Israel: An Example for Us

Introduction

The Lord is our rock. Thank you, Matt, for leading those songs. Reminding us of who our rock is, of who we can count on, of who is always there for us. Because life just gets weird.

And it’s messy. And we know that. Sometimes we understand why things have happened to us a little over a year ago. Had some breakfast with a few of the guys and went home, and about an hour later, I was in the urgent care because I stuck my thumb in my table saw. And I remember that very clearly. That was something I wasn’t counting on. That wasn’t something I had planned in my day. But there I was. And I knew exactly why I was there. It’s because I was careless, and it’s because I was stupid.

And I knew exactly what happened, what I should have done to prevent it, how I can prevent it in the future. But other things happened in our lives. Or we are at a loss. Why is this happening to me? I mean, the whole reason that I’m up here this morning is because life got very weird and very messy for the Moody family. And things that happen to us that we try to puzzle through and understand. Why is this going on? We’re no stranger to that in this congregation. But the Lord is our rock. And that is what we need to remember that when we can’t figure it out. When we don’t know why things are happening to us the way we are, we’ve got to remember that.

That the Lord is our rock. In the book of 1 Corinthians, Paul writes to the Corinthian brethren there. And he has a lot to say to that church. Because things were happening to them. And they were looking to solve their problems, but they were looking in all the wrong places. When the Corinthian brethren started looking for answers, they got caught up in themselves. And they got caught up in their feelings and their rationale as to why things were happening. When they looked for their connection to God, they trusted men. Paul deals with that in the very first chapter of 1 Corinthians, where he says, You say that I am of Paul and I am of Apollos and I am of Cephas. They look to men for their connection to God and identify themselves with men and not with God when looking for answers in their lives.

They boasted in their works and trusted in their works. Even fighting about spiritual gifts that they had. Whose was greater? I am of more value to the congregation because I have this gift. Look at me. Look what I can do. Look at how I can help. Look at my understanding. And they trusted in themselves.

And they trusted in their knowledge, even boasting in their knowledge and their wisdom, which is of this world. Because what do we understand? We understand the things of this world, how things make me feel, how things affect me, how I understand things, and not from God’s infinitely superior knowledge of how things work in the spiritual realm. And that’s what the Corinthians got themselves caught up in. And that led to all the many things that Paul had to write to them to correct their thinking and their behavior as to how they’re handling their lives and their service to God. And in 1 Corinthians, the 10th chapter, which will serve as our text for this morning, we’re going to go through that. Verses 1 through 13, I want to go through where Paul writes to them and puts Israel up as an example, as an illustration as to how they handled these things, how they got caught up in themselves, and it led to all of their downfalls.

And Paul serves them up as an example as to what not to do. And just as he wrote to them, to the Corinthian brethren about Israel and what they did and the errors that they made, as an example to them, Israel is also an example for us in those same things. Because a lot of times when things happen to us, we try to make sense of it, and we reason through it, and we come up with something that makes sense to us. And we think that’s right, because it does make sense to us. But are we looking in the right place? Let’s read in verses one through five of 1 Corinthians, the 10th chapter. Paul writes to them, Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses and in the cloud and in the sea.

All ate the same spiritual food, and all ate the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But with most of them, God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

All our fathers were under the cloud. And remember that the presence of God was with Israel as they left Egypt, as they went to Sinai, that pillar of cloud that was there, leading them during the day. The cloud that descended, showing the presence of God when the tabernacle was built. All were under the cloud, all were under the presence of God. All of Israel was under the cloud. All of them passed through the sea. All of them as they were coming out of Israel or out of Egypt, all of Israel stood at the Red Sea with the Egyptian army coming at them. And it looked hopeless.

And they all witnessed that. And they all went across and had witnessed as the Egyptian army was destroyed when they tried to cross, all by the power of God. And they all witnessed that. All drank the same spiritual drink. All drank ate the same spiritual food. They all partook of the teaching and the laws and the things that God gave them. They all witnessed that. They were all provided for miraculously by God as banna came down from heaven, as quail was provided for them by the hand of God, as water came forth from a rock to quench their thirst.

