The Wilderness is a Classroom: Text: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Introduction: The Danger of Presumed Immunity
We live in an age of cheap grace, and the modern evangelical church is riddled with it. We have a tendency to treat our conversion, our baptism, our profession of faith, as though it were a one-time vaccination against any serious spiritual disease. We think that because we have received the initial dose of grace, we are now immune to the plagues of idolatry, sexual immorality, and rebellion that took down our forefathers. We look back at Israel in the wilderness as a primitive, thick-headed people, and we flatter ourselves that we are far more sophisticated. We have our systematic theologies, our podcasts, our air-conditioned sanctuaries. Surely we are beyond such crude temptations.
The Corinthian church thought this way. They were a church drenched in spiritual gifts, possessing knowledge that puffed them up, and they believed their spiritual status gave them a hall pass to flirt with the pagan culture around them. They thought they could stand on the cliff's edge, dabble in the idolatry of the local temples, and not be in any real danger of falling. They thought they stood, and Paul writes this chapter to inform them that they are wobbling badly.
So the apostle takes them, and us, on a field trip. He leads us out of the city and into the wilderness of Sinai. He does not take us there to show us the glory of the cloud and the fire, or the miracle of the manna. He takes us there to show us a graveyard. It is a vast cemetery, filled with the bones of people who were every bit as privileged as the Corinthians were, and as we are. They were baptized, they ate supernatural food, they drank from a supernatural rock. And they were overthrown in the wilderness. Paul's point is a bucket of ice water in the face of our presumption: your spiritual privileges do not guarantee your spiritual safety. In fact, if they lead to pride, they guarantee your destruction. These things happened as examples, as warning signs for us. The wilderness is a classroom, and the tuition is high.
The Text
For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased. For THEY WERE STRUCK DOWN IN THE WILDERNESS. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, "THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY." Nor let us act in sexual immorality, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have arrived. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
(1 Corinthians 10:1-13 LSB)
Covenant Privileges (vv. 1-4)
Paul begins by recounting the immense spiritual privileges of the Exodus generation. He wants to make it clear that their failure was not due to a lack of grace.
"For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:1-4 LSB)
Notice the repetition of "all." Every single one of them participated. There were no exceptions. They were all under the cloud, a visible manifestation of God's presence, guidance, and protection. They all passed through the sea, a miraculous deliverance from certain death that Paul explicitly calls a baptism. Just as our baptism signifies our death to the old life and resurrection to the new, their passage through the Red Sea was a death to their slavery in Egypt and a birth into a new covenant life under their covenant head, Moses.
Furthermore, they all ate the same "spiritual food," the manna from heaven. And they all drank the same "spiritual drink," the water from the rock. Paul calls these things spiritual not because they were ethereal or non-physical, but because they were supernaturally provided by God and pointed to a deeper spiritual reality. These were the Old Testament sacraments. They were the Lord's Supper in type. They were visible signs of an invisible grace.
And then Paul drops a theological bombshell that reframes the entire Old Testament: "and the rock was Christ." This is not to say the physical rock was literally Jesus. It means the source of that life-giving water, the reality to which the rock pointed, the one who was spiritually present with them, shepherding and sustaining them, was the pre-incarnate Christ. The Lord of the Old Testament is Jesus. The Corinthians were boasting in their relationship with Christ, but Paul is telling them that the generation that perished in the wilderness had Christ with them too. Having Christ present is no guarantee if your heart is far from Him.
Privilege, Presumption, and the Price (vv. 5-6)
After building up this impressive resume of spiritual privilege, Paul pivots with a stark and terrifying word.
"Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased. For THEY WERE STRUCK DOWN IN THE WILDERNESS. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved." (1 Corinthians 10:5-6 LSB)
"Nevertheless." This is one of the most sobering words in the chapter. Despite the baptism, despite the communion, despite the presence of Christ, God was not pleased. And His displeasure was not a mild frown. He killed them. "They were struck down," or literally, their bodies were strewn across the wilderness. An entire generation, save two men, perished under the judgment of God. Their privileges did not save them; their privileges made their rebellion all the more heinous.
And why does Paul bring this up? To scare them? Yes. But not just to scare them. He says these things happened as "examples for us." The Greek word is tupos, from which we get our word "type." These events were historical patterns, divinely ordered object lessons, written down and preserved so that we would not make the same catastrophic mistake. The central mistake was this: they craved evil things. Their hearts were not satisfied with God's provision. They wanted the idols of Egypt, the food of Egypt, the sins of Egypt. And so God gave them the death of Egypt.
A Rogues' Gallery of Rebellion (vv. 7-10)
Paul now provides four specific examples of their evil cravings and the swift judgment that followed. Each one is a targeted missile aimed at a specific sin flourishing in Corinth.
