FOUR THINGS THAT MAKE
A CHRISTIAN CRASH
In 1929 and 2008, economic experts
everywhere claimed to know precisely what they were doing, yet not a single
person could fix the series of mistakes that crashed the world's economy. After
these financial crises, many were rightfully furious--at the fraudulent
bankers, who systematically destroyed the world economy for their gain; at the
Wall Street brokers who received bailouts and little to no jail time, while
millions lost everything.
To avoid future financial catastrophes,
a library in Edinburgh, Scotland, has compiled a collection of sensible
economic literature that aims to educate the next generation of economists. The
Library of Mistakes contains over 2,000 books, such as "Crash of the Titans,
The Crunch, Debt Shock, Too Big to Fail, and The Manipulators—all relating to
economics and finance.
According to the library's curators,
the Library of Mistakes served as a perfect example of how, according to the
library's curators, "smart people keep doing stupid things." The
library's curators argue that the only way to build a strong economy is to
learn from our mistakes. Ultimately,
the Library of Mistakes encourages self-reflection and the study of History. In
the words of George Santayana, "for those who do not remember the past are
condemned to repeat it." And given the turbulent state of the world today,
such advice could be timely."[1]
God has written the historical
sections of the Bible for this very reason--so that we would learn not to
repeat the mistakes of others. The clear message is, "don't let this
happen to you." In Chapter ten, the apostle Paul pulls out four pages from
ancient Israel's History and warns the Corinthian believers not to repeat the
mistakes committed by their forefathers. I will share "Four Things That
Make A Christian Crash." I Corinthians 10:1-14
ANCIENT
ISRAEL'S HISTORY
After 430 years of hardship in the
land of Egypt, as promised, God delivered the Israelites from their slavery.
Under the able leadership of Moses, Aron, Miriam, and Joshua, over 600,000
Israelites and a multitude of non-Israelites left Egypt for a land flowing with
milk and honey, the land of Canaan. (Ex 12: 27-41). In his final sermon
in Deuteronomy, Moses calls the Israelites to remember God's dealings with them
in the wilderness. Duet 8:2.
Centuries later, Paul calls out the
Corinthian believers, especially those from the Jewish faith, to learn lessons
from their common History. You might be saying, why should I know about Israel’s
History? By being the followers of Christ, we have become the children of
Abraham. We have inherited the exact promises of blessings for obedience and
curses for disobedience. We become a part of their shared story; therefore, we
must pay attention to it.
The Apostle Paul encourages the
Corinthian believers as to why God has deliberately left those dark chapters of
Israel's History. Vs. 6, "These things happened as a warning to us so that
we would not crave evil things as they did." He summarizes those
evil things into 4 categories.
I.
IDOLATRY IS FORBIDDEN. Vs.7
Vs.7,
"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 revelry." NIV Or
"Do not serve or worship idols." The theme of worshiping idols or Idolatry
seems to be a reoccurring one in I Corinthians.
Paul was referring here to an
incident that happened precisely two months after the Israelites left Egypt. They
camped at Mount Sinai, and Moses had gone up to the top of the mountain to
receive instructions from God.
When people saw it took too long,
they pressured Aaron saying, "make us some gods who can lead us."
Aaron made a golden calf. The Israelites shouted, "O Israel, these are the
gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Exodus 32:4
Ex 32:6, "The people got up early the
next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they
celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry."
In worshipping the calf, they violated the first two of the ten commandments.
Before He commanded them not to have
any other gods or make for themselves any idol of any kind and not bow down to
them or worship them, He established a truth. "I am the Lord your God, who
rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery." Ex 20:1-5.
God wanted Israelites to know in
absolute terms it was Him and no one who else delivered them from 430 years of
slavery. He wanted to continue to be
their God and lead them on in their journey to the promised land. On the
contrary, what did the Israelites do?
They told Aaron it was Moses who led
them out of Egypt, and in the future, they wanted some gods (not the almighty
God Jehovah) to lead them on. That angered God very much. As you read through
History, we see how God swiftly dealt with Israelite's Idolatry.
