Lesson for July 17, 2022
The Book of I Corinthians
Chapter 10:1-13
Verses 1-4
“For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.”
Paul used the story of the Exodus from captivity in Egypt to warn those believers who were following false teaching. These verses are regarding the failure of a past Jewish generation, the Exodus generation. The failure of the Exodus generation cannot be blamed on God in any way; He graciously provided everything that they needed. God constantly guided the children of Israel. So, Paul warns the believers in Corinth not to follow the pattern of the Exodus generation. These Corinthian believers were in danger of being totally infiltrated by religion like the Jews of the Exodus generation were with pagan religion. Being unaware means to be ignorant of the facts and believers have no excuse for being ignorant of God and His Word. The Greek word for unaware is “agnoeo” from which we get the English word “agnostic.” Agnostic was originally used for ignorance. The worst thing for any believer is to be ignorant of God’s Word.
The cloud was God’s system of guidance and provision for the Israelites during the Exodus from Egypt. Wherever they moved, it would have been exactly where God wanted them to be, if they followed the cloud. (Exodus 13:21-22; 14:19-20) They failed to listen to Moses, God’s spokesman, and ignored God’s words. The more of God’s Word we know, the more we can be guided by and obey God.
All passed through the sea was a reference to divine deliverance from being recaptured or killed by Pharaoh. (Exodus 14:13-29) Pharaoh pursued the Israelites until they reached the Red Sea. The Israelites became very frightened when they saw Pharaoh pursuing them and started blaming Moses and God for bringing them out of Egypt to be killed. Despite their lack of faith, God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites passed through it on dry land, but the Egyptians, while pursuing them, drowned in the sea.
We can also be delivered from seeming impossible situations by relying on our two power options – the filling of the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine. These power options will protect and deliver any believer from any situation in life when we avail ourselves of them.
And all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. The word baptized always refers to identification, as it does here. The Baptism of Moses was
when the Israelites finally identified with Moses as God’s chosen leader, and when they became calm enough to move in an orderly fashion through the Red Sea. It was the angel of God (the cloud – Jesus Christ) Who dried up the sea and allowed them to pass through it on dry land.
And all ate the same spiritual food. Spiritual food refers to the physical food that God provided for the Israelites every day, in the same manner that he provides for us one day at a time. It was spiritual because it was a grace provision from God. The Israelites certainly did not deserve this “heavenly (spiritual) food,” which we know as manna. Manna means “what is it” in Hebrew. (Exodus 16:2-5) Manna (heavenly bread) was a beautiful type of Christ and a source of teaching them about the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ according to Jesus in John 6:47-51. Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life for those who choose to partake of it by placing their faith in Jesus as their Savior.
And all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. God miraculously provided water (spiritual drink) when the Israelites complained about no water in Exodus 17. When Moses struck a rock, water came out of it. They failed to recognize the One Who had been following them, protecting them, and providing for them, Jesus Christ, the Rock. He was in the pillar of the cloud and the pillar of fire. Jesus Christ is and always will be the King of the Jews. He was their king in the Old Testament, and He was their king on the Cross when He was paying for their sins.
Verse 5
“Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.”
Hebrews 3:6-4:2 gives the explanation and the consequences of continually disobeying God.
God was not well-pleased means that Israel failed to operate under faith-rest, meaning they failed to trust God. The thing that pleases God is faith (Hebrews 11:6). And faith makes us realize that we need God’s guidance, provision, and protection. Faith-rest recognizes helplessness of human power, while recognizing that God has the power to provide everything we need. Faith-rest doesn’t mean that we do not have problems – it means we have a way to handle our problems by using the Faith-Rest Technique and the other Problem-Solving Devices. As a nation, the Israelites failed to put their problems in God’s hands and didn’t use faith-rest. The tragic result was that those who came out from Egypt never entered the Promised Land.
Verses 6-7
“Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.’”
These things is a reference to the Exodus generation’s forty years of desert wandering. It was a two-week journey to the Promised Land if they had only obeyed God. This generation rejected faith-rest, resulting in creating a vacuum in their souls which became filled with evil.
To lust (crave) after evil things like the Israelites is explained by verse 7. “Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.”When Moses, for example, went up the mountain to get the Law from God, the Israelites began worshipping idols. They lusted for some type of “god” they could see. So, they made themselves one – a golden calf. The calf was one of the gods of Egypt.
