These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
- KJV Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
- NKJV Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.
- NASB Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they indeed craved them.
- NLT These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
These events happened as examples to warn us not to crave evil things as Israel did. Their failures are written to keep us from the same sins.
Overview
Paul states the purpose of his historical review: Israel's wilderness sins serve as warning examples for the church. Their craving after evil—idolatry, immorality, grumbling (detailed in vv. 7-10)—must not be repeated by those who now belong to Christ. This shows how the Old Testament instructs believers (cf. Rom 15:4), and it reinforces the call to vigilant, self-controlled faith lest, like Israel, the privileged fall into judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Jude 1:7In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.
- 2 Pet 2:6if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;
- 1 Cor 10:11Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
- Heb 4:11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.
- Zeph 3:6–7“I have cut off the nations; their corner towers are destroyed. I have made their streets deserted with no one to pass through. Their cities are laid waste, with no man, no inhabitant.
- Num 11:4Meanwhile, the rabble among them had a strong craving for other food, and again the Israelites wept and said, “Who will feed us meat?
- Num 11:31–34Now a wind sent by the LORD came up, drove in quail from the sea, and brought them near the camp, about two cubits above the surface of the ground, for a day’s journey in every direction around the camp.
- Ps 106:14–15They craved intensely in the wilderness and tested God in the desert.
- 1 Pet 3:21And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
- Ps 78:27–31He rained meat on them like dust, and winged birds like the sand of the sea.
- Rom 5:14Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the way that Adam transgressed. He is a pattern of the One to come.
- Heb 9:24For Christ did not enter a man-made copy of the true sanctuary, but He entered heaven itself, now to appear on our behalf in the presence of God.
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 10:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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