Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. These things were our examples - The punishments which God inflicted on them furnish us with evidences of what God will inflict upon us, if we sin after the similitude of those transgressors.
We should not lust after evil things - It is most evident that the apostle refers here to the history in Numbers 11:4, etc.: And the mixed multitude fell a lusting, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? Into the same spirit the Corinthians had most evidently fallen; they lusted after the flesh in the idol feasts, and therefore frequented them to the great scandal of Christianity. The apostle shows them that their sin was of the same nature as that of the murmuring rebellious Israelites whom God so severely punished; and if he did not spare the natural branches, there was no likelihood that he should spare them.