| I Corinthians 8-11 continued...
1 Corinthians 10
What taste do you have of Jesus, is it sweet
or sour? This is still part of Paul's answer to the questions
the Corinthians had asked Paul in a previous letter to him.
Verses 1-4, "Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be
unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed
through the sea. All were baptized into Moses in the cloud
and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank
the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual
Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ." What
Paul is saying is 'Take heed to God's dealings with Israel.'
Their experiences were written down for our good. The Israelites
were under God's special covenant blessing. Paul says they
were all given special intimate fellowship with God. As they
departed from Egypt, they were brought into this covenant
of blessing. They were symbolically baptized as they crossed
through the Red Sea. In the Bible, Egypt is symbolic of this
sinning world and it's societies. We leave the Egypt--world,
it's ways and habits of sin--through baptism. And we receive
spiritual baptism through the Holy Spirit--that's what the
cloud symbolizes. Paul says they entered into a special union
with God as His people, as they left Egypt and passed under
His cloud, the shelter and blessing of God. The people of
Israel were initiated and indoctrinated into a special communion
and fellowship with God. Much of Paul's letters to the Corinthians
is about communion or fellowship with God. Paul also says
in verses 3 and 4 that they ate of the same spiritual food
and they drank of the same spiritual drink. He's referring
back to Exodus and Numbers. Exodus 16 & 17 and Numbers
20. In Exodus 16, this is just a few weeks after the Israelites
left Egypt. After all that God had done they began to complain
about the good Egyptian food they no longer had. God provided
bread miraculously for them. Exodus 16:1-15. "And they journeyed
from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel
came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai,
on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed
from the land of Egypt [they departed on the fifteen of Nisan,
the first month, exactly one month earlier]. Then the whole
congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses
and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said
to them, 'Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in
the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when
we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into
this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.'
Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Behold, I will rain bread from
heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain
quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk
in My law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they
shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as
much as they gather daily.' Then Moses and Aaron said to all
the children of Israel, 'At evening you shall know that the
Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. And in the
morning you shall see the glory of the Lord; for He hears
your murmurings against the Lord. But what are we, that you
murmur against us?' Also Moses said, 'This shall be seen when
the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the
morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your murmurings
which you make against Him. And what are we? Your murmurings
are not against us but against the Lord. Then Moses spoke
to Aaron, 'Say to all the congregation of the children of
Israel, 'Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your
murmurings.' Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole
congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward
the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared
in the cloud. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'I have
heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them,
saying, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning
you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I
am the Lord your God. So it was that quails came up at evening
and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around
the camp. And when the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface
of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as
frost on the ground. So when the children of Israel saw it,
they said to one another, 'What is it?' For they did not know
what it was. And Moses said to them, 'This is the bread which
the Lord has given you to eat.'"
Water From the Rock: Exodus 17:1-7. "Then all the congregation
of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the
Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord,
and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people
to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses and said,
'Give us water, that we may drink.' And Moses said to them,
'Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?' And
the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured
against Moses, and said, 'Why is it you have brought us up
out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock
with thirst?' So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, 'What
shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone
me!' And the Lord said to Moses, 'Go out before the people,
and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take
in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and
go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb;
and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of
it, that the people may drink.' And Moses did so in the sight
of the elders of Israel. So he called the name of the place
Massah and Meribah because of the contention of the children
of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, 'Is
the Lord among us or not?'
And then we have the same Israelites 40 years later in Numbers
20. Numbers 20:1-13. "Then the children of Israel, the whole
congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first
month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there
and was buried there. Now there was no water for the congregation;
so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. And the
people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: 'If only we
had died when our brethren died before the Lord! Why have
you brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness,
that we and our animals should die here? And why have you
made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place?
It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates;
nor is there any water to drink.' So Moses and Aaron went
from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle
of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of
the Lord appeared to them. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
'Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly
together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will
yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of
the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.'
So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded
him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together
before the rock; and he said to them, 'Hear now, you rebels!
Must we bring water for you out of this rock?' Then Moses
lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and
water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their
animals drank.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did not
believe me, to hallow me in the eyes of the children of Israel,
therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land
which I have given them.' This was the water of Meribah, because
the children of Israel contended with the Lord, and he was
hallowed among them."
What is the significance of God repeatedly bringing Israel
to the point of hunger and thirst? And why do they continue
to doubt God--after all the mighty miracles He had done for
them going all the way back to Egypt? God had a greater
purpose for Israel--that they should hunger and thirst for
him. God brought them bread from heaven. They drank from the
Rock, and Paul said that Rock was Christ. God wanted them
to know that he was all they needed. He could provide all
their needs, both physical and spiritual--and much more importantly
the spiritual. God was telling them, "I can fill your stomachs,
but eventually you will die. I want you to partake of me."
