Lessons #325 and 326
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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)
…. 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 studying is that Enjoyment of God’s blessing under a good spiritual leader will not shield you from His judgment if you displease Him. There are three primary reasons for presenting the message of this section the way we did. The first, we have considered in detail, is that the Holy Spirit conveyed to us through Apostle Paul that the death of majority of the Israelites in the desert was because of God’s displeasure with them. A second reason is that the death in the desert of most of the Israelites that left Egypt is to dissuade believers from evil desires that we indicated is the concern of 1 Corinthian 10:6-10. Consequently, we considered four examples of the kind of evil desires that some of the Israelites who died in the desert were involved that we should avoid. Recall that these are idolatry, sexual immorality, putting God to the test, and grumbling. So, we continue with the third and final reason.
The third reason for presenting the message of 1 Corinthians 10:5-13 the way we did, is because Israel’s experience in the desert is written down for us as examples and warning to us. This reason we have stated is derived from the first sentence of 1 Corinthians 10:11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us.
The third reason we have stated is related to the second that is concerned with dissuading us from evil desires in the sense that it may be interpreted as continuing the second reason either because it explains further the second reason because of the examples of evil desires of the Israelites who died in the desert or that it is a return to the second reason after a digression that involved examples of the evil desires of some of the Israelites with an addition of what may be considered an inference from what has preceded. Our explanation that the third reason is to be interpreted as a continuation of the second reason is because of a Greek particle (de) that is not translated in nearly all our English versions except those that are more literal in their translation that begin verse 11 with the conjunction now as in the NASB and the ESV. The meaning “now” for our Greek particle is one of its usages when it is used as a marker linking narrative segments. Its omission by majority of our English versions may be interpreted as either the apostle is moving on to another topic or that the apostle was continuing the topic he began in verse 6 so that there is no reason to translate it.
There should be no doubt that the apostle used our Greek particle to continue what he introduced in verse 6, regarding the concept of example from Israel’s experience in the desert. The question is whether the apostle used it either to explain what he has written previously or whether he used it to resume what was stated in verse 6 after a digression that involves verses 7 to 10. It is difficult to decide between these two interpretations. Let me show you why it is difficult to decide which interpretation is correct although we opted for the second interpretation of resuming what the apostle stated in verse 6. You see, what the apostle wrote beginning in verse 11 is in a sense an explanation of Israel’s experience in the desert or a summation of what he wrote in verse 6. In effect, the apostle is helping us to make sense of what happened to Israel in the desert. You see, it is often not uncommon that we may read a narrative in the OT Scripture and do not try to see its relevance to us today. In other words, many read the OT narratives without being able to apply them to what they face today as believers. Furthermore, most of us have not developed the habit of questioning what God is saying to us from whatever painful experience that we face. The Scripture is clear that God does speak to us not only through His word but through pain in our lives as recorded for us in Job 33:13–19:
13Why do you complain to him that he answers none of man’s words? 14For God does speak—now one way, now another—though man may not perceive it. 15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, 16he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, 17to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, 18to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword. 19Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in his bones,
This passage should teach us that everything painful that happens to us is God speaking to us but most of us have not formed the habit of interpreting personal communication of God to us through events or experiences in our lives. If we cannot do this, how could we relate to the experiences of the Israelites in the desert that Holy Spirit has given to us through Apostle Paul in the passage of 1 Corinthians 10:5-13 that we are study? Thus, it is fitting that the Holy Spirit through the apostle provides us explanation of how to understand or interpret the experiences of some of the Israelites that the apostle hade cited in the preceding verses. It is for this reason that it makes sense that the Greek particle not translated in the NIV, and majority of our English versions but translated “now” in some English versions such as the NASB or the ESV be interpreted as being used to indicate that what follows is an explanation. This interpretation requires that the verse 11 should begin with the words that is. This interpretation makes sense as we have demonstrated.
