With the possibilities of falling from grace mentioned in 1 Corinthians 9:27, Paul admonishes the Corinthians to be knowledgeable of the events transpiring in the Old Testament, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. The word ‘for’ connects the thoughts of 1 Corinthians 6-9 with 1 Corinthians 10. Liberties and expedient matters are left to the judgments of man.
Those who practice liberties at a weaker brother’s expense cause not only the weak brother to sin but the strong brother as well. Again, Romans 14:15 and 1 Corinthians 8:12 are under consideration. Paul is now going to paint a picture of the Christian’s responsibility to remain free from sin even when practising a lawful liberty.
The word ‘all’ is used five times from 1 Corinthians 10:1-4. The significance of this word is that it includes ‘all’ God’s people, not just a select few who had problems with liberties or some who had no problem with liberties. That which they were not to be ignorant of was the Old Testament Scriptures.
Just because one is in good standing with God does not mean that he or she can lose that position through sin. Paul said that even he could, 1 Corinthians 9:27. Whether strong or weak, one could sin and find themselves ‘disqualified’, 1 Corinthians 9:27.
While Israel travelled from Egypt, they were led at night by fire and in the day by a cloud by the Lord, 1 Corinthians 10:1 / Deuteronomy 1:33. Exodus 14 records the event of Israel passing through the Red Sea by the power of God, and the Egyptians were defeated as the walls of water collapsed upon them.
What the act of following Moses through the Red Sea and following the Lord through the cloud by day and fire by night did was to symbolically take the Israelites out of the control of Pharaoh of Egypt and into the authority of Moses and God, 1 Corinthians 10:2.
The Christian’s baptism takes them out of darkness, that is, servitude to sin, and places them under the ownership of Jesus Christ, Acts 20:28. Paul’s point, as developed in this chapter, is that baptism alone does not save you. Man must maintain good works.
1. All ate of the spiritual food, the Manna, 1 Corinthians 10:3 / Exodus 16 / Deuteronomy 8:2-4.
2. All drank of the same spiritual drink at the waters of Meribah, 1 Corinthians 10:4 / Exodus 17:1-7.
3. The song of Moses is recorded in Deuteronomy 32.
In Deuteronomy 32:4, Moses refers to God as ‘The Rock,’ Deuteronomy 32:15 / Deuteronomy 32:18 / Deuteronomy 32:30-31. Paul tells us here that Jesus Christ was that Rock, 1 Corinthians 10:4. Jesus was the Rock that nourished Israel through their wilderness wanderings, Numbers 20:2-13. Here, then, we see the pre-existence and deity of Jesus.
4. That which brought ALL God’s people together was their common reception of God’s mercy.
‘All’ of 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 is now put into contrast with ‘most’ of 1 Corinthians 10:5. All were God’s people, but most of them did not please Him. All were recipients of God’s mercy, yet not all were grateful and faithful, 1 Corinthians 10:5.
God caused Israel to wander in the wilderness of Zin for 40 years because of their disobedience, 1 Corinthians 10:5. The Lord swore in His wrath that not one of the unfaithful Israelites would enter into Canaan, Deuteronomy 1:34-39.
God did not allow Moses to enter Canaan because of his and Aaron’s sin at Kadesh-Barnea, Numbers 20:2-13. The point being, they had disobeyed His commands. The only ones that did not fall into this ‘most’ category were Joshua and Caleb, along with all who were under the age of twenty years old, Numbers 14:24-38 / Numbers 20:12.
Let us keep the context before us. Liberties and expedients are lawful so long as they are not exercised at the expense of another brother’s faith. The strong brother who does not consider his weaker brother’s conscience in matters of liberty and expedients is in sin himself. Sin is serious!
If the Corinthians were unable to exercise self-denial in the case of their liberties, they too faced the same fate as the Hebrews. Paul admonishes them not to lust after things that may cause self or a brother in Christ to fall, 1 Corinthians 19:6. Baptism, Christ’s watchful protection, and partaking of the Lord’s Supper will not shield the saint from sin.
Israel decided to make a god after seeing that Moses delayed coming down off Mount Sinai, 1 Corinthians 10:7 / Exodus 32:6. They persuaded Aaron to fashion a golden calf, and the result was three thousand Israelites lost their lives by the sword of the Levites, 1 Corinthians 10:8 / Exodus 32:28. They had violated God’s laws of idolatry, Exodus 20:1-6.
At the council of Balaam, both Midian and Moab sent whores to seduce the Israelites, Numbers 25:1-9, and the result was that twenty-three thousand people lost their lives, 1 Corinthians 10:8. The conviction of Phinehas, Eleazar’s son, stopped the plague of God.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Paul said 23,000 Israelites died in one day. Moses in Numbers 25:9. said 24,000 died as a result of the plague God sent to judge the people. There is, therefore, no conflict between the numbers since they describe somewhat different groups of people.’
After learning that the Edomites would not let Israel cross Edom, they had to take the long southern course around Edom. The way was difficult, and they began to complain about the manna, Numbers 21:5-6. God sent snakes to bite them and kill them, 1 Corinthians 10:9, and the result was ‘many people of Israel died,’ Numbers 21:6.
There were two occasions when the whole congregation murmured against God, 1 Corinthians 10:10. In Numbers 14, they all murmured against God when the twelve spies had returned and gave the report. Secondly, they all murmured after leaving Kadesh-Barnea and being led astray by the rebellion of Korah, Numbers 16:41.
The results again were devastating, all people, twenty years and older, who complained when the spies brought back the report of Canaan wandered in the wilderness for forty years and died.
In the case of Korah’s rebellion, including all the two hundred and fifty princes, a family of the Danites that were involved, and Korah’s family, fifteen hundred people died because of their rebellion.
