Chapter Ten
1 Cor. 10:1. I do not want to leave you, brethren, in ignorance, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea.
He enumerates how many gifts the Jews were deemed worthy of from God, and declares that even after these gifts many did not please God. He says this with the aim of proving that just as it did not benefit the Jews to receive abundant gifts when they themselves did not fulfill their duty, so too it will not benefit you that you believed and were deemed worthy of spiritual mysteries, if you do not present yourselves worthy of the grace of God. "All," he says, "were under the cloud." For God spread a cloud as a covering over them, and they passed through the sea (Exod. 13:21, 14:22).
1 Cor. 10:2. And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
That is, together with Moses they were under the shadow of the cloud and together passed through the sea. For when they saw that he was the first to cross, then they too boldly went through the midst of the waters. Something similar occurs with us as well. Christ first died and rose again, and then we too were baptized, imitating His death through immersion in water and His resurrection through rising up out of it. "Were baptized into Moses." This means: he preceded them in the figure of baptism. For being under the cloud and passing through the sea prefigured baptism.
1 Cor. 10:3-4. And they all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink.
As we, upon receiving baptism, partake of the Body of the Master, so the Israelites, after crossing through the sea, ate manna (Exod. 16:4, 15); and as we drink the Blood of the Master, so they drank water from the solid rock (Exod. 17:6). He calls the manna and water "spiritual" because, although they were sensible things, they came about not according to the law of nature, but by the grace of the Spirit, and they nourished not only the bodies but also the souls, and led them to faith.
1 Cor. 10:4. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ.
Food required no confirmation, for its extraordinariness was self-evident. But regarding drink, confirmation was needed, because only the manner of its production was extraordinary. Therefore he says: it was not the nature of the rock that gave the water (otherwise it would have been flowing before as well), but another Rock accomplished everything, namely Christ. By the word "following" he expressed the thought that Christ was everywhere present with them and performed all the miracles.
1 Cor. 10:5. But God was not well pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.
Although God showed them many signs of love and deemed them worthy of very many blessings, nevertheless in the majority of them He did not find what was pleasing to Himself, "was not well pleased." For not all were rejected, but many. By the words "not with many" he expresses the thought that their great number was of no benefit to them whatsoever, when for their part they did not show deeds of love toward their Benefactor. By the words "were struck down" he indicates their sudden destruction and the punishments sent from God.
1 Cor. 10:6. Now these things were examples for us, so that we would not lust after evil, as they lusted.
Just as the blessings, so also the punishments of the Jews were types. He shows that sinners among Christians will not only be punished, but much more than the Jews, since the blessings of the latter were types, while the good things of the former are the reality, and as in gifts the advantage is on the side of Christians, so also in punishments. In the words "lusted after evil things" he speaks generally of every evil, for every evil comes from lust (James 1:14-15); then he sets forth certain kinds of evil as well. What then did they lust after? They demanded garlic, meat, special gods, as the apostle himself further points out their idolatry.
1 Cor. 10:7. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play."
First he addresses those who ate in idol temples, and shows that just as the Israelites fell from gluttony into idolatry (for, having formed choruses around the calf, they played before it), so also for you who out of gluttony partake of food sacrificed to idols, there is a danger of becoming idolaters. Where, then, is your supposed perfection, when you are close to idolatry?
1 Cor. 10:8. Let us not commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them perished.
Again he mentioned fornication, so that through constant reproof he might make his word more effective. This sin also is born from gluttony. And when did twenty-three thousand perish? When, by the counsel of Balaam, the Midianite women appeared at the camp, enticed the young men to themselves, and through fornication led them to offer sacrifice to Baal-Peor, and the people who were in the camp perished (Num. 25:1–9).
1 Cor. 10:9. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them tempted, and perished by serpents.
He hints that the Corinthians, by demanding signs, are tempting Christ.
1 Cor. 10:10. Do not grumble, as some of them grumbled and were destroyed by the destroyer.
That is, from a certain striking force (Num. 14:37). By this he hints to them that in the midst of trial they did not have magnanimity, but grumbled and said: when will good fortune come? when will the calamities pass?
1 Cor. 10:11. All these things happened to them as examples; and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
He frightens them also in the case when he says that this was written as instruction for us, that we too must expect punishments, and all the more terrible ones the greater the gifts we have been deemed worthy of, and also when he presents to them the end of the age, and declares that the torments that will seize you are not temporal but endless after the end. For that judgment is already at the doors, because the ages of this world are coming to a close.
1 Cor. 10:12. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Again he hints at those who were greatly puffed up by their knowledge. Although you think that you stand, nevertheless take heed lest you fall. For your very confidence that you stand shows that you do not stand. It seems so to you, but in reality you do not stand. But even if you do stand, through pride you can easily fall.