Lessons #321 and 322
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Death of some Israelites in the desert (1 Cor 10:5-13)
… 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 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 stand up under it.
The message of 1 Corinthians 10:5-13 that we have been considering is that Enjoyment of God’s blessing under a good spiritual leader will not shield you from His judgment if you displease Him. We have noted that this message implies that we are being warned against the evil desires of some of the Israelites the Lord killed in the desert. The Holy Spirit through the apostle did not leave us guessing what the evil desires were so we are provided examples or results of their evil desires we should avoid. We have considered the first of the evil things that some of the Israelites of exodus generation desired or were guilty that led to their death which is idolatry because of the command of 1 Corinthians 10:7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. So, we proceed to consider the second.
A second example or result of the evil desires of some of the Israelites that the Lord killed in the desert is sexual immorality. It is this sin that is given in the exhortation of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul addressed to the Corinthians and so to all of us believers about what to avoid as recorded in the first part of 1 Corinthians 10:8 We should not commit sexual immorality.
The sentence of 1 Corinthians 10:8 We should not commit sexual immorality continues the exhortation of the Holy Spirit through the apostle that began in verse 7. A careful reader of the text will pick this up, but it may not be clear to a careless reader because there is no connective used in verse 8 of the NIV that indicates the exhortation is related to verse 7. However, the Greek of verse 8 begins with the same Greek particle (mēde) used at the beginning of verse 7 that may mean “and not” or “but not.” In verse 8, it may be translated “and not” or “nor” to indicate it is used to continue a negative exhortation as we find in some English versions that begin verse 8 with the connective “and” or “nor.”
There is no doubt that the instruction of verse 8 is related to that of verse 7 but the apostle seemed to indicate there is a slight difference from his own perspective. In verse 7, he issued a direct command to the Corinthians not to become idolaters without including himself in the command probably to convey that he has never been involved in idolatry in contrast to majority of the Corinthians who were pagans before their conversion. Of course, since the congregation in Corinth included Jews, the apostle would have been mindful of them but because majority of the congregants were Gentiles, he issued a command to exclude him. However, in verse 8 the apostle used a Greek form that a writer or a speaker in the Greek uses to urge others to join the person in the action advocated. The Greek form used is typically translated “we should…” but it is better to translate it using “let us…” so it is clearer that the writer or speaker is urging someone to unit with the individual in carrying out the course of action involved in the context. Again, a careful English reader may pick up this point that the expression “we should…” indicates that the speaker or writer invites another to join the individual in the action advocated but the expression “let us…” makes it easier to see that the speaker urges one addressed to join the individual in the action advocated. In effect, the second expression makes it easier to see that the speaker is involved in an exhortation addressed to the listener. Our English versions are divided in their translation of the Greek since many use the expression “we should…” as found in the NIV while others use “let us…” as found, for example, in the NET or the NASB. We make an issue of this observation because it is likely that the apostle wanted to convey that the Corinthians should join him in avoiding whatever it is that he stated in the verse we are considering. In other words, the exhortation of the apostle is in keeping with his previous exhortation to the Corinthians to imitate him as we read in 1 Corinthians 4:16:
Therefore I urge you to imitate me.
This point that the apostle is urging the Corinthians to imitate him regarding the action prohibited in verse 8 may be lost in the translation that uses the expression “we should…” instead of “let us…” to translate the Greek form the apostle used.
Anyway, the instruction or the exhortation of the apostle that prohibits the second example or result of evil desires of the Israelites that died in the desert is given in 1 Corinthians 10:8 We should not commit sexual immorality. Based on the explanation we have given; it is probably better to translate the Greek as Neither let us commit sexual immorality. Before we examine this clause, it is worth noting that sexual immorality is the first sin the Holy Spirit mentioned through the apostle following idolatry. This is probably because there is a great affinity between idolatry and sexual immorality. A society that is pagan in its outlook sees nothing wrong with sexual immorality so long as no person is hurt by it. Consequently, such a society does not frown at such a sin. A person must believe in the supreme God of the universe to see anything wrong with sexual immorality not merely something to be avoided so as not to harm others or to avoid illegitimate children. Furthermore, the apostle mentioned sexual immorality following the sin of idolatry probably to indicate that the sexual immorality he was concerned here is of the type that takes place in pagan temples where sexual act was considered a part of serving the gods. It is one thing to be involved in sexual immorality, it is another thing for it to be taken as part of worship of a god. So, it is likely that the apostle implies that there was sexual activity going on in the pagan temples where some of the Corinthians go to eat or honor invitations to eat there. Such a situation could lead to sexual immorality of the type that the apostle referenced in the verse we are considering. This supposition is not far-fetched because there is evidence in the NT that some feasting in idol temples involved sexual immorality as in the charge of the woman given the name Jezebel in the local church in Thyatira, as recorded in Revelation 2:20:
Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.
