In the time period chronicled in the Old Testament, the nation of Israel went through quite a few peaks and valleys. The times of adversity were due to their repeated abandonment of God’s commands and turning to worship idols.
We won’t retread the accounts of Israel’s ups and downs by going through Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, and 1st and 2nd Chronicles. Instead, we will turn to the writing of Paul in I Corinthians 10 to give us an idea of the things the Israelites did wrong from which we can learn.
He begins the chapter by explaining how Israel, beginning under the leadership of Moses, was baptized under the sea, ate spiritual food and drank from the rock of Christ. But, he says, God was not well-pleased with most of them. He continues by saying the things that happened to them happened as examples so that we would not crave the evil things they craved.
1. The sin of idolatry
Verse seven says, “As it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.” (NASB)
They idolized the pleasures of eating and drinking, and instead of standing to work and labor, they stood up to play. We must be on our guard that we enjoy the things worth enjoying in life, but never cross the distinct line into the
2. The sin of immorality
Verse eight says we should not act immorally, for this led to grave consequences for the Israelites.
In Numbers chapter 25, the people of Israel began acting immorally with the daughters of Moab, bowing to their gods and joining themselves with the Baal of Peor.
In his anger with Israel, the Lord told Moses to take the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight. So it was done, and 24,000 of them died in one day as a result.
We need to maintain our fidelity to our God and not serve other false gods. We also need to keep away from practices that are immoral and that God finds distasteful.
3. The sin of testing the Lord
Verse nine recalls the test of the Lord that was put forth by the children of Israel.
In Numbers 21:5, Israel begins to grumble against the Lord God alleging that he had brought them out of Egypt into the wilderness with little to no food and complaining about the taste of the food they did have.
As a result, God sent fiery serpents among them and many were killed.
Let us never put the Lord to the test. That isn’t to say we should not pray passionately and have times of deep conversation with God. But, complaining about circumstances and trying to test God with technicalities is a surefire invitation to some form of fiery serpents to our lives.
4. The sin of grumbling
Verse 10 recounts that some of them grumbled and were destroyed by the destroyer.
Grumbling took place a lot among the people of Israel, and it takes place far too often in our world (a world that is replete with an abundance of physical blessings).
Every time we get the urge to complain about circumstances (I know I get this urge daily), we should instead turn that potential complaint into some form of thanksgiving to God. If we do this, we will live lives that are more fulfilled in Jesus.
The conclusion: Learn and humbly avoid
Paul gives the answer to these repetitive sins: Learn what happened and
We have
But there is more. Paul spells out how we are to avoid making the sinful mistakes of Israel in the remainder of the chapter.
“Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he
Takeaways:
The sins of Israel are to be used as instruction for us.
Do not think that you have it figured out or you will be humbled.
We have not been tempted beyond what we can bear.
God has been faithful to provide ways of escape from our temptations.
