There are a handful of verses that are used by some to try and prove the preexistence of Jesus, which, according to modern orthodoxy, equates with Jesus being God.  One of those verses is found in Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth:

1 Corinthians 10:1-5 (NASB) For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, 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 were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. ⁵ Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. (emphasis added)

Those who believe in the preexistence of Jesus interpret verse 4 to mean that Jesus literally followed the Israelites in the wilderness.  But is this what Paul intended to communicate to his first century audience?  We will explore the context of this passage, as well as Paul’s Christology as stated in 1 Corinthians, to arrive at a proper exegesis.

Context

Considering the context of a passage, whether it is modern or ancient, is vital to understanding the meaning of an author’s words.  What is the context in which Paul’s statement about Jesus occurs?  What is the subject matter he is addressing?  The answer is found in the preceding chapter.

In Corinthians 9:23-27, the apostle says that he does “all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.”[1] Moreover, Paul states that he disciplines his body and makes it his slave, so that, after he has preached to others, he might not be disqualified.[2]  He realizes the possibility, though tragically ironic, that he might personally fail to attain to the same resurrection in the coming kingdom that he has been preaching to others.  Paul’s solution, therefore, is to not only preach the gospel to others, but to himself as well.

By way of exhortation, Paul uses athletic events, that of running and boxing, as analogies to instruct his readers to likewise persevere in the faith.  Just as athletes must persevere when competing, lest they be disqualified, believers are to persevere lest they fail to gain the imperishable prize of eternal life found in Christ Jesus.  His point is that some will compete but to no avail.  They will not attain victory because their disobedience will disqualify them.

Paul continues this theme in the passage under consideration.  He reminds his audience that their fathers all experienced the presence and power of God during the days of Moses: 

1 Corinthians 10:1-4a (NASB) For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, 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…

They all were under the guidance of the supernatural cloud that led them through the wilderness.[3]  They all experienced God’s supernatural deliverance from the pursuing Egyptian army when He parted the Red Sea.[4]  What’s more, the Israelites all ate from the spiritual food and drink, that is, the miraculous provision of manna from heaven and water from a rock, that God provided during their years in the wilderness.[5] One could say, therefore, that because God worked through His mediator Moses, the Israelites were in effect, baptized into Moses.  And yet, even though all of God’s people experienced these things, He was not pleased with most of them:

1 Corinthians 10:5 (NASB) Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.

The Amplified Bible’s translation of verse 5 helps us understand what the phrase laid low in the wilderness means:

Nevertheless, God was not well-pleased with most of them, for they were scattered along the ground in the wilderness [because their lack of self-control led to disobedience which led to death].

Paul then gives five reasons why God was displeased with most of the Israelites and why they failed to enter into the Promised Land: 

• • they craved evil things (vs 6)
  • they were idolaters (vs 7)
  • they were immoral (vs 8)
  • they tried or tested the Lord (vs 9)
  • they grumbled (vs 10)

Remarkably, the Israelites committed these sins even though God sent His agent, Moses, to work wonders on His behalf.  God gave them every reason to trust and obey Him but most of them did not.  Paul then uses what happened to the Israelites as a warning to New Testament believers:  

1 Corinthians 10:6-12 (NASB) Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. ⁷  Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY.” ⁸  Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. ⁹  Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. ¹⁰  Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. ¹¹  Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. ¹²  Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. (emphasis added)

The context, therefore, for the passage under review, is an exhortation and solemn warning for believers not to follow in the footsteps of the unfaithful Israelites, but to obey God if they hope to enter into the Promised Land, that is, the coming kingdom of God.  The context is not about the preexistence of Christ, but about the importance of obedience.

The Rock That Followed Them Was Christ

As a part of his summary of how God worked through Moses to provide spiritual food and drink, Paul makes a parenthetical statement comparing the supernatural water that flowed from the rock in the wilderness with Jesus, stating that the rock that followed them was Christ (Messiah): 

1 Corinthians 10:1-4 (NASB) For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, 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 were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. (emphasis added)

Deity of Christ believers insist on a literal interpretation of verse 4, that Jesus was literally following the Israelites in the desert.  But there is ample reason to believe that Paul was speaking figuratively.

