Next, Paul ventures into a discussion on not making the same mistakes that others of God’s chosen people have made. First, Paul affirms to the Corinthians that like their Jewish brethren, they have been set apart as part of God’s family. Even though many of the Christians in Corinth were Gentile, God treated them as a part of His chosen people.
Paul, then, looks at the other side of that coin. Since we are God’s chosen, we need not make the same mistakes as the ones that have gone before us. Paul reminds us that the Israelites walked under a cloud every day. A pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God fed them every day. Manna and quail literally fell into their laps and water gushed out of rocks in the desert.
Still, while the daily presence of God was visible and palpable, the children of Israel acted as if God was not there. They worshipped a golden calf at the base of the mountain where God’s presence was seen as a fiery smoke above.
They whined about being hungry just after finishing their breakfast of angel food. They started to revolt and kill God’s leaders when they said it was time to take the land. They feared that the God who sent the plagues, split the sea, killed the Egyptian army and fed and watered them daily could not handle the giants in the land of Canaan.
Lest we become too self-righteous and judgy; one should ask themselves, What makes me doubt God? Is it the “giant” of health scares, financial pain. joblessness, wayward kids, or maybe a broken relationship?
Please remember that the same God that fed 2,000,000 people daily for 40+ years can also meet your personal needs. I must admit, the giants in this land can sometimes be scary. I forget that for the last 60 years; the God of the universe has protected, provided, and prepared me for the steps that lie ahead.
What gaul I seem to muster; to doubt this God; the God that has taken me through heights and depths of both challenge and emotion. He who provided everything that a stiff-necked people could need or desire, will again provide for us–His chosen!
Please allow me, Lord, to honor you today with my words and my actions. Help me to remember you are not sending me in to battle giants; but instead, you are sending me in to claim that which you have already secured!
God Bless You
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were, as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”[a] 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousands of them died. 9 We should not test Christ,[b] as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation[c] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted[d] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,[e] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Walking With God 