1 Corinthians 10:1-13

We have to remember where we are. In chapter 8, Paul introduced the problem of meat that had been offered to idols. In the first few verses, Paul laid out two big ideas—one, that there is only one God (and therefore, food offered to idols is morally neutral) and two, that a Christian should be guided by love for other people. Even if we have knowledge, we should show consideration for the ignorance of others. Under that point, Paul established what I called 'The Principle of Renunciation'--sometimes it is wise and loving to avoid something, even though it is not a sin, or to do something, even though it is not a duty. In chapter 9, Paul showed himself as an example of this—he showed how he gave up many of the rights he had as an apostle. He did this out of his love for God and his desire to win others. But he ended the passage by speaking of living carefully because of the danger of temptation and backsliding. That leads to a second principle he establishes in chapter 10.

Paul begins this chapter with the admonition: “I would not that ye should be ignorant.” That is, “I don't want you to be without knowledge.” Back in chapter 8, we saw that some of the Corinthians were very proud of their knowledge. But I think Paul is saying here: if you want to have knowledge, make sure you have a complete picture. Here is something you need to know in addition to the other knowledge. Don't settle for a few bits and pieces of spiritual knowledge, but try to get a full picture.

In this passage, Paul builds a comparison between the Israelites during the Exodus and the Christian church. (Note that Paul refers to the Israelites as “our fathers” even though Corinth was a largely Gentile church. This points to the idea Paul uses elsewhere that Christians, Jew or Gentile, are the true descendants of Abraham.) He sketches out the history of Israel, saying in verse 6: “Now these things were our examples.” He repeats this idea in verse 11: “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition.” (Ensample means the same as example and is basically the same word but with a different spelling because the history of English is weird. Both translate the same word in Greek.)

The Old Testament has many purposes—it provides the background and foundation for the New; it shows the care and specificity of God's plan; and (most importantly for this passage) it is a lesson, an example for us. This isn't just an analogy or parable. Rather, it shows us how God dealt with people then and, by comparison, how God deals with people now. Though there are obvious differences, because God is the same, we can draw a comparison.

Note that in verse 11, Paul refers to Christians as those “upon whom the ends of the world are come.” That can also be translated “the ends of the ages.” (NET Bible) The Exodus began a new chapter of God's plan: it laid the foundation for most of what follows in the Bible. And the rise of the Christian church in the first century begins the last chapter of God's plan: it is the crowning piece of the building rising from that Mosaic foundation. The Grand Finale of God's work has begun, and the Christian church is standing center stage. This is our big moment.

So how is the church similar to the children of Israel in the wilderness? Paul says that they were under the cloud. This is a reference to Exodus 13:21: “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.” This pillar of cloud and fire appeared before the Israelites and acted as a guide and protection throughout their journeys. It was a visible representation of God's presence with them.

And the church has God's presence within it to direct and protect. This is something Paul already mentioned to the Corinthians: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16) The Christian doesn't have a physical or visible cloud (though something similar did appear at Pentecost) but just as much as the Israelites, we have the presence of God to guide and guard.

The Israelites also passed through the sea—that is, the Red Sea, which parted to allow them to escape from Egypt, to escape from slavery. God gave them deliverance; just as all Christians have been delivered from the slavery of sin. We have, spiritually speaking, passed through the Red Sea. 

And with that deliverance and presence of God came a new relationship, a new identity. The children of Israel in the wilderness were not just a bunch of people who happened to be descendants of Jacob. They were a new nation, a new religious and political unit. The head of that unit was Moses—he was their leader, their lawgiver, their general, and almost their father. He was, in a sense, the representative of God to them and their representative to God. Paul expresses it by saying they were baptized unto Moses—they began a new phase of life under the direction and oversight of Moses.

And as Christians, who have been delivered and filled with the presence of God, we are a new nation, a new people, under the leadership of Christ—our leader and lawgiver. He is, in a truer sense than Moses, the representative of God to us and our representative to God. We have been baptized unto Jesus, beginning a new life under His direction and oversight.

And finally, the Israelites had continued sustenance from God—during their forty years in the desert, God supplied their needs. “And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.” (Exodus 16:35) This manna is referred to as spiritual food because it was supplied supernaturally. It was so supernatural that it could not even be identified by human categories—hence the name manna or 'whatsit' in modern English.

Aside from supernatural food, they also had supernatural water. “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb [Mt. Sinai]; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.” (Exodus 17:6) Later, in Kadesh, there was a similar miracle: “And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.” (Numbers 20:11) In both cases, God supplied a miraculous, supernatural fountain that supplied the needs of the Israelites.

Paul says that the water from this rock followed them. Albert Barnes suggests that a new river was formed from this supernatural fountain, and, for much of the wilderness wandering, they traveled by this river and had a continual source of water. (It makes sense, then, why they would need a new source in Kadesh which is far north of Sinai.)

