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Learn From Them!
Learn From Them!
Greg King
In 1 Corinthians chapter 10 the apostle Paul addresses the over confidence of the Christians at Corinth. He points out for us that one can be a baptized believer & yet not be with Christ. He uses Israel as an example of this fact.
Through the crossing of the Red Sea they were baptized into Moses. They entered into a relationship with Moses. They faced a decision & accepted the leadership of Moses. They were made disciples of Moses. As such they received many privileges. All of them were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses, all of them ate & drank the supernatural food, all of them were cared for by Christ. However, the fact of most was that God was not pleased.
It turns out they were self-seeking. They attempted to gratify their desires without any concern for God’s will. Instead of manna they desired meat and the food they had in Egypt. Because of their complaining God sent quail for them to eat but immediately sent a plague to kill those who lusted.
The things which Israel desired wasn’t evil in and of itself. However, they desired over & above what God had provided them. They were not happy with God’s provisions. Paul is saying learn from their example! This is why God allowed these things and why they are recorded. These examples are meant to turn our heart from evil to righteousness. The Corinthians were guilty of some of the same things that Israel was.
In verse 11 he repeats his admonition. “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” Do not make the same mistakes they made! The instruction given is meant to correct our minds & put right what is wrong. Righteousness can prevail!
“But godliness with contentment is great gain,” 1 Timothy 6:6