Here is another consideration that makes it difficult to be certain on how to interpret the Greek particle that begins verse 11 that is not translated in the NIV but translated “now” in the NASB and the ESV. It is true that it is possible that our Greek particle could be understood as being used by the apostle to provide an explanation of what he had written thus far in the passage we are studying but it seems that the apostle used it to resume what he stated in verse 6 but digressed from his statement in verses 7 to 10 only to resume the same concept of example in verse 11. There are two reasons for this interpretation. First, the concept of example introduced in verse 6 is followed beginning in verse 7 with a command or exhortation of what the Corinthians and so all believers should not do. We would expect that the apostle would have continued with saying more about the concept of example but that was not what he did. Instead, he began a series of instructions that are intended to keep believers from failing in the same manner as some of the Israelites in the desert. While the exhortations of the apostle in verses 7 to 10 are related to the failures of some of the Israelites in the desert, the apostle digressed from making statement to issuing commands or exhortation. It is for this reason that we consider verses 7 to 10 as concerned with digression from the main concern of the apostle with examples that we should learn from. Second, the apostle used the same Greek phrase he used in verse 6 to begin verse 11. The translators of the NIV rendered the Greek phrase in verse 6 as Now these things but simply as These things in verse 11. In verse 6, we indicated that the word now was used not merely to indicate transition to something related to verse 5 but to provide an explanation to what was stated in verse 5. Verse 5 describes God killing in the desert most of the Israelites of exodus generation that left Egypt so verse 6 continues with that concept but with the added explanation as to its significance to the church of Christ. Since there has been no change in topic so to say, now verse 11 must be related to the same concept being explained in verse 6. Furthermore, we stated that the phrase these things in verse 6 referred to the various examples of Israelites being judged by death that we considered previously when we studied verse 5. The phrase These things in verse 11 refers to the same examples of some of the Israelites being judged by death in various cases of their failure that caused the Lord to kill them. If the phrase These things in verse 11 refers to the same things as in verse 6 of death due to failure of some of the Israelites then we are forced to conclude that the apostle was thinking of what he stated in verse 6 as he began verse 11. This being the case, we are justified to state that the apostle returned to the concept of example he introduced in verse 6.
Be that as it may, the apostle resumed his statement of fact about Israel’s example in the sentence 1 Corinthians 10:11 These things happened to them as examples. We indicated that the phrase These things refers to the various examples of some of the Israelites being judged by death in various cases for their failure that caused the Lord to kill them. However, because of the digression the apostle went in verses 7 to 10, his mind went beyond the various death examples of the Israelites to the situations that led to the failure of some of the Israelites. The additional situations in the mind of the apostle are necessary to account for the concept of testing or temptation mentioned later in verse 13 to make sense. Take for example, those that died because of idolatry and sexual immorality associated with the Moabites faced a situation where they were tempted to see if they would obey the Lord’s commands to them not to be involved in idolatry. Those who honored the invitation by Moabites’ women to their festivity that involved idolatry and sexual immorality faced first the temptation of whether they would believe what God said to them regarding Israel being a holy nation to God as we read in Exodus 19:6:
you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
These individuals were tempted to see if they would violate the commandment associated with idolatry as stipulated in Exodus 20:4–6:
4“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
In addition, those who went to the festivity with the Moabites were tempted to see if they would recognize that it would be inappropriate to associate with those involved in idolatry, especially with their women since Israel has been instructed not to marry from those involved in idolatry as we read in Exodus 34:15–16:
15 “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.
Hence, those who were killed because of idolatry and sexual immorality that involved attending festivity of the Moabites faced the temptation to idolatry which they failed. Likewise, those who were killed because of testing the Lord and grumbling against the Lord and Moses, faced the situation of trusting the Lord. They were placed in a situation of lack of food or water that they did not believe God’s care for them or His power to meet their needs. The point is that when Apostle Paul wrote the phrase These things in 1 Corinthians 10:11, his mind went beyond the death experiences of those who died to the situations or conditions they faced that caused them to sin against the Lord in the form of idolatry, sexual immorality, testing of Christ and grumbling. We contend that unless this was the case then it would be difficult to see how the apostle would have jumped from the examples of the Israelites that died in the desert to that of temptation/testing he referenced in verse 13 that we will get to at the appropriate time.
