Lessons from The Past
Who is Paul speaking to? The Corinthians.
How does the Bible describe the Corinthians?
1 Corinthians 1:2-9 NLT
2 I am writing to
God’s church in Corinth,
to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people.
He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
3 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
4 I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. 5 Through him,
God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. 6 This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true. 7 Now
you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
8 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.
9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Today’s lesson:
Lessons From The Past
1 Corinthians 10:1-13 NLT
Lessons from Israel’s Idolatry
1 I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. 2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, 7 or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.” 8 And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.
9 Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. 10 And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. 11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.
12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
Examine the scriptures:
1 Corinthians 10:1-13 NLT
Lessons from Israel’s Idolatry
1 I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters,
Paul is speaking to the Church at Corinth (and us).
about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago.
Remember what happened to God’s chosen people.
All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them,
- God’s chosen people experienced:
Supernatural guidance (from God)
Supernatural protection
and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground.
- God’s chosen people experienced:
Miraculous deliverance
2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses.
- God’s chosen people were:
Led by a servant of God, Moses
3 All of them ate the same spiritual food,
Food miraculously provided by God.
Exodus 16:4 (NLT)
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day. I will test them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions.
John 6:31-33 (NLT)
31 After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and
- God’s chosen people all:
Ate the same spiritual food
And drank the same spiritual water.
that rock was Christ.
Jesus traveled with His people.
5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
- God severely disciplines his chosen people.
Only two adults, Joshua and Caleb, who had left Egypt entered into the Promised Land.
All of the others were disqualified from entering the Land.
Moses and Aaron were among those who were disqualified from entering the Land.
Paul understood the principle of God’s chosen people being disqualified from the race.
1 Corinthians 9:27 (NLT)
I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
6 These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, 7 or worship idols as some of them did.
A warning to the Corinthians (and to us – multiple warnings in scripture)
- These things happened as a warning to us.
This passage lists four of the behaviors that disqualified the children of Israel from entering the Promised Land.
As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.”
Idolatry
Exodus 32 (NLT)
The Gold Calf
1 When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”
2 So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”
3 All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
5 Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord!”
6 The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.
…
27 Moses told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Each of you, take your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Kill everyone—even your brothers, friends, and neighbors.” 28 The Levites obeyed Moses’ command, and about 3,000 people died that day.
…
35 Then the Lord sent a great plague upon the people because they had worshiped the calf Aaron had made.
8 And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.
Numbers 25 (NLT)
Moab Seduces Israel
1 While the Israelites were camped at Acacia Grove, some of the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women. 2 These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab. 3 In this way, Israel joined in the worship of Baal of Peor, causing the Lord’s anger to blaze against his people.
9 but not before 24,000 people had died.
9 Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites.
Numbers 21:4-6 (NLT)
The Bronze Snake
4 Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey, 5 and they began to speak against God and Moses. “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!”
6 So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died.
10 And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death.
Numbers 16
41 But the very next morning the whole community of Israel began muttering again against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!” 42 As the community gathered to protest against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tabernacle and saw that the cloud had covered it, and the glorious presence of the Lord appeared.
43 Moses and Aaron came and stood in front of the Tabernacle, 44 and the Lord said to Moses, 45 “Get away from all these people so that I can instantly destroy them!”
49 But 14,700 people died in that plague,
11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.
- Four of the behaviors that disqualified the children of Israel from entering the Promised Land.
- Idolatry
- Sexual immorality
- Putting Christ to the test
- Grumbling
12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.
A warning to the Corinthians and to us.
- If you think you are standing strong, you may be “dead wrong”.
13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience.
Expect and recognize temptations for what they are.
And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
- Learn to depend on God when you are tempted to sin.
