SERMON: “Pride and Temptation” (1 Cor. 10:1–10)
“Pride and Temptation” (1 Cor. 10:1–10)
Series: “1 Cor: Holiness from Messes” #34 Text: 1
Corinthians 10:1–10
By: Shaun Marksbury Date: Aug. 30, 2026
Venue: Living Water Baptist Church Occasion: AM Service
Introduction
One of the fascinating realities of the modern church is our
desire to disassociate from the Old Testament.
Some see God as vindictive and judgmental before Christ, even though
there is grace across all the pages of Scripture. Similarly, they see only a message of peace
in the New Testament, forgetting facts like Jesus is coming back to judge this
world.
The God of the New Testament is the same God of the
Old. If you don’t understand that Christ
is in the pages of the Old Testament, for instance, then you are not reading
carefully enough. And, if you think that
the church age means that we only receive grace, then we haven’t read the New
Testament — for instance, God dealt harshly with Annias and Sapphira (Acts 5).
Paul will talk about judgment among the Corinthians,
too.
Remember, in chapter nine, Paul said he gave up his rights
and practiced self-discipline. The
transition here to the Old Testament account helps his readers to understand
the importance of this practice. He is
looking at a generation of God’s people that refused to give up their desires. As MacArthur notes here, this section shows
us “the dangers of overconfidence. The
Israelites misused their new-found freedom, fell into idolatry, immorality, and
rebelliousness, disqualifying themselves from receiving the Lord’s blessing.”[1] Now, that’s fitting considering all that Paul
has talked about in this letter.
We can’t proudly continue in sin, presuming that God won’t
judge us because we’re blessed by the grace of God. We will see that blessed people experienced
temptation in the past (vv. 1–6), and that these blessed people experienced
judgment (vv. 7–10). Let’s learn from
their lessons by starting with the first point:
First, Blessed People Experience Temptations (vv. 1–6)
For I do not want
you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all
passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in
the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual
drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them, and
the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with
most of them God was not well-pleased.
For they were struck down in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us,
so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.
Here is where Paul illustrates what he meant in the last
chapter. One of the things to note is
something you may have heard as we read that — Paul repeats the word “all” five
times in the first four verses. This
emphasizes the unity the people had under the blessings of the covenant, though
“most” of them were in sin.[2] This is something that the Corinthians, as
well as all Christians, needed to hear and guard against.
Keep in mind that this is being applied in the context of
the new covenant we have in Christ. Paul
calls the Corinthians “brothers” once again.
He also calls the Old Testament saints “our fathers,” demonstrating the
doctrine that the Gentiles have been grafted into the vine into the vine (Rom.
11:17). Incidentally, this means we can
rightly all sing “Father Abraham!” In
Christ, all Christians are together and benefit from the spiritual, New
Covenant promises made to Israel.
What happened to “our fathers”? First, they were under a theophany, a
manifestation of God. They were under
the cloud of glory — the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night (Exod. 13:21). The shekinah glory represented God’s
presence,[3]
guidance,[4]
and even protection.[5] They were all under God’s cloud. This is the first image that Paul associates
with Christian baptism and communion.
Speaking of baptism, we see that in that they all passed
through the Red Sea. The Lord parted the
waters and they passed through on dry ground (Exod. 14:22, 29; Neh. 9:11; Psa.
66:6). Their passage not only led them
into the wilderness with God, but it also drowned their enemies.[6] This is the second image showing their unity.
That’s where we get to the interesting statement of v. 2,
that they “all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” Now, you might think about our Baptist
baptisms, a biblical model of immersion, and wonder how Israel might have been
baptized if they passed through the Red Sea on dry ground and the cloud never
touched them. Yet, the text doesn’t say
they were immersed in “water” but into a person — into Moses.[7]
What does that mean?
Well, think about our baptism again.
We immerse in water not because the water provides us with some
benefit. It might rinse the flesh, but
it doesn’t cleanse the soul. The actual
immersion happens spiritually — “in Christ” — and it takes place under the
power of the Holy Spirit. The water is a
physical symbol of the spiritual reality — our union to Christ.
When Israel passed through the water and under the cloud, it
too was demonstrating a union. In this
case, the union was with Moses. It was
God’s will to unite the people at that time under a prophet, the giver of the
law, and the head of the Old Covenant. [8] Israel was saved from Egypt through Moses,
and so, Israel became identified by Moses.[9]
The people were all blessed by this relationship. They were close to God like no other people
since the Garden of Eden. They even had
food that God had provided. And that’s
what we’re reading about in v. 3.
One thing that might be confusing here is thinking
“spiritual” means something other than “material.” In the biblical world, there is no separation
between the “spiritual” and the “material” world. In other words, a person can have tangible
food and drink and it still be a spiritual experience.
In this case, the “spiritual food” refers to
the manna. As one commentary frames
this, this “points back to God’s daily provision for Israel in the wilderness
(Dt 8:14–15).”[10] It was miraculously provided, keeping over a
million people alive in areas not too unlike our own desert regions.
