1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1: Paul’s Hermeneutics, Part 4 (Exodus as Hermeneutic)

Notice how readily Paul uses the Exodus as a parallel (or “type”) of the Christian experience.

(1Co 10:1-5 ESV)  For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,  2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,  3 and all ate the same spiritual food,  4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.  5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

We’ve already discussed this passage. What we didn’t cover is how the Exodus permeates Paul’s writings. You can see it in his vocabulary. Numerous key New Testament words are references back to the Exodus.

“Redemption” refers to being bought or rescued from slavery.

(Exo 6:6 ESV)  6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 

Therefore, when we read “redemption” in the New Testament, we should see something like “redemption much as God redeemed Israel from Egyptian slavery.” The comparison is there, even if not made explicitly, because that’s where the word comes from.

“Church” refer to the children of Israel in the desert, gathered to hear God’s word.

(Deu 9:10 ESV) And the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the LORD had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly [ekklesia].

(Deu 31:30 ESV)  Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly [ekklesia] of Israel:

Thus, the church-universal and each of its congregations is like Israel gathered at the base of Mt. Sinai, awed by the power of God and hearing his words announced from on high.

“Salvation” means rescue — from the Egyptian army or from sin.

(Exo 14:13 ESV) And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.”

God doesn’t rescue us from Egypt, of course, but the idea of rescue and protection remains central to the word. It’s not “go to heaven when you die” so much as “rescue from sin and brokenness.” And if sin means “fail to be like Jesus,” then “salvation” means rescue from being unlike Jesus to becoming like Jesus — so that we may escape the destruction of sin that is to come and so live with him forever.

“Dwell” refers to the presence of God leading the children of Israel and living among his people.

(Exo 29:45-30:1 ESV)  45 I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God.  46 And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.  

(Exo 13:21-22 ESV)  21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.  22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people. 

(Exo 33:9-10 ESV)  9 When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses.  10 And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. 

The indwelling of the Spirit promised in Romans 8 is therefore like God’s leading of Israel through the desert. God chose to live among his people, to be in intimate relationship, to shield them and guide them.

“Sons of God” refers to the children of Israel —

(Deu 14:1-2 ESV) “You are the sons of the LORD your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead.  2 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”

“Sons of God” means not just “saved” but also “chosen for adoption.” Just as a couple visiting an orphanage selects a child to adopt out of sheer grace and love, God selected us for adoption. We weren’t adopted because of our holiness. We are holy because of the adoption.

The promised “inheritance” is the Promised Land —

(Deu 4:37-39 ESV)  37 And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power,  38 driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day,  39 know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.

Our lives as Christians is therefore a journey through the wilderness toward the Promised Land, adopted as God’s own children, chosen to be his by his grace, and led and protected by his intense, powerful presence in the Spirit.

God’s “elect” or “chosen” people are the children of Israel —

(Psa 105:6 ESV) O offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen [LXX: eklektoi] ones!

We are chosen, but not in a Calvinistic sense nor in an Arminian (anti-Calvinistic) sense. It’s not about 16th Century theorizing and theology. It’s about God rescuing us so that he can lead to the Promised Land — the new heavens and new earth — and live among us (Rev 21-22).

(Deu 9:4-6 ESV)  4 “Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you.  5 Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.  

6 “Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.”

Israel was chosen by sheer grace, despite their sinfulness. On the other hand, God was not willing for them to remain in their stubborn, sinful condition as his children. They were not saved by works of the Law, but once saved, God was unwilling to put up with their idolatry, grumbling, and lack of faith.

Moreover, at the conclusion of the Exodus, God admitted a Gentile into his family.

(Heb 11:31 ESV)  31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. 

God now grafts the nations into Israel by their faith (Rom 11). The prototype for the inclusion of Gentiles into the household of faith is Rahab and her household (Jos 6:25). We are Rahab.

Paul sees the Christian life — from baptism to death, from Red Sea to Jordan River, from redemption to inheritance — as parallel with Israel’s wandering in the wilderness, even though nearly all of Israel failed to make it to the Promised Land. And in 1 Corinthians 10, he explicitly declares this a warning that we must heed. We are chosen, just like Israel, and so we can die in the desert, just like Israel, if we lose our faith.

(Num 14:33 ESV) 33 “And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.”

But notice that the Israelites who died in the desert did so, not because of technical violations of the ceremonies prescribed by the Law. They died because they lacked faith and so refused to participate in the God’s mission. They believed that God existed, of course, but they didn’t trust God enough to enter the Promised Land and conquer the land.

Sometimes we prefer the familiar desert to the fertile Promised Land. Israel didn’t much care for change either.

Like us, they were led by the cloud (Spirit), ate spiritual food, drank spiritual drink, and were often hungry and thirsty. And God was among them, guiding them, and protecting them. And those who didn’t trust God enough to join him in his mission to claim the Promised Land for God died in the desert, receiving no reward for their years of wandering.

As we read our New Testaments, we should look for the parallels. They will often be there, and they will shed light on what is being said by the New Testament author.