But, verse 5, but with most of them, God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. And it is that area that Paul is going to show the example. That even though Israel, all of Israel saw these mighty works, the plagues that came upon Egypt, that went up that provoked Pharaoh to release them. All those wonderful things, they still didn’t trust God, and they still at times displeased him, even though they saw all those mighty powerful things. Verses 6 through 11, he gives the examples as to how those things happen. Beginning in verse 6, now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become as idolaters, become idolaters as were son of them.

As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Nor let us commit sexual immorality as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell. Nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents, nor complain, as some of them also complained and were destroyed by the destroyer.

1. Becoming Idolaters

And they were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of all ages have come. Paul says, let’s look at Israel. Let’s look at how they handle things. Let’s look at what they did when life got weird and when life got messy, and when things happened that they didn’t expect. When things happened that they thought, this is not right. This shouldn’t be happening to me. I shouldn’t be in this situation. How did they handle these things? First example he gives is by them becoming idolaters. This is in reference to when they were at Mount Sinai. Turn over to Exodus, the 24th chapter. I want us to notice the progression of how things happened. Because, you know, Israel didn’t just one day say, I think we need to serve an idol.

It was a process. Beginning in verse 1 of chapter 24 in the book of Exodus. Now he said to Moses, Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor shall the people go up with them. So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, Notice what they said, all the words which the Lord has said, we will do. And so at that point, the people said, Lord, whatever you say, whatever guidance you give us, that’s what we’re going to do. We will do that.

And Moses went up to the mountain. And Moses was there for 40 days and 40 nights. That’s about a month and a half that Moses was up there.

The cloud had descended upon Mount Sinai. And in chapter 32 of Exodus, we see how the people reacted. Now when the people saw, beginning in verse 1 of chapter 32, now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron and said to him, Come, make us gods that we should go before us. For as this, for as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. Six weeks. Six weeks, Moses is gone. And they’re like, is he dead? We don’t know what’s happened to him. Now we need Aaron for you to make us gods. And they turn to idolatry six weeks from saying, We will do all that the Lord has said to this.

Because they trusted not in the Lord, but in Moses as their connection to the Lord. And when Moses didn’t come down, they were shook. We’ve been abandoned. We do not know what has happened to Moses. Because they put their faith in Moses and not in the Lord. It is Moses that brought us up of the land of Egypt, they said. Not recognizing the Lord’s power. Even though they saw all those things. And we have the temptation to do the same thing. To trust in men for our connection to the Lord. Maybe it’s an elder or a preacher or a teacher, and I’ve seen it where those people who have taught mighty things in the Lord fall away. And people fall away with them. Because their faith was in the man and not in the Lord.

We have a great group of people here. We have a mighty work in this congregation where we support one another. And I hear it all the time. I witness it all the time. But there’s a danger, brethren, that we put our faith in this congregation. And then if all of a sudden something happens here, we can be shook away from the Lord. So we just need, all I say is that we just need to be careful where we find our connection in the Lord. That we do not find it in men, that we do not find it in each other. But we find it in God.

2. Israel Was Joined to Baal of Peor

Christ, our rock. And that is who our rock is. Second illustration that he gives is found in Numbers, the 25th chapter. And Israel has gone through and by the hand of the Lord has sustained many victories in battle. And they’ve gone, and now they’re in the land of Moab. They’re poised right across from where Jericho is, where they’re going to have a great victory after they cross over the Jordan. And they’re in the land of Moab and they stray.

Chapter 25 of Numbers, let’s read, begin reading in verse 1. Now Israel remained in Akasha grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. And they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods. And the people ate and bowed down to their gods. And so Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel. And we see later on as we read through verse 9 that the Lord ordered these men that were doing these things to be hanged, that a plague came upon the people, that 24,000 dropped. We’re told in this account in 1 Corinthians that 23,000 fell in one day.

