“… THAT SIPIRITUAL ROCK THAT FOLLOWED THEM”

Answer:

In the way you interpret the verses you quoted, it seems that you believe that Jesus Christ was the very rock in Moses’ time from which he drew water for the thirsty Israelites. If this were true, it would indeed appear then that Christ had existence prior to His birth of Mary.

However, if we look more closely, it isn’t the case. Notice that Apostle Paul in the verses was reminding His fellow Christians about the experiences of ancient Israelites when they were wayfarers in the desert. Indeed, the children of Israel had seen the “cloud” which showed them the way  (Exod. 13:21), had been brought through the midst of the Read Sea (Exod. 14:19-31), had eaten of the manna (Exod. 16:11-15) and had really drunk the water Moses drew from the rock (Num. 20:1-11). Let us quote the last part of the incident when Moses drew water from the rock:

“And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, ‘Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?’ Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.” (Num. 20:10-11, NKJV, emphasis ours)

Notice that Moses “struck the rock twice” with his rod. To insist therefore that Christ was that very rock is to claim that Moses struck twice with his rod the Lord Jesus Christ whom you believe to be God. This is very unlikely for we know that ancient Israelites were required to have great reverence for God so much so that just using the name of God in vain was considered major sin (Exo. 20:7). The claim therefore that that very rock is Moses’ time was Christ Himself is an absurdity that renders void the belief in His alleged pre-existence and deity.

If that rock was not Christ, why then did Apostle Paul say “our fathers … drank the same spiritual drink … [f]or they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ”? To understand what it means, let us refer to what our Lord Jesus Christ Himself taught concerning how we can “drink” (and eat) of Him:

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you’. ‘Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day’. ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life’”. (John 6:53-54, 47, NKJV, emphasis ours)

To eat and drink of Christ therefore is to believe in Him and by doing so, we will have the “eternal life” He promised. Remember that the coming of Jesus the Messiah and Savior had been promised by God as early as the time of Adam and Eve. (Gen. 3:15). Therefore, by saying that “our fathers … drank of that spiritual Rock … and that Rock was Christ,” what Apostle Paul meant was that their ancestors, especially Moses believed in the “promised Christ” and looked forward to the “great reward” or the eternal life He brings.

“It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be treated as the grandson of the king, but chose to share ill-treatment with God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought that it was better to suffer for the promised Christ than to own all the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking forward to the great reward that God would give him.”

Further proof that I Corinthians 10:1-4 offer no evidence that Christ had pre-existence and that He is God is indicated in the part of the verse 4 that says, “…For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” Indeed, chronologically speaking, Christ “followed” the Israelites ancestors. He came and exist long after, not before, the time of  Moses.

Regarding who the true God is, our Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles clearly taught:

“ ‘And this is the eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God’, …

“ ‘Jesus spoke this words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: ‘Father’ …” (John 17:3,1, NKJV, emphasis ours)

“… There is no other God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father …” (I Cor. 8:4-6, Ibid. emphasis ours).

It is in the light of this fundamental biblical truth that everyone should evaluate his or her faith in God.