Learn From Bible History!

3rd Sunday in Lent, 3/20/22 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 Learn From Bible History! I. Don’t take God’s grace for granted. II. You can’t get away with sin. III. God is faithful. You’re probably familiar with these words, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” There is a good deal of debate over who spoke them first. But it doesn’t really matter who authored them; what’s important is that we recognize the wisdom those words convey. The history of humankind is not only a recitation of our collective human successes; it’s also a grave reminder of our collective human failures. And those who don’t know history as well as they should are bound to repeat those failures. And that’s one of the reasons our God caused the writers of his holy word to include not only the triumphs but also the mistakes—the sinful decisions and choices—that biblical individuals and entire nations of people have foolishly made. King Solomon once declared, “There is nothing new under the sun.” And one application of that statement is that Satan constantly recycles his temptations, and repackages them to use in his daily spiritual assault on sinful people. In these words before us this morning from 1 Corinthians, Paul warns first century Christians about falling into sins that are as old as time itself. He points his first readers back nearly 1,500 years and encourages them to take note of Bible history. God’s people—the Children of Israel—faced the same temptations as the Corinthians did and often fell into grievous and shameful sins that brought harm and even death. He implored them to learn from history or be doomed to repeat it. And that’s still his encouragement for God’s people in the 21st century. Satan’s temptations haven’t changed. And neither has the sinful fallout for his unwitting victims. Don’t let it happen to you! Learn from history! Learn from Bible history! Let’s see exactly what our Lord wants us to learn as he shares a Bible history lesson with us this morning. I. I never get tired watching a formation of US fighter jets flying low overhead. It gives me goosebumps. Their speed, agility, and firepower mesmerize me. Same thing with the launch of rockets. The power and technology to lift that massive missile off that pad and into outer space boggles my mind. I’m guessing that, to one degree or another, you share my reaction. We’re thrilled by these displays of awesome power. So were God’s people under the leadership of Moses. On dozens of occasions, the Children of Israel had the almighty power of God on display right in front of their eyes. Paul reminds us of several of them with this lesson in Bible history, “For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that 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; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them.” Paul reminds the Corinthians and us how the glory of the Lord appeared in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. That pillar led them and protected them, an awesome display of the Lord’s presence. Part One, Bible history Lesson 1. In Lesson 2, Paul reminded them of how the Lord parted the waters of the Red Sea and allowed his people to make their way through it with walls of water on their right and left. And, once his people were safely on the other side, he brought those walls of water crashing down on Pharaoh and his army. Paul’s Bible history Lesson 3 recalled how the Lord miraculously fed the Children of Israel with manna every day for 40 years while they wandered through the wilderness. And, along with bread, he miraculous provided them with water from the rock. These were just a few of the displays of God’s awesome power that the Children of Israel witnessed. But it wasn’t only God’s power that was on display in these miracles; it was also his grace. Paul stated, “That rock was Christ.” The Son of God was graciously present with them, calling them to trust in him not just for their physical needs, but also for their spiritual needs—forgiveness and eternal life. II. But, by and large, the people despised his gracious presence and his awesome power. Listen to the results, “Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.” The vast majority of people who witnessed God’s grace and power died in unbelief. Paul’s point? Learn from Bible history! Don’t take God’s grace for granted. Taking God’s grace for granted wasn’t their only grave mistake. They used God’s grace as a license to sin. In other words, they quickly noticed that God didn’t strike them dead the moment they sinned. Those sins delighted their sinful nature. They experienced a great deal of sinful pleasure indulging their sinful nature. Paul leads his readers into another Bible history lesson. Here’s what he wrote, “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do 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 pagan revelry.’ We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.” In Part Two, Lesson 1 of Bible history, Paul points out what the Children of Israel were doing while Moses was on Mt. Sinai receiving the law from the Lord. They were engaged in a wild party while worshipping a golden calf—a gross violation of the 1st Commandment. They indulged their sinful nature. In Lesson 2, Paul referred to an incident involving the people of Moab. After failing to have Balaam put a curse on the Israelites, they enticed the Israelite men into worshipping their fertility gods which involved temple prostitution—a gross violation of Commandments 1 & 6. They indulged their sinful nature, and God struck down 23,000 of them. In Lesson 3, Paul reminded his readers how God’s people complained against Moses and Aaron, and the Lord sent snakes among them which bit the people and many of them died. In the final history lesson of this chapter, Paul had his readers recall how a certain set of Levites challenged the authority of Moses and Aaron—a violation of the 4th Commandment. And an angel put to death nearly 15,000 Israelites. Paul’s point is this: it appeared for a time that the people could indulge their sinful natures by committing gross and willful sins, and get away with it. For a while their lives were fine. It appeared to them that God wasn’t concerned with their sinful ways. But not for long. Eventually the Lord’s patience ran out and they suffered for it. Paul’s lesson? You can’t get away with sin. Learn that lesson from Bible history! III. So far, Paul has shared two warnings with us. Don’t take God’s grace for granted and you can’t get away with sin. But there’s a bigger lesson he wants us to learn. The first two truths are about ourselves; the third one—the bigger one—is about our God. Paul states, “So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 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.” God is faithful. Every one of Paul’s history lessons featured a painful event from Israel’s past. Thousands died in unbelief because of their sins. But we know that God is not willing that anyone should perish but that all should repent. That always was and always is his goal: to get sinful people to repent, to turn from their sins. And when they do, his will is that they learn he is always present with his grace. Paul referred to the people being baptized into Moses. A veiled reference to our baptisms. He noted how people ate and drank and that the rock was Christ. A veiled reference to the Lord’s Supper. Paul’s intent was to remind his readers that the Lord and his grace can always be found in the means of grace—the good news about Jesus in God’s word and in the sacraments. That’s God’s history lesson for us—to lead us to make faithful use of his word and sacraments because that’s where our gracious God is always found. That’s where he chooses to meet with us. And with his help, we can meet and defeat any temptation that comes our way. Our God is faithful. He will strengthen us through word and sacrament to resist every temptation and will always make a way out for us. With his divine help, we can overcome and win the victory. Here’s an understatement: life is a struggle, a daily struggle. And I’m not just talking about the struggle to stay afloat. I’m talking about the struggle to win your spiritual battles, to be the person the Lord has made you to be and to reflect his love to others. So often our sinful natures get the best of us. But here’s a Bible history lesson to learn once again. When your sinful nature gets the best of you, turn to your God in repentance. Receive his assurance of forgiveness. That forgiveness was the result of your Savior being faithful to you as he lived and died for you. And then count on him to strengthen you in your struggles. God is faithful. He promises to do it. Bible history is full of accounts of the faithfulness of your God in the face of our unfaithfulness. Look to Christ’s cross and then to his empty tomb. That’s living Bible history. Learn it! Love it! Live it! Amen.