Because Israel was feeling pretty good about themselves, I think. If you read, they had all these victories and they were trusting in themselves, and they get to these people, and they start mingling with them that the Lord had warned against. He said, if you intermarry with other nations, you will go after their gods. And certainly they were having intimate relations with the women there. And what happened? They started bowing down to their gods. I don’t know what was going through their mind. It might be, well, we’re okay. These are such good people. Have we ever done that? These are such good, solid people. Such good spiritual people. They have such good morals, and we identify them and we befriend them, and pretty soon maybe we’re led after them.

Because we just can’t imagine that they needed help from the Lord because they’re such good moral people. Such good people. And these Israelites were certainly enamored with the Moabite women. They had intimate relations with them, and pretty soon they bowed down to their gods. And maybe they thought, ah, you know, an idol’s nothing. I’ll just go in there. It’s no big deal. But what they did is they joined themselves with the Baals. The Lord was displeased. Because in their mind, they were okay. They relied on their understanding of the situation and strayed from God. And did not heed his advice and did not heed his warnings and did not heed his commands about how to handle themselves in the situations. And it is so easy to do.

So easy to do. And again, it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process. We have to understand that the Lord is there for us. We need to hold on to him and his understanding of things and his understanding of what we should do and where we should go. And the people we should be with.

3. Nor Let Us Tempt Christ

And in the plagues, and 23,000 fell in one day. An example for us. And we trust ourselves and not God, what will happen. Verse 9, nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed by serpents. We find this account in Numbers, the 21st chapter.

They had prayed to the Lord for strength to defeat King Arad, the Canaanite. And victory was given to them.

Verse 4 of chapter 21. Then they journeyed from Mount Horror by the way of the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. And the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses. Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water. And our soul loathes this worthless bread. Do you understand what they’re saying? They’re displeased. They’ve convinced themselves in their minds that they are in this horribly desperate situation. We’re gonna die here in the wilderness. We have no food, we have no water, and we don’t like the bread you’re giving to us. God’s still providing for them. God’s giving them the bread, but they think I don’t like it.

You are giving us we want something different. They got it in their heads, and they got so wrapped up that their soul loathed the bread that God was providing for them to sustain them in their journey at this time.

And that Moses had abandoned them, and that they were gonna die in the wilderness, and nothing could be further from the truth. God was still there, God was still providing for them, God had just given them a great victory in battle. But in their minds, they had a whole different reality. And they complained against the Lord. And how easy for it for us is it to not see what we have, but to have something in our mind about what we should have. And we get wrapped up in that instead of seeing the blessings of God that are right before us. That God is sustaining us. That God is with us. That God does give us blessings. But we get wrapped up in the way we think it should be.

That’s what happened to Israel. And God sent fiery serpents down. And we know that story.

And what reality we form in our minds, which again happened in this example in the 10th chapter.

4. Complaining at the Door of the Promised Land

Numbers 14, where we see Israel at the door of Canaan. They’re at the door of the promised land, the land afloateth milk and honey, the land that God had promised the people. And he said, I will give you that land. And so they sent spies out. And the spies came back and reported about how big the people were and how impossible the task was, and except for Joshua and Caleb. But the people believed the ten, and not the two that trusted the Lord. Verse 1 of chapter 14. So the congregation lifted up their voices and cried. And the people wept that night. That’s how in distress they were. And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron. And the whole congregation said to them, If we had only died in the land of Egypt, or if we had only died in this wilderness, why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword?

That our wives and our children should become victims. Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? And they said to one another, let us select a leader and return to Egypt.

After all they witnessed, after all that God had given them, as God sustained them through this journey to the door of Canaan. And now it was time for them to take and go into the land that was promised to them.

