Don’t Do As They Did

1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. – 1 Corinthians 10:1-6 ESV

Paul is still dealing with the problem taking place in Corinth. They are experiencing disunity within their fellowship over the issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols. Actually, it was about much more than that. There were those within the church who were using their newfound freedom in Christ to excuse their continued participation in the sacrificial feasts or meals offered on behalf of false gods. These individuals had rationalized that there was no harm in participating in these pagan practices because they false gods don’t really exist.

But others, who once worshiped the same false gods, felt that it was wrong for a Christian to have anything to do with idols. While Paul agreed that the logic behind the first group’s argument was sound, their motivation was not. They were more concerned about their own rights than they were about the spiritual well-being of their fellow believers. He let them know that their rights needed to take a back seat to the spiritual health of the church, and he used himself as an example.

Now he lets them know that they are overlooking something even more dangerous: the serious threat of falling into idolatry. While there were those in the church who, in their pride, felt free to associate with others who worshiped false gods, Paul warns them that they are playing with fire. While idols pose no danger because they represent non-existent gods, idol worship is real and dangerously deadly.

Paul wanted his audience to know that their relationship with God, as His chosen people, was not an antidote or protection against the temptation to idolatry. Paul uses the people of Israel as a primary example and uses five comparative illustrations to make his point. First, he talks about the pillar of cloud that guided them in the wilderness during the exodus. This manifestation of God’s presence represented His glory and power and was used to lead, direct, and protect them. 

And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people. – Exodus 13:21-22 ESV

As they were leaving Egypt, the cloud settled between the people of Israel and the advancing armies of Pharaoh, protecting them throughout the night.

Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night. – Exodus 14:19-20 ESV

The next day, the people of Israel passed through the sea on dry ground, and Paul uses that miraculous event as his second illustration. God intervened on Israel’s behalf and provided a way of escape, delivering every one of the Israelites to the other side, while completely devastating the armies of Pharaoh. God’s people were eyewitnesses to the Lord's salvation.

Next, Paul refers to their “baptism” into Moses. In following the cloud and passing through the Red Sea, they were submitting to, or immersing themselves under, the leadership of Moses, God’s chosen deliverer. He was to be their God-ordained instrument of redemption, leading them all throughout their time in the wilderness.

During their days traveling through the wilderness, God provided all the food they needed for the journey. Paul refers to the spiritual food they enjoyed from God's hand. In His mercy and grace, Yahweh provided them with manna and quail, as well as water from a rock. He miraculously provided for their physical needs, providing food and water when none was available, and He did so despite their grumbling and complaining. Paul makes it clear that the rock symbolized Christ, the provider of living water.

For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. – 1 Corinthians 10:4 NLT

But Paul brings all of these marvelous illustrations to a sudden and surprising close when he states: “Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness” (1 Corinthians 10:5 ESV).

Regardless of their unique status as God’s chosen and redeemed people, and despite all that God had done for them, they were “overthrown in the wilderness.” In reality, they all died. An entire generation of Israelites would spend the rest of their lives wandering in the wilderness and never experience the joys of entering the promised land. Paul is going to unpack exactly why this was the case and how their mistake was meant as a warning to the people of God living in Corinth.

One of the most significant moments in the history of the people of Israel occurred early in their wilderness wanderings. They had not been free from bondage very long when God called Moses up to Mount Sinai to receive the law. While he was there, something took place down in the valley. Moses records the tragic event for us:

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. 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.” So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. – Exodus 32:1-6 ESV

In Moses’ absence, the people engaged in idol worship. They had been delivered, led, fed, and protected by God and were about to receive the law of God. They would also receive instructions to build the Tabernacle, a structure designed to house the very presence of God. But they responded to the unmerited favor of God with unfaithfulness. They had seen God perform ten miraculous plagues in Egypt. They had seen Him part the waters of the Red Sea. They had walked across on dry land, then witnessed the devastating destruction of Pharaoh’s army. And yet, they chose to put their trust in a false god rather than the one true God.

