I Corinthians 10
25 And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.
26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.
27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
As we read the examples of the Old Testament we should see the way of God and learn to fully follow God and to do what God says.
5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
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.
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
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Blessings and curses often depend upon that which the individual chooses to do.
When Joshua sent the 12 men to search out the land which God had given to them, Caleb
fully followed God and brought back a good report and he was rewarded
by God. But ten of the other men brought discouragement and caused the
heart of the people to melt so they could not believe God. Only Joshua
and Caleb were faithful to God.
Numbers 13
26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.
27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
Caleb was blessed by
God (and Joshua) but the other men were not permitted by God to enter
that land promised them for they did not have faith in God and God
killed them in the wilderness.
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King
Saul did part of the Word of God but changed some of the instruction
and as a result God removed the kingdom from Saul and gave the kingdom
to "a man after HIS own heart" who would obey God.
Disobedience to God is deadly to the person who disobeys.
God said to king Saul:
I Samuel 15:2-3 I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
But Saul saved the best of the sheep and brought these back to give sacrifice to God.
I Samuel 14:8-9 And he (king Saul) took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
However God told him to utterly destroy them. By doing what Saul did, he exalted himself above God showing that he knew better than God.
The prophet Samuel said to Saul: "To obey is better than sacrifice." (I Sam. 14:22)
I Samuel 14:22 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
God
removed the kingdom from Saul and gave the kingdom to David. And God
removed HIS Holy Spirit from Saul and gave HIS Holy Spirit to David.
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Can such a thing as this happen in the New Testament?
II Cor. 13:5
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.
Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye
be reprobates?
Romans 1:28
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God
gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not
convenient;
Revelation 3:5 Jesus says:
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I
will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess
his name before MY Father, and before HIS angels.
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The examples in both the Old and New Testaments teach us "a fear of the Lord", to obey that which God says and do all the instruction given by God.
Psalm 111:10 The
fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have
all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
As we read the examples of the Old Testament we should see the way of God and learn to fully follow God and to do what God says.
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