These people are too powerful. Where was the trust in the Lord? And sometimes life’s circumstances get that way for us, don’t they? Where we’re just overwhelmed by what’s what’s happening to us. We are taken over by the giants that are coming into our lives and oppressing us. And we can’t see a way out. We see the situation as hopeless. Because we’re looking at it through our limited eyes, and not the promises that God has given to us. We don’t remember that God said, or that Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. That God will take care of us, that God will provide for us. And we just see all these things that come at us, just as Israel saw.

5. Let Him Who Thinks He Stands Take Heed

And they complained. And for their complaining and for their lack of faith, that whole generation wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and did not see the land of promise that was given to them. Paul said, these things were written for them as examples to us. As examples to us. So what lessons can we learn from this? After giving these examples, Paul in verse 12 of chapter 10 says, Therefore, here’s what we can learn from this. Therefore, let him who thinks he stand take heed lest he fall. No temptation is overtaken you except such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it.

God is there. First thing he says, let’s look at the example. If you take heed, you who thinks he stands, lest he fall. You think you’ve got the answers? You think you can stand all by yourself? Do you think just because just because I’m a Christian? Just because I am a member of the Decker Prairie congregation, I’m good. And that’s where our identity is. That we think we can stand on our own. We cannot.

And if we think we can stand on our own, Paul says, take heed lest you fall. No temptation. No temptation. Nothing that comes against you, no temptation as overtaking you except such that is common to man. So we are not alone. Paul went back centuries to raise up Israel as an example to the Corinthians. And centuries have passed since then that we can read and we can recognize the same things and same attitudes today.

Nothing has changed. Nothing is new under the sun. No temptation is overtaking you except as is common demands. So when things are coming against you, others have dealt with it. Others may be dealing with it. And we can help each other. Not that we put our faith in each other exclusively, but we help each other as God wants us to. That we can be together. And we can see each other through these and help remind each other of God’s blessings in our lives. We can do that. Because things that happen to us have happened from the beginning of man. Nothing is new under the sun.

6. God Is Faithful

But God is faithful. God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you were able. But with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. So God’s not going to put anything in front of us that we can’t handle. When we feel that life has come against us and it’s hopeless, and we can’t see the answer, and we don’t see how we’re going to get out of it, and we don’t know where to turn or what to do, and we’re overwhelmed. We have to remember this.

We have to remember this, that God is faithful. And he’s not going to put anything in front of us that we can’t handle. But are we going to see that? Are we going to trust in that? Are we going to trust in the God who is faithful to us? We are all partakers. We are all partakers of great and wonderful blessings.

Back to where we’re all partakers of great and wonderful blessings in the Lord. But do we see them? When things get tough in our lives, do we see those things? Or do we just get overwhelmed with the physical senses of this world? While all our life circumstances are not the same. We need to trust in God. We need to trust in the God who is faithful to us. We need to trust in Christ, who is our rock. We need to trust in his wisdom. And we need to trust in his understanding and all of the things that he has revealed to us about how we should handle our lives.

We need to trust his protection when life seems hard and when life seems just unbearable.

Conclusion

We need to trust in God for our eternal lives. Even when it doesn’t make sense to us. Even when God’s way, we can’t, in our physical limited wisdom see how that’s gonna work. Trust God. Trust Him, for He is faithful, and He has promised us eternal life with Him if we will be faithful to Him. And so, where is our heart this morning? Do we trust God in what He has told us? We fully trusted Him with the promise that He has given to us, as He promised Israel a land that flowed with milk and honey, He has promised us an eternal life with Him in His presence if we will only obey Him, if we will only come to Him. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Messiah, came to this earth, lived among us, showed us who the Father was, sacrificed himself on the cross, shed his blood, and rose again on the third day, defeating death, becoming that sacrifice for us that we might enjoy the grace of God, that we might enjoy forgiveness of our sins, that we might enjoy his blessing and his promises.

Do we trust in that? If you have not trusted in that this morning, I make the plea, put aside your temporal thinking, your understanding, and trust in the God who is faithful. Trust in Christ who is your rock. If you need anything this morning, or we can help you in that journey, please come right now as we stand and sing.