READ: Exodus 1:1-22
“Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph” – Exodus 1:8
Pharaoh forgot the history of his own country. His nation would have been wiped out if it had not been for the good works of Joseph. Yet, he forgot who the Israelites were and began to persecute them. Perhaps if he had read his history book, he would not have persecuted Joseph’s descendants. He repaid the good that Joseph had done to the nation of Egypt with evil.
Pharaoh’s failure to read history cost him dearly. By being ungrateful to the Israelites, he sowed the seeds of the destruction of Egypt. God stepped in and wiped out the economy of Egypt. He destroyed their farms, their infrastructure, their water, their cattle, their vegetation and their personal comforts.
“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which the Lord our God commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us from Egypt with a mighty hand. ‘Moreover, the Lord showed great and distressing signs and wonders before our eyes against Egypt, Pharaoh and all his household;” (Deuteronomy 6:20-22, NASB)
I think that history is one of the most important subjects ever to be studied. Please read your history books! Please read biographies of men of God. In them, you will find great lessons of life, which must never be forgotten.