We will begin with the reading of God’s Word. The passage is 1 Corinthians 10:1-5,
“For I want you to know, 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 drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.”
Moses is a typological figure of Christ (see Deuteronomy 18:15). Just as Moses delivered God’s people from slavery in Egypt, so also Christ delivers God’s people from slavery to sin. Moses brought the people through the wilderness to the Promised Land, and Christ will bring His people through the wilderness of this world to the Promised Land of the new heavens and new earth.
The people were baptized into Moses and brought safely through the righteous judgments which God brought upon the Egyptians. In the same way, those who are baptized into Christ will be brought safely through the righteous judgments which God will bring upon the entire world.
The people were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. This means that they were abiding in Moses, their deliverer, of whom God appointed for them, and were thus brought safely through the judgment upon the Egyptians. God protected His people because they were baptized, or abiding, in Moses. A detailed account of this can be found in Exodus 13-14. In the same way, our deliverer Jesus, of whom God appointed for us, will bring us safely through the judgment to fall upon the entire world at the end of the age, as we are baptized and abide in Christ. Since Moses is a typological figure of Christ, it is appropriate to use the language of “baptized into Moses” which points forward to our day as we are baptized into Christ. The prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:15, namely that God would raise up a prophet like Moses among their brethren, is fulfilled in Christ Jesus our Messianic Lord.
Next, let us look at Christ as the spiritual food and spiritual drink, how the people of Israel responded, and what that means for us today.
All the people ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual Rock which is Christ. They ate from the spiritual Manna which is Christ. The manna from heaven was a tangible food which pointed to the spiritual reality of being sustained by Christ who is our spiritual food whom we are to hunger for. The water from the rock was a tangible drink which pointed to the spiritual reality of being sustained by Christ who is our spiritual water whom we are to thirst after.
The Israelites were designated as God’s people, yet Paul and scripture declares that God was not pleased with the majority of them, and they were overthrown in the wilderness. They tasted the goodness of Christ through the manna from heaven and the water from the rock, but because of their rebellion and unbelief, they were cut off from Christ. They were God’s people by name, but because they did not persevere, they were overthrown in the wilderness and cut off from the presence of God.
Today there are many people who are God’s people by name. They say they are Christians and may even attend church regularly and be very involved in church activities. They are tasting the goodness of Christ, but through their rebellion and unbelief, they will be cut off from Him. They will not persevere.
We will not do a full survey of the New Testament, but we will look at three passages which speak of tasting [Greek word: geuomai] and then apply its meaning to our text for today.
The first passage is Hebrews 2:9, “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” Jesus tasted the second death, which is the death the wicked will be consumed by forever in Hell, but it was only a taste. He was not fully consumed by that death, but only a brief taste, which was just enough to satisfy the wrath of God and make His sacrifice as the Lamb of God sufficient for paying the penalty for our sins. He tasted the second death on our behalf, so that we will never taste it. He tasted it on our behalf, so that we would not be consumed by it.
Our second passage is 1 Peter 2:2-4, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation--if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious...” Peter is telling his audience that if they have tasted that the Lord Jesus is good, then they are to continuously long for more of Him [the pure spiritual milk) and to “come to Him” continuously. In other words, Peter is telling these Christians to persevere to the end. Persevere in your longing for Christ. Persevere in your coming or drawing near to Christ. If you have tasted that He is good, then persevere in your longing and coming. To taste alone is not salvation, but only in fully consuming the goodness of Christ is salvation obtained.
And the third passage is Hebrews 6:4-6, “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” The author of Hebrews speaks of those who have tasted the heavenly gift and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, yet do not persevere but fall away. I think taste involves some level of enjoyment and desire for more, and in the case of those who fall away, they do not want to do what is necessary to fully consume the gift, so instead of persevering they turn away. They have shared in the Holy Spirit, meaning they have experienced the Holy Spirit to some degree, but have not fully experienced Him the way a Christian is to experience Him. He is a stranger to them. We can experience good things from strangers without actually knowing them. They have tasted all these good things, but have not fully consumed them.
Applying this idea of taste to our own passage, we can see that the majority of Israelites, of whom God was not pleased with, tasted of the spiritual food and of the spiritual drink, but they did not long for and draw near to God in order to fully consume His glory and beauty and majesty. They wanted to consume Him on their own terms, which is not possible. They were rebellious and did not believe, and thus God was not pleased with them and overthrew them in the wilderness, cutting them off from Christ. Those who were designated as God’s people did not persevere.
In the verses following our passage, Paul goes on to explain that “these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” [v. 6]. Paul encourages the Corinthians to persevere. “Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” [v. 12]. We are to persevere in obedience and faith. We are not to “sit down to eat and drink and rise up to play” [v. 7], or “indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day” [v. 8], or “put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by the serpents” [v. 9], nor are we to “grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer” [v. 10]. Let us not desire evil, but desire God. Let us persevere, lest we be destroyed and overthrown in the wilderness of this world and never reach the promised land of the new heavens and new earth where we would be granted eternity to fully consume the glory and majesty of God. This consuming, not mere taste, begins now in our life of obedience and faith and perseverance. I end with Paul’s words in v. 13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
Be imitators of Paul and of Christ and of God, but be not imitators of the disobedient and rebellious people in the wilderness, or you too will be cut off from Christ after having tasted His goodness.
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