I. The Blessings That God’s People Receive Vs. 1-4
A. The Blessings That The Israelites Received
1. Here, Paul described the blessings that the Israelites received from God.
2. They had been slaves for 400 years, but God delivered them out of that bondage through ten miraculous works. God showed Himself all powerful over the spiritual powers of Egypt. God miraculously delivered them from bondage.
3. V. 1 Under the cloud-This speaks of the cloud of God’s presence which accompanied them in the desert after they were rescued from Egypt. The cloud accompanied them by day, reassuring them of God’s presence, and providing shade in the desert.
4. V. 1 Passed through the sea-God miraculously opened the Red Sea for them, and they passed through on dry land as they escaped the Egyptian army which pursued them.
5. V. 2 Baptized-The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about
200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be ‘dipped’ (baptô) into boiling water and then ‘baptised’ (baptizô) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptizing the vegetable, produces a permanent change. (blueletterbible.org)
a. The idea of “baptizing” isn’t just a matter of being submerged into water, but of being immersed and identified with something or someone.
b. We speak of being “baptized in the Holy Spirit”, i.e., immersed, overwhelmed, etc.
c. The Israelites were identified with Moses, who was the mediator between God and man. He represented God to the people and stood before God on behalf of the people.
d. That was seen by the fact that God led them by Moses and provided the cloud and the Red Sea experience for all of them, as they were connected to and led by Moses.
6. V. 3 The same spiritual food-God provided manna for them, which was a food substance that contained all the necessary nutrition needed and sustained them for 40 years.
7. V. 4 The same spiritual drink…Christ. Paul referred to (See Exodus 17:1-7).
B. The Blessings That Christians Receive
1. Vs. 6a, 11a Paul used the Israelites as a parallel example to the Christian. (To us)
2. The Christian was a slave to sin before being set free. (See Romans 6:16-23)
3. Compare verse 1-As the Israelites were accompanied by the cloud of God’s presence, the Christian is accompanied by the indwelling Spirit of God.
a. John 14:17, 18 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
4. Compare verse 2-Baptism speaks symbolically of the washing away of sins, but it also speaks of identification, union, oneness.
5. Compare verse 3-The Israelites fed upon the manna; the Christian, spiritually upon Jesus.
a. John 6:30-35 30 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” 32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” 35And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
6. Compare with verse 4-The pre-incarnate Jesus miraculously provided water for the Israelites. Jesus claimed to spiritually be the “water of life”, which we drink freely.
a. John 4:13, 14 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
II. Being God’s Child Doesn’t Excuse Ungodliness Vs. 5-13
A. God’s Displeasure With The Israelites Vs. 5, 6a
1. V. 5 When you consider all the blessings that God gave to the Israelites, you would have thought that they would be pleasing to God out of gratitude. The opposite was true.
a. Approximately 2 million people were rescued from Egypt. Only two adult men had the faith to enter the Promised Land of Israel. That first generation never made it.
b. In spite of having been chosen and blessed by God, they lusted after sinful things
2. V. 6 The Israelites became an example of how not to live. Chosen, but unfaithful.
B. Their Points Of Failure Vs. 6b-13
1. V. 6b The Corinthians couldn’t say “no” to their desires, including the issue of meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Their appetites were stronger than their love for the brethren with weaker consciences. They didn’t care if they stumbled other people’s faith.
a. God gave the Israelites manna, but they demanded meat. (Numbers 11)
b. The Corinthians had food, but they spiritually compromised to get certain food.
2. V. 7 Paul here refers to the incident found in Exodus 32. Moses went up to Mt. Sinai, and the Israelites grew impatient waiting for him, so they built a golden calf and danced around it sensually and worshipped it. They were impatient with God.
a. Paul had told the Corinthians that it was OK to eat meat sacrificed to idols, unless it stumbled a brother with a weak conscience. That meat was available in the marketplace, and the meat, in and of itself, wasn’t evil or containing demons.
b. However, it is possible that the Corinthians loved that meat so much, that they would accept invitation to the local temples to have meals, which was a custom of that day. That would put them in a place where idol (demon) worship was taking place.
3. V. 8 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 tells us that the Corinthians needed to be very guarded against sexual sin in that culture. Sexual immorality was rampant in their false religions, and the Corinthians had become very tolerant of it, sometimes subjecting themselves to the environment of the temples, perhaps only for the sake of a good steak.
a. In Numbers 25, God sent a plague among the people because of sexual sin.
4. Vs. 9, 10 This recounts an incident in Numbers 21:4-9 when the Israelites complained against God and accused Moses of bringing them into the wilderness to die. God brought venomous snakes into the camp to judge them.
a. Philippians 2:14 Do all things without complaining and disputing…
5. V. 11 We are to learn from the negative example of the Israelites. God promised them a land and an inheritance, but that generation didn’t receive all that God had for them.
C. The Application For Us Vs. 12, 13
1. V. 12 The Corinthians thought everything was fine. They were saved, blessed, and well taught. They had a false sense of security and didn’t see how they were compromising.
2. V. 13 It seems that the Corinthians thought that their temptations were extra difficult.
a. We all go through the same temptations. Different details, but same core struggle.
b. God will not allow you to be tempted beyond your (and His) strength.
c. God doesn’t promise to remove temptations, but to help us bear up under the temptation, and not give in to it.