And just like the Israelites, we have a continual source of sustenance, both physically and spiritually—we have someone to take care of our needs. Our Rock—our source of supernatural sustenance—is Christ. But notice that Paul says specifically that the rock which supplied the Israelites was Christ. This may just be Paul drawing closed the net of his analogy. But there is another point here: “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8:58) This is a testimony to the pre-existence of Christ. Jesus already existed before Abraham. And that means that it was Jesus who was supplying the needs of the Israelites. That is why this whole comparison is not simply an analogy. We have the same source of protection, deliverance, and sustenance that the Israelites had, because that source of Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Notice the repetition of the word 'all' in these verses. These things were not the privilege of a select few Israelites. All passed through the Red Sea; all were overshadowed by the pillar of cloud; all ate of the manna and drank of the water. This was a communal experience. All of them experienced these blessings and advantages. Just as all of the church—at least, in the sense of all true Christians—have experienced these blessings and advantages.

And that puts in bold relief the ominous turn of verse 5: “But with many of them God was not well pleased.” All of the Israelites came out of Egypt, but not all of them came into Canaan; the vast majority of them didn't. The vast majority died in the wilderness. They all started well, but few ended well. Many ran in that race, but only two received the prize. And the implication is that even though Christians have experienced so many blessings of God, they may still fail to make it to the promised land.

Why? What happened to the Israelites to prevent them from reaching Canaan? And what can prevent us from making it spiritually?

They lusted after evil things. The word translated 'lust' here means: “to set the heart upon, i.e. long for (rightfully or otherwise):--covet, desire, would fain, lust (after).” (Strong 1937) It doesn't necessarily mean sexual lust but any strong desire.

This may be a reference to Numbers 11:4-6: “And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.” The children of Israel—particularly the mixed multitude, that is, those Egyptians who had joined themselves to the Israelites during the Exodus—began complaining because they desired meat. Even though they had received supernatural food straight from Heaven, they complained because it wasn't the food they wanted.

And here is the interesting thing. Paul says they lusted after evil or evil things. But food isn't really evil. Food is only food. And so it could be that Paul is referencing another incident—but most of the time when the Israelites fell through desire, it was a desire for something (in and of itself) good—for safety, for sustenance, and even for the Promised Land itself. 

But we see what happened in Numbers 11. God showed that He had the power to grant their request. But their grumbling and rebellion had a consequence. “And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.” (Numbers 11:33) Many people died and were buried there, at a place they referred to as “The Graves of Lust.”

What they desired, in and of itself, was not wrong. But it became a great evil to them— they were desiring something outside God's will and, in so doing, were rebelling against God's direction, and so it became evil, both in the sins of being a sin but also in the sense of being a danger, a bane, a curse. They allowed themselves to be controlled by desire, and they were destroyed by it.

And that is where this suddenly comes back to the main point. Because some within the Corinthian church had desires, desires for something (in and of itself) innocent—specifically, they had a desire for meat, meat which might have been offered to idols. Here Paul is warning them that such a desire, though technically innocent, could still become a sin. A Christian should not be controlled by desire, even a desire for innocent things, even sometimes for good things—because when such desire takes control, it becomes evil. That's how Paul could say back in chapter 8 that, if necessary, he would abstain from meat altogether—he was not controlled by his physical desires. He was willing to deny them, to pin his own desires to the mat, if that was what it took.

Next, Paul tells them not to become idolaters. Here Paul directly references the story of Aaron building the golden calf. Exodus 32:6 describes that idolatrous celebration: “And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.”

It appears that Aaron did not intend to introduce a new god; the golden calf was meant to be a visible representation of Jehovah. So, the people were idolaters but not polytheists. But Paul here applies this to the more general issue of idolatry in Corinth. I won't belabor this point since Paul will come back and talk about it in more detail later in the chapter. Suffice it to say here that a Christian must, under all circumstances, avoid falling into idolatry, whatever form that takes.

He goes in verse 8 to tell them to avoid fornication. The first century, by and large, had a very lax view of sexual ethics, and the Christian ideal of chastity was something strange. But I think, given the context, Paul has a larger point beyond simply a call to purity. We need to look at the story that Paul is referencing from the Old Testament. This is the story of how the Moabites tried to destroy the Israelites (after the failure of their previous plan of placing a curse on them). “And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.” (Numbers 25:1-2)

Do you see the progression? The men of Israel were enticed by lust in physical relations with the women of Moab. And that then led to idolatry. And that idolatry led to a plague from God in which tens of thousands died. (Paul lists the casualties as 23,000 while Numbers gives it as 24,000. Probably these are both intended to be ballpark figures and not exact. However, many commentaries suggest that Paul is counting only those who died in the plague and not the additional men who were executed by the community.)

And the point to understand was that still, in Paul's day, there was a link between fornication and idolatry. Many idol temples also functioned as brothels. Sexual desires could easily lead to idolatry, just as was the case for the Israelites. This reiterates the point about self-control and not allowing the desires to have control.

