6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
Thoughts: The Old Testament is a history book of the faith of a people. We can learn, Paul says, from their mistakes and their successes- warnings and examples. We do not do a very good job of listening.
Paul gives four examples here:
1) Idolatry- the making of the golden calf (Ex. 32) and the accompanied sexual immorality. Today, we make things- the buying, selling, producing, our God. If you don't believe me, try to talk about Sabbath (rest)- even on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day and people will look at you as if you are a relic. We justify the destruction of rest and family by saying that sales were good on Thanksgiving and Christmas. In other words- people want it- so it is okay. People in Moses' day also wanted the golden calf- and no doubt it was beautiful. But can someone ask, what would God want?
2) Sexual Immorality (Nbrs. 25) - Today we have made this an art. I woke up at 6:00 this morning, and turned on the television to a major news station. To greet me in the morning was a girl strutting around in her underwear. How much more advanced we are than the Muslim's with their veils! In our culture it is very, very hard to get away from immodesty- we have lost our sense of shame. Pornography is an art and multi-billion business today. A survey done of our young people found that for the first time in our history the majority of our young people believe there is nothing wrong with sleeping with someone before they are married (from Presbyterian Outlook this week). There are lawsuits today saying that to even counsel a gay person inviting them to change is illegal- as if it is impossible (contrary to Exit International and thousands of testimonies). Even in the face of the epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases, and the plethora of hurt souls from the use of another human being sexually- we cannot learn and refuse to listen to scripture.
3) They tested the Lord (Numbers 21:5-6) when they were led out of Egypt's slavery into the desert and yelled at God for leading them that way. They refused to believe that God would provide daily bread for them- and let fear take over their lives because they thought they had more in secular slavery than in following God. So many today worry and would rather not trust God- and are turning from Him because He has disappointed their expectations. But they will find that abandoning their God- their hope and purpose has its own punishment.
4) They grumbled (Nbrs. 14, 16)- You might think that people who had been delivered out of slavery and had seen the plagues, and the sea part would not be grumblers.
Prayer: Help me Lord to be holy, learning from those in the past.
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