And, in desert regions, water is vital. So, in v. 4, we also read that they also had
the same spiritual drink. God gave them
to drink from a physical rock. This
miracle happened twice — once at Rephidim toward the beginning of their journey
(Exod. 17:1–6), and again at Kadesh toward the end of their journey through the
wilderness (Num. 20:1–11).[11] In fact, the Jews would later develop the
legend that the rock was actually following them around![12]
Now, again, Paul is paralleling these events to Christian
baptism and communion. In fact, Paul
will have much more to say about the Lord’s Supper (cf. 1 Cor. 11:23–26), and
Christian communion replaces the practice of the Passover Sedar.[13] These are also physical ordinances, but they
represent true spiritual realities in the lives of believers.
In fact, Paul wants to make the connection even
clearer. He says that even ancient
Israel was drinking from the rock of Christ!
Now, this language isn’t foreign to the Jewish mind — they were already
thinking of God as the “rock,” meaning that they understood they drank the
physical water by the blessing of God.
Paul just takes this one step further and says they drank from Christ.[14]
Jesus is the rock!
This is the same term in Matthew 16:18 — “And I also say to you that you
are Peter, and upon this rock (petra) I will build My church; and the
gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
Paul clearly didn’t understand that to mean Peter was the rock, for he’s
not saying Peter (or the Pope) was following them through the wilderness. He instead clearly says here that Jesus is
the rock. Peter is the “little stone” (petros)
who made a great confession about the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the
Spirit, and Jesus said this is the rock upon which He will build the
church. Paul here is clearly pointing
his readers to the fullness of Jesus Christ, who was even present preincarnate
with the people of God.
One would think that a generation of God’s people
experiencing such blessings would be constantly in worship and growing in
godliness. However, if you’ve read the
Books of Moses, then you know this isn’t the case. In v. 5, we read, “Nevertheless, with most of
them God was not well-pleased.” And that
is an understatement![15]
Of course, the truth is that none of us are well-pleasing to
God outside of Christ. This, by the way,
is the same term in Matthew 3:17, where we read one in whom the Father is
well-pleased is the Son. Yet, some (most)
did not find themselves in the Son, though they enjoyed His spiritual
benefits. In fact, most of them fell
into the displeasure of God!
Thus, we read that they were “struck down in the wilderness.” This could also be translated that they were “scattered
about” (LSB footnote), which is why the NKJV has the graphic translation,
“their bodies were scattered.” This is how
we know God wasn’t pleased, for He brought judgment upon the people called by
His name. Those who experienced the most
blessings and witnessed the most miracles faced the stricter judgment for their
disobedience.[16] They were presumptuous.
Yet, they weren’t the only ones, despite how some look down
on the Jews today. Note in v. 6 how the
Apostle Paul switches to a first-person plural pronoun. He says that “these things happened as
examples for us.” He is moving to the
application stage, and it shows us the cautionary tale they serve.
So, Paul uses these biblical accounts to draw out the
abiding moral principle for these Corinthian believers — and he states that
this is exactly why God recorded them. He
says they are “examples,” which is similar to what he says in v. 11. By the way, this gives us a good picture of
both Bible study and preaching; we consider how the Lord has dealt with His
people in the past and see the principles He wanted them to learn as lessons
for our lives.
The wilderness generation were overconfident and indulgent,
and the Corinthians were likewise complacent and lacking in self-discipline.[17] They “craved” evil things, like even wanting
to return to slavery just for a different meal than God provided. They had “greedy” desires (Num 11:4, 34) and
“craved intensely” (Psa 106:14), and the Corinthians were likewise choosing
food over the wellbeing of their own brothers.
The heart of people doesn’t change. Just like the blessed children of Israel
faced temptation, we face temptation, too.
And that’s where this is going next.
Second, Blessed People Experience Judgment (vv. 7–10)
Do not be
idolaters, as some of them were. As it
is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.” Nor let us act in sexual immorality, as some
of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us put Christ to the test, as some of
them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.
Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
Paul lists off the particular sins that were present in
ancient Israel, and it’s very much like what Christians face today. They were involved with idolatry, sexual
immorality, unfaithfulness to the Lord, and discontentedness — all issues Paul
has been addressing with the Corinthians!
The good news is that God can deliver from temptation, which Paul will
especially point out in v. 13. Even so,
let’s consider the bad news first.
Paul gives four clear commands which prohibit the same sins
among believers. He shows both the
problem and the judgment linked to the iniquity of the people. The clear implication is that God may do the
same.
First, God Will Judge Idolators (v. 7)
Paul commands do not “be” or “become” idolators. In v. 14, he tells us to flee idolatry, and
in 5:11, he said not to associate with idolators. Even God’s people can fall into idolatry, as
did ancient Israel (Exod. 32:4–6).
One commentary notes, “Paul begins to make the case that
eating in the temple of a pagan god is not actually the ‘right’ that the
Corinthians imagined (8:9–10). It is
participation in ‘the table of demons’ (10:21) and idolatry. For a Christian to eat meals in these temples
is to follow the poor example of the Israelites who worshiped other gods (Ex.
