1 Corinthians 10:1
Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
All the fathers shared together in the deliverance from Egypt, being all under the cloud and all passing through the sea. Being under the cloud was being led and sheltered by the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night that never left them, and passing through the sea was being led on dry ground through the miraculously parted Red Sea while the pursuing Egyptians were drowned. The One in the cloud who led them was Christ Himself, the invisible Leader and Commander of whom Moses was only the visible administrator. Those experiences were great spiritual privileges as His church, yet most who received them displeased God through lust, murmuring, idolatry and rebellion, and fell in the wilderness without entering Canaan. Their history was recorded for admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come, to warn God's people in the last days not to repeat their unbelief while following the same divine guidance in obedience toward the heavenly Canaan.
Cloud and Sea Crossing
Paul reminds the brethren that he does not want them ignorant of this, that all the fathers together shared the deliverance from Egypt, all placed under the cloud and all brought through the sea. That shared passage belonged to all who came out of Egypt, the ancestors of Israel in the exodus. Their being under the cloud began on the journey from Succoth to Etham at the edge of the wilderness. There the Lord went before them to lead the way and to give light in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, never taken away from before the people. That cloud was the standard of their invisible Leader ever with them.
By day the cloud directed their journeyings and spread as a canopy above the host for protection from the burning heat, giving by its coolness and moisture grateful refreshment in the parched, thirsty desert. By night it became a pillar of fire, illuminating the encampment and constantly assuring them of the divine presence. God's invisible presence enveloped them in the pillar of cloud. That enveloping sign placed them under Moses' guidance as the acknowledged visible leader of God's chosen people. For forty years through the wilderness journey the cloud showed them when to camp and when to move on.
Passing through the sea was Christ's mighty hand parting the Red Sea to make a dry path and conducting Israel safely through. The Egyptians who tried to cross in the same way were all drowned, so that not one pursuer who entered in pursuit was saved. It was done in awful grandeur, desolating fertile Egypt to rescue them. The journey fulfilled God's promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God Himself had sent Israel into Egypt and kept them there until His appointed time, then brought them out with a wonderful display of power above human authority and nature.
They came out as a people just set free after four hundred years as bondmen under the discipline of force. The multitude thus led was vast, more than a million people, an encampment under His direct rule as His family. He was interested in every one of them. As their living Redeemer He ruled over nature to show He alone is God and can control every opposing power.
Christ the Invisible Leader
The One under whose cloud the fathers were and through whose sea they passed was Christ Himself, present in the cloud and leading Israel as the angel appointed to go before Moses to conduct the people to Canaan. Enshrouded in the pillowy cloud He was the true and invisible Leader, while Moses was only the administrator of the law and the visible general acting under Him. As one equal with God, His only-begotten Son carrying out His Father's mind, one with the Father and Commander of the heavenly hosts and Leader of the armies of the Lord's host, He was with Moses and Joshua to lead His chosen and favored people out of Egypt toward Canaan. He guided them in cloud by day and fire by night with continual love and patience, displaying power above human authority and nature in bringing them to Himself to be His special representatives.
He specially accompanied the children of Israel throughout all their travels, and Moses recognized that presence as real and relied on God as a present help. The cloud was no ordinary feature of the journey but marked the presence of the only-begotten Son of God, who cared for them and did wonderful things for them despite their perversity, murmuring and rebellion, yet Israel grew accustomed to the sign and failed to appreciate the divine presence and help it represented. From the cloudy pillar Christ spoke to them for their good, communicated God's will and purpose, indicated where they should encamp, and gave Moses special directions and instruction to give to Israel for the journey. They did not heed His voice nor receive His word with faith and practice, and that hearing without faith brought guilt and did not profit them.
His presence did not end in the wilderness but continued in the tabernacle and temple, where His glory dwelt in the holy shekinah above the mercy seat in constant love and patience as their instructor, teacher and guide. While types pointed to a Saviour to come, He was also a present Saviour who gave commands to Moses for the people and was set before them as the only channel of blessing. The truths taught from the cloud were the same truths He taught when He came in human form, yet the Israelites did not recognize Him as their heaven-sent Teacher who led their ancestors for forty years. He was the way by which patriarchs and prophets were saved, with plenty of light in that old way to lead every soul to the abodes of bliss, so that to pour contempt upon that way is to pour contempt upon Christ.
Because He Himself originated and founded all the Jewish ceremonies, types and shadows, the Old and New Testament Scriptures do not contradict each other, and true religion under the former dispensation was just as essential and thorough and full in its requirements as under the gospel dispensation. The same Lord who brought them under the cloud and through the sea through Moses later came to help fallen needy humanity as a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, knowing want and privation and practicing self-denying poverty as a child. As a nation the Jews when tested refused to receive Him, rejecting their only Hope and only Salvation, and because of that rejection God rejected them.
