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1 Corinthians 10 5-1 Corinthians 10 10
But God was not pleased with most of them. Their bodies were scattered in the desert.Now those things happened as examples for us. They are supposed to keep us from wanting evil things. The people of Israel wanted these evil things.So don’t worship statues of gods, as some of them did. It is written,“ The people sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up to dance wildly in front of their god.”( Exodus 32:6)We should not commit sexual sins, as some of them did. In one day 23,000 of them died.We should not test the Messiah, as some of them did. They were killed by snakes.Don’t speak against God. That’s what some of the people of Israel did. And they were killed by the destroying angel.
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Numbers 11:1-35
The people weren’t happy about the hard times they were having. The Lord heard what they were saying. It made him very angry. Then the Lord sent fire on them. It blazed out among the people. It burned up some of the outer edges of the camp.The people cried out to Moses. Then he prayed to the Lord. And the fire died down.So that place was named Taberah. That’s because fire from the Lord had blazed out among them there.Some people with them began to wish for other food. Again the Israelites began to cry out. They said,“ We wish we had meat to eat.We remember the fish we ate in Egypt. It didn’t cost us anything. We also remember the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.But now we’ve lost all interest in eating. We never see anything but this manna!”The manna was like coriander seeds. It looked like sap from a tree.The people went around gathering it. Then they ground it up in a small mill they held in their hands. Or they crushed it in a stone bowl. They cooked it in a pot. Or they made loaves out of it. It tasted like something made with olive oil.When the dew came down on the camp at night, the manna also came down.Moses heard people from every family crying at the entrances to their tents. The Lord became very angry. So Moses became upset.He asked the Lord,“ Why have you brought this trouble on me? Why aren’t you pleased with me? Why have you loaded me down with the troubles of all these people?Am I like a mother to them? Are they my children? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms? Do I have to carry them the way a nurse carries a baby? Do I have to carry them to the land you promised? You promised the land to their people of long ago.Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep crying out to me. They say,‘ Give us meat to eat!’I can’t carry all these people by myself. The load is too heavy for me.Is this how you are going to treat me? If you are pleased with me, just put me to death right now. Don’t let me live if I have to see myself destroyed anyway.”The Lord said to Moses,“ Bring me 70 of Israel’s elders. Bring men that you know are leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting. I want them to stand there with you.I will come down and speak with you there. I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you. And I will put it on them. They will share the responsibility of these people with you. Then you will not have to carry it alone.“ Tell the people,‘ Set yourselves apart for tomorrow. At that time you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you cried out. You said,“ We wish we had meat to eat. We were better off in Egypt.” Now the Lord will give you meat. And you will eat it.You will not eat it for just one or two days. You will not eat it for just five, ten or 20 days.Instead, you will eat it for a whole month. You will eat it until it comes out of your noses. You will eat it until you hate it. The Lord is among you. But you have turned your back on him. You have cried out while he was listening. You have said,“ Why did we ever leave Egypt?” ’ ”But Moses said to the Lord,“ Here I am among 600,000 men on the march. And you say,‘ I will give them meat to eat for a whole month’!Would they have enough if flocks and herds were killed for them? Would they have enough even if all the fish in the ocean were caught for them?”The Lord answered Moses,“ Am I not strong enough? Now you will see whether what I say will come true for you.”So Moses went out. He told the people what the Lord had said. He gathered 70 of their elders together. He had them stand around the tent of meeting.Then the Lord came down in the cloud. He spoke with Moses. He took some of the power of the Spirit that was on Moses. And he put it on the 70 elders. When the Spirit came on them, they prophesied. But they didn’t do it again.Two men had remained in the camp. Their names were Eldad and Medad. They were listed among the elders. But they didn’t go out to the tent of meeting. In spite of that, the Spirit came on them too. So they prophesied in the camp.A young man ran up to Moses. He said,“ Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”Joshua spoke up. He was the son of Nun. Joshua had been Moses’ helper from the time he was young. He said,“ Moses! Please stop them!”But Moses replied,“ Are you jealous for me? I wish that all the Lord’ s people were prophets. And I wish that the Lord would put his Spirit on them.”Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.The Lord sent out a wind. It drove quail in from the Red Sea. It scattered them all around the camp. They were about three feet above the ground. They could be seen in every direction as far as a person could walk in a day.The people went out all day and gathered quail. They gathered them all night and all the next day. No one gathered less than 60 bushels. Then they spread the quail out all around the camp.But while the meat was still in their mouths, the Lord acted. Before the people could swallow it, he became very angry with them. He struck them with a terrible plague.So the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah. That’s where the bodies of the people who had wished for other food were buried.From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth. And they stayed there.
