A Life in Exile

Have you ever noticed how children don’t want to hear advice from their parents? The adult sees the child tempted in one way or the other, and, in their desire to steer them away from bad choices, they tell about a time in their past when they faced the same crisis of faith and the consequences of choosing poorly. Does the child listen? If you’re lucky, they do. Often, they don’t. In the end, though, they’ll learn this lesson: the past has lessons to teach us.

Don’t dismiss the stories of the Old Testament.

The Apostle Paul, in writing a letter to the believers in Corinth, was not addressing Christians from Jewish backgrounds like himself, but mostly Gentile or Greek believers. They didn’t have a history of teaching and instruction in the Torah, Psalms, and Prophets. Most likely, they knew very few of the stories of the Old Testament. This, however, didn’t stop Paul from showing them that there are many lessons to be learned from Israel’s history.

Now I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless God was not pleased with most of them, since they were struck down in the wilderness.

1 Corinthians 10:1-5 CSB

He considers his ancestors their ancestors as well, as Abraham was looking to a better home and Moses and the people of Israel were being led to the Promised Land, all teachings of the Old Testament pointed to the Messiah—their Christ. So, though they were a different people from a different time in history, God had a purpose in allowing their story to be told.

Examples don’t always have to be good ones.

The believers in Corinth lived in the midst of a pagan society, and most of the current church members had come from that background, so they knew all about idols and the sexual immorality that surrounded their deities. They’d been saved through Christ from that life that led to destruction, but that didn’t mean they no longer faced the temptation to eat food prepared for an idol or give in to sexual pleasures outside the bounds of marriage. Nope, the temptation was real and it was in their faces.

Paul wanted to show them they were not alone. Though they’d been chosen by God and brought out of Egypt, most of the Israelites who were heading toward the Promised Land had knowledge of the gods of Egypt. Many had brought idols with them along the way. They were playing both sides of the fence, as long as they weren’t caught. Then they were.

Now these things took place as examples for us, so that we will not desire evil things as they did. Don’t become idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party. Let us not commit sexual immorality as some of them did, and in a single day twenty-three thousand people died. Let us not test Christ as some of them did and were destroyed by snakes. And don’t grumble as some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer. These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come.

1 Corinthians 10:6-11

All it took was for Moses to delay his descent from the mountain. You’d think they could have waited. Here were these people who had seen the Red Sea divided and Pharaoh and his army destroyed. Before that, they saw what God had done through the plagues and the final deliverance of Passover. He provided manna and quail in the wilderness, water from a rock. Was that not enough to trust that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was with them and worthy of their full devotion?

Apparently not. When the cat’s away, as they say…the mice will have a field day, and that’s what they did, with the help of Aaron, of all people! They made their own “god” out of gold and let loose in a party that would bring the wrath of God upon them.

Paul didn’t want the same to happen with God’s chosen in Corinth. They could learn from the Israelites. God doesn’t share when it comes to whom or what we choose to worship. Idolatry is a no-go in his book, and the Corinthians would do well to learn that early on in their faith journey. Idolatry is the gateway drug to sexual immorality, and that’s another affront to God because we are created in his image and for holy relationships through marriage alone.

Before we think we’re off the hook in this lesson from the past, Paul mentions two other sins of the Israelites:

• Testing Christ.
• Grumbling.

If you think the death of twenty-three thousand was bad because of the idolatry, then remember those who tested God were destroyed by snakes (See Numbers 21), or those who grumbled and were destroyed by a plague (See Numbers 16).

Nothing new under the sun—even temptations.

If the believers in Corinth thought their situation unique, then they were wrong. Idolatry has been around since the fall, and we all know sexual immorality, doubting and testing the Lord, and grumbling were right there too. That’s why it was easy for Paul to write this truth:

So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall. No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13

Whatever you may be tempted by today, don’t think you’re special. Satan’s been at this business a long time, and his methods have changed very little. Thankfully, another person has been around even longer—God, and he’s just as faithful with us as he was for the Corinthians and the Israelites before them. He provides an out for us. We just have to look to him and be willing to turn away from the temptation. None of us is exempt from temptation this side of heaven. Join me in the quest of being careful not to fall. We can by His grace.

Grace and Peace

If you missed the last Learning from the Past post, click HERE, or start the series from the BEGINNING.