Privileges and Instruction Given
The cloud and the sea were not bare wonders but spiritual privileges and advantages bestowed on Israel as His church, by which God acknowledged them as His church and brought them to Himself to be His special representatives, favoring them through Christ alone with special blessings notwithstanding their sinful murmurings and rebellion. Christ Himself led them as the angel appointed to go before Moses to conduct them to Canaan, giving Moses special directions for Israel, remaining their Instructor, Teacher and Guide even after they settled in the promised land, and constantly setting the requirements of God before them from the cloud. His presence showed God's love and patience, and the spiritual meat and spiritual drink were from Him, for the spiritual Rock that followed them and gave them water was Christ Himself, that rock and that living water.
God chose this people just set free after four hundred years as bondmen under the discipline of force, brought out by the One pledged to redeem the world, to learn the philosophy of heaven and become an educating power through whom He would make known the laws of His kingdom and His rules of government. Before they entered the promised land He gave them heavenly laws and taught them His purposes, training and educating them through the wilderness by instruction given through Moses line upon line, precept upon precept, with permitted trials to teach character and how to act under difficulty and to gather strength for each march. That journey from Egypt to Canaan was preparation for entrance into the promised home, recorded not for Israel alone but for future generations now journeying heavenward.
He pledged to lead the vast multitude of more than a million people under His direct rule as His family, in whom He was interested in every one, safely to the promised land if they followed His guidance and obeyed the directions given through Moses, with Moses and Aaron only the visible leaders acting under Him. While they remembered the evidence that Moses talked with God and received instruction from Him, the Lord preserved them from disease, death and all harm under this safe guide. Their promised Saviour was God's pledge that His commandment-keeping people would not perish, and had they remained loyal to Christ's words He would have made them victorious over their enemies.
He led them through the wilderness to separate them from idolatrous nations and from Egypt and from all that would interfere with His purposes for them, reforming their habits and eating, with the cloud showing when to camp and when to move on. For forty years He preserved the people and supplied their needs, giving water from the rock and manna when they longed for Egypt's food. This divinely preserved experience with Christ as leader and teacher is a lesson for separating from idolatry and removing whatever confuses mind and conscience or leads to sin.
Enshrouded in the cloud He gave them statutes and laws and the commandments of God, that by obedience to His requirements they might be His denominated people, constantly setting before His church the command to keep the seventh day as the Sabbath of the Lord and to rest from all work on it. If obeyed, those commandments would have caused the Jewish nation to glorify God above every nation on earth, and Jerusalem need not have been destroyed. He also gave Moses the ceremonies and ordinances of the Jewish law to teach Israel, including the truths taught by the temple service.
That plan in taking them from Egyptian bondage under the cloud into Canaan is only half understood, and gathering up the divine rays shining from the gospel gives clearer insight into the Jewish economy and deeper appreciation of its important truths. Exploration is yet incomplete and only a few rays of light have been gathered, daily study of the Word is needed to solve its problems, a worldly understanding of God's great plan hinders the work, and the meaning of the laws Christ gave will be unfolded fully only in the future life.
The instruction He gave in the wilderness is the higher education, and no purer and stronger intelligence can be gathered than what He gave as Leader of that vast congregation for the education of youth in schools. He taught His people to educate and train their children to be practical in all service to God and to be pure, clean, holy in obeying all His commandments, with special direction that every youth should learn a trade and gain knowledge of practical life in order to be self-supporting. The work of building the tabernacle was His lesson book, teaching method, organization, discipline and tact, all to be done according to the education given to Moses in the mount. Their march was a lesson in order and unity, the commandments set to song for the under-educators to learn, the very tread teaching order and discipline as they followed where educators led and sang as they journeyed step by step by special directions through Moses to the responsible men. There were no idlers in the encampment and a part was assigned to everyone, giving increasing confidence in the methods and lessons given to Moses, and through forty years young and old were given a variety of exercises demanding brain, bone and muscle. Christ was their Teacher, and every lesson was preserved in writing to be given by Moses to the people in their travels, with nothing in the plan or management to be criticized.
He bestowed upon them the bounties of heaven, including the manna that supplied the necessities of the church in the wilderness. The giving of the manna teaches care for both soul and body, that temporal food is to be bestowed and unselfish benevolence to the needy in want of the bare necessities of life prepares the way for them to receive spiritual food. Christ expected Israel in turn to share their blessings with others who were less favored, and so He deals with His chosen people today.
Rebellion and Judgment Suffered
Sharing the cloud and the sea did not keep many from displeasing God and falling in the wilderness. All ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ, yet with many of them God was not well pleased and they were overthrown. Receiving such spiritual privileges did not guarantee faithfulness. Nearly all who left Egypt died in the wilderness and were not led into Canaan, because Satan overthrew them through indulgence of lustful appetite and corrupt passions. From this Satan boasted that Christ was not able to resist his power and bring them through.