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Ezekiel 20:13
“‘ “But in the desert the people of Israel refused to obey me. They did not follow my rules. They turned their backs on my laws. The person who obeys them will live by them. They totally misused my Sabbath days. So I said I would pour out my great anger on them. I would destroy them in the desert.
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Ezekiel 20:21
“‘ “But their children refused to obey me. They did not follow my rules. They were not careful to keep my laws. The person who obeys them will live by them. They misused my Sabbath days. So I said I would pour out all my great anger on them in the desert.
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Numbers 16:1-50
Korah was the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath. Kohath was the son of Levi. Korah and certain men from the tribe of Reuben turned against Moses. The men from Reuben were Dathan, Abiram and On. Dathan and Abiram were the sons of Eliab. On was the son of Peleth.All those men rose up against Moses. And 250 men of Israel joined them. All of them were known as leaders in the community. They had been appointed as members of the ruling body.They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron. They said to Moses and Aaron,“ You have gone too far! The whole community is holy. Every one in it is holy. And the Lord is with them. So why do you put yourselves above the Lord’ s people?”When Moses heard what they said, he fell with his face to the ground.Then he spoke to Korah and all his followers. He said,“ In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him. He will show who is holy. He’ll bring that person near him. He’ll bring the man he chooses near him.Korah, here’s what you and all your followers must do. Get some shallow cups for burning incense.Tomorrow put burning coals and incense in them. Offer it to the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”Moses also said to Korah,“ Listen, you Levites!The God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the community of Israel. He has brought you near him to work at the Lord’ s holy tent. He has given you to the people so that you can serve them. Isn’t all that enough for you?He has already brought you and all the other Levites near him. But now you want to be priests too.You and all your followers have joined together against the Lord. Why are you telling Aaron you aren’t happy with him?”Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said,“ We won’t come!You have brought us up out of a land that has plenty of milk and honey. You have brought us here to kill us in this desert. Isn’t that enough? Now do you also want to act as if you were ruling over us?Besides, you haven’t brought us into a land that has plenty of milk and honey. You haven’t given us fields and vineyards of our own. Do you want to treat these men like slaves? No! We won’t come!”Then Moses became very angry. He said to the Lord,“ Don’t accept their offering. I haven’t taken even a donkey from them. In fact, I haven’t done anything wrong to any of them.”Moses said to Korah,“ You and all your followers must stand in front of the Lord tomorrow. You must appear there along with Aaron.Each man must get his shallow cup. He must put incense in it. There will be a total of 250 incense cups. Each man must bring his cup to the Lord. You and Aaron must also bring your cups.”So each of them got his cup. He put burning coals and incense in it. All the men came with Moses and Aaron. They stood at the entrance to the tent of meeting.Korah gathered all his followers together at the entrance to the tent. They opposed Moses and Aaron. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community.The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,“ Separate yourselves from these people. Then I can put an end to all of them at once.”But Moses and Aaron fell with their faces to the ground. They cried out,“ God, you are the God who gives life and breath to all living things. Will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?”Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said,“ Tell the community,‘ Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’ ”Moses got up. He went to Dathan and Abiram. The elders of Israel followed him.Moses warned the community. He said,“ Move away from the tents of these evil men! Don’t touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, the Lord will sweep you away because of all their sins.”So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had already come out. They were standing at the entrances to their tents. Their wives, children and little ones were standing there with them.Then Moses said,“ What is about to happen wasn’t my idea. The Lord has sent me to do everything I’m doing. Here is how you will know I’m telling you the truth.These men won’t die a natural death. Something will happen to them that doesn’t usually happen to people. If what I’m telling you doesn’t happen, then you will know that the Lord hasn’t sent me.But the Lord will make something totally new happen. The ground will open its mouth and swallow them up. It will swallow up everything that belongs to them. They will be buried alive. When that happens, you will know that these men have disrespected the Lord.”As soon as Moses finished saying all these words, what he had said came true. The ground under them broke open.It opened its mouth. It swallowed up those men. In fact, it swallowed up everyone who lived in their houses. It swallowed all Korah’s men. And it swallowed up everything they owned.They went down into the grave alive. Everything they owned went down with them. The ground closed over them and they died. And so they disappeared from the community.All the Israelites around them heard their cries. They ran away from them. They shouted,“ The ground is going to swallow us up too!”Then the Lord sent down fire. It burned up the 250 men offering the incense.The Lord said to Moses,“ Speak to Eleazar the priest. He is the son of Aaron. Remind him that the shallow cups are holy. He must take them out of the ashes. He must scatter the burning coals away from there.The men who sinned used those cups. And it cost them their lives. Hammer the cups into bronze sheets that will cover the altar. The cups were offered to the Lord. They have become holy. Let them serve as a warning to the Israelites.”So the priest Eleazar collected the bronze incense cups. They had been brought by the men who had been burned to death. He had them hammered out to cover the altar.He did just as the Lord had directed Moses to tell him to do. The covering would be a reminder to the Israelites. It would remind them that no one except a son of Aaron should come and burn incense to the Lord. If people other than priests did that, they would become like Korah and his followers.The next day the whole community of Israel told Moses and Aaron they weren’t happy with them.“ You have killed the Lord’ s people,” they said.The community gathered together to oppose Moses and Aaron. The people walked toward the tent of meeting. Suddenly the cloud covered it. The glory of the Lord appeared.Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting.The Lord said to Moses,“ Get away from these people. Then I can put an end to all of them at once.” And Moses and Aaron fell with their faces to the ground.Moses said to Aaron,“ Take your incense cup. Put incense in it. And put burning coals from the altar in it. Then hurry to the people and pay for their sin. The Lord has begun to show his anger. The plague has started.”So Aaron did as Moses said. He ran in among the people. The plague had already started among them. But Aaron offered the incense and paid for their sin.He stood between those alive and those dead. And the plague stopped.But 14,700 people died from the plague. That doesn’t include those who had died because of what Korah did.Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting. The plague had stopped.
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Exodus 32:7-35
The Lord spoke to Moses. He said,“ Go down. Your people you brought up out of Egypt have become very sinful.They have quickly turned away from what I commanded them. They have made themselves a metal statue of a god in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down and sacrificed to it. And they have said,‘ Israel, here is your god who brought you up out of Egypt.’“ I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses.“ They are stubborn.Now leave me alone. I will destroy them because of my great anger. Then I will make you into a great nation.”But Moses asked the Lord his God to have mercy on the people.“ Lord,” he said,“ why should you destroy your people in anger? You used your great power and mighty hand to bring them out of Egypt.Why should the Egyptians say,‘ He brought them out to hurt them. He wanted to kill them in the mountains. He wanted to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn away from your great anger. Please take pity on your people. Don’t destroy them!Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel. You made a promise to them in your own name. You said,‘ I will make your children after you as many as the stars in the sky. I will give them all this land I promised them. It will belong to them forever.’ ”Then the Lord took pity on his people. He didn’t destroy them as he had said he would.Moses turned and went down the mountain. He had the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. Words were written on both sides of the tablets, front and back.The tablets were the work of God. The words had been written by God. They had been carved on the tablets.Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. So he said to Moses,“ It sounds like war in the camp.”Moses replied,“ It’s not the sound of winning. It’s not the sound of losing. It’s the sound of singing that I hear.”As Moses approached the camp, he saw the calf. He also saw the people dancing. So he was very angry. He threw the tablets out of his hands. They broke into pieces at the foot of the mountain.He took the calf the people had made. He burned it in the fire. Then he ground it into powder. He scattered it on the water. And he made the Israelites drink it.He said to Aaron,“ What did these people do to you? How did they make you lead them into such terrible sin?”“ Please don’t be angry,” Aaron answered.“ You know how these people like to do what is evil.They said to me,‘ Make us a god that will lead us. This fellow Moses brought us up out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him.’So I told them,‘ Anyone who has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ They gave me the gold. I threw it into the fire. And out came this calf!”Moses saw that the people were running wild. Aaron had let them get out of control. The people had become a joke to their enemies.Moses stood at the entrance to the camp. He said,“ Anyone on the Lord’ s side, come to me.” All the Levites joined him.Then he spoke to them. He said,“ The Lord, the God of Israel, says,‘ Each man must put on his sword. Then he must go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other. Each man must kill his brother and friend and neighbor.’ ”The Levites did as Moses commanded. About 3,000 of the people died that day.Then Moses said to the Levites,“ You have been set apart for the Lord today. You fought against your own sons and brothers. And he has blessed you this day.”The next day Moses said to the people,“ You have committed a terrible sin. But now I will go up to the Lord. Maybe if I pray to him, he will forgive your sin.”So Moses went back to the Lord. He said,“ These people have committed a terrible sin. They have made a god out of gold for themselves.Now please forgive their sin. But if you won’t, then erase my name out of the book you have written.”The Lord replied to Moses. The Lord said,“ I will erase out of my book only the names of those who have sinned against me.Now go. Lead the people to the place I spoke about. My angel will go ahead of you. But when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”The Lord struck the people with a plague. That’s because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.
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Numbers 14:1-45
That night all the members of the community raised their voices. They wept out loud.The Israelites spoke against Moses and Aaron. The whole community said to them,“ We wish we had died in Egypt or even in this desert.Why is the Lord bringing us to this land? We’re going to be killed by swords. Our enemies will capture our wives and children. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”They said to one another,“ We should choose another leader. We should go back to Egypt.”Then Moses and Aaron fell with their faces to the ground. They did it in front of the whole community of Israel gathered there.Joshua, the son of Nun, tore his clothes. So did Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. Joshua and Caleb were two of the men who had checked out the land.They spoke to the whole community of Israel. They said,“ We passed through the land and checked it out. It’s very good.If the Lord is pleased with us, he’ll lead us into that land. It’s a land that has plenty of milk and honey. He’ll give it to us.But don’t refuse to obey him. And don’t be afraid of the people of the land. We will swallow them up. The Lord is with us. So nothing can save them. Don’t be afraid of them.”But all the people talked about killing Joshua and Caleb by throwing stones at them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting. All the Israelites saw it.The Lord said to Moses,“ How long will these people not respect me? How long will they refuse to believe in me? They refuse even though I have done many signs among them.So I will strike them down with a plague. I will destroy them. But I will make you into a greater and stronger nation than they are.”Moses said to the Lord,“ Then the Egyptians will hear about it. You used your power to bring these people up from among them.And the Egyptians will tell the people who live in Canaan about it. Lord, they have already heard a lot about you. They’ve heard that you are with these people. They’ve heard that you have been seen face to face. They’ve been told that your cloud stays over them. They’ve heard that you go in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day. They’ve been told that you go in front of them in a pillar of fire at night.Suppose you put all these people to death and leave none alive. Then the nations who have heard these things about you will talk. They’ll say,‘ The Lord promised to give these people the land of Canaan. But he wasn’t able to bring them into it. So he killed them in the desert.’