In writing the previous post about genealogies, I came across the following statement from John Piper. It is a reminder not only of the sovereignty of God over the course of our individual lives (our genealogies), but over the course of all history:
The past is a record of setbacks and how people coped with them. It is a reservoir of folly to be avoided and wisdom to be loved, of lessons to be learned and warning to be heeded, of heroes to be admired and villains to be rejected. It is full of the sovereign hand of God and the sinning hand of man. It keeps us from exaggerating the present. It makes us mature and steady in the storms of change.
Words of Grace 