Paul calls his hearers wise men and asks them to judge carefully for themselves what he says. What they are to weigh is the warning drawn from Israel's wilderness failures as examples for Christians to heed, joined to the call to flee from idolatry. Those events happened for examples and were recorded for admonition upon those living at the end of the world.
The warning means not to lust after evil things, commit idolatry, tempt Christ, or murmur. It means weighing how Israel was overthrown in the wilderness and avoiding the same sins of lusting after evil things, idolatry, fornication, tempting Christ, murmuring, unbelief and rebellion. Israel's lusting after evil things, idolatry, tempting Christ, and murmuring brought destruction by serpents and by the destroyer, so Christians whose experience is like the travels of ancient Israel must remain separate from the world as God's peculiar people. Those who think they stand must take heed and beware lest they fall. They are to trust that God is faithful not to suffer them to be tempted above what they are able but to make a way of escape.
The warning against idolatry applies in every age, and idolatry includes not only worshiping idols but also selfishness, love of ease, and gratification of appetite and passion. A profession of faith and knowledge of truth does not make a person a Christian if the religion indulges the senses or permits harmful self-indulgence. Taking part in worldly festivals and amusements that imitate worldly customs amounts to joining with God's enemies.
Paul calls his hearers wise men and asks them to judge carefully for themselves what he says. What they are to weigh is the warning drawn from Israel's wilderness failures as examples for Christians to heed, joined to the call to flee from idolatry. Those events happened for examples and were recorded for admonition upon those living at the end of the world.
The warning means not to lust after evil things, commit idolatry, tempt Christ, or murmur. It means weighing how Israel was overthrown in the wilderness and avoiding the same sins of lusting after evil things, idolatry, fornication, tempting Christ, murmuring, unbelief and rebellion. Israel's lusting after evil things, idolatry, tempting Christ, and murmuring brought destruction by serpents and by the destroyer, so Christians whose experience is like the travels of ancient Israel must remain separate from the world as God's peculiar people. Those who think they stand must take heed and beware lest they fall. They are to trust that God is faithful not to suffer them to be tempted above what they are able but to make a way of escape.
The warning against idolatry applies in every age, and idolatry includes not only worshiping idols but also selfishness, love of ease, and gratification of appetite and passion. A profession of faith and knowledge of truth does not make a person a Christian if the religion indulges the senses or permits harmful self-indulgence. Taking part in worldly festivals and amusements that imitate worldly customs amounts to joining with God's enemies.