1 Corinthians 10:3,4

DISCOURSE: 1969
THE MANNA AND ROCK TYPES OF CHRIST

1 Corinthians 10:3. They did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them: and that rock was Christ.

THOUGH it is certain that the covenant of grace is ordered in all things and sure, and that God will fulfil his promises to all who believe, yet there is no man so absolutely assured of his own interest in the Divine favour, as that he can with safety cast off all watchfulness and circumspection. The Corinthians, by going to the utmost verge of their Christian liberty in eating things offered to idols, were in danger of being drawn back into actual idolatry. The Apostle recommends to them therefore to exercise self-denial, as well for their own sake, that they might not be ensnared, as for the sake of others, whose weak consciences might be wounded. He tells them that he himself felt the necessity of mortifying all his appetites, and that he was obliged to “keep his body under, and to bring it into subjection, lest by any means, after having preached to others, he himself should be a cast-away.” He then proceeds to remind them of the Israelites, who, notwithstanding the numberless privileges that they enjoyed, as God’s peculiar people, perished in the wilderness for their manifold provocations. Among the privileges which he specifies, we shall fix our attention upon that referred to in the text; and shall take occasion from it to inquire,

I. What was that spiritual food which the Israelites partook of in the wilderness?

God, having brought his people into the wilderness, sustained them there with miraculous supplies of bread and water—
[About six weeks after their departure out of Egypt [Note: Exodus 16:1.], their provisions were spent, and they began to be in want of bread. God therefore promised them a constant supply from day to day: forbidding them to reserve any for the morrow, except on the day preceding the sabbath, when they were to gather sufficient for two days’ consumption. This food (which for want of any more appropriate name they called manna, i. e. a portion) descended from the clouds every night; and, when the dew that covered it was exhaled by the sun, it appeared on the face of the ground: it was a very small white thing like coriander seed, which they ground in their mills, and baked; and, in taste, it was like wafers made of fresh oil and honey [Note: Exodus 16:13. with Numbers 11:8.]. Of this there was a constant and regular supply for forty years; nor did it ever fail, till their want of it was superseded by the corn, of which they got possession in the laud of Canaan. In like manner, water was given them out of a rock in Horeb, by a stroke of that rod, with which Moses had divided the Red Sea [Note: Exodus 17:5.]: and it was made to follow them in all their encampments for about thirty-eight years; when, for their further trial, the stream was dried up, and a similar miracle was wrought for them again in Kadesh-barnea [Note: Numbers 20:8.]

This food, though carnal in its nature and use, was truly “spiritual;” inasmuch as it was,

1. A typical representation of Christ—

[Our Lord himself copiously declares this with respect to the manna: He draws a parallel between the bread which Moses gave to the Israelites, and himself as the true bread that was given them from heaven; and shews that, as the manna supported the natural life of that nation for a time, so he would give spiritual and eternal life to the whole believing world [Note: John 6:48.]. The same truth he also establishes, in reference to the water that proceeded from the rock. He told the Samaritan woman, that if she would have asked of him he would have given her living water [Note: John 4:10.]. And on another occasion he stood in the place of public concourse, and cried, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink [Note: John 7:37.];” thereby declaring himself to be the only “well of salvation,” the only rock from whence the living water could proceed. Indeed, the Apostle, in the very words of the text, puts this matter beyond a doubt; “they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them;” and “that Rock was Christ.”]

2. A sacramental pledge of his blessings—

[Under the Gospel dispensation there are two sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s supper: and these are not only “outward and visible signs of an inward and spiritual grace,” but they are also “means whereby we receive that grace, and a pledge to assure us thereof.” Thus when the Israelites were “baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea,” they were consecrated unto God; and they received, as it were, an earnest from him, that all the blessings of his covenant should in due time be imparted to them, unless they, by their violation of the covenant, should provoke him to withhold them. In the same manner the bread and water miraculously given and continued to them, were a pledge, that they should one day “eat of the hidden manna,” and “drink of the rivers of pleasure which are at his right hand for evermore,” provided they continued steadfast in the covenant, and walked worthy of their heavenly calling. Thus while their daily food typically represented, and, to those who partook of it in faith, really conveyed, spiritual blessings, it was “an earnest to them of that Spirit,” whom the water typified, and “an earnest of that inheritance,” which Christ should purchase for them by his obedience unto death [Note: 2 Corinthians 1:22.Ephesians 1:14.]

