The theme of I Corinthians 10:1-13 is drawing lessons from baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Paul was in Corinth in the winter of 50 to summer of 51, for which see Acts 18:1-17. A letter came from Corinth by way of Stephanus, Fortunatus, and Acharcus. His companions are Sosthenes, Aquilla and Prisca, and Apollos. He writes from Ephesus. Written in Fall of 54, it is the second letter to Corinth. Paul's conversations with the Corinthians take on various tones throughout his letters. At times, he harangues, sometimes he pleads; elsewhere he criticizes, cajoles or convinces.
One might entitle this passage “Lessons From baptism and the Eucharist, drawn from the Exodus experience of Israel.” The passage warns against spiritual complacency in the church that may result from an unhealthy view of baptism and the Lord’s Supper by drawing lessons from the Israelite experience in the wilderness. Paul’s response to the presumed superiority of some of the Corinthian believers is to emphasize their similarity to and connection with the Israelites. By referring to “our ancestors,” Paul helps the largely gentile church of Corinth to view itself as part of the people of God that began with the choice of the Jewish people by God. Throughout the letter to this point, Paul has been addressing a list of beliefs and practices that he believes are inconsistent with what he had previously taught the Corinthian believers. He expresses concern about the presence of factions in the community (1:1-4:21), sexual immorality (5:1-13), lawsuits brought by believers against one another (6:1-8), fornication (6:12-20), marriage practices (7:1-40), and participating in banquets in which the meat had been dedicated to a pagan god, a practice he considers idolatrous (8:1-13). In 9:1-26 Paul launches rather abruptly into a vigorous defense of his status and rights as an apostle that represents a digression from the topic of idolatry, but in 10:1-13 he returns to the issue of idolatry, so that one should understand this passage as closely related to Paul’s concerns in 8:1-13.
This passage is from a larger portion of Paul's letter, 8:1-11:1, which is devoted to the problem of offerings to idols. This subunit it is a warning against spiritual complacency from the history of the Israelite exodus. Paul usually employs the expression to introduce a point of important Christian doctrine or experience. Since Paul is writing to a largely Gentile audience, he cannot presuppose precise knowledge of Israel's exodus experience on the part of his hearers or readers, in spite of his inclusion of those Gentiles when he uses the expression "our ancestors" (v. 1). Throughout this passage, Paul will pass over historical and logical precision in order to capture and hold his hearers' attention. By claiming membership in the household of faith, the Corinthian Christians become spiritual descendants of those punished in the wilderness for their lack of faith. Thus, by repeating "all" five times in the first four verses, Paul precludes the Corinthians from excluding themselves from the account of Israel's infidelity and forces that largely Gentile body to adhere to Paul's narrative plan.
In this text, Paul is continuing his response to the questions some Corinthians had posed previously about eating meat that people had offered to idols. Paul has already urged the Corinthians to be like athletes (9:25) and "exercise self-control in all things." However, he now turns to established Scriptural examples to demonstrate the serious ramifications that this situation may have on the life of faith. They become an extended lesson in the many ways the people of Israel proved unfaithful to the God who called both them and the church in Corinth from their previous lives. There are many different ways in which the writers of the New Testament interpreted the Old Testament, but in I Corinthians 10:1-13 Paul’s treatment of the narratives in Exodus and Numbers related to Israel’s experience in the wilderness stands out among them in a striking fashion. The unit is a peculiar one within this letter. With this piece, Paul manages to rehearse briefly portions of the exodus story — including some of its odd tidbits and a few Pauline adaptations — to a church predominantly composed of Gentiles (12:2). Not only does he assume the Gentiles’ familiarity with the exodus narrative (as he did earlier in 5:6-8), but he also makes this fundamental story of Israel and her origins a story belonging to the heritage of this Gentile Corinthian church.
