According to federal education officials, US students are less proficient in their nation’s history than in any other subject. The test revealed that most fourth-graders were unable to say why well-known president Abraham Lincoln was an important figure, and few high school seniors were able to identify China as the North Korean ally that fought US troops in the Korean War. The failure of a people to know their history and to learn from it can position them to repeat past mistakes.
That’s what Paul communicated to the Corinthians when he encouraged them to learn from the example of ancient Israel. Having been set free from the slavery of sin and viewing themselves as privileged, the Corinthians assumed God would not discipline them for consorting with idols. To bring them back to reality, Paul cited the wilderness generation of Israel. Though Israel experienced supernatural deliverance, divine provisions, and the presence of God, He severely disciplined them for violating their covenant obligations—one of which was to serve Him exclusively (Exodus 20:2-3). Like Israel, the Corinthians supposed their spiritual standing before God—and corresponding freedom—gave them license to participate in pagan feasts. But they were wrong! Israel’s historic fall was a direct warning to the Corinthians.
Like ancient Israel and the Corinthians, we’ve been set free from the slavery of our past and have been set on a journey toward the Promised Land. As we walk exclusively with our heavenly Father, let’s be careful to learn from the examples of the past and be responsible with our Christian freedom, refusing to crave the pleasures of our old lives, worship things, be sexually immoral, grumble against the plan and purpose of God, and speak rebelliously against His appointed leaders (1 Corinthians 10:6).
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 2 Kings 5:1-27
More:
Read Exodus 32:6-8, 17- 18 and Numbers 11:4, 31-34, to see Israel’s penchant for insatiable cravings and idolatry, and God’s response to His people’s behavior.
Next:
What warning should you recall when you’re tempted to participate in idolatry, sexual immorality, and grumbling against God? How have you been set free?
tom felten on April 25, 2012 at 9:06 am
Great post, Marvin. My personal history with God is so vital to the choices I make each day. The times I’ve stumbled and needed to repent and drink deep of God’s grace have provided wisdom for today. The times I was facing a trial and God provided comfort and hope blaze brightly today. May I never forget what God has taught me on this journey with Him! “Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things He does for me” (Psalm 103:2).
marvin williams on April 26, 2012 at 6:41 am
Tom, I appreciate and agree with your words here. I am amazed at God’s patience with me and my periodic lapse of memory of his grace through Jesus. When I have forgotten the cost of Jesus’ sacrifice that’s when I am most vulnerable to worship idols that I have created in my own heart. May we continue to cherish and remember the freedom we’ve been given through the death of Jesus.
mike wittmer on April 25, 2012 at 9:37 am
This is so true, Marvin. We are defined by our history, especially what Jesus has done for us. I like the quote, but I forget who said it, “The past isn’t history. It’s not even past.”
Luciana on April 25, 2012 at 11:20 am
Mike, very well said.
From time to time, God brings us the past into the present to prove us – have we really learned ?
Even though we tend to fail in the same things over and over, God is always patient and loving to make us learn the point again and again .
That is our Lord’s love – so great that it gives us many and many opportunities to repent and restart. But let’s be careful not to disregard this love and take it for granted. His judgement will reach us, for sure.
marvin williams on April 26, 2012 at 6:57 am
Luciana, this was the story of Jesus’ disciples. He had to teach them several lessons about faith, being servants, loving one another, and not giving up. I am so glad we have a patient and loving Savior who continues to pursue us every day and give us opportunity to confess, repent and be restored. Let’s remember Christ’s death and resurrection and be changed by them today.
marvin williams on April 26, 2012 at 6:53 am
Mike, Faulkner was right – the past isn’t dead. It is always alive and moving and teaching. This is even more true of our once dead but alive forevermore Savior. May the memory of his death and resurrection be fresh in our memories every day. This is the ultimate history from which we must learn and by which we must be formed.
daisymarygoldr on April 27, 2012 at 1:01 am
Why would Paul encourage the Corinthians to be careful and learn from the examples of the past if there is no possibility of falling away? Cocky Christians who continue in their sins convinced that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ; need to take note of this. No one is immune from the danger of disobedience that leads to death.
Disobedience means refusing to depend on God. And that is what leads to downfall and destruction. Israel is God’s firstborn and was subjected to discipline because of their disobedience and disregard for His covenant. For the Church, the lesson to be learned from history is this: Don’t think that being a covenant community, guarantees our entrance into the heavenly Promised Land.
Taking possession of the Promised Land of Canaan was a picture of entering God’s rest, thereby fulfilling the promises that He made to the family of Israel (Joshua 21:43-45). However, the grumbling generation which did not continue by faith in God’s word, failed to enter that promised rest. Similarly, without faith we can also come short of entering God’s rest.
Rest, means to cease from our own self-efforts and live in total dependence on the work of the Holy Spirit. Like the Israelites we have been redeemed from our slavery to sin by Jesus Christ, a better mediator of a better covenant. And as pilgrims in the wilderness we are living between redemption and the Promised Land. Peter pleads: “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul” (1Peter 2:11 NKJV).
So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. This is why it is so important to trust in God’s faithfulness, and be secure in His steadfast love. For it is in that confidence we can persevere in faith until the day of Jesus Christ.
tom felten on April 27, 2012 at 9:40 am
Thanks for your insights, daisymarygoldr. Your referencing of the Israelites entering the Promised Land reminded me of what happened when they had first crossed the Jordan river to do so: “When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’ ” In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ . . . Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever” (Joshua 4:1-7). What are the “stones” that each us can look back to you in our lives—markers that reveal God’s deliverance and faithfulness? Yes, God wants us to remember what He has done!
winn collier on April 28, 2012 at 11:36 am
Thanks, Marvin. The loss of memory seems to be one of the deep tragedies of much of our contemporary faith.