Having raised the serious, frightening prospect of disqualification at the end of chapter 9, Paul moves immediately to deliver a midrash on the exodus that is laced with scriptural allusions. The introduction of the story of the exodus wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness may seem peculiar, but the development is logical; for as Paul used himself and the apostles as a personal lesson on Christian rights and responsibilities in chapter 9, and as he drew images from the athletic games to illustrate and register his teaching (9:24–27), now Paul takes up one of the best-known and most-loved stories from the OT to form analogies to the Corinthian situation in order both to document and to authenticate his instructions.

This section is a brief biblically-based expository sermon. In it…