“ Now, Lord, show your strength. You have said,‘ I am the Lord. I am slow to get angry. I am full of love. I forgive those who sin. I forgive those who refuse to obey. But I do not let guilty people go without punishing them. I cause the sin of the parents to affect their children, grandchildren and great- grandchildren.’Lord, your love is great. So forgive the sin of these people. Forgive them just as you have done from the time they left Egypt until now.”The Lord replied,“ I have forgiven them, just as you asked.You can be sure that I live. You can be just as sure that my glory fills the whole earth.And here is what you can be just as sure of. Not one of these people will see the land I promised to give them. They have seen my glory. They have seen the signs I did in Egypt. And they have seen what I did in the desert. But they did not obey me. And they have tested me ten times.So not even one of them will ever see the land I promised to give to their people of long ago. The person who has not respected me will never see it.But my servant Caleb has a different spirit. He follows me with his whole heart. So I will bring him into the land he went to. And his children after him will receive land there.The Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys. So turn back tomorrow. Start out toward the desert. Go along the way that leads to the Red Sea.”The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,“ How long will this evil community speak against me? I have heard these Israelites talk about how unhappy they are.So tell them,‘ Here is what I am announcing. I am the Lord. You can be sure that I live. And here is what you can be just as sure of. I will do to you the very thing that I heard you say.You will die in this desert. Every one of you 20 years old or more will die. Every one of you who was counted in the list of the people will die. Every one of you who has spoken out against me will be wiped out.I lifted up my hand and promised to make this land your home. But now not all of you will enter the land. Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, will enter it. So will Joshua, the son of Nun. They are the only ones who will enter the land.You have said that your enemies would capture your children. But I will bring your children in to enjoy the land you have turned your backs on.As for you, you will die in the desert.Your children will be shepherds here for 40 years. They will suffer because you were not faithful. They will suffer until the last of your bodies lies here in the desert.For 40 years you will suffer for your sins. That is one year for each of the 40 days you checked out the land. You will know what it is like to have me against you.’I, the Lord, have spoken. I will surely do these things to this entire evil community of Israel. They have joined together against me. They will meet their end in this desert. They will die here.”So the Lord struck down the men Moses had sent to check out the land. They had returned and had spread a bad report about the land. And that had made the whole community speak out against Moses.Those men were to blame for spreading the bad report. So the Lord struck them down. They died of a plague.Only two of the men who went to check out the land remained alive. One of them was Joshua, the son of Nun. The other was Caleb, the son of Jephunneh.Moses reported to all the Israelites what the Lord had said. And they became very sad.Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country.“ We have sinned,” they said.“ Now we are ready to go up to the land the Lord promised to give us.”But Moses said,“ Why aren’t you obeying the Lord’ s command? You won’t succeed.So don’t go up. The Lord isn’t with you. Your enemies will win the battle over you.The Amalekites and the Canaanites will meet you on the field of battle. You have turned away from the Lord. So he won’t be with you. And you will be killed by swords.”But they wouldn’t listen. They still went up toward the highest point in the hill country. They went up even though Moses didn’t move from the camp. They went even though the ark of the Lord’ s covenant didn’t move from the camp.Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down. They attacked the Israelites. They won the battle over them. They chased the Israelites all the way to Hormah.
