We ended Monday wondering why Paul was so concerned about living a life that was striving to grow, mature and reflect Christ in his day to day life? Why was Paul so concerned about running the race of life here on earth in a way that results in winning and proving possession of the prize of an eternal relationship with God? We find the answer in what Paul says next:
For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.
In these verses, Paul answers these questions by looking back at the history of the Jewish people. Paul gives the members of the church at Corinth a history lesson of God’s activity in the lives of the Jewish nation. When Paul states that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, He is reminding the members of the church at Corinth of God’s deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery at the hand of Egypt, which is recorded for us in another letter in our Bibles, called the Book of Exodus.
In Exodus chapter 13-14, we read of God leading the Jewish people out of Egypt as a pillar of fire by night and as a cloud by day. The cloud revealed God’s presence among His chosen people. Paul then continues by reminding the church at Corinth that God not only identified Himself with the Jewish people through His presence. Paul reminds them that God identified Himself with the Jewish people through His provision of manna and water in the desert. And in the same way today, just as it was for the Jewish nation in the wilderness, and just as it was for the church at Corinth, God identifies Himself with His people through His presence and His provision. And as followers of Jesus, we are to respond to God’s presence and provision in our lives by living our lives in a way that is marked by a growing faithfulness and obedience to His word and His ways.
Paul then explains that in spite of God’s presence and provision for the Jewish people, Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now when Paul states that they were laid low in the wilderness, the word laid low means that they were killed. Paul is providing this history lesson to the members of the church at Corinth because of the timeless reality that we fail to exercise self control when we fail to learn from history. And we all intuitively know this don’t we? I bet that almost all of here this morning have heard the saying that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
And we can fail to learn from history when we miss God’s activity in our lives. But what would cause God to be so displeased with the very people that He chose to provide for and be present with? And why would God respond by killing them? Paul provides the answer for us in verses 6-11:
Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, "THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY." Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 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.
Paul begins by explaining that God’s displeasure and His response was to serve as an example to following generations. Paul then states that the reason for such an example was so that we would not crave evil things as they craved. The word crave here means to have a strong desire for something. Paul’s point here is that the Jewish people that lived in the wilderness lived lives that were marked by selfishness, sin, and rebellion as a result of their lack of self control.
Paul then unpacks the nature of their lack of self control with four examples. Each of these examples revealed that the Jewish people selfishly rebelled against God through acts of idolatry, immorality, unbelief, blame shifting, and criticism that demeaned the character of God and others. Paul explains that these stories were preserved and recorded for us in the Bible in order to provide counsel so that the members of the church at Corinth and people throughout history would avoid or cease being involved in selfish and sinful activities that reveal a lack of self control.
Paul’s point is that as followers of Jesus that live at this point in God’s story, we are to live a life that reflects a growing and maturing relationship with Him that is marked by a growing faithfulness to His word and self control in our behavior. As followers of Jesus, we are not to worship something other than God as God; we are not to reflect a lack of self control by becoming involved in unlawful sexual activity; we are not to reflect a lack of self control that is seen in harsh or critical comments that demean God’s character or one another.
So do you live your life in a way that learns from history? Or do you fail to exercise self control because you fail to learn either from your past mistakes or the past mistakes of others?
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