SUMMARY
Stories from Exodus and Numbers serve as examples to show that the freedom which the Corinthians enjoy in Christ does not extend to behaviors such as the worship of other gods. Such behaviors harm the relationship God has made with them. Temptations will come. When they do, the Corinthians ought not to presume immunity from harm, nor should they despair that God will abandon them to their own bad judgment.
ANALYSIS
The wider context of 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 is the question of freedom as it is distinct from license, which is a word that describes using freedom in ways that harm self and others. To differentiate the two, PaulThe Apostle Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus, was the author of several New Testament letters and the founder of many Christian communities. More uses examples from the Old Testament, specifically from the wilderness sojourn of God’s people. He says these stories are a warning for the people of God in Corinth to whom he is writing.
Paul begins the section by naming major moments and images from the books of Exodus and Numbers. The Israelites were freed from being enslaved in Egypt. God led and sustained them in the wilderness. In spite of this divine intervention on their behalf, the people used their newfound freedom in ways that harmed themselves and harmed the relationship they had with God. Paul mentions specifically (1) idolIdolatry is the worship of something other than the true God. An idol may be a cult image, an idea, or an object made of wood or stone. Ome of the Ten Commandments specifically prohibits the worship of graven images or idols; this concern is... More worship, (2) sexual immorality, (3) putting Christ (some manuscripts read “the Lord” here) to the test, and (4) complaining. Paul calls to mind stories of the Israelites doing each of these activities, and he highlights the dangers that befell the Israelites when they failed to love and trust God.
In 1 Corinthians 10:11, Paul says that these stories were written down “to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.” As Paul sees it, the old age, with its principalities and powers, and the new age, in which the crucified and risen Christ reigns, are overlapping, and Paul places his readers and himself at the point of overlap. In this “between times” space, the stories of the Israelites are instructive in two ways. On the one hand, God’s people should not presume that they can do everything, even harmful things, and suffer no harm (see 1 Corinthians 10:12). On the other hand, they need not despair that God will abandon them in a time of testing (1 Corinthians 10:13).
See the “Bible in the World” article on this passage for more on how the language of “testing” in 1 Corinthians 10:13 has found its way into popular culture as, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.”
