A lot of people read from history, but not very many people really apply what they read to the current world. Academics love talking about history for history’s sake, and here lies the problem. History without real world application is just a hobby. We read about the Wolyn massacre in which Ukrainian nationalists butchered tens of thousands of Poles, and today we see the Ukrainian nationalists — the successors of the past murderers — and very few will apply the past to the current in this case. We read of the Ottoman empire, and see its revival today. We read of the Third Reich and see Germany remilitarizing. We read of Imperial Japan and see Japan soaring in its military spending. The past reflects the present and foretells the future. What took place in the past leads to what happens today. Historical research without real world application is just a hobby: “Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.” (Isaiah 46):