The Journey

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

THE JOURNEY

1 Cor 10:1-5

10:1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers 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 over the desert.

NIV

There is more to what Paul has to say about this situation that happened in the wilderness journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. First, we should recognize that the church in Corinth did have some converted Jews, those who accepted Jesus as the Messiah. Although we know that it has been some years since Paul was there and that he worked alongside Priscilla and Aquila making tents, perhaps in a small shop along one of the working-class streets and that is where they met and preached to so many of the pagans. However, there was also a Jewish community in Corinth and therefore a synagogue where Paul would have gone to share the good news about the Messiah, Jesus. So the church may well have been a mix of the poorer working-class people converted from Paganism and some Jews who may have been wealthier, even business owners. This is why the church was in such a mess and in need of Paul giving answers to many questions regarding so many issues. Here he reminds them of the early period of the Israelite peoples' journey and how God provided manna and water, both spiritual food that represented Jesus. Although they had everything they needed, even God himself leading them and meeting with Moses to give them instructions as to how to live, they continued to live in a manner that did not please God. We only have to see the golden calf as an example of their impatience with God, and want an idol. Paul is going to use this as an example to show them and us that we should not try to make any of our own idols as we get impatient with answers to our prayers, as Paul is going to put it, set our hearts on evil things. We are also in this same journey from being in bondage as the Israelites were, except our bondage was to sin. Just as God delivered them out of slavery to the Egyptians, He has delivered us out of slavery to sin.  We too are now on this journey to the competed Promised Land that Jesus went to prepare a place for us. We have a place in the Promised Land, the New City of Jerusalem which will come down from Heaven on the new earth. We have also been given this spiritual food, we have the body and blood of Jesus, the rock of our salvation. We have also been sealed with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee that all this being true and it is ours, as long as we continue on the journey following the leading of our God and leave our idols behind, or rather not get distracted along the way, and make new idols because we cannot wait for God to provide all we need. Therefore, we should learn this lesson as well and simply live to please the Lord, whatever that looks like along this journey, for we are still on the journey, we have not yet arrived, so we should not get too settled, as this world is not our home, we are just passing through, our treasures are laid up beyond the blue. The angels beckon us from heaven's open shore and we can’t feel at home in the world anymore.