EVENING
SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/20/2025 11:28 PM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “The Apostate Israelites”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Jude 5
Message of the verse: “Now
I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord,
after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those
who did not believe.”
This evening we
begin to look at this section after we spent a number of evenings looking at
the introduction to Jude 5-7, which means we can break these verses down some more
in order to understand what Jude was saying to those he was writing to, which
will take me a few days to complete, as I do like to take my time looking at
what I am about to write about. One of
the things that I do not like to do is what I call “airplane teaching” from a
passage, and what I mean is looking at a passage and not covering all the
things that I can find in it, as some like to just get through a passage from
the “air” and not look at it more thoroughly.
Jude
is using some familiar Old Testament examples stemmed from a desire to remind his readers that
defectors from the truth will always meet divine judgment. Now we can talk a look at 2 Peter 1:12 for
something similar that Peter wrote, “Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these
things, even though you already know them, and have been
established in the truth which is present with you.”
Now looking at his first example we
see that it is centered on God’s saving
a people out of the land of Egypt, and of course he is talking about
Israel, and then leading them through the wilderness. John MacArthur writes “As a vivid picture of
redemption, the story of Exodus was a powerful illustration of God’s love for
His people, symbolized and memorialized in the Passover (Ex. 12; cf. Luke
22:20; 1 Cor. 5:7). But it was also a
stern reminder of divine judgment—not only on the Egyptians, but also on those
Israelites who faithlessly turned away from God (1 Cor. 10:1-18).” Now I think that it is important to look at
those first 18 verses of 1 Corinthians 10.
“1 For I do not want you to be unaware,
brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the
sea; 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 and all
ate the same spiritual food; 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they
were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was
Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they
were laid low in the wilderness.
6 Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not
crave evil things as they also craved. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them
were; as it is written, "THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD
UP TO PLAY." 8 Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in
one day. 9 Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the
serpents. 10 Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now
these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon
whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take
heed that he does not fall. 13
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful,
who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the
temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to
endure it. 14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
15 I speak as to wise men; you judge
what I say. 16 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood
of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Since
there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one
bread. 18 Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices
sharers in the altar?”
Now I want to finish this paragraph
that I started when I stopped to quote from 1 Corinthians 10. “Although Jude knew that his readers were
fully aware of the story—that they knew all
things once for all—he used it to reveal God’s unchanging attitude toward
anyone in any time or place who corrupts His Word. In Fact, God’s judgment against apostates is
detailed throughout the entire Old Testament (Judg. 11:14-21; Neh. 9:21; Pss. 78;
95; 105-106; cf. Deut. 4:27; 28:64; Hos. 9:17; Zech. 7:14).”
I really did not get a far as I
wanted to, but I thought it was important to look at the passage from 1
Corinthians 10.
7/20/2025 11:59 PM
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