Recalling these blatant violations
and God's firm dealings with the Israelites, Paul warned the Corinthian
believers, again and again, to flee from idolatry. You may say to me I am
neither like the Israelites nor the Corinthians. I don't eat meat offered to
idols, let alone serving and worshipping them. That may be true, but idolatry
doesn't have to do with just bowing to idols. What
does modern-day idolatry look like? How does then this fleeing from idolatry
apply to me? Modern-day idols come in
all forms. What is it that takes most of our time, attention, and resources? In
addition to deliberately worshipping man-made objects, Idolatry is equated with
greed. Paul, writing to Ephesians, explains how greed amounts to Idolatry.
Ephesians 5:5, "You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person
will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an
idolater, worshiping the things of this world." What is greed?
It is an intense and selfish desire
for something, especially wealth, power, or food. Greed often is the driving
force behind many politicians and those who want to become famous and
successful. If you are driven by greed, you are an idolator; hence, you must
flee from greed.
What happens if you don't overcome
greed? You will shipwreck your life. I Timothy 6:10, "For the love of
money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have
wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows."
II.
FLEE FROM SEXUAL IMMORALITY
Vs.8
"And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000
of them to die in one day." Here Paul was referring to a specific incident
in Numbers 25:1-3
While the Israelites were camped at Acacia
Grove, some of the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local
Moabite women.
These women invited them to attend
sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the
gods of Moab. In this way, Israel joined in the worship of Baal of Peor,
causing the Lord's anger to blaze against his people." What is sexual immorality?
Sexual immorality is having sex
before and outside of marriage. Is sex between two legally married men and women,
okay? No! It amounts to sexual
immorality; hence it is a Sin. If you want to avoid a crash, exercise
self-control and flee from all forms of sexual immorality.
III
DO NOT PUT THE LORD TO TEST
Vs.9, "Nor should we put
Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites." Paul uses the example of the complaining of
Israel against the Lord for bringing them out of Egypt, for which the Lord
punished them severely, and many died of snake bites (Nu 21:6). At another time, Israelites complained
against Moses, "Give us water to drink. Moses replied, why are you
complaining against me? And why are you testing the Lord."
In the end, Moses struck the rock in
anger, and water came out. Moses named that place Massah, which means
"test." Ex 17:7. It seemed testing the Lord became a pattern in
Israelites lives. By
saying "we," Paul includes himself in cautioning the Corinthians
against complaining and testing the Lord to see what he will do. We, too, are
capable of testing the Lord.
IV.
DON'T BE A SULLEN GRUMBLER
Vs. 10, "And don't grumble as some of
them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death." This incident is
recorded in Num. 16:3–41. At one point, the sons of Korah incited a rebellion
against Moses and Aaron's leadership. The earth was opened up and swallowed
people. Then the whole community of
Israel began to murmur against Moses, saying, you have killed the Lord's
people. The Lord took up the case of his servants Moses and Aaron and sent a
plague that killed 14,700 people. So, think for yourself, is it worth
grumbling?
Who is a grumbler? A grumbler is
someone who is given to excessive complaints and fretting and whining. There
are some people no matter what they always grumble about something or someone.
Did you ever meet a grumbler? They are not pleasant people to be around. God
hates murmuring and complaining! He does not take it lightly. Numbers 11:1-5
Grumbling often comes from
discontentment. You are discontent about your current situation, and you complain
and grumble. James 5:9, "Don't grumble about each other, brothers and
sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door!
We must take these lessons from
Israel's History to heart to avoid a crash. No doubt, you and I, at times, will
be tempted to serve and worship the idols we set ourselves, to test the Lord,
to be given to sexual immorality, and to grumble. Temptation is not sin but
yielding to it is a sin. Be encouraged. Christ was tempted in the same ways you
and I are being tempted yet remained sinless. He understands us when we are
tempted and sends help on our way. Amen!
[1] Adapted
from: Deborah Chu, “How the Great Recession Inspired Edinburgh’s Library of
Mistakes,” Culture Trip (12-18-17); Staff, “Library of Mistakes,” Atlas Obscura
(Accessed 5/27/21); Douglas Fraser, “The Library of Mistakes,” BBC (2-16-19)