Next, Paul tells them not to tempt Christ. The word translated 'tempt' means 'to test thoroughly.' (Strong, 1598) We usually think of it in the sense of a solicitation to evil because that is one of the main ways in which we are tested, but the word has a broader range of meanings than that. Albert Barnes explains: “when used with reference to God, it means, to try his patience, to provoke his anger, or to act in such a way as to see how much he will bear, and how long he will endure the wickedness and perverseness of men. The Israelites tempted him, or tried his patience and forbearance, by rebellion, murmuring, impatience, and dissatisfaction with his dealings.”

How were the Corinthians tempting (or in danger of tempting) God? We don't know for sure. Barnes suggests that by playing fast and loose with idolatry, they were deliberately putting themselves into dangerous positions and trusting God to save them—this is the spiritual equivalent of jumping off a cliff and expecting God to catch you.

However, there may be another idea. I want to look at the passage from the Old Testament that Paul references. “And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.  And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.” (Numbers 21:4-6)

The Israelites fell into a time of great discouragement. This was after they had failed to enter Canaan and had begun their forty years of wandering. They had gone through a difficult time and so acted out in anger—against Moses and against God.

And this parallels the final point Paul makes—we should not murmur. There were some of the Israelites who murmured and were destroyed by God. (The reference here to 'the destroyer' seems to mean an angel sent to execute God's sentence, the angel of death, if you will.) There is debate about what passage Paul is referencing here because, truth be told, there are quite a few places in the Pentateuch that would match this description. For our purposes, I want to consider it with Numbers 21. The way in which the Israelites tempted God was by complaining, by murmuring. They complained that God hadn't brought them into Canaan—even though it was their own fault and not God's. They even complained about Manna which they refer to as light bread: Jamieson-Fausset-Brown interprets this as: “bread without substance or nutritious quality. The refutation of this calumny appears in the fact, that on the strength of this food they performed for forty years so many and toilsome journeys.”

Think of that—God gave man supernatural bread straight from Heaven, bread which seems to have had supernatural properties as well as origin. And people complained. Matthew Henry asks: “What will those be pleased with whom manna will not please?”

God had given them so much and they were not satisfied and kept asking for more. And yet, at the same time, they had personally seen, over and over, God actively step on the stage and bring judgment and yet they didn't hesitate to test His limits again. At that point, we have to ask: how could they be so stupid?

And we, as Christians, have received so many blessings from God. We have received deliverance from sin and a new nation, a new identity. And we also have many solemn reminders of God's judgment. The Corinthians, perhaps, had seen God's miraculous power manifested in concrete ways. Some of you, perhaps, have seen that as well. And having seen all that, how stupid would it be for us to murmur against God's leading and try to test His limits? How stupid is it for us to presume upon God's mercy and forbearance?

The whole point of this passage is summarized in verse 12: “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” The Israelites had received so many blessings from God—you would think if any group in the Old Testament would have been safe, would have had their future guaranteed it would have been them. And yet they sinned, and nearly all of them were destroyed and never made the promised land. We, as Christians, have received so many blessings from God—you would think if any group in the world would be safe, would have a guaranteed future, it would be us. And yet there is still the possibility, the danger that we may sin and be destroyed and never make the promised land. 

That is how this all connects back to chapter 9. Do you remember what Paul said in closing there? “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (1 Corinthians 9:27) Paul knew that despite all he had done as a Christian, he still had the possibility of backsliding, and so tried to live a life of carefulness and self-discipline. And if that was necessary for Paul, it is necessary for all Christians.

Paul is giving a warning, but with it he also gives an encouragement. He says that all temptations we face are common to man. That can be literally translated as human temptations. This means any battle we face is a battle someone else has fought and won. Often, especially for young people, our problems may seem like the worst problem anyone has ever had. But most things we experience are common, and any problem we face has been faced by others. 

But this also means that our problems are such as fitted for our state. Darby translates this: “No temptation has taken you but such as is according to man's nature.” God does not ask mere mortals to do the work of titans. 

And there is one thing we can hold on to, even in temptation—and that is the faithfulness of God. Even if the world, the flesh, and the devil are against us, God is for us, and if God is for us, who can be against us? Paul says that God will make a way of escape. No battle is unwinnable. No temptation is irresistible. No burden is truly unbearable. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown points out that Paul says we will be able to bear the temptation—this means of escape doesn't necessarily mean that God will take away the temptation, just that He will make us able to face it. Sometimes, God parts the sea; sometimes, he gives us a boat and some oars. But there is always a way.

That is the thin edge of comfort and warning. Anyone can be tempted. Anyone can fall; anyone can stand. We see this in the life of David. Saul hated David and was actively trying to kill him. David was handed a golden opportunity to kill Saul in a moment and he didn't. And yet Uriah the Hittite did nothing to David and had no animosity to him. And David laid out a cunning plan in order to murder him. 

No one is beyond temptation, and no one is beyond hope. The greatest Christian can fall. The weakest Christian can stand.