Since Apostle Paul had dealt with food sacrificed to idols, it is likely that he was associating sexual immorality as that which is possible when a person goes to a pagan temple to eat as in the incident the apostle mentioned later in 1 Corinthians 10:8 that we will consider shortly. The point we are making is that the apostle conceived of a connection between idolatry and sexual immorality of the type that involves sexual activity in pagan temples. Thus, he would be exhorting the Corinthians to be careful that they are not drawn into idolatry and associated sexual sin.
Be that as it may, the exhortation of the apostle to the Corinthians and so to all believers is given in 1 Corinthians 10:8 We should not commit sexual immorality. The expression “commit sexual immorality” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (porneuō) that has to do with involvement in illicit sex. Therefore, the word means “to fornicate” or “to commit sexual immorality” as it is used to describe the failure of some of the Israelites during the exodus because of the advice of Balaam to Balak regarding how to entrap Israel, as stated in Revelation 2:14:
Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.
The word is used figuratively to describe involvement in idolatry as it is used to describe Babylon in Revelation 18:3:
For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”
Committing adultery in this passage is concerned with idolatry since it is the same concept using our Greek word that is found in the charge of the prophets against Israel’s idolatry described in terms of adultery, that is, sex outside the marriage bond, by one who is married, as the word is used, for example, in Jeremiah 3:6:
During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:8, it is used in a literal sense of a person who is involved in illicit sexual activity hence means “to commit sexual immorality.”
Sexual immorality the apostle had in mind probably refers to the general term “fornication” that refers to any sexual activity that is outside the marriage bond probably taking place inside pagan temples in Corinth. As a general term “fornication” will include “adultery” which is sexual relationship between a married person and another individual that is not the person’s spouse. In a limited sense the term, “fornication” is used to describe consensual sexual intercourse between two unmarried persons. Regardless of the word used, the apostle is concerned with any sexual activity that is not permitted by God’s design that may occur in pagan temples. It is God’s design for sexual intercourse to occur only between two individuals married to each other. The Holy Spirit at this point focused the apostle’s attention to normal sexual activity that involves a man and a woman not any of the other deviances involved in sex such as homosexuality or bestiality. The point is that the concern of the exhortation of the Apostle Paul is that believers should join him in avoiding any kind of illegal sexual activity between men and women, especially those taking place in pagan temples.
Anyway, the apostle continued to indicate that not all the Israelites were involved in sexual immorality as in the next clause of 1 Corinthians 10:8 as some of them did. This clause not only tells us that not everyone in Israel was involved in sexual immorality of the type that involved feasting in pagan temples but implies that it is not difficult for people to avoid sexual immorality even the type that occurs in pagan temples if they take proper precaution not to expose themselves to situations where they would be tempted to sexual sin. This implication may not be easy to see but we contend it to be true because of what is implied or what is true of those the apostle had in mind in the use of the clause as some of them did.
The thing the apostle said about those he had in mind that will help us see the implication we stated is given in the clause of 1 Corinthians 10:8 and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. The statement of the apostle refers to what happened in the desert when some of the Israelites were enticed to idolatry through sex by Moabite women that certainly involved feasting or eating in pagan temple as described in Numbers 25:1–9:
1 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, 2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. 3 So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD’s anger burned against them. 4 The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the LORD’s fierce anger may turn away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death those of your men who have joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor.” 6 Then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand 8 and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear through both of them—through the Israelite and into the woman’s body. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; 9 but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.