In 10:1-4, Paul first argues that the Israelites in the wilderness are analogous to the Corinthian believers, including their possession of sacraments. He is sharing the advantages of their Israelite ancestors that the church shares. Paul wants his readers to develop a strong sense of how yesterday affects them today. Without it, they are unlikely to develop a strong sense of how their decisions today will affect tomorrow. Only when they have perspective on their own lives will they move beyond immediate gratification.[1] 10:1 Expressing a similar concern in Romans 11:25, I Corinthians 12:1, II Corinthians 1:8, and I Thessalonians 4:13, Paul says 1I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors, an intriguing reference, given the largely Gentile nature of the congregations in Corinth. Yet, he invites them to consider that they share in the Jewish story. He encourages the church to adopt the history of Israel as part of its history. Given their tendency to boast in their knowledge and wisdom, one might wonder if Paul is chiding them here. How can these non-Jews possibly claim Moses as their father? He will refer to special signs of the care God showed to the Israelites. He is stressing that the “body of Christ,” which He will describe in Chapter 12-14, is not the beginning of the people of God. They are the continuation of the record of the dealing God has with a people. “Our ancestors” were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. The cloud and sea referred to by Paul were the pre-eminent signs and wonders of God's salvific acts on behalf of liberated Israel (Exodus 13:21-22; 14:19-29; 33:9-10). Paul is going to make the point that the church is not the first to receive the benefits of Christ. Thus, he is re-telling the story of liberation and wilderness with an Christological twist. Paul’s Christology is wide-reaching, and thus locating Christ in the Exodus event is no stranger to Paul than identifying Christ’s continuing presence in the church of his own time. Yet, I hope we shall see that Paul is making a deeper theological point. 2 Further, all were baptized (ἐβαπτίσαντο)[2] into Moses. No Jewish scriptural references or Midrash makes any similar references to being "baptized into Moses." Yet, most scholars see Paul as identifying the Red Sea event as an initiation rite into a fellowship of believers--as does the act of Christian baptism. The narrative in Exodus recounting Israel's miraculous escape through the sea takes pains to state that the Israelites remained dry while passing through the waters, a detail Paul disregards in his employment of the image to symbolize baptism. Combined with the statement in verse 4 that the rock referred to is Christ, such a statement as baptism in Moses is typology for Christ. Baptism becomes the first step of human obedience.[3] Thus, our ancestors were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. First, they travelled under the cloud (Exodus 14:21-31), a sign of the presence of God guiding them in their journey. For Paul, the Holy Spirit guides the church. Second, they passed through the sea (Exodus 13:21-22; 14:19), the time of their liberation from slavery in Egypt. Baptism is a sign of liberation from sin. He employs language Paul uses elsewhere in exclusively Christological contexts: Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27; 1 Corinthians 12:13 (where the "one body" into which the believers are baptized is the body of Christ). Third, they also 3 all ate the same spiritual food, the manna and the quail (Exodus 16:4, 35). For him, manna, not the sacrificial system, prefigures the Eucharist. Fourth, they even 4 all drank the same spiritual (πνευματικὸν) drink when Moses struck the rock and water flowed from it (Exodus 17:5-6). For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Paul appears to be using "spiritual" in a double sense: to describe something provided by God's particular, supernatural action, and that which has spiritual (or in this case, typological) significance or benefit to its recipients. All of this is a sign of the spiritual nourishment provided by the Lord’s Supper. According to Paul, the spiritual rock that "followed" the Israelites (the Exodus narrative says nothing about the rock moving with the Hebrews) was, of course, Christ, whose protecting presence transcends time and place. Paul's Eucharistic language in verses 3-4 foreshadows his fuller discussion of the theological implications of the Eucharist in verses 16-22. It suggests that Christ has a spiritual presence in bread and wine, and that Christ lets himself be taken in that form.[4] Thus, Israelite experiences prefigure the sacramental experience of the church. Two influences may have prompted Paul's interjection of Christ into this Old Testament wilderness scene. First, theologically Paul recognizes a preexistent Christ who is present and working with God throughout all recorded history. Thus, Christ, just as much as God, is the provider of the gifts of food and drink to the Israelites. Statements such as this suggest that the preexistence of Christ is not a marginal phenomenon that occurs only in the hymns in Colossians 1:15-17 and Hebrews 1:2 and the Gospel of John.