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by Katie Erickson

For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. N
ow these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did —and were killed by the destroying angel.
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
- 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Paul starts a new section of his letter to the first-century Corinthian church with this passage. He starts out with a history lesson about the people of Israel during the time of the exodus, and then he uses that to instruct the people on how they should live, giving them a warning against doing the same things ancient Israel did. But this section is still connected to the previous chapters; Paul just challenged them to live lives of self-discipline, and now he’s giving them an example of how not to do that.

Although Paul is writing to both Jews and Gentiles, he refers to ancient Israel as “our ancestors” (verse 1). Even though the Gentiles were not direct descendants of Israel, they are spiritual descendants, since Jesus and therefore salvation came out of that nation. Israel being “under the cloud” means that they were under God’s guidance. God appeared to Israel in the form of a cloud, as referenced in Exodus 13:21 and Numbers 9:15-23. As the cloud, God gave them guidance on where and when to go to keep following Him.

Israel was “baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (verse 2), meaning they were in a relationship with God through the leadership of Moses. Again, the reference to the cloud is to show God’s glory, and the reference to the sea represents God’s redemption and leadership.

Paul gives references to food and drink in verses 3-4. He calls them spiritual food and drink, but they were also physical objects. God provided manna and quail for them to eat while in the wilderness (Exodus 16), and He provided water for them to drink. The Israelites drank water from a rock in the wilderness (Exodus 17:1-7 and Numbers 20:1-14). Just like that water saved their physical lives, so the rock of Christ also saved their spiritual lives.

Yet God was still not pleased with Israel, and “their bodies were scattered in the wilderness” (verse 5). Even though He provided for them, God had to acknowledge that Israel did not truly desire to worship Him and follow Him all the time.

Paul goes on in verse 6 to tell the Corinthian people, and us, that these historical events also serve as examples to teach us how to live. We, too, have received blessings and provision from God as Israel did, yet we also have a tendency to turn away from Him and not follow Him with our lives. Israel set their hearts on evil things even in the midst of God’s provision for them, and we should be warned not to do the same thing.

In verses 7-8, Paul brings up two ideas from the Ten Commandments (idolatry and sexual immorality) that the Corinthian people were specifically guilty of. While breaking any of the commandments can be traced back to idolatry of some sort, Paul specifically references Exodus 32:6 here, which is in the narrative of Israel building and worshiping the golden calf. Paul also references the narrative of Israel joining with Baal of Peor in Numbers 25:1-9 where idolatry was committed through sexual immorality.

In verse 9, Paul includes himself in saying that “we should not test Christ.” Neither ancient Israel, nor the people of first-century Corinth, nor modern-day Christians should grumble against God and test Him to see what He will do. The specific mention of being “killed by the destroying angel” in verse 10 could refer to the situation with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in Numbers 16.

Essentially, Paul is bringing up multiple examples from the history of Israel to warn the people not to do those same things. As he writes in verses 11-12, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” The Corinthians may have thought they were standing firm on Christ, but they still need to stay alert and vigilant and not get complacent in their faith.

Verse 13 is one of those verses that often gets taken out of context: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” We like to look at that verse and apply it to any temptation we have, but we need to remember what comes before that verse. Look at all that Israel went through and how they responded. Temptation is unavoidable in this sinful world, but just as God provided for Israel even when they turned away from Him, God will provide for us. God won’t necessarily take away our temptations, but our relationship with Him will help us stand firm and get through the temptation.

This passage shows us just one reason that the Old Testament history books are important for even us 21st-century Christians to study. While our historical context is different than Israel, people are still people, and our nature has not really changed. We still mess up and don’t trust God as we should. We still commit idolatry in a lot of ways. But God is still faithful through it all! We can be encouraged by reading the struggles of ancient Israel to know that even though we’re just as sinful as they were, God will continue to love us, provide for us, and call us back to Him just as He did with Israel.

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