Before we examine this passage, we should immediately note that without the Israelites going to the Moabites to join in their festivity they would not have been involved in sexual immorality and idolatry implying that it is because they exposed themselves to such sin that they sinned. This is the point we made by stating that an implication of the clause of 1 Corinthians 10:8 as some of them did is that it is not difficult for people to avoid sexual immorality if they take proper precaution not to expose themselves to situations where they would be tempted to sexual sin. Those described in Numbers 25 did not take the proper precaution that would have involved avoidance of any relationship with the Moabites hence they succumbed to sexual immorality and idolatry.
In any case, the Israelite men were entrapped into idolatry because of offer of sex and offer of food in a pagan temple. The situation was that the Moabites recognized that there was no way to defeat Israel except if they sinned against their God. So, based on Balaam’s advice, the women of Moab enticed some men in Israel with food and sex as they invited them to celebrate with them. The result was not only that the men were involved in sexual immorality, but they also were involved in idolatry. We state that the Moabite women followed the advice of Balaam on how to defeat Israel because of what is recorded for us in Numbers 31:15–16:
15 “Have you allowed all the women to live?” he asked them. 16 “They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the LORD’s people.
This passage is the basis for the statement recorded in the passage we cited previously, that is, in in Revelation 2:14:
Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.
Thus, some Israelite men were enticed to into idolatry and sexual immorality by invitation to attend say a dinner party where there were to be free flowing drinks, food, and sex.
The men who were entrapped into idolatry through sex in the incident at Peor were killed as narrated in Numbers 25. They were killed because of idolatry and sexual immorality. They would not have been involved in idolatry if they had not been enticed by food and sex. That aside, according to Number 25:9 twenty-four thousand persons died because of the incident. However, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul gives us what a grievous sin that was involved in Peor that 23,000 people died on the same day as we read in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 10:8 and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.
The difference between the number given by Moses and Paul is a point of debate among scholars of the modern time since we are told that the patristic writers seem not to have been troubled by it, indicating that they were not troubled with what modern thinkers are concerned. Thus, some explain the difference by saying that Moses rounded the number up while Paul rounded it down. I am like the patristic writers. I find no difficulty in the perceived difference if we simply take the fact that the Holy Spirit directed the apostle to use the number he did, to provide an information that prior to this time had not been revealed. We are saying that if we accept this premise then Apostle Paul reported only those who died in one day and not the total number of people who died because of the incident. The difference would suggest that there were others that totaled 1,000 involved in the sexual immorality that is associated with idolatry that died either the next day or the day prior to the day when 23,000 died. Of course, it is possible that the Holy Spirit conveyed to the apostle the number in such a way to exclude those the judges killed as per the instruction of Numbers 25:4:
The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the LORD’s fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”
This information suggests that the Lord probably killed 23,000 in one day but His anger was still on Israel until the next day when the ring leaders were executed so that their number was included in the 24,000 that Moses reported. Anyway, this difference is not material to the point the apostle wanted to convey. His point is that God judged idolatry and sexual immorality in such a way to kill that many people in one day, so we see how He abhors idolatry mixed with sexual immorality. Consequently, the exhortation to avoid sexual immorality requires for us to be careful towards anything that will entice us towards sexual immorality and materialism that is a form of idolatry. We should be careful of invitation to celebrations or party where we may be exposed to drinks or other things that dull our senses so that we may find ourselves involved in sexual immorality. In practice, a believer should avoid having celebrations or attending parties with unbelievers where there is the possibility of free flow of alcohol mixed with drug abuse as these may be harmful to a believer’s spiritual life. In short, I am saying that for all practical purposes, a believer out not to attend parties given by unbelievers where there is the possibility of excess use of alcohol or drugs. This kind of teaching I have given is what causes many young people to avoid local churches where truth is taught but flock to where there is lot of music with very little teaching of God’s word. Anyhow, the second example or result of the evil desires of some of the Israelites of exodus generation was sexual immorality that drew God’s immediate judgment so that 24,000 people died.