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Psalms 106:15-48
So he gave them what they asked for. But he also sent a sickness that killed many of them.In their camp some of them became jealous of Moses and Aaron. Aaron had been set apart to serve the Lord.The ground opened up and swallowed Dathan. It buried Abiram and his followers.Fire blazed among all of them. Flames destroyed those evil people.At Mount Horeb they made a metal statue of a bull calf. They worshiped that statue of a god.They traded their glorious God for a statue of a bull that eats grass.They forgot the God who saved them. They forgot the God who had done great things in Egypt.They forgot the miracles he did in the land of Ham. They forgot the wonderful things he did by the Red Sea.So he said he would destroy them. But Moses, his chosen one, stood up for them. He kept God’s anger from destroying them.Later on, they refused to enter the pleasant land of Canaan. They didn’t believe God’s promise.In their tents they told the Lord how unhappy they were. They didn’t obey him.So he lifted up his hand and promised that he would make them die in the desert.He promised he would scatter their children’s children among the nations. He would make them die in other lands.They joined in worshiping the Baal that was worshiped at Peor. They ate food that had been offered to gods that aren’t even alive.Their evil ways made the Lord angry. So a plague broke out among them.But Phinehas stood up and took action. Then the plague stopped.What Phinehas did made him right with the Lord. It will be remembered for all time to come.By the waters of Meribah the Lord’ s people made him angry. Moses got in trouble because of them.They refused to obey the Spirit of God. So Moses spoke without thinking.They didn’t destroy the nations in Canaan as the Lord had commanded them.Instead, they mixed with those nations and adopted their ways.They worshiped statues of their gods. That became a trap for them.They sacrificed their sons and daughters as offerings to false gods.They killed those who weren’t guilty of doing anything wrong. They killed their own sons and daughters. They sacrificed them as offerings to statues of the gods of Canaan. The land became“ unclean” because of the blood of their children.The people made themselves impure by what they had done. They weren’t faithful to the Lord.So the Lord became angry with his people. He turned away from his own children.He handed them over to the nations. Their enemies ruled over them.Their enemies treated them badly and kept them under their power.Many times the Lord saved them. But they refused to obey him. So he destroyed them because of their sins.Yet he heard them when they cried out. He paid special attention to their suffering.Because they were his people, he remembered his covenant. Because of his great love, he felt sorry for them.He made all those who held them as prisoners have mercy on them.Lord our God, save us. Bring us back from among the nations. Then we will give thanks to you, because your name is holy. We will celebrate by praising you.Give praise to the Lord, the God of Israel, for ever and ever. Let all the people say,“ Amen!” Praise the Lord.
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Numbers 25:1-18
Israel was staying in Shittim. The men of Israel began to commit sexual sins with the women of Moab.The women invited the men to feasts and sacrifices to honor their gods. The people ate the sacrifices and bowed down in front of the statues of those gods.So Israel joined in worshiping the god named Baal that was worshiped at Peor. The Lord became very angry with Israel.The Lord said to Moses,“ Take all the leaders of these people. Kill them. Put their dead bodies out in the open. I want to see you do it in the middle of the day. Then I will not be angry with Israel.”So Moses spoke to Israel’s judges. He said,“ Some of your people have joined in worshiping the god named Baal that is worshiped at Peor. Each of you must kill the people in your tribe who have done that.”Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman. He did it right in front of the eyes of Moses and the whole community of Israel. They were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting.Phinehas was a priest. He was the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron. When Phinehas saw what had happened, he left the people. He took a spear in his hand.He followed the man into the tent. Phinehas stuck the spear through the man and into the woman’s stomach. Then the Lord stopped the plague against the Israelites.But the plague had already killed 24,000 of them.The Lord said to Moses,“ Phinehas is a priest. He is the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron. Phinehas has turned my anger away from the Israelites. I am committed to making sure I am honored among them. And he is as committed as I am. So even though I was angry with them, I did not put an end to them.So tell Phinehas I am making my covenant with him. It is my promise to give him peace.He and his sons after him will have a covenant to be priests forever. That is because he was committed to making sure that I, his God, was honored. In that way he paid for the sin of the Israelites.”The name of the Israelite man who was killed was Zimri. He was the son of Salu. Zimri was killed along with the Midianite woman. Salu was a family leader in the tribe of Simeon.The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Kozbi. She was the daughter of Zur. He was the chief of a Midianite family.The Lord spoke to Moses. He said,“ Treat the Midianites just as you would treat enemies. Kill them.After all, they treated you like enemies. They tricked you into worshiping the god named Baal that is worshiped at Peor. They also tricked you because of what Kozbi did. She was the woman killed when the plague came that was connected with Peor. Kozbi was the daughter of a Midianite leader.”
