When St. Paul
says, “Brethren, I would not have you ignorant…” he is about to impart some
great spiritual insight to us. Today, the Apostle begins by recalling the great
miracles of the O.T. to the church at Corinth, knowing these mighty acts would
resonate in their collective consciences. They also have great significance to
us as well. It helps us see the unity of the Scriptures as we take instruction
from both the Old Testament and the New.
St. Paul speaks of
“our fathers” being under the cloud and passing through the sea. He is speaking
of the O.T. church, the Corinthians’ spiritual forebears. They had the early
promises of God in the Old Covenant and were first to have a relationship with
God Almighty. Paul says that they were
“baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea”[1], referring
to the mighty miracles God performed for the Israelites when they were
delivered from Egypt. Exodus tells that they
proceeded out of the land of bondage, led by a cloud by day and a pillar of
fire by night. When pursued by Pharaoh’s
host, they were stopped by the Red Sea.
Moses, by the instruction and power of God, struck the sea with his rod and
the waters parted for the people to pass through on dry land, even while God
held back the Egyptians by the pillar of fire. The Israelites passed safely
through the sea to freedom.
St. Paul uses this
passage as instruction and admonition for the Corinthian church. Note the use
of cloud and water to signify this “baptism into Moses.” This cloud has significance, for we hear of a
cloud many times in both the Old Testament and the New, always associated in
some way with God’s glory. God came to
Moses in a great cloud when He came to speak to him. Ezekiel also saw a cloud. Biblical
scholars agree this was the Shikinah Glory Cloud, surrounding Ezekiel’s vision
by the river Chebar. He also saw the glory of the Lord depart from the Temple
in a cloud.
In the New
Testament, Christ is enveloped in a cloud on the Mount of Transfiguration. Out of the cloud came the mighty voice of God
the Father, proclaiming his joy and approval of His Son. In the book of Hebrews, 12th
Chapter, the author exclaims “seeing
we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us
lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the
race that is set before us.” It is no coincidence that
Israel is overshadowed by a cloud as they wander, protected and guided by the
Almighty. Although their wanderings were
a punishment for their failure to possess the Promised Land, God still
protected and guided them day and night.
St. Paul also uses
water to mention that the Israelites were “baptized into Moses.” Many commentators have observed that Israel
passed through the sea and emerged a changed people. They entered as a fleeing slave
people but came out as the free people of God. This change was not so much
evidenced by their actions, as much as by their nature. They changed from a
rabble of Egyptian slaves into a consecrated, sacramental people. A considerable percent still rebelled against
God and wanted to return to Egypt, but the greater portion became the People of
God. Later, using water, the New
Testament Church would embrace Holy Baptism as the new covenantal sign for
entrance into the Church. There is a marvelous duality here, as both peoples
are bound by the symbolic use of water.
St. Paul continues
to equate the O.T. People of God and the 1st century Church by
saying that the first people ate the same spiritual meat, manna, and drank the
same spiritual drink, the water from the Rock.
Recall the ongoing miracle that God worked for his people, as He provided
the water-yielding Rock which was always near the Israelite camp. Paul says the Rock “followed” them and that
the Rock was Christ. One must surely think of St. John 4 as Jesus tells the
woman at the well about “living water.” The
symbolism is the same: Christ gives us life.
This epistle does
not only talk about positive examples of the glory of God in our lives. St.
Paul instructs the Corinthians by using the Jews as a negative example. He mentions the sin of Baal-Peor, where there
was a mass defection by the Israelites to pagan practices. Paul also references
the great sin of the people at Mount Sinai, where they compelled Aaron to mold
a golden calf from their earrings and gold pieces. The people were idolators because
they needed something visible and tangible to indicate the presence of God.
The people sinned more
by engaging in a pagan feast and celebration in honor of it! Paul echoes the words of Exodus 32 as he tells
us they “sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.”[2]
Note that these
games were not merely innocent athletic pursuits, but involved all sorts of
licentious, lewd dancing, drunkenness, and celebrating, involving nudity and
ritual fornication in honor of their idol. This would have special significance
for the Corinthians, as they too were guilty of joining with their pagan
associates in feasts and bachaanals that were held routinely all over Corinth.
In fact, as we learn in both Corinthian Epistles, sexual immorality was a
problem for the Corinthian Church, even to the point of intra-family relations.
The point is
plain: just as the Old Testament Church foreshadowed the blessings of the New,
so do the sins of God’s People provide us with examples and lessons today. Chief
among these is a feeling of pride and self-satisfaction, because, after all
these negative examples, St. Paul warns us, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”[3]
The Corinthian
Church, prosperous and rich, thought it was excellent and righteous. What do we
Christians think today? Do we bear in mind that anything good that we do comes
not from us, but from the graciousness of God? It is His Grace that impels us
to the good and guards us from the bad.
We too are guarded by God’s cloud of glory and grace. We can take comfort from the Rock (Christ)
that is always with us.
St. Paul ends by
giving us a glorious word of encouragement.
He mentions that all of us are tempted in various ways, but all of them
are the common temptations of man. No one is tempted in strange and unfamiliar ways. Also, no one is tempted above their ability
to withstand it. God makes it possible to use both our human will and His
ever-present Grace to withstand temptation.
If we want to be righteous, He is there to help us. If we desire freedom from sin, He is there. We
are free, not bound or forced to embrace his love and mercy and grace.
May we always call
upon that grace in times of need. May we always seek that fullest, purest, most
holy relationship with Him. AMEN.
I Corinthians 10:1 “Moreover,
brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were
under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;”
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