Today people have different types of gods. They worship money, success, and pleasure. Lusting (craving) after the things of this world system, and rejecting Christ as Savior, leads to eternity in the Lake of Fire. For believers, lusting after these things leads to self-induced misery and/or divine discipline.
Verses 8-11
“Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”
In these verses we have three results of idolatry which infiltrated the church in Corinth. The first result was immorality because of the infiltration and influences of pagan religion, as it had been with the Exodus generation. Twenty-three thousand Israelites died in one day according to Numbers 25.
The second result was testing God by questioning His motives for rescuing them from captivity, saying that He had brought them into the wilderness to die. So, the Lord sent fiery serpents to bite them, and many died in the wilderness as a result of their rebellious attitude toward God and Moses. After many died, they admitted their sinfulness and God instructed Moses to make a fiery serpent and place it on a pole. After doing as God had instructed, all those who were still alive were told to look up at the bronze serpent and live. (Numbers 21)
The third result was complaining. Grumbling is a type of unbelief, dissatisfaction with divine provision. It is having an ungrateful attitude toward God for His provision. We must also learn to be grateful for even the hardships in life. Quite often these situations are used by God to teach us valuable lessons. They can also reveal areas of weakness with which we need to deal. How we handle these hardships can be a springboard to advance us in the Christian Way of Life by increasing our faith in God and our dependence upon God. (I Corinthians 15:54-57; I Thessalonians 5:18)
Verse 12
“Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”
One of the many hindrances to the Christian life is arrogance. When a believer thinks he has “arrived spiritually,” he is in danger of entering the arrogance complex of sins. Arrogance comes in many forms: self-justification, self-deception, self-absorption, and self-righteousness.
Self-justification is illustrated for us in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Adam blamed Eve for his failure and Eve blamed Satan. (Genesis 3:8-13) Self-justification rejects any personal responsibility for your actions.
Self-deception is another deadly form of arrogance, as we see from I John 1:8-10. When a person is involved in practicing any pattern of sin over a prolonged period of time, it is easy to deceive yourself into believing that what you are doing is not sin at all. Self-deception can also be thinking about self in a conceited manner. For example, thinking that you are better, holier, more spiritual, or closer to God than other believers. Self-deception can lead a person right into self-absorption.
Self-absorption is total preoccupation with self. The scriptural illustration of this form of arrogance is the Rich Young Ruler of Matthew 19:16-22. Here we have a story of a man who came to Jesus asking what he could do to inherit eternal life. Jesus illustrated to this man that he was a sinner in need of a Savior. It is the Rich Young Ruler’s self-absorption that kept him out of Heaven. Blinded by his riches and possessions, he was unwilling to recognize his need for a Savior.
Self-righteousness totally ignores God’s righteousness, in an attempt to establish one’s own righteousness. Normally this is attempted by some form of human good works. Paul recognized it in the nation of Israel in Romans 10:2-3.
Verse 13
“No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
The phrase, “no temptation” had two concepts and both of them are in view. The first concept of temptation was a solicitation to evil. That was the way it was generally used. The second concept of temptation was testing under pressure for the purpose of spiritual growth and stability. “No testing has overtaken you” is a better translation of “no temptation has overtaken you.” All believers have these tests in common. You are never given something that you cannot handle. The faithfulness of God is always working things out for those who love Him. We often fail but God never fails!!!! (Romans 8:28)
God will not permit us to be tested beyond our ability to handle it. We will never be tempted or tested beyond our capacity to resist, to overcome, or handle the test. God knows that each one of us has a different capacity and He tests us accordingly. Testing is all undeserved suffering that comes to us when we are in fellowship, for our spiritual growth. (I Peter 1:6-9)
The way of escape is application of Bible doctrine to the testing. The operation of the Faith-Rest Technique is always appropriate, whereby believers place their worries, anxieties, pressures of life, fear, and problems in God’s hands. When we do this consistently, we have arrived at the point where we are spiritually self-sustaining and spiritually independent. In other words, we are living our own lives by means of the doctrine in our souls and using accurate doctrine to pass the challenges and the tests of life. When we do this, we become a very relaxed person because we are not focusing on the problem, but on God’s solution. The Faith-Rest Technique must always include fellowship with God and the filling of the Holy Spirit to be effective. (II Peter 2:9)