First Corinthians 10

Paul continues from the end of chapter 9 teaching and explaining how we (holy-people, Christians) should be exercising self-control over all-things during our contest, living our everyday lives to the best of our abilities with and for the only true God.

I Corinthians 10:1-5:

^10:1For I do not intend you to not-know, brothers, that our fathers all used-to-be under the cloud and all went-through by means of the sea – ^.2and all used-to-be baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; ^.3and all ate the spiritual food ^.4and all drank the spiritual drink – for they used-to-drink out-from (the) spiritual rock following but the rock used-to-be the Christ;

 ^.5but God did not consider-it-good in more of them for they were spread-down in the desert-place.

Once again, Paul addresses the Corinthian holy-people as "brothers" – reminding them that they all had received the same holy spirit-life from God by means of the Lord Jesus Christ which made them all children of God, including Paul and those with him.

Paul writes: In truth, I do not intend (will) you to be ignorant (to be un-knowing, unaware), brothers, that…

·         our fathers (referring to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob/Israel, and the other great men who instructed people in God's words as fathers to their children)

·         all were continuing during a past time, historically, to be under the cloud (legally subject or in submission to the particular and distinct cloud that God gave for their help and protection),

·         and all went through (passed) by means of the Red Sea (in Hebrew this is the sea of reeds, full of water-plants – they came through it on dry ground with God's help and protection during their exodus from Egypt on their way towards the promised land that God had promised Abraham and Isaac and Jacob) –

o    and all of them were baptized (immersed, surrounded – not with water but as follows)

o    into Moses (directed to, with respect to Moses, from outside into the inside of/with/in everything that Moses was for and with God)

§  within the cloud and within the sea (it was only because of all that God via Moses did for them that all of them were able to do all that they did during that past time);

·         and all physically ate the spiritual food for eating (referring to the manna that God Who is Spirit supplied to them [some Greek texts include the word “same” in this phrase]),

·         and all physically drank the spiritual drink for drinking (referring to the water that God Who is Spirit supplied to them [some Greek texts also include the word “same” in this phrase]) –

o    in truth, they were continuing to drink during that past time, historically

o    out-from the spiritual rock following (originating from the rock that God Who is Spirit was supplying which was coming after them time-wise),

§  but the rock was continuing during that past time to be the Christ (the Anointed-one, the Messiah).

This spiritual rock (not a physical rock) was the Christ whom they were waiting-for to redeem them both physically and spiritually. Christ was not there at that time because he had not been born yet – but those people had the promise of his coming, which was first recorded in Genesis 3:15.

God supplied them with the physical food and water as a type (pattern) to remind them that He would also supply the true spiritual bread and water of whom He had already told them. This rock was coming after them in time; the rock who could not be moved or removed from the position that God would give to him; the spiritual rock – the Christ.

In verses 2-4, Paul gives great emphasis to all that God supplied to/for them at that time by the repetition of the Greek word pas which can be translated into the English as "all" or "every."

They could look forward to the coming Christ and believe what God told them, which was that God would redeem them by means of the Christ (the Anointed-one, the Messiah), and give them holy spirit-life, and their promised land, etc.

However, even though those people shared and enjoyed the privileges which were given to them by God during that past time, historically – Paul continues by reminding the Corinthian holy-people that…

·         contrary to God being able to give all of them access to the promised land at that time,

·         God did not consider (suppose) that it was a good-thing (a willing purpose with good design, well)

o    among a lot of the people (the bigger-portion, the majority of them)

o    because in truth those who did not do what God told them were spread-down (caused to be strewn as corpses)

§  in the desert-place (desolate place, wilderness).

The people who died before entering into the promised land did not receive the prize that was available to be won at that time by them (refer to I Corinthians 9:25-27) – they did not go into the promised land which they were expecting to go into at the end of their journey (refer to Numbers 14:16, 29 and 30; Hebrews 3:16-19).

[Reference: Genesis 3:15, 32:28, 35:10; Exodus chapters 13, 14, 16, and 17:1-7; Numbers chapter 14, 20:2-13; Deuteronomy chapters 8 and 32; Psalm 78:12-32, 105:39-42; Habakkuk 2:4 (Septuagint); Matthew 3:17, 16:13-20; John 6:22-40 and 49; Romans 9:33, 10:8-13; Hebrews 3:16-19, 10:38; I Peter 2:8; II Peter 1:17; Jude 1:5.]