[5] Second, Paul may have found this "spiritual rock" image particularly appealing in light of some rabbinic teachings that postulated only one rock responsible for the several gifts of water (at Kadesh, Numbers 20:2-13; at Horeb, Exodus 17:1-7; and at Beer, Numbers 21:16-20). This rabbinic theory postulated the existence of one rock that followed the people throughout their sojourn. We find this idea in Jewish tradition, with which Paul would have been familiar. Why would Paul have felt the need to show this similarity? Given some of the comments in this letter, the possibility exists that some of the Corinthians apparently felt that membership in the church resulted in a unique status in which the individual believer transcended common morality (e.g., the slogan of some of the Corinthians seems to have been “all things are allowable for me;” see 6:12; 10:23). Judging from what Paul writes to them, it seems they had misunderstood or distorted his teachings about the freedom of the justified Christian believer (see 8:1-13), or considered themselves nearly spiritual beings due to their reception of the Holy Spirit in baptism (Paul counters by addressing them as “fleshly” [sarkinoi] rather than “spiritual” [pneumatikoi] in 3:1). Paul’s response to this presumed superiority of some of the Corinthian believers is to emphasize their similarity to and connection with the Israelites. At the same time, the answer to the question might be simpler. It serves his purpose to show their similarity in receiving the blessing of the presence of God (or receiving baptism and the Lord’s Supper and therefore receiving Christ in advance) in order to warn them, given that Israel also experienced judgment from God.
Paul goes on to argue in 10:5-10 to warn his readers that the punishments meted out to the wilderness generation as a result of their sinfulness (idolatry) could just as well be visited upon their own present sinful behaviors. There is a theme running through this passage – namely, sin and its consequences. Paul reminds these new Christians that even though they experienced baptism, even though they share in the Eucharist, they still sin. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and God struck them down in the wilderness. The question Paul raises is whether God will be pleased with the Corinthians. 6 Now these things occurred as examples pr types (τύποι) for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. Exodus and Numbers record a series of rebellious acts. Midway in this text, Paul pauses from citing his historical examples to address directly his audience. Paul pointedly warns the Corinthians to take these examples to heart, lest they suffer a similar fate. Despite all the special provisions made for the Israelites, God found plenty of reasons to be displeased with the repeated disobedience of the people. God meted out significant punishment. First, 7 do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written in Exodus 32:6, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.” While they did all this, Moses had his shoes off receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. However, he is referring to the entire incident of the Golden Calf. Interestingly, Paul’s citation corresponds nicely to the Corinthians’ dilemma of eating meat sacrificed to idols — an issue that forms bookends around the section in which this sermon appears (8:1-13 and 10:14-30). Second, Paul builds upon the Hebrew verb in the original narrative -letsakheq – which has sexual connotations (see, e.g., Genesis 26:8; 39:17), which Paul makes explicit to condemn, in passing, the sexual immorality attributed to some in the Corinthian church (v. 8; see I Corinthians 5). 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality (πορνεύωμεν) as some of them did (Numbers 25:1-9), and twenty-three thousand (24,000 in Numbers) fell in a single day. The "twenty-three thousand" Paul says were slain in a single day for that offense is puzzling, since the original account (Exodus 32:28) indicates only "about three thousand" were executed by the Levites. For their sexual immorality with Moabite women and their worship of Baal of Peor, "24 thousand" Israelites perished by plague (Numbers 25:1-9). Paul, probably dictating from memory, may have conflated the two incidents in his mind. Third, 9 we must not put Christ[6] to the test, as some of them did in Numbers 21:4-9, and God destroyed them by serpents. Again, we see Paul putting Christ into the wilderness testing period of Israel. John 3:14-15 does the same thing. This sounds like a more general warning against wrong behavior. Fourth, 10 And do not complain as some of them did in Numbers 21:4-9, 16:4-50 as Korah’s rebellion, and were destroyed by the destroyer, a reference to the Passover story in Exodus 12:23 but also II Samuel 24:15-17. Given the severity of the previous members of this list, including complaining is a little surprising. In 1:10-13 Paul refers to the slogans around certain leaders, in Chapter 6, Paul addresses the issue of believers taking other believers to court, and in Chapter 8 he refers to division over meat offered to idols.
