July 15 Click on verses for Full Scripture

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Today's Pathway: I Corinthians 10:6-11 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Yesterday we saw that in spite of the fact that God brought Israel out of Egypt, provided direction, protection, and sustenance for them, and gave them strong human leadership through Moses, He still wound up overthrowing them in the wilderness because He did not approve of their actions. Paul tells his readers in verse 10 that the story of Israel in the wilderness is not simply a historical fact, but it also serves as an example to believers. The lesson is this: don't lust after evil things, or what happened to Israel will happen to you. Paul uses the terms "our" and "we", which means that Paul needed to be reminded of these things as well lest, as he wrote in I Corinthians 9:27,

"I myself should be a castaway."

In verses 7-10 he gives four examples of sinful behavior that the Jews were involved in that brought God's judgment upon them. We will look at two of them today. He starts with idolatry. Exodus 32:1-6 tells this story. There we read,

"And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us... And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play."

"So when you think of an idol, don’t just think of a statue somewhere. Think of something in your own life that you have put in the place of a living God, something that you bow to, something that takes all your emotion, all your time, all your money, all your energy. It is an idol of your own making."

"It's easy to identify idols in other cultures, but often hard to notice our own idols. We worship our sports teams, our careers. Some worship their bodies, their job, their house, their neighborhood, their car, their clothing. What idols do you need to pull down in your life?"

Second, Paul lists immorality. Numbers 25:1, 3, and 5 say,

"And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab...And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel...And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor."

Israel had a good start coming out of Egypt, but through choosing idolatry and immorality they brought God's judgment upon themselves. Let's learn from their mistakes.