“For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ<\/em>” (I Corinthians 10:1-4).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nPaul is stating that while the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, they partook of blessings from Christ, as symbolized by the rock from which they received water. Too often when we read of God being involved, we assume that it was just God the Father, but the text does not limit it to just one part of the Godhead. Paul is helping us understand that the Son was there guiding and aiding the Israelites along with the Father and the Spirit. Christ is the spiritual rock (Matthew 16:18) that followed Israel and sustained them.<\/p>\n
In another letter Paul stated:<\/p>\n
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me<\/em>” (Philippians 4:13 NASB).<\/p>\n“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me<\/em>” (Philippians 4:13 NKJV).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nSome of the manuscripts have the additional word “Christ” added to the verse and many scholars believe that this was a marginal note to explain “him” that got copied into the text. That Paul was speaking of Christ can be seen by going back to Philippians 4:10, “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity.<\/em>” It is similar to another statement of Paul’s: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service<\/em>” (I Timothy 1:12). Thus, whether “Christ” was added to Philippians 4:13 or not, the meaning remains exactly the same.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hi Mr. Jeffrey, I was reading this article: Immorality: The Forbidden Territory, and found this statement: “The Israelites even had Christ on their side! How often do we quote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13)? The Israelites’ access to Christ did not allow most of them to reach…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[346,347,73,87],"class_list":["post-4084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-god-the-father","tag-godhead","tag-jesus","tag-trinity"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37642,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-all-scripture-is-profitable-why-dont-we-use-the-old-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":4084,"position":0},"title":"If all Scripture is profitable, why don’t we use the Old Law?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Could you explain how II Timothy 3:16 relates to our not being under the Old Testament? I would like to know so I can better equip myself. Thank you. Answer: \"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88382,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/true-israel\/","url_meta":{"origin":4084,"position":1},"title":"True Israel","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof\" (Matthew 21:43). Here, Jesus was speaking to physical Israelites, people who claimed physical lineage to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, that physical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87599,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-would-god-have-moses-strike-the-rock-one-time-and-not-the-next\/","url_meta":{"origin":4084,"position":2},"title":"Why would God have Moses strike the rock one time and not the next?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Brother Jeffrey, I have a question and would appreciate your insights. In Exodus 17, God commanded Moses to smite the rock for water, and then in Numbers 20, He commanded Moses to speak unto the rock for water. We know that Moses smote the rock in Exodus; he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":641,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arent-the-references-to-baptism-just-symbolic\/","url_meta":{"origin":4084,"position":3},"title":"Aren’t the references to baptism just symbolic?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 25, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When looking at Galatians 3:27 or the Romans passages, doesn't it make better sense to understand the word immerse or immersion literally? I am immersed into Christ, immersed into death in spiritual realms. I am clothed with Christ in a spiritual realm, not putting on holy vestments. I am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7858,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-christians-considered-to-be-israelites\/","url_meta":{"origin":4084,"position":4},"title":"Are Christians considered to be Israelites?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are those who are now under the new covenant, Christians, considered to be Israelites now? Are we the part of the nation of Israel? Figuratively speaking, of course. Answer: Christians are not physically Israelites, but we are the spiritual equivalent. \"For he is not a Jew who is one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23652,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-peter-the-rock-of-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":4084,"position":5},"title":"Is Peter the rock of the church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Matthew\u00a016:18 Jesus said to Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. Does Jesus give any guidelines as to how and when his followers or Christians should worship God? Answer:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4084\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}