It can be difficult admitting when we’ve forgotten something, just as it can be disappointing or hurtful when others forget something that’s important to us. But not so with God, who forgets nothing, even though He chooses NOT to recall past sins of forgiven believers (Psa 103:10; Heb 10:17). Although our arch enemy loves to slander the LORD by claiming He has forgotten us, or that God never really forgives and forgets past sin, God’s testimony of Himself, and history proves the enemy to be wrong.
In Leviticus chapter 26, the LORD reminded Israel of covenant realities from living under His law. Blessings for obedience and discipline for disobedience, it was that simple. However, God’s loving faithfulness to Israel was not to be broken by their many and severe future failings. Even when disobedient Israel would be in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am Yahweh their God. But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am Yahweh” (Leviticus 26:44-45).
There is no relationship more secure than a covenant relationship with Almighty God. The Lord’s active memory is used for the blessing of His people due to His faithfulness to the covenants with them. Even when under the Lord’s correction for unrepented sin, Yahweh assures devotion to the promises He’s made. He’s a merciful covenant keeping God, whose faithfulness is never broken or distracted by His children’s inconsistencies and sinful stumblings. Wayward Israel was, and remains, in the loyal hands of their God who perfectly remembers His covenant promises to them.
God’s commitment in Leviticus 26:44-45 is spectacular, especially when compared to how quickly humans abandon one another when they stop getting their own way. When the Lord affirmed this to Israel, He knew they were going to fail severely. Yet, no matter how belligerent Israel would become, even in their future rejection of His Son Jesus, He would not spurn them. Rejection and disconnection would never be the Lord’s response to His covenant people. Neither will I abhor them remains His covenant commitment. Hatred and abandonment towards the beneficiaries of His promises is not the way of Holy God. Israel’s future is safe and certain because of God’s righteous and loyal commitment to His promises for their sake. Here, we see the eternal beauty of God’s integrity on display.
For us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, Israel’s God equally reminds Himself, and us, that Jesus is the guarantor of a better covenant (Hebrews 7:22). Paul instructed the church in Corinth about Jesus’ declaration of His new and better covenant established by His sacrifice on the cross, and we enter into that better covenant by faith in Him. In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:25).
As God remembers His faithfulness to the new covenant made through Jesus’ substitutional death, so we also are to continually remember Him. This is the heart of our communion service celebrations. This keeps us centred in our faith relationship, fuelled for worship, inspired for obedience, and motivated to share the gospel of Christ with the lost. By God’s grace, may this be true of our lives as we live for the LORD who remembers.
