would argue that human beings are mostly good. As we grow in knowledge we will be less prone to violence, and grow in morality. On what basis this opinion formed upon?

As children we all begin life pure, like blank slates. It’s our choices and experiences that writes on our slate. We begin life as a neutral canvas, but we are easily seduced by evil. Even when I try my hardest to follow Jesus’ example, my slate still becomes dirty. Preserving my own self-interest is in my nature, it’s in all our natures. This type of selfishness is so ingrained that we easily become blind to it’s existence. We may even disguise it as our personal freedom. The pursuit of certain “freedoms” can start us down a very dangerous path.

Have you ever noticed the common pattern that had accompanied the rise and fall of great empires? Alexander Tytler, Scottish professor from the University of Edinburgh, is credited with describing eight stages repeated by every great civilization.

“The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.  These nations have progressed through this sequence:

“From bondage to spiritual faith;
 from spiritual faith to great courage;
 from courage to liberty;
 from liberty to abundance;
 from abundance to selfishness;
 from selfishness to apathy;
 from apathy to dependence;
 from dependency back again into bondage.”

The Bible recounts this same cycle among the Israelites. After being slaves in a foreign land for 400 years, God liberates them. When they finally take possession of the promised land, they experience prosperity. The generation who had experienced both the hardship and the prosperity faithfully followed God. Yet, the next generation who had grown up prosperous quickly fell away. They forgot all that God had done for them and began craving their freedom. They envied the pagan religions whose worship allowed the gratification their darkest and innermost desires. They wanted “freedom” from the very God who saved them!

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

Judges 21:25

They began to act like their pagan neighbors, wanting to enjoy their prosperity and personal freedoms. In their complacency, the nation weakened which made them easy prey for enemy invaders. No longer unified under God, they were easily conquered. At each of these times, they would cry out to God to be saved and ask for forgiveness. Each time God, in his mercy, rescued them. After this, they would follow God again … until the next time. This cycle repeated 6 times just within the 325 year period of Judges! It occurred many more times before the fall of Jerusalem and their Babylonian captivity.

Why don’t we remember these patterns so we make different choices? I guess it’s because we want what we want, and we hope this time will be the exception. Unfortunately, we may currently be closing in on the end of our cycle, but we still have time to change. God longs to rescue us! We are at a critical time in history where we can 1) choose to unite and call to God to save us, or 2) follow our path of selfishness and apathy until we end our cycle. We may not feel like we can change our nation, but we each have the ability to impact those around us. All the rest we will leave to God.

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Matthew 19:26