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"This Is My Memorial Unto All Generations"
The title of this article contains the words spoken to Moses by Jehovah when he appeared to Moses on Mount Horeb in a burning bush. God was fulfilling his oath to Abraham, which would culminate in the creation of Christ’s church (cf. Genesis 12.1-3; Acts 3.25; Galatians 3.8).
Jehovah had told Abraham, “…and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12.1-3). The blessing upon all families (Jews and Gentiles) of earth was the spiritual blessing of forgiveness of sins by the blood of Jesus.
The apostle Peter told the Jews, “Ye are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham, ‘and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed’” (Acts 3.25). The apostle Pauls aid the same thing regarding the Gentiles: “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham, saying, ‘In thee shall all the nations be blessed’” (Galatians 3.8).
The time had come for this process concerning a nation from Abraham’s loins to be created. Jehovah told Abraham, “Know of a surety that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. And in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full” (Genesis 15.13-16).
Moses was to lead Abraham’s seed out of Egypt. Moses was apprehensive, no doubt because he had slain an Egyptian earlier (cf. Exodus 2.11-15). Fearing the wrath of the king of Egypt, Moses fled to the land of Midian. While Moses was there, the king of Egypt died. Jehovah remembered his covenant with Abraham and appeared to Moses to inform him of his purpose (cf. Exodus 3.7-10). “And Moses said unto God, ‘Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, “The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you;” and they shall say to me, “What is his name?” what shall I say unto them?’ And God said unto Moses, ‘I AM THAT I AM:’ and he said, ‘Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, “I AM hath sent me unto you”’” (Exodus 3.13-14). Jehovah continued, “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, ‘Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations’” (Exodus 3.15; cf. Exodus 6.1-8).
“My memorial unto all generations.” What did Jehovah mean by this statement? It was something unique about God that he wanted all humanity to know and to remember about him for all generations. Jehovah repeated these words later to Moses and it is from that parallel passage that we find the answer.
In Exodus 6.2-5, Jehovah said, “I am Jehovah: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Jehovah I was not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, wherein they sojourned. And moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.”
God remembers his covenant (cf. Psalm 105.8,42; 106.45). Although they forgot his works (Psalm 106.13) and that God was their savior (Psalm 106.21), nevertheless, he saved them for his name’s sake (Psalm 106.8). This is God’s memorial unto all generations.
God is true to his word. He is faithful to his oaths. The Hebrew writer stated: “Wherein God, being minded to show more abundantly unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6.17-28). The apostle Paul wrote, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2.13).
What blessed assurance it is to have a God in whom our confidence will never be betrayed. No matter how often we have failed him, he has given us this assurance: If we acknowledge our sins, he will forgive us.
Let us remember the words of David: “Jehovah is righteous in all his ways, and gracious in all his works. Jehovah is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him; he also will hear their cry and will save them. Jehovah preserveth all them that love him; but all the wicked will he destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of Jehovah; and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever” (Psalm 145.17-21).
