God would like you to Know Your History

It has been really interesting seeing Christian groups get together and do ice-breakers which involve Bible Trivia. What has been so alarming is the inability for people to answer things about the Bible. I mean how are we to know how to live according to God’s Word and desires, if we don’t know His Word and His Desires. Given Trivia about small things in the Old Testament might seem irrelevant but we will see in today’s text, that a knowledge and understanding of the Old Testament are crucial to understand this passage in the New Testament. So let’s dig in

Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

From the first verse, Paul is reminding the believers of their history with their ancestors and understanding the cloud and passing through the sea. So what does that mean? These both come from Exodus, chapter 13 and 14 respectively. After Israel departed from Egypt, God led them with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (read Exodus 13 for more). He then parted the waters of the Red Sea, enabling the people to walk across on dry ground. Both of these events were given to them to remind them of God’s presence with them. As the Israelites were wandering, they also were given manna and water to drink which both were given supernaturally from God. However, none of these miracles guaranteed that the children of Israel would reach the Promised Land. Disobedience caused people to forfeit this promise and die in the wilderness.

Read verse 6 again. These things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Paul again tells some more things for them to remember from Israel’s history. We see the worship of idols Exodus 32:6, the giving over to sexual immorality where many died Num 25:1-9 and the encounter with snakes Num 21:5-9. Each was a story of Israel’s disobedience before God and where the people turned to evil things. It was so sad because God was with them and His Presence was there but they turned from Him. We do this very often ourselves. We need to remember God’s Presence in our lives. He has given us Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for us to be reconciled back to God. He then gives us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us to again know God’s Presence and experience more of Him. Therefore, God wants us to remember our history to continue to set our hearts on the right things which is God and His promises. We have to be aware of all the ways we can turn from God because of the evilness in our heart. Our stories are different than the ones we can read in Israel’s history but we can recall all the ways we have turned or seen others be disobedient, and see them as warnings against turning from the Presence of God.

Take some time to reflect on how you have seen God’s Presence in your life. Now see the things and ways that are tempting you to set your heart on evil things. Take some time to pray that God will give you strength to keep from setting your heart on those things.

Tuesday: Pray for your family
Pray for one member of your family that is going through a time of trial.