Paul explains, “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” (1 Corinthians 10:6 ESV). Their deadly mistake serves as a warning to God’s people. Their ingratitude and unfaithfulness are a powerful reminder to all those who call themselves children of God. As His chosen people, they enjoyed His presence, provision, and protection, but that did not make them immune from His punishment for their disobedience. That seems to be Paul’s point. As God’s chosen people, we must never think that we are incapable of sin or insusceptible to temptation. Unfaithfulness is a real and present danger for each of us. Paul warned the Ephesian believers of the ever-present potential for unfaithfulness.

For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. – Ephesians 5:8-12 NLT

As God’s chosen people, the Israelites had been set apart and were expected to live distinctively different lives. They were to shine as lights in the darkness that surrounded them. Their behavior was to be determined by God and designed to bring Him glory. Their lives were supposed to be marked by righteousness and faithfulness. And yet, Paul states, “with most of them God was not pleased.” 

Paul wanted the Corinthian believers to learn from the Israelites’ mistakes. He longed to see Christ-followers embrace the grace, mercy, and love of God with a determination to live godly lives. He told the believer in Colossae that he prayed for them constantly, “asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:9-10 ESV). And that should be the prayer of every believer.

Father, the story of the Israelites fills the pages of the Old Testament and paints a bleak picture of their unfaithfulness in the face of Your goodness and grace. You showered them with undeserved blessings and they returned the favor with ingratitude and spiritual infidelity. Yet, as Paul points out, their mistakes were meant to serve as powerful lessons for us. While it’s easy to to judge them for their ungratefulness and disobedience, their actions serve as a mirror, reflecting our own behavior back to us. We can be just as prone to idolatry and spiritual infidelity. We too, can end up spending all our time complaining about our lot in life or wasting our time pursuing the pleasures of this world. We have been blessed and You have called us to be a blessing to the world around us. We are to shine like lights in the darkness. We are to live as Your children and display Your character to a lost and dying world. Help us walk in a manner that is worthy of Your name and brings joy to Your heart. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Don’t Forget to Remember

9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, 11 and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin. 14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” – Leviticus 23:9-14 ESV

God adds another element to His list of sacred days and observances, but this one would not go into effect until the people occupied the land of Canaan. This celebration was known as firstfruits, which in Hebrew (רֵאשִׁית – rē'šîṯ) translates as “beginning, first, or best.” It was to be held in the early spring at the beginning of the grain harvest, on Nissan 16, the third day after Passover, and the second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. According to the book of Deuteronomy, the feast of firstfruits was intended to commence after the Israelites had brought in their first official harvest in the land God had promised as their inheritance.

“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession and you have conquered it and settled there, put some of the first produce from each crop you harvest into a basket and bring it to the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored.” – Deuteronomy 26:1-2 NLT

God had promised to give them a land of fruitfulness and abundance. In his call of Moses, God had described the land in glowing terms:

“So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.” – Exodus 3:8 NLT

Now, from their vantage point at the base of Mount Sinai, the Israelites were being reminded by God that the land of Canaan would one day be theirs. Despite all the setbacks and difficulties they had faced up to this point, He was still going to honor His commitment to give them the land of Canaan as their inheritance. And when they got there, He expected them to express their gratitude for His goodness.

When they brought the first produce from each crop they had harvested, they were to present it to the priest at the Tabernacle and declare, “With this gift I acknowledge to the Lord your God that I have entered the land he swore to our ancestors he would give us” (Deuteronomy 26:3 NLT). The gift was meant to serve as proof of the fact that God had kept His word and that the land was just as He said it would be. In other words, God was faithful and the land was fruitful.

As part of the ceremony, the Israelites were to recount how God had miraculously delivered them from bondage in Egypt and delivered them to Canaan.