In 10:11-13, Paul suggests that the Corinthians are in a similar situation as were the Israelites in the wilderness. God will provide a path of escape. Yet, they are in great danger. However, Paul is ready to share the good news. Things do not have to end with the Corinthians the way they did with the wilderness generation. 11 These things happened to them to serve as an example (τύποι), and they were written down to instruct us, who stand at a critical time, on whom the ends of the ages have come. Paul means both that the monitory stories of Israel will provide the Corinthians with heuristic material to avoid similar pitfalls in their own experience, and that the imminence of Christ's second coming will end the period of the Corinthians' temptation before many have succumbed. He advises them to exercise care. 12 So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. Here are three ideas that have provided comfort for believers in every age. First, he reminds them testing is common to everyone and therefore 13 No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. Most of us do not like being tested, whether in school or beyond. Some students get test anxiety and cannot perform at their best. Second, God is faithful, and, third he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. The point is to counterbalance the dire warnings that have preceded this statement. It addresses those so despondent that they think it useless to struggle with temptation. Part of God's faithfulness is not to allow us to encounter circumstances that we cannot withstand. Yet, the overall point is that God can still overthrow them. God had chosen Israel. God chooses the church. Yet, God can still act in judgment against a rebellious people. They can remember that their new identity in Christ links them to a heritage in which God acts in deliverance, or they can betray the God who delivered them, as some of the Israelites did in the wilderness. They must learn from the mistakes of their ancestors and trust that God can guide them away from the temptations that could destroy God’s people. He concludes by saying that based upon what he has said, and he calls them friends, they are to flee from the worship of idols. He speaks to them as sensible people. They are to judge for themselves what he has written.
On the practical side, Paul is warning the Corinthian congregation that this moment is their wilderness journey that involves the type of tests and temptations that the Israelites experienced in their wilderness journey. Tests, trials, and temptations are common to us all. We can even have some good humor with it.
I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it. —Mae West.
The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. —Oscar Wilde.
I couldn’t help it. I can resist everything except temptation. —Oscar Wilde.
Don’t worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you. —Winston Churchill.
Paul reminds us that sin is unoriginal. The Israelites had plenty of signs of the presence of God. Yet, they sinned. They are an example that while sin is unoriginal, temptation works. Paul has a concern that as the Israelites experienced testing in the wilderness and sinned, so will the Corinthians. The word temptation is somehow seductively attractive as a marketing ploy. Madison Avenue uses temptation metaphors to lure the consumer into a sale. The word itself also appears as a name or title of products, as for example, perfume, a former Fox TV game show, a TV reality series, a record label, singing groups, resorts, sailboats, and numerous movie titles have used the word. Maybe that is why sin lacks originality. Seduction is subtle that way.
There is a children's book that tells about a god who created a perfect world. Everything was exactly as it should be. There was no pain. No suffering. No anger. Friends and family were all very predictably nice and wonderful. The weather was always just right. When you golfed, you hit a hole-in-one on every hole. There was only one problem. It was boring. Therefore, a delegation of creatures went to the god who had created this perfect world and said, "Ah, god. We are grateful that you created this perfect world. Everything is just wonderful. Nothing is wrong. But we're going quietly nuts!" "Well," said the god, "then I'll have to make a world in which you make the choices."
