All these accounts in the Old Testament, however sordid and sad, were given for a good reason: ideally, so that we should learn lessons from them about what happens when we rebel against God.
Read 1 Corinthians 10:6–12. According to the apostle Paul, why did God inspire prophets to write what they wrote in the Bible?
In these verses, Paul draws a straight line connecting the past and the present, connecting ancient Israel and the church, of which we who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior are now a part (Gal. 6:14–16).
Paul makes clear that the past record of humanity’s experiences with God—be they good or bad—are not to be overlooked or discounted. In fact, God thought it so important that He codified it as examples “to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they [our forebears] also lusted” (1 Cor. 10:6, NKJV). In other words, the past is often prologue to the future. The past often sets the context for what is presently happening and what will happen in the future.
In effect, God is saying that we are not doomed to repeat the mistakes of past generations, if only we heed the admonitions of Scripture and the prophetic messages sent by Him to us through His prophets. If we listen, learn, and obey, our lives will be established, and we will prosper (2 Chron. 20:20). For some, even spiritual prosperity has been defined by having nice homes, cars, clothing, and other material possessions. While God promises to take care of our needs, He also wants our souls to prosper, even as we prosper in other ways (3 John 2). But true lasting spiritual fullness in the Christian life requires obedience to God’s messages.
God does not waste words. When He speaks, His Words are eternal. Their power and efficacy never end (Isa. 40:8). They are given for our admonition, “upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Cor. 10:11, NKJV). If that were true back then, how much more should those words apply to us today?
When you read accounts in the Bible of rebellion and disbelief, what lessons can you draw from them that could help you avoid doing something similar?
Supplemental EGW Notes
God will work with those who will listen to His voice.
The Word of God is to be the man of our counsel, and is to guide our experience. The lessons of Old Testament history, if faithfully studied, will teach us how this can be. Christ, enshrouded in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, was the guide and the light of the children of Israel in their wilderness wandering. Here was an unerring Guide.
In all their experiences, God was trying to teach them obedience to their heavenly Guide, and faith in His power to deliver them. Their deliverance from affliction in Egypt, and their passage through the Red Sea, revealed to them His power to save. When they rebelled against Him, and went contrary to His will, God punished them. When they persisted in their rebellion, and were determined to have their own way, God gave them that for which they asked, and in this way showed them that, that which He withheld from them, He withheld for their own good. Every judgment that came as a result of their murmurings was a lesson to that vast multitude, that sorrow and suffering are always the result of transgression of the laws of God.
The history of the Old Testament was recorded for the benefit of those who should live in the generations following. The lessons of the New Testament are as greatly needed. Here again Christ is the instructor, leading His people to seek that wisdom that cometh from above, and to gain that instruction in righteousness that will mold the character after the divine similitude. Both Old and New Testament Scriptures teach the principles of obedience to the commandments of God as the terms of securing that life which measures with the life of God, for it is through obedience that we become partakers of the divine nature, and learn to escape the corruptions that are in the world through lust. Therefore its maxims are to be studied, its commands obeyed, its principles, which are more precious than gold, brought into the daily life.—This Day With God, p. 254.
The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.