32:1–6).”[18]
There are activities that we may see as benign, so much so
that we may even celebrate with food and drink!
We place sporting events and other things above God, skipping church
half the year and thinking we’re okay. However,
God has a different assessment. We must
beware that we are not fashioning our own golden calf, and a sure sign of that
is how we react if someone suggests it’s wrong.
We must beware, lest the Lord decide to remove the idolatry from His
sight.
Second, God Will Judge Sexual Immorality (v. 8)
There is a hint that the “play” the Israelites participated
in was sexual in nature,[19] but Paul makes it
clear here. Perhaps he did this because
Corinth had a temple to Venus full of priestess prostitutes.[20] The Corinthian name was one synonymous with
sexual immorality, and as we saw in chapter five, the Corinthian church was not
immune to sexual immorality.
The same can be said of America. Our country is the largest producers of porn,
and protestors make sure to shout about protecting sexual freedom with
abortions. I read somewhere that we are
known to the world as the “wild west” in what we permit. And, based on the numbers, there are many
professing Christians who are tied up in one form of sexual immorality or
another.
Paul warns that God slayed 23,000 in one day. In Numbers 25:9, the number actually reaches
24,000, which might include those who died in the ensuing plague[21]
on the next day.[22] Whatever the case, we must see that God takes
this seriously.
Third, God Will Judge those Testing Christ (v. 9)
It is interesting to consider the implications of “Christ”
being the original reading here. The
Israelites weren’t just putting the “Lord” to the test, but Christ. Again, God the Son was there, pre-incarnate,
providing redemption… and the people were trying His grace and goodness.
Children sometimes do this, continuing to push boundaries to
see when they will be punished and how harshly.
In Numbers 21:5, we see that the people were speaking against God as
well as Moses, and like children, they both say that there is no food and that
they hate the food. God provided the
food and drink supernaturally, and they complain!
So, what happened? In
the next verse of Numbers 21, we read that “Yahweh sent fiery serpents among
the people, and they bit the people so that many people of Israel died” (v.
6). This is the end result of putting
Christ to the test, and don’t think that Christ doesn’t judge people in His
church today.
Fourth, God Will Judge Grumblers (v. 10)
You might have thought that you escaped the judgment of the
verses! After all, you might be
relatively dedicated to Christ, not testing Him or placing an idol over
Him. You might not go to sleazy websites
and you might keep your mind somewhat clean.
However, you complain.
God’s people did this multiple times (Num 16:41; 17:5, 10). The incident with the serpents was just the
latest, but the most pointed was perhaps Korah’s rebellion. The Lord sent the same angel who killed the
firstborn in Egypt against His own people in the wilderness.[23] We would do well not to grumble against what
the Lord is doing.
Conclusion
This doesn’t have to be the end of the story. Paul is eventually moving us toward the good
news that temptation doesn’t have to control us in v. 13. We can endure it in Christ. We’ll talk more about that next time.
For now, perhaps you realize that you are not well-pleasing
to the Lord. Perhaps you have sinned in
many ways on this list, and maybe in various other ways. Yet, you can find forgiveness by confessing
your sin to the Father and turning from it to Christ. Remember — the Father is well-pleased in the
Son, so place your faith in Him so that you will be spiritually baptized into
Him.
Church, there’s no ultimate hope in being associated with
Moses. While we should take the lessons
of the Old Testament, keeping the law doesn’t produce salvation within us. Only Christ can do that. Be baptized in the Holy Spirit in Him through
faith, not in another.
[1] John MacArthur Jr., Ed., The MacArthur Study Bible,
electronic ed., (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1997), 1743.
[2] Andrew David Naselli, Romans–Galatians, 2020, X, 303.
[3] John D. Barry, Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Michael
S. Heiser, Miles Custis, Elliot Ritzema, Matthew M. Whitehead, Michael R.
Grigoni, and David Bomar, Faithlife Study Bible, (Bellingham, WA:
Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), 1 Co 10:1.
[4] MacArthur.
[5] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and
Unabridged in One Volume, (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 2261.
[6] MacArthur.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, The First Letter
to the Corinthians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, (Grand
Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010),
448.
[9] Barry, et. al., 1 Co 10:2.
[10] F. Alan Tomlinson, CSB
Study Bible: Notes, 2017, 1825.
[11] Barry, et. al., 1 Co 10:4.
[12] Naselli, 303–304.
[13] Ciampa and Rosner, 449.
[14] J. I. Packer, Wayne Grudem, and Ajith Fernando, Eds., ESV Global Study
Bible, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 1617.
[15] MacArthur, 1743.
[16] Barry, et. al., 1 Co 10:5.
[17] David K. Lowery, The
Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1985, 2, 526.
[18] Packer, et. al.
[19] MacArthur.
[20] Henry.
[21] Lowery, 526–527.
[22] Naselli, 304.
[23] MacArthur.