History Repeats...and Repeats...and Repeats...
The axiom “history repeats itself” is a bit simplistic and shallow and needs some analysis, which I will do in a soon-to-publish article. For my purposes in this essay, I will leave it as it is.
In Matthew 13:13-15, Jesus said, "Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with [their] eyes and hear with [their] ears, Lest they should understand with [their] hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.'”
He quotes the prophet Isaiah (6:9-10), who wrote 700+ years before Christ’s day. Isaiah applied those principles to the people of his day, Jesus to the people of His time. So, the same thing—history repeating itself—was happening approximately 700 B.C. and 30 A.D.
And the wise will discern it is happening today as well. In fact, it has probably happened many times in history.
History doesn’t necessarily “repeat” itself, but the actions of humans do. And those actions will usually have similar consequences. That is how “history repeats itself.” More on this later.