In any case, the apostle conveyed that the experiences of the Israelites that died in the desert were to serve as warnings for us believers as in the clause of 1 Corinthians 10:11 These things happened to them as examples. The Holy Spirit through the apostle wanted us to think of the experiences of those who died in the desert as things that kept taking place during different situations while the Israelites were in the desert. We say this because of the word happened in the NIV is more literally from the Greek were happening. This is because the Greek used the imperfect tense. The imperfect tense is used by a Greek writer to denote an action in process that was occurring in the past with no assessment of its completion. The apostle used this tense to convey that the experiences of the Israelites that died in the desert although certainly came to an end at an unspecified time in the past, were repeated over a period of time while they were in the desert. The apostle was not merely concerned with stating what happened as implied in the translation of the NIV These things happened but to let us know that their experiences were repeated several times.
The experiences of those who died in the desert were to serve as a warning to us as implied in the clause of 1 Corinthians 10:11 These things happened to them as examples. The word “example” is translated from a Greek word (typikōs) that appears only here in Greek NT; it pertains to that which serves as a model or an example, hence means “as an example” but in the context, it has the sense of “as a warning.” This is because of the conjunction and in the verbal phrase and were written down as warnings for us. The conjunction “and” is translated from a Greek conjunction (de) we stated previously that is used to connect one clause to another, either to express contrast or simple continuation. When it is felt that there is some contrast between clauses though in some cases the contrast is often scarcely discernible then it is more commonly translated “but” as it is done in the ESV and the LEB of our verse. When the conjunction is used to simply continue a narrative without any implication of contrast, it is translated with “and” as it is done in many of our English versions in this verse. Of course, sometimes when a simple connective is desired, without contrast being clearly implied it may be left untranslated in the English as in some of our English versions such as the CEV or the NCV. Nonetheless, the Greek conjunction has other usages. In the verbal phrase and were written down as warnings for us we are considering, it is used either to provide further explanation of the reason the things that occurred with those Israelites that died in the desert were written down so that the Greek conjunction could be translated “that is” or it is used to provide the reason their experiences were written down so it could be translated “so” or “therefore.” None of the English versions that I consulted had any of these two possible interpretations. That notwithstanding, it is more likely that the apostle used the Greek conjunction to provide a reason for writing down the experiences of the Israelites that died in the desert for one of the many failures we have considered in the previous study of 1 Corinthians 10:7-10.
Anyway, the experiences of those Israelites who failed in the desert were written down for our benefit as in the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 10:11 and were written down as warnings for us. The expression “as warnings” is translated from a Greek word (nouthesia) that may mean “instruction” as what fathers should convey to their children from the Lord as we read in Ephesians 6:4:
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
The word may mean “admonition” as Apostle Paul used it to instruct Titus regarding the treatment of a divisive person as stated in Titus 3:10:
Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.
A more literal translation of this verse is Reject a divisive person after a first and second admonition. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:11, the sense of the word is probably “instruction” that encompasses “warning” and “admonition.” Warning is a cautionary advice to someone about a coming disaster or danger or of the consequences of their action or attitude while admonition concerns correcting of another’s attitude or behavior often in a loving manner. The examples of the failures of the Israelites in the desert on the one hand is intended to correct the Corinthians who might have been involved in some of the failures of the Israelites who died in the desert. On the other hand, for those who have failed in Corinth and those who have not failed as those Israelites that died in the desert, their experiences are intended in this teaching of the apostle to warn such Corinthians of the consequences of behaving in the same way as the Israelites that died in the desert. It is because warning and admonition are involved when the apostle referenced the experiences of the Israelites who died in the desert that we contend that the Greek word translated “as a warning” in the NIV probably should better be understood as “instruction” that covers both warning and admonition.
The verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 10:11 were written down as warnings for us should remind us firstly of the importance of having respect for the OT Scripture since the verbal phrase were written down refers to information derived from the OT records. There are many Christians who take the attitude that the OT is done with and should not be studied by Christians or that it should not even be preached as though it is not God’s word. Those who have this attitude are, in effect, without knowing it, followers of that second century heretic, Marcion, who rejected all the books of Old Testament. To him, the God of OT is “harsh, severe and unmerciful as his laws.” His thought is still being perpetuated among some Christians today who think this way in that they take the God of NT as God of love that is to be perceived to be different from the God of OT although they may not explicitly state so. I am insisting that Marcion’s thinking is still evident in modern times. For example, one of the efforts of the Hitler’s Nazi movement was to reinvent Christian theology by completing severing the Christian faith from its Jewish heritage. Another evidence of this movement is demonstrated by Walter Grundmann who headed a project whose goal was to produce a hymn book and Church liturgy without the use of any of the OT terms such as “Hallelujah” and “Amen.” The point is that there are modern Churches and Christians who ignore the OT Scriptures although the same people are quick to quote 2 Timothy 3:16:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
You will notice this passage in 2 Timothy did not say “some scripture” but “all scripture” that include both the OT and the NT Scriptures, especially since the time of the apostle’s writing of Timothy, the Scripture primarily refers to OT. Therefore, if teaching and training in righteousness must be done correctly, we must look to both OT and NT. You see, in the time of the Lord Jesus, He spoke of the Scriptures by which He meant the OT Scriptures since the NT had not been written. However, when a person does not consider the OT as important in the Christian life as the NT, the individual has bifurcated God’s word. It is because many Christians do not know enough about the OT that they have distorted idea of God. As we state previously, many Christians think only of God of love as demonstrated in NT that they forget that God is also a just God. The OT Scripture provides us with a balanced view of God. It reveals a God in loving relationship with His people, Israel, and One who is just, that punished them when they sinned. The point is that as a Christian you should understand that the OT is much of God’s word as the NT. The reality is that its understanding has been enhanced with the coming of Jesus Christ to this planet and the writing of the NT. Therefore, there is no reason to disrespect it by not studying it.
The point we are emphasizing is the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 10:11 were written down as warnings for us should remind us of the importance of having respect for the OT Scripture. Having respect for OT requires that we should meditate carefully in the narratives in the OT Scripture so that we learn truths intended to warn us about conducts to be avoided and God’s judgment. To make my point, let me illustrate with two examples from the book of Genesis. The first example involves Abimelech taking Abraham’s wife, Sarah, into his harem. The narrative is given in Genesis 20:1–7:
1Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.” 4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? 5 Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.” 6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. 7 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die.”
The narrative is not merely to tell us of what happened to Abraham as he was wandering in the land of Canaan but to teach or warn us that adultery is a sin not tolerated by God. It draws His judgment on the person that gets involved it. This is communicated in God’s judgment on Abimelech and his household. We know that the Lord inflicted punishment on Abimelech and his household because he brought into his harem a married woman. The way we know that he was judged is that he and his household received healing from God once Abraham prayed for him, as stated in Genesis 20:17–18:
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls so they could have children again, 18 for the LORD had closed up every womb in Abimelech’s household because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
So, we should learn from the narrative of the incident in Genesis 20 to be warned against adultery and hence sexual immorality as it is the same sin mixed with idolatry that led God to killing of 24,000 Israelites who were involved with Moabite women and their idols.
A second example that illustrates our point that having respect for OT requires that we should meditate carefully in the narratives in the OT Scripture so that we learn truths intended to warn us about conducts to be avoided and God’s judgment is the incident that involves the death of Onan, son of Judah. The narrative of this incident is given in Genesis 38:6–10:
6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death. 8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Lie with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the LORD’S sight; so he put him to death also.
The narrative given here is not merely to tell us of the sex life of Judah’s children or the sex saga that played out in his family or even to tell us that there was a kind of contraception in the ancient world that is known as coitus interruptus as such or to tell us about levirate marriage, but it contains an important message of warning to us. There are those who have focused on the fact this passage supports prohibition against contraceptive methods because such is an attack on God’s command to populate the world. Others focus on the fact that God killed Onan because of his selfishness in not wanting to share the inheritance with sons that might result if he carried out fully the levirate marriage that he undertook. All these make sense in the context but as we stated there is an important message the narrative contained upon reflection of Onan’s effort to shuck off his responsibility in levirate marriage. This message, among others, is that there is no such thing as free sex. Sexual relationship requires responsibility of firm commitment to a woman in marriage. Thus, the narrative serves to warn against having sex without the true commitment that is expected in marriage. Thus, that a person should understand that just because there is no pregnancy in sexual immorality, since that is the concern of some people, that free sex is abhorrent to God. This message is one that is derived on careful meditation of the passage.