A third example or result of the evil desires of some of the Israelites that the Lord killed in the desert is constantly doubting of God’s power and faithfulness to provide for Israel. It is this sin that is given in the exhortation of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul addressed to the Corinthians and so to all of us believers about what to avoid as recorded in the first part of 1 Corinthians 10:9 We should not test the Lord, as some of them did. Before we examine the exhortation, we should note that there is a manuscript problem that leads to different readings of this exhortation in our English versions. The variation is whether to use the word “Lord” or “God” or “Christ” in the exhortation. The translators of the 1984 edition of the NIV, among others, used the word “Lord.” However, the 2011 edition of the NIV and other English versions use the word “Christ” as we read, for example, the NET reads And let us not put Christ to the test. Which of these two reading is the original? It is probably the reading that reflects “Christ” than the word “Lord” that was in the original text. There are several reasons for this position. First, it is the reading “Christ” that explains the origin of the other readings. It is most likely that copyists had difficulty in understanding how the Israelites of exodus generation would have tested Christ so to handle the difficulty they inserted such words as “Lord” or “God” in the place of the word “Christ” that must have been in the original. Also, it must have been easier for a copyist to put the word “Lord” in place of Christ without thinking twice about it. Second, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul had indicated in verse 4 of this tenth chapter of 1 Corinthians that Christ was with the Israelites in the desert, so it is most likely that the apostle used the word “Christ” instead of the word “Lord” or “God” when he wrote 1 Corinthians 10:9. Third, the oldest Greek manuscript (P46) available to us has the reading “Christ.” Thus, we contend that the reading that has “Christ” is one that reflects the original although even if one uses the reading “Lord,” that would also be a reference to Christ since the apostle uses the word “Lord” routinely for Christ.
The reading that translates And let us not put Christ to the test being the original reading by the apostle has an implication. The implication of the use of the word “Christ” is the apostle’s way of conveying the deity of Christ. We are saying that it is his way of communicating that Christ is God since it was well known among the Jews that their forefathers tested God in the desert, as for example, recorded in Psalm 78:56:
But they put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep his statutes.
This deity of Christ is also communicated even if instead of “Christ” in 1 Corinthians 10:9, the word “Lord” is used. Nonetheless, since we have justified the reading Christ, we contend that its use by Apostle Paul is his way of conveying the deity of Christ.
In any event, the Holy Spirit through the apostle exhorts us to avoid doubting Christ’s power or faithfulness or care for His people as some of the Israelites that died in the desert did as in the first part of 1 Corinthians 10:9 We should not test the Lord, as some of them did. To understand what we are being exhorted to avoid, we need to understand what it is that some of the Israelites did, described with the word “test.” The word “test” is translated from a Greek word (ekpeirazō) that may mean “to test” as in religious expert putting Jesus to the test in Luke 10:25:
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
The meaning “to entrap” is also a possible meaning in the expert’s question to the Lord Jesus. The word may mean “to subject to test” in the sense of to tempt as in the quotation of Jesus to Satan when he was tempting Him to sin, as we read in Luke 4:12:
Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:9, the sense of the word is “to test,” that is, to put to the test in order to ascertain the nature of something, including imperfections, faults, or other qualities.
Apostle Paul referenced a specific example in the subject of testing the Lord that he cited that we will get to shortly, but he must have also had remembered other occasions where the Israelites were said to have tested the Lord. Consequently, he must have also recollected the incident of lack of water that Israel faced at Rephidim during which they were charged of testing the Lord as recorded for us in Exodus 17:1–2:
1 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?”
This passage indicates that the Israelites had complained or scolded Moses because of the lack of drinking water. The word “quarreled” is translated from a Hebrew word (rîḇ) that may mean “to complain” as it is used to describe what fathers or brothers may say to Israel because their daughters would be captured and taken as wives by the surviving men in the tribe of Benjamin as we read in Judges 21:22:
When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Do us a kindness by helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war, and you are innocent, since you did not give your daughters to them.’”
In Exodus 17:2, it means “to quarrel,” that is, to be involved in angry argument or simply “to scold.” In effect, Moses would have meant that the people were scolding him for lack of drinking water while they were at Rephidim.
