I Corinthians 10:7  Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
8  Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
9  Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
10  Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

The apostle Paul has already addressed idolatry before in this letter. Idolatry is built upon a lie. The main religion of Corinth was built upon a lie. Yet there were many in that place who followed that lie. If you take the time to observe people, including looking in the mirror at times, you will note that we as people are not that sharp. There are salesmen and women who make it their goal to deceive you. There are politicians who make it their goal to deceive you. The fact that the Liberal party of New Brunswick gained power just a couple of days ago shows that too many people do not think very deeply at all.
God is always 100% correct and He declared:

Isaiah 53:6  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

God knows our frailties and He told Paul to remind us not to be idolaters. We see here that idolatry is more than having that hand-made statue that people bow before. Idolatry is based upon a philosophy. Catholicism is idolatry. Islam is idolatry. New Evangelicalism is idolatry. The emergent church movement is idolatry. These things are all built upon seeking pleasure.
The majority of the Jews of Moses’ day were idolaters. They sat down to eat and drink and then rose up to play. They were not seriously minded people. They were hedonistic in their thinking. When we look at Canada today, if you listen to the politicians, they are playing off the hedonistic nature of the people.
The government knows that too many Canadians are very shallow thinkers. They want more for less. They want more pleasures. The government has promised $10.00 a day daycare. It is hard work to be a good parent. A good parent needs to forget about being selfish. He or she needs to pour time and energy into raising that young child and instilling godly principles into that young person’s life. You will not find that in a government funded daycare. In those places you will find paganism. The government is talking much about this plan they have developed so that parents can abandon their children and chase after dollars that are becoming more worthless all the time.
The government also knows that too many Canadians believe in ‘mother earth/nature’ and that ‘climate change’ is one of the most dangerous things facing us today. Gullible people think that if we pay more taxes and stop eating meat, the climates will change for the better. They do not look at history and they certainly do not read their Bibles and understand that the climate is something that is far more sophisticated than mortal man. God is in charge of the climates. He is allowing man to play around in this area. He knows man is not capable of helping out here. He knows man is causing much damage to the earth with his playing around. He is allowing man to do this. Those involved in this big lie are also big liars themselves. They follow the ‘master liar’ — the devil. He is the father of lies.
God directed the apostle Paul to warn the saints in Corinth and all saints in all ages, that we cannot be idolaters.
In verse 8 Paul again addressed the matter of fornication. Paul was directed to refer back to Numbers 25 where God recorded the death of 23,000 people in one day. Think about that. That is a large slaughter in one day. The people had been involved in the wicked counsel of Balaam who counselled Barak to send his loose living women to infiltrate Israel and prey on the lust of the men there.
The city of Corinth was a seaport city. Prostitution was common there. Sailors would come off their ships and they would be seeking some ‘pleasure’. Saved people cannot be fornicators. It is sad to note that too many women want to copy the dress standards of prostitutes. They act offended if some unsaved man pays too much attention to them, but they are out there advertising their ‘wares’. The apostle Paul was directed to address this matter because it is important. There needs to be sound teaching on modesty and the reason for it. That should not be an occasional topic. We can see the decline in modesty all too often.
In verse 9 the sin of tempting Christ is mentioned. Again Paul was directed to go back to the nation of Israel in the wilderness. In Numbers 21, the people murmured and complained to Moses about their living conditions. They had all they needed but that was not good enough for them. God sent poisonous snakes to bite and kill people. The people did not want to listen to words, and thus they needed more help to show them their hearts were wrong.
God often directed Paul to point back to the nation’s time in the wilderness. God reminds us that the people back then had all the help they needed from God to live obediently for Him. Yet the majority chose not to do so. The same was true in Paul’s day and the same is true today. Society is not getting better. There are not more born again Christians today than at any other time in history. There are many who proclaim they are saved, but many are not. Those who are saved need to live as saved people. It takes more than just making a verbal declaration. It takes a change of heart and life which comes from God.
In verse 10 the reference is to Numbers 16 and the murmuring of Korah and his people. In that text, God opened the earth and swallowed up a large number of people. The people chose death over life. They wrongly assumed they were protecting their imaginary rights. Rather than submit to God’s leadership, they wanted things to run their way. They got their way. The earth opened up and swallowed them up alive. They were trying to swallow up God’s leadership and replace that with their own corrupt ideas and God said: “NO”.
Again in verse 11 we are reminded that these things happened for “ensembles”. The Greek word translated as “ensembles” has a similar meaning to our word: ‘example’. It seems to have a deeper meaning than we often use for example.
We have the Old Testament record to be able to look into the mirror of God’s Word and to see that we are no better than those people back there. We have often referenced false religion in our devotionals. We have often spoken of the weakness of man. God’s Word is a very clear mirror which reminds us all that we are not any better than anyone else. The failure comes when we take that reality and we reject God’s demand for holiness and we accept sin as the legitimate norm.
It is sad to see how many Independent Fundamental Baptist groups are giving in to the ungodly CCM music. Paul Chappell is a big promoter of using that music. He does not seem to understand that it is a bridge to more corruption. Maybe he does understand that and he is content to promote that. He has a large following and too many other churches are willing to follow his lead, assuming that he is being blessed by God.
If we read our Bibles we see that Jesus looked at the 12 in John 6 and wondered if they would leave Him as well. He drew large crowds who were interested in His miracles, but as He taught the truth, they vanished. At His trial, no one stood with Him. The apostle Paul also spoke of being abandoned in his time of need. Jesus warned that the way of life is the “narrow way”. He declared that few find that way. It is not that people do not know of that way. It is that people reject that way because they know it is not popular. They have seen that people are not interested in that way, and they want to see people coming and they want to see numbers growing. No one wants to see people saved more than God. No one knows the importance of a changed heart and life that only He can provide. Those who are truly saved, will grow in their understanding of that as well. What we see all too often is greater worldliness and less holiness with time. This is contrary to what the Bible says about true saints. That is what God directed the apostle Paul to address here.
The apostle Paul reminds us here that we are living in the last days. The ends of the world are right here. We see that in the unrest in the Middle East. We see that in the way the world is being drawn into a war between Russia and Ukraine; a war that was initiated by the U.S. and NATO. It is a world war, but not classified as such. If we pay attention to how much money and munitions our country and many others are pouring into that war, it is a world war.
The BRICS nations are expanding their global reach as well. More nations are joining that group. Their goal is to overthrow the U.S. dollar as the world’s currency. The collapse of the west is happening. That collapse is not primarily because of bad economic policies. It is because of the moral decay that is producing all the other troubles. Strangely, most religions are following the world in the moral collapse and thus they have no voice of hope to the world. Don’t fall for the hype. That is just a smokescreen. If you are saved you will see that. If you cannot see that, it shows where your heart is. There is still hope. That hope is in God’s gift of salvation and then joining a true church that honours Him.
Pastor Bartel