1 Corinthians 10:1-13;
Romans 15:4
"These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come."
(1 CORINTHIANS 10:11)
If the only thing you know about a person is their shadow, how much do you really know about them? Depending on the angle of the sun, you may know their shape and some other characteristics, but the shadow is not the reality. However, it should help you recognize when the reality comes.
As a Jew growing up, I always thought to myself, "There must be something more than this." As I celebrated God's appointed times each year, I wondered what God was really trying to show me in His Word and through these wonderful festival days in Leviticus 23. The redemption from Egypt, the blood of the Passover lamb, the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, the scapegoat who took away the sins of the people... were these all just shadows pointing to a greater reality?
Now I can understand that these were not the realities themselves. Jesus is the reality, and the human heart can find no reality outside of Him. Only He can truly satisfy. May your heart be thrilled in the examples, but come to rest on Jesus Himself.
INSIGHT
"THE ESSENCE OF FAITH IS BEING SATISFIED WITH ALL THAT GOD IS FOR US IN JESUS."
(JOHN PIPER)
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Zechariah 5-9
Proverbs 29
Revelation 15-17
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
New Living Translation (NLT)
Lessons from Israel’s Idolatry
10 I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters,[a] about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. 2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, 7 or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.”[b] 8 And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.
9 Nor should we put Christ[c] to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. 10 And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. 11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.
12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
Romans 15:4
New International Version (NIV)
4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
NEVER FORSAKEN
with J.J. Jasper
"How could you let this happen?" J.J. Jasper begged God for an answer when he lost his 5-year-old son. To his surprise God answered and gave him a powerful testimony of joy and hope.
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