Howbeit with most of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown [literally, strewn in heaps] in the wilderness. [In 1 Corinthians 10:24 of the preceding chapter Paul enforces the lesson of self-control by showing that though all run, yet but one receives the prize. This law, which the Greeks applied to a mere handful of racers, was applied of God with like rigor and stringency to the millions of Israel, a fact which Paul emphasizes by the repeated use of the word "all." Though all were under the cloud and all passed through the sea and all were baptized and all ate and drank of spiritual provision, yet only two, Caleb and Joshua, entered the promised land (Deuteronomy 1:34-38; Numbers 26:64-65). What was true of racers and true of Israel may also be true of Christians if they fail to exercise self-control.]

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Old Testament