“You must then say in the presence of the Lord your God, ‘My ancestor Jacob was a wandering Aramean who went to live as a foreigner in Egypt. His family arrived few in number, but in Egypt they became a large and mighty nation. When the Egyptians oppressed and humiliated us by making us their slaves, we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors. He heard our cries and saw our hardship, toil, and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and powerful arm, with overwhelming terror, and with miraculous signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey! And now, O Lord, I have brought you the first portion of the harvest you have given me from the ground.’” – Deuteronomy 26:5-10 NLT

The gift of firstfruits was meant to be an expression of thanksgiving, but also an acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty over all things. Not only did they belong to Him but so did the land in which they lived and all the produce it provided. By giving to God the best of what the land had given them, they were declaring their allegiance to Him. Their fruitfulness had been the result of God’s faithfulness.

As part of the ceremony, the Israelites would place their gift before the Lord, then bow down and worship Him. Only after celebrating the goodness and graciousness of God could the people rejoice in the bounty of the harvest He had given them.

“Afterward you may go and celebrate because of all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household.” – Deuteronomy 26:11 NLT

The Leviticus passage adds another vital element to the ceremony. The Israelites were also to bring a sheaf of grain gathered from the first harvest in the land. What is interesting to note is that the Israelites were forbidden to eat “any bread or roasted grain or fresh kernels on that day until you bring this offering to your God” (Leviticus 23:14 NLT). As they presented the best of their grain to God, they would be in the midst of a fast. It was not until they had demonstrated their gratefulness to God and given Him the best of all that they had gathered that they could break their fast and enjoy the blessings He had bestowed upon them. God had to come first.

Along with these offerings, the Israelites were to sacrifice a one-year-old unblemished lamb as well as a burnt offering. This was accompanied by a grain offering consisting of four quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil. The lamb and the grain offering were burned on the altar and the smoke would rise as “a pleasing aroma to the Lord” (Leviticus 23:13 NLT). The final part of the ceremony was “one quart of wine as a liquid offering” (Leviticus 23:13 NLT). In a sense, the people were serving God a sacred “meal” to celebrate all that He had done for them. It was a visible expression of thanksgiving to their divine provider and protector.  

The real purpose behind this ceremony was to remind the people of Israel that they were completely dependent upon God at all times. Even in the midst of fruitfulness, they were expected to maintain their faithfulness to God and never allow His gracious gifts to distract from their reliance upon Him. In fact, Moses would later warn the Israelites of the dangers the bounty of Canaan would present.

“When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.” – Deuteronomy 8:10-14 NLT

If they weren’t careful, God’s blessings could actually become a curse. The fruitfulness of the land could end up making the Israelites self-sufficient rather than God-dependent. As their crops grew, their flocks expanded, and their fortunes improved, they might be tempted to see themselves as the masters of their own fates. The real threat they faced in the promised land was not the Canaanites but spiritual apathy brought on by physical prosperity.

Moses would go on to warn the people of the dual perils of affluence and forgetfulness.

“Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’” – Deuteronomy 8:15-17 NLT

Forgetfulness would be a real and present danger. If they weren’t careful, their wilderness experience and God’s miraculous provision all along the way could become a fading memory. Once they arrived in Canaan and got settled in their new homes, their success in the land could produce gratefulness and a greater dependence upon God or it could result in an unhealthy sense of self-reliance. That’s why Moses warned them: “Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath” (Deuteronomy 8:18 NLT).

God’s blessings were intended to produce greater dependence upon Him. By giving God the firstfruits of their harvest, the Israelites would be acknowledging their reliance upon Him. He had blessed them with freedom, and soon He would bless them with land, houses, fields, flocks, and vineyards. Their days as slaves and nomadic wanderers would be far behind them. But that would become the greatest test of their allegiance to God. Forgetfulness would lead to ungratefulness and ungratefulness would eventually result in unfaithfulness.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.