The Rock Was Christ and I Cor 10:1-13

"I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.

6 Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and they 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 And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. 13 No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it."

Introduction

Today's text allows me the opportunity not only to exposit Paul's thoughts but to reflect more deeply on the kind of person Paul was. He was, in my judgment, the most interesting personality in earliest Christianity. His mind was rapier-sharp; his need to share in the limelight was worthy of any contemporary "American Idol" wannabe; his appeal to Scripture and his own authority while at the same time not being reluctant to attack others with a patina of spiritual language leaves me impressed and gasping at the same time. I think the quest of our age in understanding Paul is fully to humanize him. He gives us ample indications in his writings of who he really is; to me he is at once captivating and repelling.

I argued in a previous essay that what basically drove Paul in his ministry was a sense of personal inadequacy that arose out of the fact that he was an ektroma, one born in an untimely manner, both because he had persecuted the church of Christ and had not been an original apostle (see this essay). Thus he says inappropriate things like "I worked harder than them all" or "they contributed nothing to me" (referring to the Jerusalem apostles), which to me are clear signs that he is both trying to establish his own self-understanding and distance himself from /express superiority over those selected by Jesus.

But it is precisely this sort of residual jealousy or even resentment that provides the spark for Paul's brilliant decision not only to take the Gospel to the Gentiles but to develop an understanding of it that honors the Jewish past but allows Gentiles into the movement on an equal footing with Jews. To look for consistency in Paul's thought has been the task of New Testament scholars for generations; I would rather try to exposit features of his mind and personality, and see his struggles to articulate a consistent faith as an expression of this inner tension.

The Tension Explodes in I Cor. 10:1-13

We see Paul in his full glory in this text. This passage occurs in the context of Paul's discussion of whether the Corinthians should eat food offered to idols (chs. 8-10). This isn't exactly a burning issue in our day but it does allow us to understand more clearly what we might call the principles of Pauline ethics. He deals with the subject in two ways. First, in ch. 9, Paul tells the Corinthians that they are free really to do anything--they can eat the food, or they might not decide to eat this food offered to idols. Paul himself is likewise "free" as an apostle (cf. 9:1). But, in ch. 9, Paul also says that he will curb his freedom of choice so that he won't unnecessarily offend others and therefore provide a stumbling block to their acceptance of the Gospel. This, then, is the "flavor" of I Cor 9--Paul, and the Corinthians, are really free to do what they will in this burning debate, but Paul will voluntarily limit himself in order not to offend. Now we understand his famous statement: "I have become all things to all people" (9:22). Why? So that his personal conduct might not put up a roadblock to their acceptance of the Gospel.

Now that this is said and done, Paul, in the second place, changes his tone completely in I Cor. 10. Forget about voluntary self-restriction. Now Paul will hammer his hearers. This is vintage Paul. First give a carrot; then clobber people and then, at the very end, put in a verse that seemingly "resolves" things in a kind of cute way. This is precisely what Paul does here. The "carrot" is I Cor. 9; the "stick" is I Cor. 10:1-12, and the cute and memorable line to make them think it really is "all better" (when it really isn't) is in 10:13. By the way, you no doubt have used, perhaps even memorized I Cor. 10:13. People use it inappropriately all the time to describe how they are dealing with difficult situations in life (God will not give me more than I can bear..that is the way the argument runs). But, in fact, Paul only gets to v. 13 after he has scared his hearers in 10:1-12. That is a strong statement, and so I need to defend it.

Paul's Argument in I Cor. 10: 1-13

If the Corinthians have been reading his letter, they probably read between the lines of ch. 9 that Paul doesn't want them eating the food offered to idols. But he never really says it. Now, however, in I Cor. 10, he says so. And, rather than coming out and just saying it, Paul decides to take us through a typological study of the Israelites in the wilderness. Why? Because he wants to show us what happened to the previous people of God when they angered God. The Israelities had all the benefits of the gifts of God. They were even followed in the wilderness by a rock, which Paul says was "Christ." This mode of Scriptural exposition is a bit over-the-top in our own day, but it does reflect a rabbinic tradition that said that a well for water moved with the people during their wanderings--probably to explain how it was that they could have forty years of food and drink in the wilderness.

But then we see what Paul's true colors are. In three instances in vv. 7-10 Paul mentions how the people of Israel were destroyed. How so? Well, they indulged in sexual immorality and God decided to destroy 23,000 in a single day (v. 8). Just so the hearers don't miss it, Paul repeats another dire warning. Don't put Christ to the test, as your ancestors tested God, because they were destroyed by serpents. And, don't even complain (v. 10) because God shows what he does to complainers--sending the Destroyer among them to wipe out another swath of people.

Without a doubt, then, Paul is threatening his beloved congregation. What started out as a sort of "freedom to choose" argument has ended with the most dire threats imaginable; that is, if you continue to complain, put the Lord to the test, etc., you will be wiped out as surely as the people of Israel. And then, while we are gasping at Paul's boldness in so arguing, he drops in v. 13, which says that we are not destined to fall to these forces. Temptations may exist, but God is sufficient to overcome them.

Conclusion

Let no one, howeer, be misled. The heart of this passage is not the sweet verse with which Paul ends it. The heart of the passage isn't an interesting story about Christ being the rock following the people of God in the wilderness. In fact, the heart of the passage is the most dire warning to the people not to do the thing that they really, according to Paul's logic, have the freedom to do. I finish with Paul this morning with the same attitudes that I started. I am amazed at his mind, the scope and creativity of it. I am taken by his desire to try to write a consistent social ethic when the new religion is just beginning. I stand in awe of his energy and passion. But, on the other hand, I don't think I would hang around his congregation. I would just like to read his letters "from a distance." For I, and probably you, don't work best with threats hanging over our heads. The only body whose threat I fear is the IRS, and they can only take money from me. Paul seems to want to play for much higher stakes.

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