Feeding the Sheep - Learn From the Past

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"Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God’s fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.

The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did—“First the people partied, then they threw a dance.” We must not be sexually promiscuous—they paid for that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day! We must never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent; discontent destroyed them.

These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence."

1 Corinthians 10:1-12

[This is the 4th message of this series]

We will continue this lesson, and as we have mentioned previously, the understanding is that these are for mature believers (or adulting believers). For a more orderly study, if you haven't gone through all the previous messages, then please do so first. And as always, pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit when you read and study the Word of God. 

History Lesson

The Jewish Scriptures contain the stories of ancient Israel. Its many narratives tell of a nation's ups and downs and how God was there for them.

These stories point to God as Creator, Protector and Provider. The stories and the characters also foretell of a future Messiah (fulfilled in the Christian Scriptures). The people in the stories are the past, and we are the present and the future.

Temptation

Life will be full of trials and temptations (believers aren't exempt from these). What God is trying to tell us is that It is not so much a matter of us trying to rely on our own intellect, skills and strengths but rather us relying on God.

God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. We are too. The mistakes the ancient Jewish people made will also be the same mistakes we are doing or will do, if and when we do not study and learn from them.

But remember:

1 Corinthians 10:13

"No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it."

When you are tempted (and you will be), God will show you a way out so that you can endure.

Be very careful not to be overly confident and think that you can keep standing up over anything. Be aware when you are standing firm, that you do not fall. (The best of the best have been tripped up -- Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Thomas, Peter and John Mark just to name a few. Plus all the modern people of faith who slipped and fell in our generation and before our time.)

Pride walks a few steps ahead of the slip and the fall. Slip ups are hiding and can spring out when you least expect it. 


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