And that this food was not peculiar to them may be shewn by considering,

II.

In what respects it was the same with that which we now partake of—

When the Apostle says, that they all eat the same spiritual meat, he does not mean that all the Israelites subsisted on the same food (for that was obvious enough, and was of no consequence to his subject) but that their spiritual food, represented by the manna and the water, was the same that still nourishes the Church of God. To elucidate this we may observe, it was the same,

1. In its nature and substance—

[As their bodies could not have maintained their vigour without the daily use of bread and water, so neither could their souls flourish, unless they daily fed upon Christ, the living bread, and received from him renewed communications of his Spirit. And are there any other means of subsistence for our souls? Has not our Lord expressly told us, that “except we eat his flesh and drink his blood, we have no life in us?” Has not St. Paul also assured us, that none can belong to Christ unless they be partakers of his Spirit [Note: Romans 8:9.]? We are as destitute of strength in ourselves as the Israelites were; and need the same direction, support, and succour. If any man could be sufficient of himself, surely the great Apostle of the Gentiles was: but he corrects himself instantly when he appeared to have suggested an idea that was capable of that interpretation; “I live,” says he, “yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me [Note: Galatians 2:20.].” This is precisely what the believers in the wilderness did, when they subsisted on their spiritual food; and it is what every believer must do as long as the world shall stand.]

2. In its use and tendency—

[The daily supply of manna, and of the water from the rock, continually reminded them of their dependence upon God, and encouraged them to serve him with a willing mind. But the conveyance of spiritual blessings to them under these symbols would go further still, and actually produce the dispositions, which the outward blessings could only tacitly recommend. And what are the dispositions which the eating of the bread of life, and the drinking of the living water uniformly create? Do they not lead us to a dependence on God’s care, and a devotedness to his service? The very end for which our Saviour died, was, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them: no doubt therefore his love, when shed abroad in the heart, will incline us to do this [Note: 2 Corinthians 5:14.]; and his grace communicated to the soul, will enable us to do it.]

We may learn from hence,
1.

In what spirit we should attend the ordinances of the Gospel—

[The Israelites were left to feel their need of food before the miraculous supplies were given them: and with what avidity would they gather up the new created bread! with what insatiable appetite would they bow down to drink of the flowing stream! Such is the spirit with which we should approach the ordinances of our God. In them the manna is rained round about our tents: in them the rock is struck, and the waters of salvation flow around us: and if we come hungering and thirsting, we shall never be sent empty away. Let none then consider the ordinances as mere occasions for gratifying their curiosity, but as the place where spiritual food is set before them for the support and comfort of their souls. The Israelites would ask but one question: Is this provision suited to my necessities? So neither should we concern ourselves much about the manner in which the ordinances are dispensed, but rather go, that we may receive Christ in them, and have more abundant communications of his Spirit imparted to us.]

2. What should be the habit of our minds when we have partaken of spiritual blessings—

[The particular object of the Apostle in the text is, to inculcate the necessity of fear and caution: and the argument he uses is well calculated to effect his purpose. Two millions of Israelites came out of Egypt: they were brought in safety through the Red Sea, and supported by this miraculous food: yet, of all who had attained the age of twenty, two only were suffered to enter into the promised land. All the rest perished in the wilderness: and the very profession which they made, and the privileges which they enjoyed, served but to enhance, in most instances, it is to be feared, their eternal condemnation. Moreover they were intended by God himself as examples to us [Note: Τυποι, ver. 6, 11.]; that we, admonished by their fate, might suppress all irregular desires, and walk more worthy of our high calling. Well therefore does the Apostle add, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” We never are so much in danger as when we think ourselves most secure. Let us then “not be high-minded, but fear:” whatever mercies we have experienced, and whatever enjoyment of spiritual blessings may have been vouchsafed to us, let us remember, that we are not beyond the reach of temptation: we may “have escaped for a while the pollutions of the world, and yet be again entangled therein and overcome [Note: 2 Peter 2:20.]:” it is not sufficient for us to have “tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come:” we may still “fall away, and return to a state from whence we shall never be renewed to repentance [Note: Hebrews 6:5.].” “Let all then take heed, lest, a promise being left them of entering into God’s rest, they should by any means come short of it [Note: Hebrews 4:1.].”]

1 CORINTHIANS, X. 3, 4.

See Sermon on 1 Timothy 1:11. where it forms the third Sermon of a series.