WE SHOULD NOT LUST AFTER EVIL THINGS

In Psalm 106 verse 14 the children of Israel are said to have ‘lusted exceedingly in the wilderness’ or, as in the Hebrew, ‘lusted a lust’. The reference is to their excessive and unreasonable desire of better food than the manna which the Lord had provided. Because they tempted the Lord He punished them by granting their request, sending at the same time leanness to their souls.

They had come under the protection of God through cloud and sea, vv. 1-2. They had been richly provided for by God with food and water, vv. 3-4. They had enjoyed the very presence of God with them in the wilderness, v. 4, yet, in spite of all these blessings, they remained unsatisfied. As a direct consequence of their sins, of the 603,550 men of war who left Egypt, Num. 1. 46, only two eventually reached the promised land.

All this was recorded in the scripture as an ‘example’, as a warning, to believers that they should not desire evil things. This would be true even if those things are only by association, as for example the flesh pots of Egypt, Exod. 16. 3. The manna was perfectly adequate and is a beautiful picture of Christ, the One who is the living bread, a resource never exhausted and never becoming stale if eaten correctly.

God sought to prove them as to whether they would be obedient, Exod. 16. 4. This is surely the case in every present day believer’s life. Are we satisfied with God’s provision and place for us? They lusted after evil things. They craved those things which they enjoyed before they were redeemed and which would be injurious to them. God granted them their desires, but the consequence was a terrible leanness. The things of the world will never, of themselves, satisfy the deepest needs of the human heart, Eccles. 1. 8.

So Paul infers that the Corinthian Christians should not lust after, or desire, the meat offered in sacrifice to idols, lest it should lead them also to sin and ruin. There are many things and places which, by association, the believer should avoid - be separate from. We must abstain from every appearance of evil, 1 Thess. 5. 22, and ensure that we never tempt God as they did.