In the Middle East (and this includes the Jewish people) there
was a belief that partaking of a meal was much more than a
physical thing--when you partook of a meal with somebody else.
There was a oneness that took place. In the Middle East partaking
of a meal together was highly regarded. It was probably the
most intimate part of fellowship you could have with a person--each
eating the same food and having that food become a part of
you. Jews wouldn't have meals with Gentiles because they believed
that this oneness was taking place. They also took this thought
and transformed it to their worship. When you look at some
of the sacrifices in the Old Testament you find the people
were ordered (by God) to partake of the meal that took place
as a result of the sacrifice, and the part that would be burnt
would make smoke which would be wafted before the Lord and
he would partake of it--and there was this oneness, and this
oneness was between God and his people. God's purpose is to
have a people for himself, and fellowship with them. Unfortunately
the people of Israel were always concerned about their physical
needs. Every time you read about them they're saying, 'Oh
I'm hungry, Oh I'm thirsty. I liked Egypt better because there
we had physical food.' God's point is this: The physical food
will fill your stomach--but it won't keep you alive spiritually--it
won't give you eternal life. Spiritual fellowship is so much
more. God brought bread from heaven and water from a rock
to show them he was there to satisfy their needs.
Let's look at John 6. Jesus said, "I am the Bread of life."
John 6:25-62. "When they found him on the other side of the
lake, they asked him, 'Rabbi, when did you get here?' Jesus
answered, 'I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not
because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves
and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for
food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will
give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.'
Then they asked him, 'What must we do to do the works God
requires?' Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe
in the one he has sent.' So they asked him, 'What miraculous
sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you?
What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert;
as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'
Jesus said to them, 'I tell you the truth, it is not Moses
who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father
who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of
God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the
world.' 'Sir,' they said, 'from now on give us this bread.'
Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes
to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will
never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me
and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me
will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive
away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but
to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of
him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has
given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's
will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in
him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the
last day.'
At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said,
'I am the bread that came down from heaven.' They said, 'Is
this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother
we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?'
'Stop grumbling among yourselves,' Jesus answered. 'No one
can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and
I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the
Prophets: They will all be taught by God. [Isaiah 54:13]'
Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes
to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from
God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he
who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life.
Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.
But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which
a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came
down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live
forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the
life of the world.'
Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, 'How
can this man give us his flesh to eat?' Jesus said to them,
'I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son
of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever
eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I
will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks
my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father
sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds
on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came
down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but
he who feeds on this bread will live forever.' He said
this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum."
The physical doesn't truly satisfy. Partaking of Jesus Christ
satisfies. That is what Jesus is saying. That is what Paul
is saying. In 1 Corinthians 10:5 we read that God was not
pleased with the Israelites. He did all these things--even
bringing supernatural food from heaven and water from rocks.
And he was not pleased with them. Most of them--all but two,
died in the desert. Two entered the promise land. Why did
they enter? They entered because of faith. Joshua and Caleb
showed faith and trust in God when nobody else would. Verses
5-7, "Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them;
their bodies were scattered over the desert. Now these things
occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on
evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them
were; as it is written: 'The people sat down to eat and drink
and got up to indulge in pagan revelry."
Exodus 32:1-10. "Now when the people saw that Moses delayed
coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together
to Aaron, and said to him, 'Come, make us gods that shall
go before us, for as for this Moses, the man who brought us
up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become
of him.' And Aaron said to them, 'Break off the golden earrings
which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters,
and bring them to me.' So all the people broke off the golden
earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned
it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they
said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of
the land of Egypt!' So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar
before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, 'Tomorrow
is a feast to the Lord.' Then they rose early on the next
day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings;
and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
And the Lord said to Moses, 'Go, get down! For your people
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.
They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded
them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshipped
it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'This is your god, O Israel,
that brought you out of the land of Egypt!' And the Lord said
to Moses, 'I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked
people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn
hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of
you a great nation.'" Moses then pleaded for the lives of
the Israelites and went back down, ground up the calf and
threw the gold dust in the water and made the people drink
of it, giving them stomach aches.
Verse 8, "We should not commit sexual immorality, as some
of them did--and in one day twenty-three thousand of them
died."
Exodus 25:1-5,9. "Then Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and
the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab.
They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and
the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was
joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused
against Israel. Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Take all the
leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the Lord,
out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn
away from Israel.' So Moses said to the judges of Israel,
'Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of
Peor'...And those who died in the plague were twenty-four
thousand."
