A History of Death and Destruction

     Our passage for Sunday is 1 Corinthians 10:1-13.  It is drawn from the Lectionary readings for this Sunday, with a couple of extra verses tacked onto the end of the Epistle reading to complete the thought.  To read these verses without a background in the Old Testament, especially the Exodus Event-spread over the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, is going to be a frustrating experience.
     The reason I say that is because Paul includes passing reference to a number of activities that happened during the Exodus to make his point.  To give you a taste, I have used the word "Exodus" three times up to this sentence, in two different contexts.  The Exodus Event is the movement from the People of God from Egypt, where they were slaves, to the Promised Land, where they were free under God's rule.  The book of Exodus, the second book of the Bible, begins that tale.  It starts with the birth of Moses and extends through Leviticus, and Numbers, then through Deuteronomy, these being four of the five books of the Law, the Torah. 
     The first book is Genesis, providing the story up to the moment of the Exodus.
     WHAT? What are you talking about pastor?
     Paul is writing a letter.  He is assuming that his audience and he have a similar knowledge and understanding of their common history. 
     Here is a parallel: Assume for a moment that the introduction to a sermon is about Race Relations in the United States.  I mention Slavery, the Middle Passage, the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr....and we may not know every reference exactly, but we get the flow of what is happening.
      That is Paul's point.  He wants to get to the flow of history because there is a point to be made there.  And the points he mentions, after describing the crossing of the Red Sea and the provision of manna and water in the wilderness, are points where people disobeyed and died. 
     It is learning the lessons of the past to understand how things are the same even now, and how they are different, by the ministry, death, and life of our Lord Jesus Christ.
     More Sunday.