10:11 Now all these
things happened to them for examples: and they are written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the world are come.
There was little that was normal about the life experiences
of the people who journeyed from Egypt to Canaan through the wilderness. Few
people live through such unusual circumstances. Several years ago I had the
privilege of pastoring a sweet lady who grew up in Königsberg until the war
started. She was young. Her flight from the Russians and the Nazis was surreal.
A movie could have been made of her life. To live through such circumstances is
unusual although many in Syria today and other war torn countries could easily
relate.
Why do I bring this up? Because Paul brought it up. Paul
wrote that the strange events that marked the journey from Egypt to Canaan were
written down as examples. They were for our admonition. Why us? Who is us? Why
did Paul include himself in there? Was he speaking of the people living then?
Was he speaking of the future end of the world? Yes and yes.
Did you notice the plural form of end? Paul did not write
about the "end of the world", he wrote about the "ends of the
world."
Can the world have more than one end? Apparently it can. If
you search a world map for Königsberg you will not find it. It is gone. That
place came to an end. It exists in the memory of those who lived there but it's
gone. That sweet lady tried to return. About fifty years after her flight from
her home and homeland she returned for a visit. She told me she wept like a
baby. She even had tears in her eyes as she told me the story. She returned to
the geographic location but Königsberg was gone.
I grew up on a retired farm. We rented the land to the
neighbouring farm. We played in the barn. Built hay forts. Started to build a
cabin that never got finished. Fished in the pond. Played in the brook. Hung
out with dad in his shop. Every day ended the same no matter what the day
contained. We went home. Last summer I was invited to speak at camp meeting in
Quebec very near my childhood home. We took a drive. The shop is gone. It's
just a field. The barn too. The house. It's all gone. Just fields like no one
ever lived there at all. The end has come. Nearly 200 years my family had roots
in that place and now the end has come.
Königsberg is gone. My childhood home is gone. So many
places, even entire empires have vanished into history. Indeed there is more
than one end to world in certain sense. The Jewish temple has been gone for
almost 2000 years. It was the immediate end Paul was likely referring to.
Judaism came to an end of sorts. The new Christian movement he was a huge part
of didn't end but it certainly went through a very dark and trying time where
others tried to end it even more zealously than he had before his conversion.
So let's bring it full circle. Paul wrote that the
experiences of those wilderness wanderers was written down for us. They are
examples. They are for our admonition. They speak specifically to those who experience
some kind of end.
There is much I could say here. Honestly when I read this
passage earlier this morning and asked God to teach me from it my mind went in
so many directions. So many things have come or are coming to an end. The
lessons and applications could fill a book or more. This morning I don't have
the time or space to unwrap them all but He has focused me on one aspect that
applies to all of us in all ages.
The people who left Egypt were slaves. They truly believed
that the source of all their troubles was their bondage. God intervened. He had
promised to Abraham 400 years earlier that He would and He did. They were set
free. Never again did a whip cross their back. Never again did a taskmaster
beat them or humiliate them or rape them or treat them like an animal. They
were free. Their troubles were over...
If it were a movie and the credits rolled just after the Red
Sea swallowed the Egyptian army we could perhaps believe that. However that's
not what happened. Trouble found them in the desert far from their cruel
masters. The end of one set of troubles was the beginning of a new set. Demons
without gave way to their demons within. Now that they were free from outside
forces of trouble they were left to face the troubles that existed within them.
In no particular order they were: fear, insecurity, jealousy, control issues,
distorted thinking (life was good in Egypt, let's go back), trust issues, lust
issues, and the list goes on.
One world of pain and suffering ended only to open up to a new
and different one.
Paul was writing to new Christians. They had left one world
of idol worship and superstition and entered the Christian world. One life had
ended and a new one was beginning. That's what Paul was really talking about.
Navigating that change is huge but they weren't alone. it wasn't a path that
hadn't been traveled before. Others have gone before us. Their experiences were
written down. We can fumble along blindly or we can learn from them. We can
fall in the traps some of them fell in or we can follow their journey,
recognize the danger zones and avoid them.
The greatest delusion, the most distorted thoughts we
entertain are the ideas that my struggles are rooted in external forces. If I
had a better political situation, a better boss, a more functional family, a
better wife, or a better life I'd be ok. The real enemy is within. When Egypt
is a memory and we're alone with God in "the desert" the struggle has
not ended because the struggle is within. Adam and Eve lived in the perfect setting
so they blamed God and each other. The real problem was within.
God's greatest desire is to put an end to the kingdom of
darkness that rages within us while we are all preoccupied with the raging
around us. Jesus had to live in this messed up world. He was not whisked away.
No sea swallowed His enemies. Yet He lived a life of love. Peace reigned inside
Him. The external storms raged but had no impact on him.
That's what I want. A peace no sword can take from me, no
politics can rob me of, no circumstance can steal from me.
We have examples. Let's learn where the real enemy is. Let's
ask the Deliverer to conquer that stronghold. Let's get to the root and stop
worrying about the fruit.
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