Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

1 Corinthians 10:5

The apostle had just given the Christians at Corinth a warning about the possibility of being “disqualified” by God even though they were part of his chosen people under the New Covenant (9:24-27; cf. 1 Pet. 2:9).  To further illustrate the danger of falling from grace due to unrepentant sin (cf. Gal. 5:4; Heb. 10:26-31), he now directs their attention to the example of Old Testament Israel.

Paul might have had in mind his fellow Jews who were among the saints at Corinth when he speaks of the Israelites in Moses’ time as “our fathers” (10:1a).  Yet it is also possible that he was thinking of a more spiritual line of descent since Israel, having been God’s chosen people under the Mosaic covenant, would serve as a copy and shadow of Christians, God’s chosen people under Christ’s covenant (cf. Heb. 10:1; Rom. 2:28-29; James 1:1; Gal. 3:7, 29; 6:16).

Regardless, he describes Israel’s sanctified relationship with God by first pointing to how God delivered them from bondage by bringing them through the Red Sea (10:1-2).  In doing so he describes how the Israelites were “all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea” (10:1b).  Moses wrote of how “the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way” (Ex. 13:21-22).  Now the inspired apostle adds that this cloud was also above the Israelites as they walked between the walls of water.  Since clouds are also composed of H₂O, one could say that Israel was completely surrounded by water – the cloud being above them and the Red Sea on either side of them.  This is why Paul says that they “were baptized (baptizo, literally immersed or submerged) into Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (10:2).  Just as one is completely surrounded by water while being baptized (baptizo, immersed, submerged) for the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2:38; 8:35-39; 22:16), Israel had also been surrounded by water during their escape from Egyptian bondage.

Thus, Israel’s Red Sea crossing also serves as a copy and shadow of what baptism does for Christians today.  Israel had not been fully saved from Egyptian bondage until after they had been “baptized…in the cloud and in the sea” and God destroyed their captors who were pursuing them (10:2; cf. Ex. 14:13, 21-22, 26-30).  Subsequently, they had journeyed to Sinai where God gave them the Law of Moses (Ex. 19-40); this is why Paul also says they had been “baptized into Moses” (10:2).  In like manner, under the New Covenant when one obeys the gospel they are “baptized into Christ” (Rom. 6:1-4; Gal. 3:27) and are thus set free from bondage to sin (Rom. 6:3-18).  After baptism, the newly made Christian learns Christ’s laws (Matt. 28:19-20) just as Israel had been taught Moses’ laws after their baptism in the Red Sea.

Paul then points out that all of Israel “ate the same spiritual food, and…drank the same spiritual drink” (10:3-4a).  Since he immediately mentions how “they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them” (10:4b), we can reasonably conclude that the “spiritual food” and “spiritual drink” were the manna that daily came from heaven (Ex. 16) and the water that miraculously came from a rock (Ex. 17).  Paul likely called this food and drink “spiritual,” even though it was technically physical in nature, because of the divinely miraculous way it was provided to the Israelites.  This conclusion is further bolstered by his revealing that the “Rock” which provided them water and “followed them” through the wilderness (cf. Ps. 78:16; 105:41) “was Christ” (10:4c), thus showing that God the Word (John 1:1, 14) was directly providing for them.

Corinth could now clearly see that Israel had been God’s chosen people whom he had saved and for whom he daily provided…and yet in the end he was not pleased with them and they still died in the wilderness because of their sins (10:5-10).  This served as an example and warning for the Christians in Corinth, and it is an example and warning for us today (10:6, 11).  We’ll study this in further detail next week, Lord willing.

— Jon