Figurative Language

If we are to interpret the passage to mean that Jesus was literally the spiritual rock that followed the Israelites, then we must also take Paul’s statement that the people were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea literally.  But of course, we understand that Paul is speaking figuratively when it comes to Moses.  The word baptized here can mean to be immersed, but it can also mean to be overwhelmed or overcome by someone or something.[6]  In this context, we understand it to mean that the people were fully immersed in or identified with Moses as the one who mediated with God on their behalf.[7]  The people believed in God and in Moses.[8]  In like manner, the Israelites also understood that another prophet, like Moses, was to follow after him.[9]  Moses prefigured the coming Messiah, who, as one greater than Moses,[10] would serve as the ultimate mediator between God and man.[11]  Thus, as the Israelites received sustenance from the water that God provided via Moses, they were, in effect, drinking from the spiritual rock that was to come, that is, the Messiah. The one prophesied to follow Moses would be a source of living water, just as Moses was used to provide life-saving water in the wilderness.  Jesus is indeed the fulfillment of that prophetic picture:

John 4:10 (NASB) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”… ¹⁴  but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”…²⁵  The woman *said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” ²⁶  Jesus *said to her, “I who speak to you am He.“ 

John 7:37-39 (NASB) Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸  “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'” ³⁹  But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Some also interpret the rock in the wilderness as prefiguring Christ in that, just as the rock was struck and produced life-giving water, so Jesus was also struck (beaten and crucified) and became the source of eternal life to all who obey Him.[12]

Paul’s Christology in 1 Corinthians

If Paul believed in a pre-incarnate Jesus and therefore his divinity, then we would expect this belief to be affirmed elsewhere in his letter to the Corinthians.  Instead, Paul’s statements contradict the post-Biblical view that Jesus is God.  Paul clearly writes that Christ is not God, rather that Christ belongs to God, and that God is the head of Christ: 

1 Corinthians 3:23 (NASB) and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God. 

1 Corinthians 11:3 (NASB) But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.

In this same letter, Paul identifies the one God as the Father.  Not the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but simply the Father.  On the other hand, Paul identifies Jesus as the Lord and Christ:

1 Corinthians 8:5-6 (NASB) For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, ⁶  yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. (emphasis added)

Not surprisingly, Paul also writes in his letter to the Corinthians that when Christ comes, he will hand the kingdom over to the God and Father so that God may be all in all.  Not so that Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit can be all in all, but so that God, who is the Father, can be all in all.  Indeed, Jesus is and forever will be subjected to God:

1 Corinthians 15:24-28 (NASB) then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵  For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶  The last enemy that will be abolished is death. ²⁷  For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. ²⁸  When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all. (emphasis added)

Conclusion

Contrary to what some Christians claim, Paul’s statement that Christ was the spiritual rock that followed the Israelites in the wilderness is not a reference to a pre-existing Jesus, nor is it proof that Jesus is God.  Instead, the context demonstrates that Paul sees Moses as prefiguring Christ.  Just as the Israelites were to look to Moses to be saved from the Egyptians and the trials in the wilderness, so believers are to look to Jesus for salvation.  Paul uses this comparison to warn believers in Corinth to walk in obedience lest they, like most of the Israelites, be disqualified from entering the kingdom of God.

[1] 1 Corinthians 9:23.

[2] 1 Corinthians 9:26-27.

[3] Exodus 13:21-22; Psalm 78:14

[4] Exodus 14:21-30.

[5] Exodus 16:4, 35; 17:6-7.

[6] Jeremy Myers, What is Baptism?  Redeeming God, https://redeeminggod.com/what-is-baptism/ accessed 6-13-21.

[7] Jeremy Myers, Have you been Baptized into Moses? Redeeming God, https://redeeminggod.com/baptized-into-moses/, accessed 6-13-21.

[8] Exodus 14:31.

[9] Deuteronomy 18:15, 18; Acts 3:19-26; 7:37.

[10] Hebrews 3:1-6.

[11] 1 Timothy 2:5.

[12] Hebrews 5:9.