"Do not be idolaters, as some of them were... Nor let us act in sexual immorality, as some of them did... Nor let us put Christ to the test, as some of them did... Nor grumble, as some of them did..." (1 Corinthians 10:7-10 LSB)
First, idolatry. "The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play." This is a quote from the golden calf incident in Exodus 32. The Corinthians, who claimed to have knowledge, were saying it was no big deal to eat a meal in a pagan temple. Paul says, "That is exactly what your fathers did right before they engaged in a pagan orgy around a golden idol." The "play" here is not children's games; it is a euphemism for debauchery. Idolatry and sexual immorality are almost always bedfellows.
Second, and flowing directly from the first, is sexual immorality. He refers to the incident at Baal Peor in Numbers 25, where Israelite men were seduced by Moabite women into idolatry and sexual sin. The result was a plague that killed twenty-three thousand people in one day. God does not grade on a curve. He takes covenant faithfulness, especially sexual faithfulness, with deadly seriousness. For the church in the licentious port city of Corinth, this was not an abstract history lesson.
Third, do not put Christ to the test. This refers to Numbers 21, when the people complained against God and Moses, and God sent fiery serpents among them. How do we test Christ? We do it when we complain about His provision, when we doubt His goodness, and when we demand that He prove Himself to us on our terms. It is an arrogant refusal to live by faith.
Fourth, do not grumble. This was the constant soundtrack of the wilderness journey, culminating in Korah's rebellion. Grumbling is the verbal expression of a discontented and unbelieving heart. It is a slander against the character of God, accusing Him of being a poor provider and a harsh master. And it is contagious. Paul warns them that the "destroyer" has a particular appetite for grumblers.
The Warning and the Promise (vv. 11-13)
Paul now brings all these historical examples to a sharp, personal point.
"Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of theages have arrived. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall." (1 Corinthians 10:11-12 LSB)
He repeats that these are examples for us, but adds a crucial detail: they are for us "upon whom the ends of the ages have arrived." We live in the era of fulfillment. We have the completed canon of Scripture, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the full revelation of God's grace in the crucified and risen Christ. We have far more light than the wilderness generation did, which means our responsibility is far greater. We have no excuse for repeating their sins.
And so we come to the central command of the entire passage: "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall." Spiritual pride is the doorway to apostasy. The moment you believe you are too strong to fall, too smart to be deceived, too mature to be tempted by crude sins, you have taken your eyes off Christ and placed your confidence in yourself. And a man who stands on his own two feet is standing on sinking sand. This is a direct shot at the puffed-up Corinthians. The man who is safest is the man who knows he is in constant danger and therefore clings desperately to his Savior. The man in the most danger is the one who thinks he needs no Savior for this particular Tuesday.
But Paul does not leave us with a warning alone. He immediately follows this sobering command with one of the most glorious promises in all of Scripture.
"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13 LSB)
This verse is the gospel for the tempted saint. First, your temptation is not unique. It is "common to man." You are not facing some exotic, super-powered temptation that no one has ever faced before. This demolishes self-pity. Second, the foundation of your hope is not your strength but God's character: "God is faithful." Our faithfulness wavers; His never does. Third, God is sovereign over your temptations. He will not "allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able." He always keeps His hand on the thermostat of your trials. He knows your breaking point, and He will not let the enemy push you past it.
Finally, with every single temptation, God provides "the way of escape." This is not a secret tunnel to avoid the battle. The purpose of the escape is "so that you will be able to endure it." The way of escape is the path of obedience through the trial. The escape from the temptation to lie is to tell the truth. The escape from the temptation to lust is to turn your eyes and worship God. The escape from the temptation to grumble is to give thanks. God always provides the grace to obey, right in the heart of the temptation. There is never a situation where a child of God can say, "I had no choice but to sin." That is a lie from the pit. God's faithfulness guarantees that there is always a door marked "Obedience," and He gives you the strength to walk through it.
Conclusion: Humble Dependence
The lessons from the wilderness classroom are therefore twofold. The first is the lesson of our own profound weakness and propensity to sin. We must take the warnings to heart and put to death the pride that says, "That could never be me." If you think you stand, watch out.
But the second lesson is the absolute, rock-solid faithfulness of our sovereign God. The warnings are not meant to drive us to despair, but to drive us out of ourselves and into a complete and humble dependence upon Him. The man who takes verse 12 seriously is the only one who can truly embrace the comfort of verse 13. He knows he cannot stand on his own, so he leans with all his weight on his faithful God. He does not presume upon God's grace, but he depends upon it for every breath. And that man, though he may walk through the wilderness, will not be overthrown. He will reach the promised land.