1 Corinthians 10:1-13
1For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3They all ate the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” 8We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
11These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Don’t Fall - Stand Firm!
Upwards of 100,000 people died – 39,000 by disease, 3,000 by the sword, 250 by fire, and several hundreds, if not thousands more by poison and earthquake. And the worst part? It was entirely preventable.
While the Israelites camped at the foot of Mt. Sinai, they grew impatient and denied that the God inside the cloud on the top of the mountain was their deliverer. Instead, they fashioned an idol like the ones they had seen in Egypt and chose to worship it instead. And as a result, 3,000 people were killed by the sword, and many more died by plague.
When the Israelites set up camp near Moab, they succumbed to adultery. Moses puts it this way:
The men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women who invited them to the sacrifices of their gods.[1]
Not only had the Israelites broken faith with their lawful wives, but they broke faith with their God yet again. And as a result, more than 23,000 people died by yet another plague.
Throughout their wanderings, the people tested God’s patience again and again by grumbling against him. Paul only cites two examples. In one, they complained that there wasn’t enough variety in their diet and that they would have rather died in the labour camps of the Egyptian slave drivers than have to eat one more meal of manna and quail. And as a result “many” died when God sent poisonous snakes to bite them.
Korah, Dathan and Abiram stirred up a rebellion against Moses and his leadership. The entire clan of Korah was swallowed up by a massive earthquake. Fire came from the Lord and consumed 250 priests who pitted themselves against Moses and Aaron. And 14,000 more died by still yet another plague.
Up to 100,000 dead – and it all could have been prevented. These people had all the advantages. Paul lists them for us:
Our ancestors were all under the cloud.
They all passed through the sea.
They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink.
The cloud was the visible, physical presence of God that went with them every day for 40 years. They passed through the waters of the Red Sea on dry ground to escape Pharaoh’s army. They were blessed to have Moses to speak to God on their behalf and receive from him answers to their prayers. They all received manna and quail every day for 40 years. They didn’t have to plant gardens or hunt game or even go to a grocery store. All the food they needed showed up on the ground outside their tents twice a day.
They had everything they needed to stay true to the Lord, to follow the instructions he had given them for their lives, to praise and thank him for all his daily graces instead of grumbling and complaining about hypothetically greener grass somewhere else. And so do you.
That’s the point here, isn’t it? It’s not for us to shake our heads at the Israelites. It’s to listen when Paul says:
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us... So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall![2]
Do you think you’re standing firm? Why? Because you’re baptized? Because you grew up a believer? Because you made the conscious, informed decision later in life to follow the Lord? Because of everything you know? Christian, the Israelites had even more reason to believe that they were standing on solid ground – God’s “Chosen People,” “Special Possession,” constant recipients of his divine intervention. And they fell. What’s stopping you?
Do you see the spiritual danger that surrounds you? Are you overconfident in your own ability to resist temptation?
What’s the worst that could go wrong between two people in love quietly watching a movie alone together? Or maybe you’re by yourself, and the movie’s rated M, but you can handle it, right? So what if my friends get a little chatty? It’s gossip, but it’s not capital-G gossip; it’s harmless. I know I get a little heated when I read the news and who cares if I end up saying negative things about the authorities? They deserve it! It’s just social media. It makes me feel lousy about my life; makes me wish mine looked more like someone else’s. But it’s just pictures and videos.
Christian – you who are going to pray “lead us not into temptation” in a few minutes – don’t lead yourself into temptation. Don’t get cocky in the quality of your faith. If you think you’re standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall. Yeah, the Israelites messed up something embarrassing, but so do you and so do I:
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.[3]
We live in the same world they did. We’re made of the same stuff they were. We’re not above them. We’re just like them. And if we’re willing to open our minds and humble our hearts, we’ll admit that we’re just as faithless as they were. We may not face plague, fire or the sword. But the wages for our sin is the same for them and every other sinner who has walked this earth – death. That’s what sinners deserve from the God they sin against.
That’s what we deserve, but that’s not what we receive. Instead, God sends us warnings – like this one from the Apostle Paul: Wake up! Pay attention! If you think you’re standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! God wants you to open your eyes and see your spiritual danger. He wants you to open your eyes and see your salvation.
Just four little words:
And God is faithful.[4]
Why? To us? To sinners who reject him, ignore him, grumble and complain against him? Yes, to you. God is faithful to you. It doesn’t make sense to our puny brains. If anyone treated us the way we treat God, we’d wash our hands of them. We wouldn’t want to see them again. But that’s not how God treats you, and we can see it in the way he treated the Israelites.
Most of the Israelites bowed down to the golden calf and then got up to indulge in revelry. But only 3,000 died – that’s less than half of one percent of the total population – because Moses interceded and pleaded for God’s mercy, which he gave them. The grumbling and complaining just didn’t stop, and God did send poisonous snakes to bite and kill “many” in Israel, but it was God who told Moses to fashion a bronze snake and lift it on a pole, and promised that whoever looked at it in faith would be saved. It was more than a line in the sand to test their faith. It was a promise of our Saviour:
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.[5]
God is faithful. God is patient. He has not written you off. He does not treat you as your sins deserve. He loves you and forgives you. He sent his Son to save you. And he’s not as far away as he sometimes feels.
We don’t get to look up to the top of a mountain that’s within sight every day and see the visible presence of God there. We have something better. We get to hear his voice as often as we want, because he’s put his Word at our fingertips:
“These were written down for us.”[6]
We haven’t been privileged to walk across an active seabed on dry ground before God destroys the enemies pursuing us. We have something better. God paved the way to heaven for us – he made the impossible possible – and destroyed our enemies in the process. Not Pharaoh or an army of chariots. Something far more deadly. Sin, death, and the devil. They can’t touch us because of Jesus.
We haven’t been baptized into Moses with a leader who gets to talk with God face to face on our behalf. We have something better. We’ve been baptized into Christ who gives us direct access to our Father in heaven.
We haven’t tasted manna or quail. We have something better. The body and blood of Jesus, given and poured out for you for the forgiveness of your sins.
God is faithful. God is gracious. He is always present and always patient and he continues to pour out his love on us every day. And not least of all by the last promise he makes us:
He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.[7]
Christian, beware! God will let you be tempted. We don’t get to skate by on autopilot because Jesus won our salvation for us. We still have to try. But, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. He will provide a way out.
I’m amazed at how obvious it can be sometimes. A perfectly timed phone call, just as you were about to careen headlong into sin. A knock on the door. An ad break or the internet going out. Something to disrupt you long enough to break the spell and give you the opportunity to think about what you were just about to do.
Most of the time it’s more subtle than that. It’s the memory of a Sunday School lesson you had decades ago that spoke to the exact circumstance you’re facing right now. The friendship of a fellow Christian whose opinion you value and whom you wouldn’t want to disappoint. The devotion you had that morning that opened the door of your heart to the Holy Spirit so he could fill you with faith and guide you in life, if you’re willing to listen.
God will never put you in a position where sin is the only option. There will always be an escape hatch. You always have a choice. So be aware. Go through life with both eyes open – to the spiritual dangers around you, but most of all to the constant presence, patience and faithfulness of our God, who loved you and saved you through Jesus our Saviour. Amen.
[1] Numbers 25:1,2
[2] 1 Corinthians 10:11,12
[3] 1 Corinthians 10:13
[4] 1 Corinthians 10:13
[5] John 3:14
[6] 1 Corinthians 10:11
[7] 1 Corinthians 10:13