Be that as it may, we should recognize that part of the reason pastors or believers do not take the OT Scripture seriously is that they do not dwell on the narratives of a given section long enough to understand the reason the Holy Spirit provided a given passage, especially in those passages that are concerned with genealogical records. If we dwell long enough in meditating such passages, we will recognize the reason or message in it. Let me illustrate. Take the record of Exodus 6:14-27:
14 These were the heads of their families: The sons of Reuben the firstborn son of Israel were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans of Reuben. 15 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon. 16 These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived 137 years. 17 The sons of Gershon, by clans, were Libni and Shimei. 18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years. 19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of Levi according to their records. 20 Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. 21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg and Zicri. 22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri. 23 Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans. 25 Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan. 26 It was this same Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.” 27 They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt. It was the same Moses and Aaron.
On a surface reading, someone may conclude that this genealogical matter that is focused on the tribe of Levi is not necessary concerning Moses’ role as the agent of God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt since this section could be omitted without doing any damage to the flow of the narrative of Moses’ commission to deliver Israel from bondage. But on meditating and or reflecting long enough in this section we see that it was included probably for the purpose of giving dignity to Aaron, the older brother of Moses, who would from here on in the narrative of exodus become the second actor in the whole narrative of Israel’s deliverance. Furthermore, this dignity is necessary because he would eventually become the first high priest of Israel. Hence, it was necessary to indicate his family lineage as routed in Israel. There is at least one more truthful principle that can be garnished from this section from the fact that although the passage is focused on the family line of Levi, but Moses did not begin his list with Levi, the third son of Israel, instead he began with the truncated lineage of the first two sons, that is, Reuben and Simeon. The significance of this fact is to communicate the principle of importance of recognizing seniority in any family. We could say more but what we have said is sufficient to prove the point that if we dwell long on a passage of the OT Scripture, the Holy Spirit will enable us to garnish its message so that we will not have a myopic view of the OT Scripture. Anyway, the point we are emphasizing is the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 10:11 were written down as warnings for us should remind us firstly of the importance of having respect for the OT Scripture.
Secondly, the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 10:11 were written down as warnings for us should remind us of the importance of the Scripture in the spiritual life of the believer. It is this fact that is also conveyed by the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul in Romans 15:4:
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Our Scripture is intended both to admonish us when we fail and to warn us about the consequences of sin in the life of the believer. In other words, this verbal phrase should remind us of an important function of the Scripture as stated in the passage we cited previously, that is, 2 Timothy 3:16–17:
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The phrase for teaching, rebuking, correcting is concerned with both warning and admonition as well as providing general instruction of the Christian doctrine. The Scripture corrects us regarding our failures and provides us the consequences for going against God’s word.
Thirdly, the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 10:11 were written down as warnings for us reminds us that pastors or spiritual leaders should be involved in both admonition and warning of believers as part of their function. Israel’s prophets were involved in warning the people as we may gather, for example, from 2 Kings 17:13:
The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”
The Lord instructed Prophet Ezekiel to deliver His warning to Israel as we read Ezekiel 3:16–19:
16 At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me: 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18 When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 19 But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.
