Articles
“How to Read History”
Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.
1 Corinthians 10:11
Some of the Corinthians, secure in their knowledge that “there is no God but one” (8:4), believed they were free to continue to frequent pagan temples participating in the cultic meals and even engaging in sexual activity with temple prostitutes (when humans invent religions, we are apt to mix debauchery in with it and call it ‘sacred’). Paul has to pump the breaks and tell them that these idolatrous practices are way out of bounds for the Christian. One of the ways he persuades them that their choices will lead to total disaster is by reminding them of what happened to the wilderness generation of ancient Israel.
Like the Corinthians, the wilderness generation had been rescued by God from slavery; had been baptized as they passed through the waters; and had enjoyed God’s presence, guidance and provision. “Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.” (5) Why? Because, as Paul goes on to explain, they practiced idolatry similar to that which the Corinthians were engaged in. So he drives home the point with the reminder, “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.” (6, also 11)
Christians must be students of biblical history lest we repeat the errors of the past. But too often, the lessons of history are lost on us because we read it assuming we would never be guilty of the crimes of our spiritual ancestors. We read history from the comfort of the present certain that we would have been one of the good guys. We easily relate to Joshua and Caleb over the other ten cowards, wondering why those boneheads wouldn’t just trust God, especially after all they had seen God do for them in the exodus! Surely, we would have had faith… wouldn’t we?
Most people today read the history of Nazi Germany and assume they would have been just like Oskar Schindler, saving thousands of lives from the evil Third Reich. We rarely read history as the perpetrator and almost always cast ourselves in the role of the hero. We smugly assume we would have landed on the “right” side of every moral dilemma of history, but only because hindsight is always 20/20. Of course we can see things more clearly after they have happened! The real test is whether we are doing the right thing now.
Robert George, a scholar and political philosopher at Princeton, used to conduct a thought experiment with his students. He would ask them, “If you were alive during the Civil War, how many of you would be full-scale abolitionists?” And every hand in the room would immediate shoot up. Everyone thinks of himself as the hero of history when they know the past.
Israel’s history is given to the church as an example. Scripture candidly records the failures of the people of God in embarrassing detail. Our track record is checkered: there are great moments of triumphant faith but there are also many shameful denials, acts of brutality, selfish deceptions and destructive arrogance. We are to learn from the failures as well as the successes. Reading the Bible for all its worth means putting ourselves in the position of those in the story and honestly examining our hearts.
Try it next time you read the gospel accounts. Instead of simply telling us how to respond to Jesus, the gospel authors use the different reactions of people to show us how to, or how not to, respond. As we read through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, pause and ask yourself:
- How do these different people react to Jesus?
- What are their motivations behind their behavior?
- What happened as a result of their actions?
- Do I resemble one of the people in the story?
Even though the gospel accounts are historical, they were written with an agenda. The Spirit-inspired authors wrote to persuade us to acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus and respond with faith. One way they persuade us is by convicting us of sin as we see ourselves in the stories. These things “were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” Beware of casting yourself as the hero of every story. The question is not the hypothetical “Would we have really listened to the prophets?” but the practical “Are we listening to the word of God now?” The wilderness generation, Pharaoh, the Pharisees, Cain, Balaam, Herod, Pilate, Diotrephes, Uzziah and the rest are not there to make us feel morally superior. They stand in Scripture as warnings to the church of what we are capable of. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
