The Reason Behind Memorials...

The reason people build memorials is not to worship them, it’s to remember them. When I was in Washington DC a few years back, I was fascinated at all the memorials and museums. The Lincoln Memorial was fascinating. Every single statue, building, and structure has inscriptions on them stating the purpose of their existence. There was none more moving and relevant than the Holocaust Museum. The gamut of emotions experienced as I made my way through this enormous structure was overwhelming. Hearing the voices tell their stories and seeing images and video was not only haunting, but humbling as well. The purpose of memorials is to honor the people who did the right thing to end evil behavior, or made great contributions to society to make it better. Just like the Israelites, we need to be careful to not misunderstand the purpose and meaning behind these man-made structures. If we don’t have proper understanding two things will eventually happen. One, people will begin to worship these structures. They will expand the purpose beyond what was initially created. And two, some will forget the purpose and assign another meaning behind it and want to remove them. As I walked around the DC area, I couldn’t help but see the irony and hypocrisy in the inscriptions on all the buildings and statues. All of the money that went into erecting and building these memorials seems to have been wasted because the behavior in Washington certainly doesn’t match what is stated on these structures. “May we never forget”... was written on many of the inscriptions, sadly, they have been forgotten long ago. May we as believers never forget what God has done for us.

24 “The truth is, we have built this altar because we fear that in the future your descendants will say to ours, ‘What right do you have to worship the Lord, the God of Israel? 25 The Lord has placed the Jordan River as a barrier between our people and you people of Reuben and Gad. You have no claim to the Lord.’ So your descendants may prevent our descendants from worshiping the Lord.26 “So we decided to build the altar, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, 27 but as a memorial. It will remind our descendants and your descendants that we, too, have the right to worship the Lord at His sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings. Then your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no claim to the Lord.’28 “If they say this, our descendants can reply, ‘Look at this copy of the Lord’s altar that our ancestors made. It is not for burnt offerings or sacrifices; it is a reminder of the relationship both of us have with the Lord.’ 29 Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord or turn away from Him by building our own altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices. Only the altar of the Lord our God that stands in front of the Tabernacle may be used for that purpose.”30 When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community–the heads of the clans of Israel–heard this from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, they were satisfied. 31 Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, replied to them, “Today we know the Lord is among us because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord as we thought. Instead, you have rescued Israel from being destroyed by the hand of the Lord.”32 Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the other leaders left the tribes of Reuben and Gad in Gilead and returned to the land of Canaan to tell the Israelites what had happened. 33 And all the Israelites were satisfied and praised God and spoke no more of war against Reuben and Gad.34 The people of Reuben and Gad named the altar “Witness,” for they said, “It is a witness between us and them that the Lord is our God, too.” Joshua 22:24-34