1 Corinthians 10:10

Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer. [Numbers 14:2; Numbers 14:29; Numbers 16:41-49. The Israelites murmured against God by rebelling against and rejecting his servants; and the Corinthians were at this time murmuring against Paul, the servant of Christ. They were also liable to complain of their separation from the pagan world, just as many to-day speak resentfully when the pulpit proclaims those Christian principles which are restrictive of worldly excesses. The angel of death is called the destroyer (Exodus 12:23; 2 Samuel 24:16). The Jews commonly called this angel Sammael. The "all" of grace and privilege, found in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4; stands in sad contrast to the "some of them" of deflection and apostasy found in 1 Corinthians 10:7-10. God showed mercy to all, but some disobeyed in one way and some in another until almost all had proved unworthy of his mercy.]