Verse 9, "We should not test the Lord, as some of them
did--and were killed by snakes." Numbers 21:4-9. "Then
they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to
go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became
very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against
God and against Moses: 'Why have you brought us up out of
Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no
water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.' So the
Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the
people; and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the
people came to Moses, and said, 'We have sinned, for we have
spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord
that He take away the serpents from us.' So Moses prayed for
the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent,
and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is
bitten, when he looks at it shall live.' So Moses made a bronze
serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent
had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he
lived." The symbolism here is very strong and points to Christ,
who on the cross took on the sins of Satan's world, the great
serpent. He had the appearance of a sinner by dying on the
cross, yet without sin. And everyone who looks to Christ in
faith is saved and receives eternal life, just as those bitten
by the fiery serpents lived when they gazed upon the bronze
serpent. We have all been bitten by the fiery serpent,
for this is his world. When we gaze upon Christ in faith,
we are healed of the spiritual death that Satan's bite inflicts
and receive the promise of life eternal. The bronze serpent
was a symbol of Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice on
the cross, and of how we can be healed of Satan's bite and
receive eternal life by looking to Christ in faith.
Verse 10, "And do not grumble, as some of them did--and
were killed by the destroying angel." This grumbling took
place just after God had killed many leaders who had risen
up with Korah in rebelling, trying to assume the right to
be priests and serve as the Levites did in the temple service
(Numbers 16:1-40). Numbers 16:41-49. "On the next day all
the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against
Moses and Aaron, saying, 'You have killed the people of the
Lord.' Now it happened, when the congregation had gathered
against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tabernacle
of meeting; and suddenly the cloud covered it, and the glory
of the Lord appeared. Then Moses and Aaron came before the
tabernacle of meeting. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
'Get away from the congregation, that I may consume them in
a moment.' And they fell on their faces. So Moses said to
Aaron, 'Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put
incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and
make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out form the Lord.
The plague has begun.' Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded,
and ran into the midst of the congregation; and already the
plague had begun among the people. So he put in the incense
and made atonement for the people. And he stood between the
dead and the living; so the plague was stopped. Now those
who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred,
besides those who died in the Korah incident."
So what is the bottom line to all this? What is Paul trying
to say? Verses 11-12, "These things happened to them as
examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom
the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you
are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" Then
Paul goes on to talk about the trials we go through and a
promise God makes about them to us. Verse 13, "No temptation
has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful,
he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But
when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that
you can bear it." God didn't necessarily say he would
remove the "temptation" or trial, but that he would, 1) not
let the temptation be more than we could bear, and 2) make
it possible for us to bear it. "Not by might, nor by power,
but by My Spirit saith the Lord to Zerubbabel" comes to mind
here.
In verses 14-22 Paul goes on to talk about them eating meals
in pagan temples as opposed to just buying the meat offered
to idols in the open market place, showing there was an important
difference between the two. Basically he was saying to flee
idolatry, i.e. you can't partake in the fellowship meals in
pagan temples because you are fellowshipping with demons.
There is all sorts of application here for Christians today.
Our conversations with other people in the world--what we
watch on TV and videos--what we pull up on the Internet--are
we in Christ's temple or a pagan temple of this world?
Verses 14-22, "Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.
I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.
Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a
participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread
that we break a participation in the body of Christ? [referring
to the Lord's supper] Because there is one loaf, we, who are
many all partake of the one loaf. Consider the people of Israel:
Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?
Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything?
No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not
to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons
too; you cannot have a part both in the Lord's table and the
table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy?
Are we stronger than he?" And remember back a few verses
where Paul was showing what arousing God's jealousy was like
for the Israelites Moses was leading out of Egypt. 'The Lord
is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow--so take heed.'
The Believer's Freedom
In verses 23-30 Paul explains that they can eat this meat
offered to idols when it ends up in the market place--but
if someone invites you for a meal and points out that this
meat was offered to idols, don't eat for the conscience sake
of the one who told you. Verses 23-30, "Everything is permissible--but
not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible--but
not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own
good, but the good of others. [Philippeans 2:4,21] Eat anything
sold in the market without raising questions of conscience,
for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it." [Psalm
24:1] If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want
to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions
of conscience. But if anyone says to you, 'This has been offered
in sacrifice,' then do not eat it, both for the sake of the
man who told you and for conscience sake--the other man's
conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be
judged by another's conscience? If I take part in the meal
with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something
I thank God for?"
Paul goes on to give his motive and says let it be ours also.
Verses 31-33, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever
you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone
to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God--even
as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking
my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved."
Then he goes on in verse 1 of chapter eleven, which really
appears to belong here, "Follow my example, as I follow
the example of Christ."
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