It is not only that Israel complained or scolded Moses, worse yet, they were charged of testing the Lord in the question of Exodus 17:2 Why do you put the LORD to the test?”. The word “test” is translated from a Hebrew word (nāsāh) that means “to try, test” but here it has the sense of “to put to the test in order to ascertain the nature of something, including imperfections, faults, or other qualities.” The scolding of Moses or the complaint of the Israelites is considered as testing of the Lord in the sense of the people wanting to determine if the Lord was present or not with them as indicated in Exodus 17:7:
And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”
The testing of God by the Israelites is condemned given the previous divine provisions He made for them and so Israel was commanded not to do that again, as we read in Deuteronomy 6:16–17:
16 Do not test the LORD your God as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the LORD your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you.
Anyway, the verbal phrase put the LORD to the test means to try to make God do something extraordinary in order to prove that He cares for his people. People test the Lord in this way for one of two reasons. They have forgotten what God did for them in the past and so they call into question His faithfulness to them as implied in the Lord’s declaration regarding the Israelites who would not enter the Promised Land as recorded in Numbers 14:22:
not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times—
But they put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep his statutes.
The Israelites tested the Lord again and again by continuous questioning of His faithfulness to them in caring for them and providing for them. In effect, they continually doubted His power. They also tested Him by continuous rebellion against His word and or authority.
Again, it is important that we continue to emphasize that not all the Israelites were involved in testing the Lord because of the clause of 1 Corinthians 10:9 as some of them did. Hence, there were some Israelites who did not test the Lord in the sense of challenging His faithfulness or doubting His care for Israel or doubting of His power to act.
Israel’s continuous complaint against Moses and the Lord was considered testing the Lord so that He brought the judgment of snake bite. It is this specific case that the apostle had in mind when he wrote the last verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 10:9 and were killed by snakes. The word “killed” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (apollymi) that may mean “to destroy” as it is used in the prohibition not to harm a fellow believer because of food as stated in Romans 14:15:
If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.
The word may mean “to kill” as it is used to describe the death of a leader of a rebel group in Judea as we read in Acts 5:37:
After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:9 the meaning of the word is “to destroy.” Thus, the verbal phrase were killed by snakes could be translated more literally were being destroyed by snakes. This reflects the use of the imperfect tense in the Greek. The imperfect tense here indicates that the destroying of some of the Israelites as God’s judgment took place over a period of time until God graciously stopped it through the instruction given to Moses regarding the bronze snake.
The word “snake” is translated from a Greek word (ophis) that may refer to any of various kinds of elongated limbless reptiles moving about on their stomachs as it is used in the Lord’s promise to His disciples about the authority He gave them, as stated in Luke 10:19:
I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
The word may be used figuratively for an evil or dangerous person as the Lord Jesus used it to describe the religious leaders of His time on this planet as we read in Matthew 23:33:
“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
The word may mean “serpent” as a reference to Satan as we read in Revelation 12:9:
The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
It is mostly like that when Apostle Paul used our Greek word in the deception of Eve that he used it to refer to Satan in 2 Corinthians 11:3:
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
These other meanings of the Greek word notwithstanding, Apostle Paul used it in the sense of a limbless reptile, that is, “snake” in the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 10:9 and were killed by snakes.
The incident the apostle had in mind in the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 10:9 and were killed by snakes is recorded in Numbers 21:4–9:
4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” 6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
There are three failures of the Israelites mentioned in this passage we should be careful to avoid. We will only consider two of these since one of them, grumbling against God and Moses, is the concern of 1 Corinthians 10:10. A failure of Israel in this passage that we should avoid is being impatient or tired of waiting on God to meet our needs or to guide us according to His plan. This failure of Israel is given in the sentence of Numbers 21:4 the people grew impatient on the way. The sentence the people grew impatient is literally “the soul of the people became short.” This is because the expression “grew impatient” is translated from a Hebrew word (qāṣǎr) that may mean “to be short” as in the Lord’s rebuke to Moses when he, in a sense, doubted how the Lord would provide meat for Israel and the Lord assured him, He is powerful to do what He promised as recorded in Numbers 11:23:
The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you.”
