Forgetting God: Exhortation to Those Guilty of
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Forgetting God is a recurring theme in the Bible, often associated with spiritual decline and moral decay. The Scriptures provide numerous exhortations to those who are guilty of this grave oversight, emphasizing the importance of remembering and honoring the Lord in all aspects of life.

Biblical Warnings and Consequences

The Bible frequently warns against the dangers of forgetting God, highlighting the spiritual and societal consequences that follow. In Deuteronomy 8:11-14 , Moses cautions the Israelites: "Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God by failing to keep His commandments and ordinances and statutes that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery."

This passage underscores the tendency of human nature to become self-reliant and prideful in times of prosperity, leading to a neglect of God’s commandments and a forgetfulness of His past deliverances.

Prophetic Rebukes

The prophets of Israel often rebuked the people for their forgetfulness of God, which led to idolatry and injustice. In Jeremiah 2:32 , the prophet laments, "Can a maiden forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number." This vivid imagery illustrates the absurdity and tragedy of God’s people neglecting their relationship with Him, akin to a bride forgetting her adornments.

Hosea 4:6 further warns, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children." Here, the prophet Hosea links the forgetfulness of God to a rejection of divine knowledge and law, resulting in devastating consequences for future generations.

Call to Remembrance

The Bible not only warns against forgetting God but also calls believers to actively remember and honor Him. In Psalm 103:2 , David exhorts, "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds." This call to remembrance is a spiritual discipline, encouraging believers to recount God’s blessings and faithfulness continually.

The New Testament echoes this theme, urging believers to remain steadfast in their devotion. In Hebrews 2:1 , the author writes, "We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away." This exhortation serves as a reminder to hold fast to the teachings of Christ and the apostles, ensuring that the message of salvation remains central in the life of the believer.

Practical Steps for Remembrance

To combat the tendency to forget God, the Bible offers practical steps for remembrance. Regular engagement with Scripture, prayer, and communal worship are vital practices that help believers maintain their focus on God. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 instructs, "These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts. You shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates."

By integrating God’s Word into daily life, believers can cultivate a constant awareness of His presence and commands, thereby guarding against the spiritual amnesia that leads to forgetting God.
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Psalm 50:22
Now consider this, you that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.
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Library

Necessity of Contemplating the Judgment-Seat of God, in Order to ...
... Exhortation. ... solely in the certainty of his goodness, we are fit to apprehend and
obtain the grace of God. "When," (as Augustine says), "forgetting our own ...
/.../chapter 12 necessity of contemplating.htm

How the Bishop is to Treat the Innocent, the Guilty, and the ...
... to those who lie in wait to destroy, forgetting what David ... be said in way of reproof,
instruction, and exhortation to a ... in his humility, and pray to God to be ...
/.../various/constitutions of the holy apostles/sec iii how the bishop is.htm

An Exhortation to Peace and Unity
... drawn from Satan's quiver, which occur in this exhortation. ... but this one thing I
do, forgetting those things which are ... But I observe that when God entered his ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/an exhortation to peace and.htm

The First Stages. Ch. 9:51 to 13:21
... His foolishness consisted in forgetting that fortune and life itself are ... our thoughts
will be turned upward toward God; trust in ... An Exhortation to Watchfulness ...
/.../erdman/the gospel of luke an exposition/a the first stages ch.htm

The Canons of the Holy and Altogether August Apostles.
... but by the judgment of many bishops, and at their earnest exhortation. ... by way of
religious restraint, but as abhorring them, forgetting that God made all ...
/.../schaff/the seven ecumenical councils/the canons of the holy 4.htm

A Holy Life the Beauty of Christianity: Or, an Exhortation to ...
... there is a certain meaning in this exhortation, from the ... to name the name of Christ,
quite forgetting to take ... is not but where the true fear of God is; yea ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/a holy life the beauty.htm

The Law Given, not to Retain a People for Itself, but to Keep ...
... in doing the will of God.2. Urges them by exhortation to obedience. ... little ones;
let the whole world become guilty before God." But I am forgetting myself in ...
/.../calvin/the institutes of the christian religion/chapter 7 the law given.htm

Letter cxxiv. To the Monks of Palestine.
... that, forgetting the prophets and apostles, forgetting the health ... An exhortation
to accept the catholic view of ... God's Truth nothing can impair, but the Truth ...
/.../leo/writings of leo the great/letter cxxiv to the monks.htm

A Treatise of the Fear of God;
... observation, that the Holy Ghost checks those who, under ... for sin, forget to call
God their Father ... Ye have," said Paul, "forgotten the exhortation which speaketh ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/a treatise of the fear.htm

Sermon at the Opening Services of the General Convention, October ...
... The exhortation to pray for the child to be baptized ... into hopeless despair; and the
richest often forgetting that Lazarus ... is a child of the same God and Father. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/whipple/five sermons/i sermon at the opening.htm

Resources
Is forgetting the past biblical? Does the Bible instruct us to forget the past? | GotQuestions.org

What does the Bible say about forgiveness? What does it mean to forgive? | GotQuestions.org

What does the Bible say about self-deception? | GotQuestions.org

Forgetting: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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Subtopics

Forgetting

Forgetting God is Forgetting his Covenant

Forgetting God is Forgetting His: Benefits

Forgetting God is Forgetting His: Covenant

Forgetting God is Forgetting His: Law

Forgetting God is Forgetting His: Past Deliverance

Forgetting God is Forgetting His: Power to Deliver

Forgetting God is Forgetting His: Word

Forgetting God is Forgetting His: Works

Forgetting God: A Characteristic of the Wicked

Forgetting God: Backsliders are Guilty of

Forgetting God: Backsliders Guilty of

Forgetting God: Benefits

Forgetting God: Cautions Against

Forgetting God: Encouraged by False Teachers

Forgetting God: Exhortation to Those Guilty of

Forgetting God: Law

Forgetting God: Past Deliverances

Forgetting God: Power to Deliver

Forgetting God: Prosperity Leads To

Forgetting God: Prosperity often Leads To

Forgetting God: Punishment of

Forgetting God: Resolve Against

Forgetting God: The People of God

Forgetting God: Threatened

Forgetting God: Trials should not Lead To

Forgetting God: Word

Forgetting God: Works

Forgetting the Past

Related Terms

Forgetful (4 Occurrences)

Forget (77 Occurrences)

Forgetteth (10 Occurrences)

Lies (208 Occurrences)

Imagine (24 Occurrences)

Forsaking (29 Occurrences)

Reckon (34 Occurrences)

Reviving (4 Occurrences)

Revive (31 Occurrences)

Reaching (22 Occurrences)

Mixture (16 Occurrences)

Physician (6 Occurrences)

Ba'als (19 Occurrences)

Ashe'roth (1 Occurrence)

Apprehended (5 Occurrences)

Hagar (15 Occurrences)

Stretching (84 Occurrences)

Straining (4 Occurrences)

Greatness (63 Occurrences)

Filling (29 Occurrences)

Count (85 Occurrences)

Possession (251 Occurrences)

Ahead (98 Occurrences)

Past (200 Occurrences)

Behind (188 Occurrences)

Consider (178 Occurrences)

Philippi (8 Occurrences)

Forgive (81 Occurrences)

Serving (85 Occurrences)

Front (327 Occurrences)

Array (63 Occurrences)

Regard (230 Occurrences)

Setting (82 Occurrences)

Forward (252 Occurrences)

Great (10383 Occurrences)

Hold (500 Occurrences)

Temple (614 Occurrences)

Forgetting God: Encouraged by False Teachers
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