Slices
Prepare
How’s your self-control? How consistent is your walk with God? Reflect on this and pray that God will encourage you today.
Bible passage
Warnings from Israel’s history
10 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things 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 got up to indulge in revelry. 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did – and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did – and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did – and were killed by the destroying angel.
11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Explore
Here, Paul builds on what he was saying in the previous chapter (9:24–27). He is teaching more about Christian self-control, encouraging the Corinthian believers to learn from the people of Israel in Moses’ time, their ancestors in faith (v 1). They had seen God doing amazing things, freeing them from slavery in Egypt (vs 2–4). But these people, who were richly blessed, are a warning to the Corinthians not to act as they did (vs 6, 11). What went wrong?
They had made foolish decisions in the wilderness time: they worshipped a golden calf (v 7; see Exodus 32:1–6); their men had sex with Moabites and participated in pagan sacrifices (v 8; see Numbers 25:1–9); they tested God’s patience by complaining against Moses (v 9; see Exodus 17:1–7). Each time they offended God, many died (vs 5–10). They had left Egypt, but continued living like Egyptians.
It was all too easy for the believers to whom Paul was writing to fit into Corinth’s culture of self-sufficiency and self-promotion, rather than holding fast to Christ (v 12). So Paul calls them to take warning from the Israelites and focus on God to see how to avoid giving in (v 13).
Respond
Where are the pressure points between your culture and being a faithful Christian? Pray that God will make them clear and show you his ‘way out’.
Deeper Bible study
‘History repeats itself. Has to. No one listens.’1
Paul gives us a history lesson, with an application that is bang up to date. He reminds us that God has always been at work saving his people. Indeed, Israel drank from the ‘spiritual rock’ that is Christ, just as we do (v 4). Yet they wandered from God’s path in four ways: idolatry, sexual immorality, testing God and grumbling (vs 6–10). Their story is retold as a warning for us. Don’t make the same mistakes they did, Paul urges us. Stay on track.
‘Grumbling’ can seem the odd one out in Paul’s list (v 10). It doesn’t sound as serious as the other instances of rebellion, does it? The Old Testament passages that are referenced and a sharper translation (we might render the word behind ‘grumbling’ as ‘querulous moaning’) indicate a deep dissatisfaction with God and his ways.2 The people hanker after their former lives and complain bitterly about God’s provision. As a result, God disciplines his people.
It’s easy to think our own attitudes are better. Paul addresses this head-on with verse 12. If you see another believer fall and think ‘that could never happen to me’ then take Paul’s words to heart. A breezy self-confidence makes sin more likely, not less. Please heed this warning, but be encouraged as well. Don’t just reread verse 12 but also verse 13. God is faithful and he knows what we can bear. All the resources of the new covenant are freely available to us. We are baptised not into Moses but into Christ, led by Christ and, ultimately, protected by him. Let’s also draw our support from him. He gives us all we need by the power of the Spirit. With his help we can respond positively to the warnings he gives us.
Are you too confident in your own strength? Take a moment to examine your life and commit to ‘standing firm’ (v 12) in the strength that God alone can give.
1 Steve Turner, Nice and Nasty, Razor Books, 1980 2 See, for example, Exod 17:1–3; Anthony C Thiselton, 1 Corinthians, Eerdmans, 2006, p148
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Jeremiah 1,2; Psalms 112,113
Pray for Scripture Union
Give thanks to God for the ongoing partnership that Scripture Union has with South West Youth Ministries. Pray for a successful year for the trainees (see article), as we work together to equip them to go out to reach the 95 in schools and the communities in which they are based.
