Today we will see specific warnings given by Paul to the church at Corinth, and to us. Please read the passage for today:
“These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, 7 or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.” 8 And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day. 9 Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. 10 And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. 11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. 12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall”
1 Corinthians 10:6-12 NLT
Question 1. There are four instructive warnings given in this passage, each begins with a phrase like “so that we,” “we must not” or “don’t.” Please list the four warnings here:
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All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil. Paul says it clearly in 2 Timothy 2:19, “But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The LORD knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the LORD must turn away from evil” (NLT).
In 1 Corinthians 10, we find Paul earnestly warning believers to avoid sin, turn from it wholeheartedly, reject its first advances, and avoid its deceptions. He lists four specific sins that brought the wrath of God to the Israelites and gives four warnings:
First, we must not crave evil things nor worship idols. Paul cites the pagan revelry of the nation of Israel during the giving of the Old Covenant Law to Moses (Exodus 32). While Moses was on the mountain meeting with God, the Israelites were down below eating, drinking, and engaging in all kinds of foolishness with a golden calf. This idolatry brought God’s wrath upon the people, and 3,000 of them died by the sword (Exodus 32:27-28).
Second, we must not engage in sexual immorality. Here Paul speaks of the terrible wrath of God towards sexual immorality, as he mentions 23,000 deaths occurred because of it (Numbers 25:1-9). While the world applauds pornography and encourages sexual promiscuity, God detests it so much that His wrath broke out to kill thousands of people over it. On the cross, Jesus became our sin, including all sexual impurity, so we only need to look at the pummeling He received to see how God views impurity of all kinds.
Third, we must not test Christ. The Israelites tested Christ by being unthankful for God’s provisions, ungrateful for His delivering them from slavery, and consequently, many died from snakebite (Numbers 21:5-9)! Likewise, in Paul’s day, people “...knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused” (Romans 1:21).
Fourth, we must not grumble. When the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, God sent a plague, and thousands died from it (Numbers 16:41-49). Murmuring and complaining are rooted in unbelief. When we do not believe God is working all things for our good or that we should receive both good and bad from the hand of the Lord, the temptation to complain about our circumstances comes. But we must resist this deceptive temptation.
Viewing the cross in the pages of Scripture is God’s greatest deterrent to sin, which is why throughout the entirety of 1 Corinthians, Paul presents the cross for us to view. Even in wrath, God remembers mercy (Habakkuk 3:2), so we are reminded that God provided a solution during the death of people by snakebite: God told Moses to put up a bronze snake on a pole and invite all to look and live. Even so, in God’s hatred of our sin, He put up a cross-like pole, and on that pole, He hung a Savior so that by faith, we might receive forgiveness of sins and new life in Christ.
Question 2. What are your thoughts about these warnings? Please share.
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