I Corinthians 10:11 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.
Learn From History
Not long ago my family and I were up in northeastern Indiana right in the middle of Amish country. We saw a lot of horses and buggies, very picturesque farms, and peace and quiet. When you look at these pastoral scenes that seem to come out of an old Currier and Ives frame, you can’t help but be a little wistful for a time that was a little quieter and a little slower. Yet, I wonder if the average Amish person is fundamentally different than you or me? By comparing yourself to those driving horses and buggies you can see how much the world has changed around us, but if you consult your own conscience, you will see that the world within us has not changed at all. We face the same temptations than mankind has always faced.
In I Corinthians 10:1, Paul says that he doesn’t want his readers to be ignorant about the things that have gone on before. He tells us in verses 11-12, “Now all these things happened unto them for our ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” Now everything in this world has changed since the time the Amish were actually up to speed with society, yet at the same time nothing has changed in this world. Men have had the same natural bent to do wrong and God has the same power, authority, and grace that He has always had.
No generation since creation has had more history from which to learn or fewer reasons to be naïve or smug than those of us who are alive right now. Paul says, “These things happened unto them for our ensamples.” In other words, we should learn from the things that happened to the children of Israel during their wilderness wandering. Paul says that the things that happened to these people “are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” These things that happened long ago are for the instruction for those of us who live in this day. We are those “upon whom the ends of the world are come.” Everyone who has ever lived in human history has lived before us, and no generation in human history has had more examples from which to learn than we have right now.
So, don’t ignore history. People who don’t pay attention to history are ignorant of the future. Everything is new to a person who pays no attention to history. And you have more than a little history when you have the Bible; you have God’s commentary on history.
Don’t be naïve. Paul was exhorting his readers to learn from the example of Moses and his generation. Those of us today can learn both from Moses’ generation and Paul’s generation. We can see how life works and how God acts.
Don’t be smug. It’s so easy to think that we are better and smarter than the people of these generations, but the Bible says in verse 12, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” Pay attention to what has happened and what God has said about what has happened, and be informed about the world to come by the world that has been already.