W. Robert Godfrey

I had a joke I used to use in church history class about Mae West, and I used that a year or two ago, and not one student in the class had ever heard of Mae West.

Now, this is not the end of Western civilization, but it was surprising to me.

And just the other day, I mentioned Mae West made a movie with a young Cary Grant.

Same reaction.

Students had never heard of Cary Grant.

Now I'm really feeling old, you know.

But much more importantly, I was born in 1945, so I don't personally remember the Second World War, but it was such an alive reality in the experience of my parents' generation that I felt like I remembered the Second World War.

And now you talk to young people, and the Second World War is like ancient history.

I mean, it's so far removed that they don't feel any kind of personal connection with it.

Well, that happens.

There's not much we can do about that.

But what Moses is saying, when you think about the great saving works of God in history,

Don't let your children forget them.

Don't let them pass from the collective memory and knowledge.

And it's a great commission for the educational work of the church.

And again, I think one of my concerns is to look around, and I feel Bible knowledge in American churches has really declined in the last 50 years.

The only way to address that is to work harder at it, work better at it, no doubt, but also to work harder at it, devote time to it.

And Moses is encouraging that, that we would see that, to remember God's triumphs as He triumphed over Pharaoh, but also to remember God's judgments.

One of the things he talks about here is Korah's rebellion.

in the wilderness and how the Lord had to overcome that rebellion against Moses and against his leadership.