John Calvin Commentary 1 Corinthians 10:6

"Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted." — 1 Corinthians 10:6 (ASV)

Now these things were types to us. He warns us in still more explicit terms that we must consider the punishment that was inflicted upon them, so that they serve as a lesson to us, that we may not provoke the anger of God as they did. “God,” he says, “in punishing them has presented to us, as in a picture, His severity, so that, instructed by their example, we may learn to fear.”

Concerning the term type, I will speak shortly. For now, I want my readers to know that it is not without careful consideration that I have given a different rendering from that of the old translation and of Erasmus, because they obscure Paul’s meaning, or at least they do not make sufficiently clear this idea—that God has, through that people, presented a picture for our instruction.

That we might not lust after evil things. He now lists particular instances, or specific examples, so that he may use this opportunity to reprove some vices about which the Corinthians needed to be admonished. I believe that the history referred to here is what is recorded in Numbers 11:4 and following, though others refer it to what is recorded in Numbers 26:64.

The people, after being fed with manna for some time, eventually took a dislike to it and began to desire other kinds of food, which they had been accustomed to eat in Egypt. They sinned in two ways: they despised the special gift of God, and they eagerly longed for a variety of meats and delicacies, contrary to the will of God. The Lord, provoked by this lawless appetite, inflicted a severe blow upon the people. Hence the place was called the graves of lust, because there they buried those whom the Lord had smitten (Numbers 11:34).

The Lord, by this example, testified how much He hates those lusts that arise from a dislike of His gifts and from our lawless appetite, for whatever goes beyond the measure that God has prescribed is rightly considered evil and unlawful.