It is this function of spiritual leaders being involved in admonition and warning to believers that is the concern of the instruction of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul to Timothy, who stands as a representative of all pastors or teaching elders of local congregations, in the instruction recorded in 2 Timothy 4:2:
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
Although the major responsibility of admonishing believers is with pastors of local congregations, but it is a function that all believers are expected to carry out towards each other as we are instructed in Colossians 3:16:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
Anyway, we want to impress upon you that our Scripture is given to us for admonition and warning. We get into trouble spiritually because we do not often know or remember what the Scripture says or teaches about some of the things we do. If you do not know your Scripture you are bound to be in error and expose yourself to God’s displeasure. No wonder our Lord rebuked some of the Jews of His earthly ministry who deny the doctrine of resurrection as being because they do not know the Scripture as we read Matthew 22:29:
Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
The point is that our Scripture is given to us both for admonition and warning. Therefore, we should be thoroughly devoted to learning it to keep us from God’s displeasure.
Be that as it may, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul makes clear to the Corinthians and to all of us that the examples of the experiences of those Israelites who died in the desert are intended for them as well as for us all believers since then as in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 10:11 on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. What does the apostle mean in this clause? To understand what he meant, we need to examine the key words or expressions he used.
The first key word is “fulfillment” that is translated from a Greek word (telos) that may mean “end” as the last part of a process as Apostle Paul used it in 1 Corinthians 15:24:
Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
The word may mean “end” as the goal toward which a movement is being directed as it is used to indicate that Jesus Christ is the goal and the termination of the law in Romans 10:4:
Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
The word may mean “result” of an event or process, with special focus upon the final state or condition as the word is used in the outcome of sinful living as we read in Romans 6:21:
What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!
Majority of our English versions use the meaning “end” to translate our Greek word in our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:11. The meaning “end” in the sense of “goal” is used in NCV. The 1984 edition of the NIV and the NEB used the meaning “fulfillment” while the 2011 edition of the NIV and the ISV used the meaning “culmination.” This notwithstanding, the sense of the word in our passage is “final stage”, that is, the concluding parts of an event.
The second key word is “ages” that is translated from a Greek word (aiōn) that may refer to a long period of time, without reference to beginning or end hence may mean “long ago” as it is used to refer to Jesus Christ remaining in heaven until His final revelation in His second coming as we read in Acts 3:21:
He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.
The word may mean “age” as a segment of time as a particular unit of history so it can refer to a present age as it is used to describe Satan’s activity at the present time in 2 Corinthians 4:4:
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
The word may mean “world” in the sense of the created “world” or “universe” as the translators of the NIV rendered it in Hebrews 11:3:
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
The third key word is the expression of the NIV “has come” that is translated from a Greek word (katantaō) that literally may mean to get to a geographical destination and so means “to come, arrive, reach” as it is used to describe where the ship carrying Apostle Paul to Rome was expected to get before winter as we read in Acts 27:12:
Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.
Figuratively, the word may mean to reach a condition or goal hence may mean “to attain” as Apostle Paul used the word to describe his hope of resurrection in Philippians 3:11:
and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:11, it has the sense of “to reach” of a point in time, or a certain state or level,
The key words we have considered enable us to understand what the apostle meant to convey in the clause of 1 Corinthians 10:11 on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. He meant to communicate that the Corinthians and so all believers since the first advent of Christ are to recognize that they are those who live in the final stage of the outworking of God’s plan for humankind. In effect, believers at this point are those who are in the period of human history where God’s plan for believers has been more fully revealed and who are in a sense in the last days. It is for this reason the Holy through Apostle Paul could tell us that the Lord is near in the sense of His second coming as we read in Philippians 4:5:
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Although the sentence The Lord is near may be interpreted to mean that the Lord is near to those who call upon Him but it is probably in the sense that the Lord Jesus would soon come that the apostle used it. The Holy Spirit informs us that we are in the last period before Christ’s return using the phrase “last hour” in 1 John 2:18:
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
We are in a privileged position that we can look at God’s past dealing with believers and learn what we should or should not do. Nevertheless, we are in the final and decisive moment in the history of humankind with privilege of knowing how God responds to idolatry, sexual immorality, testing of Him, and grumbling because Israel’s experiences have been written down for us. Therefore, we should seize the privilege we have to live in way that is glorifying the Lord and avoids His displeasure or judgment. We should remember the message of 1 Corinthians 10:5-13 that we have been studying, that is, that Enjoyment of God’s blessing under a good spiritual leader will not shield you from His judgment if you displease Him.
07/02//21