The word may mean “to be tired” as Sampson was with the nagging of Delilah to reveal the secret of his power as we read in Judges 16:16:
With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.
The sentence he was tired to death is literally his soul became short to die. However, in Numbers 21:4, the word has the sense of to become intolerant of waiting for an amount of time; often the amount of time is longer than expected or necessary, that is, “to be impatient.” Hence, we should be careful about not waiting patiently for God to provide our needs or to direct us. Quite often we mess up our lives because we are impatient to wait on the Lord to guide or lead us. This, of course, does not mean that we should never take actions in some situations but that we be careful to ensure that we are acting in accordance with God’s word. That aside, the concern here is that we should learn to wait on the Lord until it is clear to us what He wants us to do, or it is clear to us as how He provides or meets our needs. The Lord may meet our needs through a business adventure, but we have to be sure that that adventure is the one He wants. Or the need could be that of a spouse, we should also be careful to ensure that the individual is His provision. For after all, the Lord provides the right spouse as we read in Proverbs 19:14:
Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.
A prudent wife is a sensible wife and that is what every husband wants. The reverse is also the case, that is, every wife wants a sensible husband. So, if your need happens to be a spouse then you want to patiently wait on the Lord to direct you to the right person and He will. Anyway, one of the three failures of the Israelites in the passage of Numbers 21 that we should avoid is being impatient or growing tired of waiting for the Lord to provide for our needs in His own way or leading us to what He wants of us.
A second of the three failures of the Israelites mentioned in Numbers 21 that we should avoid is not being content with what the Lord has provided us. Israel failed in that they were not contempt or satisfied with God’s provision of food as in their complaint in the last clause of Numbers 21:5 And we detest this miserable food! The word “detest” is translated from a Hebrew word (qûṣ) that means “to abhor,” that is, to find repugnant. The word may mean “to resent” as it is used to caution against having rotten attitude towards the rebuke or correction that the Lord gives as we read in Proverbs 3:11:
My son, do not despise the LORD’ s discipline and do not resent his rebuke,
Discipline here is primarily correction or rebuke or warning the Lord gives through His word. His warning may involve pain that the Lord inflicts for disobedience to His word. The Israelites found God’s provision of food repugnant indicating they were not satisfied. They also resented Moses’ leadership so that God punished them through bites from snakes. Of course, not every Israelite was bitten by snakes but some who probably were at the forefront of the three failures of Israel recorded in Numbers 21:4-9. Our concern is that we should avoid their failures. This being the case you should avoid not being contempt with God’s provisions for you. For example, you should not resent your spouse if indeed you believe God provided the person. Someone may say that God did not provide the spouse that is why the individual now resents the spouse. Well, the person was not forced to marry the spouse so it would be wrong to think that way. Even in arranged marriage, the believer should recognize that God is in control, so He was also behind the arranged marriage. Anyway, it is a failure that is similar to that of Israel that a person who resents the spouse commits. Another provision that every believer should be careful about resenting or not be satisfied with, is spiritual leadership. If you resent your spiritual leadership, you are in effect putting yourself in the same position Israel was when God sent snakes to bite someone of them. The Lord may not send a snake to bite you, but you can be sure that He will judge you for such failure as He judged Israel. If you are already guilty of this, you can spare yourself from God’s further judgment through repentance. For after all, those of the Israelites who were bitten by snakes survived when they followed God’s instruction regarding the bronze snake. Their action is an act of faith that implies they changed their mind about God and Moses so that they obeyed Moses’ instruction and so lived. My point is that we should be careful to avoid the two of the three failures of the Israelites in the passage of Numbers 21:4-9 since we will deal with the third later.
In any case, we have indicated that Israel’s failure was testing the Lord which we have indicated meant they doubted His ability to do what He promised. Thus, they questioned again and again His faithfulness to them in caring for them and providing for them. We also noted that it is a sin to test the Lord or to put Him to the test. This assertion may cause problem to the examples we find in the Scripture in which either God invited believers to test Him, or He was not angry that He was tested. In effect, the question is when is it correct to test the Lord? To answer this question, we need to consider the examples in which either God invited humans to test Him or where He was put to test by humans without Him being angry. This we consider in our next study.
06/18//21