Their course under that leading was one of rebellion and murmuring. When told to go up and take Jericho they refused, and when told they would die in the wilderness they then determined to go up contrary to the Lord's direction. Though Moses distinctly told them God would not be with them, they would not heed the warning and were overcome by their enemies. Instead of thankfulness for His wonderful deliverance they grew rebellious and murmured against Moses and Aaron for bringing them out, sought to exalt themselves, and did not appreciate their divine Leader. They became lax in keeping His commandments, including the Sabbath, and disobedience brought punishment. Those who murmured and complained and refused to turn from their evil ways perished in the wilderness, while those who were obedient were sustained and strengthened and made light-bearers to the nations through whose land they passed.
Their murmurings, rebellious discontent, idolatry, ingratitude, fornication, tempting Christ, and lusting after evil things brought judgments. They were overthrown in the wilderness, twenty-three thousand fell in one day, some were destroyed by serpents and some by the destroyer. Israel disregarded the commandments of God while professing to regard them. The later Jewish nation's disobedience and rejection of God's Word brought ruin, whereas obedience was their safety, for if obeyed those commandments would have caused them to glorify God above every nation and Jerusalem need not have been destroyed.
Warning Example for Today
The cloud and the sea belong to a history chronicled with mighty miracles, with wanderings in hunger and thirst and weariness, and with striking displays of power for relief, recorded for the benefit of the Israel of God till the close of time as admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come, to show that receiving spiritual privileges does not excuse unbelief. That example with its lessons of warning is to be studied by God's people in the last days especially, together with Psalm 105 and Psalm 106, which are to be read at least once every week, reviewed with humble heart and teachable spirit for instruction in preparation for the heavenly Canaan of which the wilderness journey was a school. The past history is to be studied today for present benefit because the Bible brings its testimony down from age to age to the unchangeableness of the truth, Christian evidence is found in the Bible and not in men's experience, and no ancient defense of the Word and no part of the Bible has worn out or died from old age. Both iniquities and virtues were recounted, for if the iniquities had been omitted and only virtues told the history would fail to teach its intended lesson, and believers are to avoid the evils recorded and imitate only the righteousness of those who served the Lord, to avoid unbelief and escape wrath.
The snares that threatened Israel before entering Canaan threaten God's people now, and Israel's history is being repeated through growing carelessness, self-indulgence, selfishness, impurity, vanity, pleasure-seeking and ease, so believers must be watchful and sober and take heed not to repeat Israel's sins of unbelief and rebellion. The examples forbid lusting after evil things as they lusted, idolatry, fornication, tempting Christ and murmuring, and they set before Corinthian believers the blessings rewarding obedience and the judgments following transgression, including twenty-three thousand falling in one day and destruction by serpents and by the destroyer. Those who know the warnings must correct their ways instead of continuing in wickedness, humble the heart, and take heed lest he fall who thinks he stands, having no excuse for turning from the Spirit's counsels. Backsliding from reform by eating and drinking as one pleases repeats that wilderness history, leading to growing carelessness of instruction on other phases of present truth and surely reaping as sown.
As with ancient Israel there were those who wished to move independently and would not submit to the Spirit's teachings or listen to advice and counsel, so will there be the same class among the remnant, for God teaches, leads and guides through a church on earth to which He has delegated power. Following independent human judgment and despising counsel and reproof repeats Israel's course to departure from faith, disaster and ruin of souls, while rallying in united heart, mind and voice to support and build up the truth ranges on God's side. God designed that there should be men to reprove sin and wrong or His people would become careless and corrupt their ways, so believers must be awake and not stupid or asleep regarding errors and sins among them, for God would have reproof in the church with those who stand for right to oppose wrong and repress corruption. Hearing the words spoken through Christ in the cloud without faith and practice brings guilt and does not profit, whereas faith in those words would have led to a very different history, while lack of faith brought a troubled and inconsistent one.
The journey teaches that God's people today are under the same divine guidance by Christ their Leader, Teacher and Commander, safe and favored and in perfect safety with distinguished marks of favor when obedient to His commandments, but following their own plans instead of God's always brings failure and defeat. The truths and instructions given through Moses are to be gathered up, cherished and sacredly obeyed, studied, discerned, acknowledged and appreciated by those now journeying heavenward in the last days. He is still the guide and counsellor of those who guard their religious instruction and refuse all idolatry in spirit, word and action while living in a heathen place, and in every age His faithful people, sustained as light-bearers like the obedient in the wilderness, are to consecrate all resources and talents to God's honor for saving the world. Because He gave Himself in poverty as a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, knowing want, privation and self-denying poverty as a child, He expects followers entrusted with means to limit their supposed wants and be liberal in relieving others' necessities.