Though idolatry was the cause of Israel's failure and the focus of Paul's warning to this church, four other evil characteristics of Israel also seem to have marked the Corinthians. These characteristics also resulted in the Israelites dying in the wilderness.
10:6 The experiences of the Israelites provide lessons for us. Their baptism and partaking of spiritual food and drink did not protect them from God's discipline when they craved evil things. Participation in baptism and the Lord's Supper will not protect Christians either. We should never regard participation in these ordinances as immunizing us against God's discipline if we sin against Him.
The Greek word translated "examples"is typosfrom which we get the English word "type."The experiences of the Israelites in the wilderness are types. They were early examples of situations that would recur later in history that God designed to teach His people lessons.219
10:7 In verses 7-10 Paul cited four practices that got the Israelites into trouble with God. All of them were possibilities for the Corinthians as they fraternized with pagans by participating in their feasts. They are all possibilities for us too.
First, the Israelites participated in idolatry when they ate and played in the presence of the golden calf (Exod. 32:6). It is possible that their "play"involved sexual immorality (cf. Gen. 26:8; Num. 25:1-3). The scene on that occasion must have been similar to what happened at the feasts some of the Corinthians attended. There is a danger that we may compromise our commitment to God, as the Israelites did, when we participate in pagan celebrations.
10:8 Second, the Israelites practiced immorality (lit. fornication) when they participated in one of the Moabites' religious feasts (Num. 25:1-9).220If this sin is only implicit in the record of the Golden Calf incident, it is explicit in the account of the Baal Peor incident. Clearly this was taking place in the Corinthian church (5:1-5, 10-11; 6:9-10, 12-20). Some Christians have participated in fornication that unbelievers have lured them into.
10:9 Third, the Israelites tested the Lord by taxing His patience.221They continued to complain even though He faithfully provided for them (Num. 21:4-9). His provision of manna and water was not adequate from their point of view, and they despised it (Num. 21:5). The Corinthians had given evidence of being dissatisfied with God's prohibition of participation in pagan feasts by opposing Paul's teaching on this point.
Likewise Christians are in danger of failing to appreciate God's provisions for them in Christ and despising Him. We can feel dissatisfied rather than thankful and content. Evidence that this attitude existed in the Corinthian church surfaces in 1:12 and 11:17-34. Perhaps the fact that some of the believers were participating in pagan feasts also indicated dissatisfaction with the Christians' special feast, the Lord's Supper.
10:10 Fourth, the Israelites grumbled frequently against the Lord during the wilderness wanderings. Moses recorded 10 separate instances in Exodus and Numbers. However the occasion Paul had in mind was when God sent fire that consumed some of the people on the edge of the camp (Num. 11:1-3). Here Paul added that God executed His wrath by using an angel, a fact that Moses did not mention in Numbers. The Septuagint translators used the same term, "the destroyer"(Gr. olothreutes), to describe the angel who executed the Egyptians' first-born on the night of the Exodus (Exod. 12:23; cf. Heb. 11:28).
Many instances of the Corinthian Christians' dissatisfactions with God's provisions for them come out in this epistle. Not the least of these was their rejection of some of the Lord's servants who had come to minister to them because they preferred some others (1:10-4:21). They did not appreciate Paul's earlier instruction to break off company with idolaters and the sexually immoral (5:9-11). Another example is the impatience of the "strong"in the church with the "weak"(8:1-3). Grumbling is a telltale sign of selfishness and discontent with what God has given us.
10:11 Having cited four specific examples of Israelite failure (vv. 7-10), Paul restated the general principle (cf. v. 6).
The last phrase in this verse refers to the present age as the time of fulfillment about which the Old Testament prophet had spoken. We should be careful that we do not overlook the lessons of history since we live in these times.
10:12 Paul concluded with a word of warning to those who felt too confident that they were all right with God (cf. vv. 1-4; 8:4-6). The "strong"who felt free to participate in pagan feasts seem to be those he had in mind. Self-confidence could lead to a spiritual fall, as it had so often in Israel's history.
10:13 The apostle did not want his readers to overreact and become paranoid as they considered Israel's record either. Failure was not inevitable. The temptations the Corinthians faced were not unique, and the Lord would give them grace to handle any temptation they might face.222
God has promised to enable us to do His will in any and every situation, and He will stand true to His promise (cf. Matt. 28:20; et al.). He provides a way of escape with every temptation He allows to touch us. The use of the definite article "the"with both "temptation"and "way of escape"points to a particular way of escape that is available in each temptation. Paul did not mean there is one way of escape that is available regardless of the temptation. If we deliberately put ourselves in the way of temptation and so put God to the test (v. 9), we are not taking advantage of the way of escape. We may fall. Therefore we should flee from idolatry (v. 14).
The Corinthians were putting themselves in danger by continuing to attend cultic meals, which they needed to stop doing. Nevertheless God had made a way of escape open to them, as He had with Israel. The Lord's Supper and the Christian fellowship connected with it was His divine replacement of this idolatrous activity (v. 16).
This whole section (vv. 1-13) deals with the dangers involved in participating in pagan activities. Some of these activities are wrong in themselves because they involve idolatry, and Christians should not participate in them. If we should participate, we need to be aware that in doing so we are walking on the edge of a precipice over which many other believers have fallen, including the Israelites in the wilderness. We dare not underestimate the danger of the situation or overestimate our own ability to handle it. We need to walk closely with God every day.
