I Corinthians 10:1-4 "Rock of Ages"

Introduction:

Our text this morning is set in the context of Paul warning the Corinthian church of the sinful trappings of worshipping false gods. And he explains how knowingly eating meat sacrificed to idols can be offensive as to cause a brother to stumble in the faith.

You see the problem was that the animals being sacrificed to idols was believed to be tied in an identifying way to the false gods that the idols represent. Paul would go on to say later in chapter 10 and verse 20 that when pagans make sacrifice to their idols they are actually in reality making sacrifice to demons.

We have talked about some of this over the last two weeks from Mark’s gospel.

Paul describes his Apostolic ministry in such a way as to make the point that the liberty of the believer should not be exercised in such a way as to bring a cause of offense in the body of Christ. But believers should all be pursuing sanctification in the body of Christ as the covenant people of God.

Now he comes to this conclusion by way of an OT example using the children of Israel in the wilderness and their Identification to Moses. Look back at your text to verses 1-2 in I Corinthians 10:

I. The Identification (1-2).

Notice that Paul says that the OT covenant people were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

Now when he refers to the cloud he is talking about the Shekina glory of God as He led His covenant people in the wilderness by day. By night it was a pillar of fire and we know this from Exodus 13:21.

And when Paul mentions that they passed through the sea, he is talking about the Red Sea as all the people passed through the Red Sea.

And it was from their collective experience in their identification with Moses that Paul derives that they were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the Sea.

You see Moses was God’s appointed deliverer to lead them out of their bondage in Egypt. And in their experience, as they followed God’s plan being executed by Moses by faith they were under the covenant grace of God.

Being under the cloud denotes the idea that they were being led by the Spirit of God manifesting as He led His people.

And passing through the Sea denoted the covenant protection of God where His wrath is being held back as to keep His covenant people safe and secure in the provision of His grace.

And for those of you who know your Old Testament, you are aware that this baptism was not full immersion under water for the people of God. The only ones who got fully immersed in the Red Sea were Pharoah and his army. And it was an act of God’s judgement and it resulted in their destruction.

And this baptism into Moses included the covenant children of the people of God. It makes no sense for us to think this morning that all the infants and children who were too young to exercise faith were left behind on the bank of the Red Sea for Pharoah to kill because they were too young to exercise faith.

Nor is it logical for even a moment to believe that during the day the infants and children of the people of God had to travel out from under the guidance and protection of the cloud of the Holy Spirit’s leading.

They traveled under the cloud and they passed through the Red Sea collectively as families and individuals as the covenant people of God. And they all partook from the same spiritual provision from the Lord. Look back at your text to the Provision in verses 3-4:

II. The Provision (3-4).

There are two provisions that Paul refers to. The first is the spiritual food that they all ate from. This is a reference to manna the manna that the Lord supernaturally provided for every morning for their daily allowance and a double portion on Friday as to provide for them on the Sabbath so they wouldn’t have to work to gather on that day (Exodus 16:1-35). God provided bread for His hungry people.

The second provision that Paul refers to is the water that poured from the Rock at Horeb (Exodus 17:1-7). Moses was to strike the Rock and water came from the Rock to quench their thirst.

Now notice that Paul refers to manna as spiritual food and to the water as spiritual drink. Now wait a minute, I am pretty sure that manna and the water were materialized into a physical substance. Manna was similar to bread and the water from the Rock was wet and it quenched thirst.

But those physical elements had a profound spiritual reality unmistakably tied to them. Paul tells us the the Rock was Christ in verse 4 and the Rock followed them. Christ was the spiritual substance of God’s provision. Manna and water were just allegorically pointing to Christ.

When he says the Rock followed them it denoted that Christ never left them.

Because there was a later date, about the time when Miriam died, in the wilderness of Zin at the Rock of Kadesh, where the Lord told Moses to speak to the Rock for water and Moses struck the Rock twice out of anger and frustration toward the people and their sin.

Numbers 20 gives us the account. The only thing he said was directed toward the people, not the Rock. Moses said, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this Rock?” (Numbers 20:10). Numbers 20 goes on to say that God chastised Moses for not showing the Lord to be Holy. The provision of God was to show Himself to be Holy.

Dear ones who are beloved by the Lord here today. In spite of their quarreling against the Lord and their complaining against Moses, and even in the sinful actions of Moses, the provision of water still came forth! Christ still came with them!

But as true as that is, Paul reminds us back in 1 Corinthians 10:5–11: “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. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”

You want to know how 23,000 fell. They fell by a plague that the Lord released on His people as and act of judgement for their idolatry with Baal of Peor and their sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab. You know why people in the visible community or church are judged? They are judged because there is no effectual change in them simply because they were never elect.

You must be born again. Baptism or hanging around Christians, going to church. taking the Lord’s Supper doesn’t save you. You can replicate the physical appearance or Christianity but it takes a spiritual miracle of the Holy Spirit of God through Jesus Christ for the spiritually dead to be raised.

And Christ has come into the world and He is still providing for His people in His covenant faithful grace. And He says in John 6:51 “51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

And He declares to the woman at the well in John 4:13–14: “13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.””

Conclusion:

Christ is still with His people as the provision of God. He is still the only means of hope for us and our children. God is the one who initiates His work of grace into the hearts of man. He transforms us and grows us in our sanctification as the people of God.

Christian is is this grace that we are dependent on for our spiritual nourishment in the faith. Confess you sin and rest in Him and His provision to you in Christ.

Unbeliever, believe the gospel for your salvation. Maybe today is your day that God in His grace will bestow His mercy upon you and open your eyes!

Let’s Pray!