"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; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ" (1 Cor. 10:1-4).In the world-wide Church, all "believers" are baptized, and all partake in the Lord's Supper, at which all eat of the "Bread of Life," and all drink of the "Blood of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:23-28). And as it was that only a remnant of Israel entered the Promised Land (Num. 26:65), when Christ returns to Rapture His Body to heaven (Jn. 14:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:49-53; 1 Thes. 4:13-18), the vast majority of those claiming to be Christians will be left behind (Mt. 7:21-23). The wilderness of Sinai, apart from the provision of God, is a spiritual picture of our present day world; all the comforts and pleasures that seem to satisfy, leave man hungering and thirsting for what is really important: righteousness!
What really blessed me though, as I reflected on the similarities between those who only appeared to be Israel (Rom. 9:6), and the vast number who profess Christ but are not possessed by Him, I thought of the transition, temporary as it is (Rom. 9 - 11), between God focusing upon Israel and His focus upon the Church (Jn. 1:11-12; Acts 13:46; Rom. 11:11). It is marvelously pictured at the Wedding in Cana, where Jesus turned the water into wine (Jn. 2:1-11). Water was the most important thing to Israel, as their blessings involved prosperity on earth, while Wine (the symbol of Christ's blood - Mt. 26:26-27; 1 Cor. 11:25) is the assurance of eternal life in heaven (Jn. 6:54)!
Changing water into wine is a picture of changing the worldly into the heavenly!
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