Once we have the freedom to make choices, we know that we will do and say things of which we are ashamed. In order to cover up our shame, we must lie. In fact, Scott Peck wrote a book called People of the Lie. His conclusion was that we develop a personality, a mask in order to hide the real self that lurks behind the mask. We develop our personalities as the lie that we tell others. Only rarely do we allow others to see the real self.
Therefore, it can be quite freeing if we come to the point where we realize that we do not always have to get it right. We do not have to hit a hole in one every time. A book came out about the teaching of the church on original sin. The title of it was The Joy of Being Wrong. The joy! What a joy it is not to have to be right, not always to have to keep a clean slate. The reality is that we do not anyway.
Christians have the special joy of being wrong. Some people accuse Christians of having a pessimistic view of human nature by saying that all persons are sinners. I suggest another way to look at this. We can be honest about human nature because we have such an optimistic assessment of God's nature. Because it is of God's nature to forgive, we can confess honestly that it is of our nature to sin. Because God in Christ has set things right between God and us, we can admit that we are wrong.
There is great freedom in this honesty we call confession. Not to have to wear the masks, and act with pretense is a great gift. Not to be forced to lie about our flaws, our shortcomings, and our problems. This is great joy.
There is a Greek myth of Orestes and the Furies. The gods placed Orestes in the position of having to kill his own mother. For this, the gods condemned him to spend the rest of his life with the Furies tormenting him. He went throughout the world seeking to atone for his sin. Finally, he believed he had done so, and sought an audience with the gods. Apollo, the Greek god, defended Orestes by saying that he had placed the man in an impossible position, so that he would have to kill his mother. However, Orestes contradicted his own defender, "It was I, not Apollo that murdered my mother." The gods were amazed. Here he was, accepting responsibility for what he had done, rather than blaming the gods. They were so impressed that they transformed the Furies into the Eumenides, loving spirits who guided him to good fortune the rest of his life.[7]
At a theological level, Paul is hinting at the notion of a secret history of salvation that God reveals in Jesus Christ in is life, death, and resurrection, not disclosing fully until his coming in the beauty (glory) of the age to come. Paul sees Christ as a gracious and sacramental presence in the wilderness wandering of the Israelites. Simply reading the Old Testament text as we have it now, we would not guess this. Moses and the people of his time would not have named it this way. If what Paul says here has any validity, we must say that God hid in the presence of Christ in elements of the wilderness story to which Paul refers. Paul offers his interpretation in light of the resurrection and in the hope of its confirmation in the future disclosure of the beauty (glory) of God. I would suggest that as we read Paul, especially when he refers to the Old Testament, that we keep this notion in mind. Without it, some of his interpretations can seem far afield. However, if we keep in mind the confidence Paul had in the disclosure of the truth of God in Jesus Christ, many of his interpretations make sense. The disclosure of truth in Christ means that the truth was present all along in the history of Israel, and by extension in the history of all cultures. The church has the responsibility of witnessing to this truth and even naming it, given its hidden quality. The church humbly recognizes, of course, that it does not come to this discovery due to it being better than anyone else is. Rather, it acknowledges that the same Spirit at work in Christ is at work in us, bringing us by faith to open our eyes and ears.
[1] People who grow up without a sense of how yesterday has affected today are unlikely to have a strong sense of how today affects tomorrow. It is only when we have perspective on our lives that motives besides immediate gratification can come into play. —Lynne Cheney.
[2] The New Testament manuscripts, in some cases, employ the middle form ebaptisanto, "baptize themselves," reflecting the Jewish practice of self-baptism. However, the more likely reading is that adopted by the translators of the NRSV, the Greek passive ebaptisthesan, which conforms to Christian practice of submission to baptism by another.
[3] Barth, Church Dogmatics IV.4, p. 90.
[4] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume 3, 322.
[5] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume II, 369-70.
[6] (some early manuscripts have “the Lord”) The NRSV's translation reads "Christ" for "God" as the one to be tested -- yet another case of Paul's reading a pre-existent Christ into God's Old Testament activities.
[7] (M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Travelled, 294-295).
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