Warnings From Israel's History
1For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3They all ate the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.
Dig Deeper
One of my favorite memories as a child was sitting around on some nights listening to albums of Bill Cosby comedy routines with my parents. One routine in particular stands out in my memory in which Cosby tells a long story about a character of his named Fat Albert. He proceeds to tell a fairly long and extremely funny story and then, just when he gets to the end, he says "now I told you that story so I can tell you this one." Evidently, some in the Church in Corinth were teaching that the sacraments like baptism and communion were almost like magical talismans that gave them an immunity in the world, so they could do whatever they wanted. Paul, obviously disagrees with that point of view, and so he is going to tell them a story about the first people of God and the mistakes that they made in order to help them avoid the same mistakes. His ultimate point is still about their rights and freedoms, this time as it relates to communion, but for now, he is going to tell us this story so he can tell us about that one.
Paul begins in verse 1 with two interesting statements. The first is that he does not want them to be ignorant of the fact. He implies that he has something he wants them to learn, but he is also implying that whether by choice or lack of education, they are ignorant of a few things. The other fascinating thing that we don’t want to miss is that, in speaking of the Israelites, he refers to them as our forefathers. We must remember that the vast majority of the Corinthian Church was Gentile. Paul wants them to understand that as the people of God, the Israelites were their true ancestors. Distinctions made on race and biological ancestry were unimportant when it comes to being the people of God. The Israelites were their ancestors and they share a part in the ongoing story of God working through his people for the benefit of the world.
Paul really wants to stress, in this passage, is the continuity and parallels between the Israelites and people of God in Corinth. He will draw on at least five similarities to make his point. The first is not directly stated, but lies just beneath the surface. One of the issues Paul is still dealing with is the desire of some to eat meat. In Numbers 11:4, 13, we are told that one of the issues the Israelites had was their desire to eat meat. Paul also uses two other items to show continuity. They well knew that they were people born of spirit and water (John 3:5), and in fact, twice in this letter, Paul draws together the concepts of baptism and the Spirit (6:11; 12:13). Paul shows that the Israelites were also people of God with whom these concepts were present. They were led by the glory cloud, in which in some strange way, the presence of God was made manifest. He also sees the passing through of the Red Sea as a baptism of sorts (this is an idea original to Paul and shows that he is making a specific point here). In leaving their life in Egypt behind, they crossed the Red Sea and were baptized as Moses’ people. He wants them to see that the Spirit of God and the crossing of the Red Sea for the Israelites are like the Holy Spirit and baptism for them.
In verses 3 and 4, Paul hits the final two parallels that he wants the Church to see. All the Israelites ate from the same spiritually provided food and drink. He makes three points here. The first is that the food and drink were provided by God. The second is the emphasis on ‘all’, demonstrating that this unified them as God’s people. The third point is that they had the same provider then, Christ, that the Corinthians have now. The parallels, then, become obvious. Paul is clearly pointing to the bread and wine of the New Covenant communion, and this brings him precisely to his point that he will now begin to develop.
The Israelites had the provisions of God; they had the presence, the saving water, the bread, and the drink. Yet, they became rebellious. They had presumed upon God’s kindness, and He had become displeased with most of them. In fact, of the adults alive at the time, only Joshua and Caleb would actually see the promised land. The rest died in the desert. God’s provisions for His people, and even His presence did not guarantee their salvation. These things were all undeserved gifts given out of God’s mercy and grace to His people, but it didn’t mean that they couldn’t walk away from God. He had given them His presence, had brought them out of slavery through a baptism, and had sustained them with food and drink, but none of that got them to the promised land by themselves. And this is precisely what Paul wants them to grasp. They should not assume that just because they have been baptized into the life of Christ, shared in the community and presence of God, and have been eating and drinking the Communion, that they have automatically reached a status that requires no further effort, discipline, or moral restraint. Baptism really does bring one into the life of Christ and His community, and the communion does allow one to continue to share in that life but they aren’t magic. They are huge privileges that carry with them the huge responsibility of living the life of Christ. Most of the Israelites didn’t make it to the promised land. Paul does not want to say that same sad result in the Church that he has helped to build.
Devotional Thought
Do you see the gifts of God such as his presence, baptism, and the communion as a right given to the people of God or as an undeserved privilege that carry a great deal of responsibility? Have you taken these things for granted? In what ways have you been treating your baptism as a ‘get out of hell free’ card rather than a doorway to the life of Christ?
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