Notice Paul says they were killed by ‘the destroying angel’, 1 Corinthians 10:10.
Encyclopaedia of the Bible says the following.
‘A superhuman being, used as an instrument of God’s wrath in the execution of His judgment. It is difficult to say whether this is a good angel used by God as an agent of destruction, or Satan or one of his minions. If a good angel, God could use it to bring both blessing and destruction. ‘The term is used only twice, Exodus 12:23 / Hebrews 11:28, and 1 Corinthians 10:10. In the Exodus passage, it is used in connection with the tenth plague of Egypt, the destruction of the Egyptian firstborn.’
Encyclopaedia of the Bible continues and says the following.
‘In the 1 Corinthians passage Paul warned against grumbling, as some Israelites did in the wilderness and were destroyed by the Destroyer. It is thought by some that the Destroyer referred to by Paul was the fiery serpents God sent to bring death to the complaining Israelites.’
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The ‘destroyer’ here is understood by many to mean the ‘angel of death,’ so often referred to in the Old Testament, and usually called by the Jews ‘Sammael.’ It was customary for the Hebrews to regard most human events as under the direction of angels. ‘
However, we must note that the phrase ‘angel of death’ is nowhere to be found within the Scriptures. Whoever the destroyer is, they are called ‘the destroying angel’, not the ‘angel of death’; they aren’t given a name, but rather a role, the destroyer.
The word ‘admonition’, in Greek, is ‘nouthesia’, meaning ‘warning’. The word ‘noutheteo’ means ‘to put in mind, to admonish’. Studying the Old Testament helps us improve our understanding and thinking about God and how He desires us to keep His precepts.
We now are living in the last days, the end of the ages, 1 Corinthians 10:11 / Acts 2:17 / Acts 3:24 / 1 John 2:18. This is a very important circular part of the argument. Circular in that Paul had stated, ‘If any man thinks that he knows anything, he knows not yet as he ought to know’, 1 Corinthians 8:2.
Most believe they are the ‘strong brother’ who has all understanding. Through time and experience, many expose themselves as truly the weaker brother because of their convictions regarding liberties and expedient matters.
Then again, you have the truly stronger brother who understands liberties and expedient matters, yet does not consider his weaker brother’s conscience. Whether weak or strong, Paul admonishes all to take careful heed lest they fall into sin, 1 Corinthians 10:12.
The weak brother may sin by pressing liberty, that is, by binding or losing where God has not bound or loosed, and the strong brother may sin by not considering the weaker brother’s conscience. Though each man is fully persuaded in their mind that they are right, it is truly God’s laws that judge right from wrong.
Consider this word study from 1 Corinthians 10:13.
a. The word ‘temptation’, in Greek, is ‘peirasmos’, and it means ‘a trial’.
b. The word ‘overtaken’, in Greek, is ‘lambano’ and it means ‘to take hold of, grasp, seize, to take by violence, carry off as prize or booty’.
c. The word ‘bear’, in Greek, is ‘anthropinos’ and it means ‘belonging to man, human, human affairs, man’s estate, suited to man’.
God is true to Himself and provides man with the forgiveness of any sins, that is, His promise to the humble and contrite, Isaiah 57:15 / 1 John 1:8-9.
d. The word ‘suffer’, in Greek, is ‘eao’ and it means ‘to let, suffer, allow, permit’.
e. The words ‘beyond what you’, in Greek is ‘dunamai’ and it means ‘to be able, capable, strong enough to do… to be able, i.e., to dare or bear to do a thing’.
f. The words ‘way out’, in Greek, is ‘ekbasis’ and it means ‘a way out, egress, a going out of, escape from’.
g. The word ‘endure’, in Greek, is ‘hupophero’ and it means ‘to carry away under, especially, to bear out of danger. To bear or carry by being under, to bear a burden, used metaphorically to endure.’
Paul addresses both the strong and weak brothers here. The weak may be tempted to bind where God has not bound or lose where God has not loosed, yet he is challenged not to do so.
The strong may be tempted to participate in lawful liberty even if it may not always be the wisest decision, 1 Corinthians 8:9. A common trial takes place within the mind.
That trial may be in the form of one saying, ‘I can participate in this; however, my brother is offended in the matter. What shall I do?’ God has provided the way of escape through His instructions, don’t do it if it wounds your brother’s conscience, 1 Corinthians 8:12-13.
The way that God does not permit this trial to be more than the strong can handle is through His divine instructions. The one who has knowledge shall make a wise decision based on revelation. The way of escape is therefore His divine instructions. The learned will not falter, yet the unlearned will sin.
The word ‘idolatry’, in Greek, is ‘eidololatreia’, 1 Corinthians 10:14, is from the root word ‘eido’. It is defined as ‘a form, shape, figure, image or statue, hence, an idol, image of a god’.
The word ‘eido’ is used in 2 Corinthians 5:7, ‘for we walk by faith, not by sight’. In other words, the act of worshipping an image based upon human perception is idolatry.
The Christian does not worship based upon ‘sight’, ‘eido’, but upon ‘faith’ that is divine revelation. Many today are looking for a feel-good, see something religion. The word of God, however, is a system of instructions for Godly living.
Though the immediate context of 1 Corinthians 8-10 is eating meat that has been sacrificed to false gods by means of worship, there is another ‘idolatry’ that ought to be considered.
Idolatry comes in a variety of forms other than worshipping false gods. One may exclaim with vigour that they would not participate in idolatry, yet have no problem with worshipping God in unauthorised ways.
Consider Isaiah 46:12 in its context of idolatry. Those idolaters of Judah were ‘stubborn-hearted.’ 1 Samuel 15:23 states the nature of idolatry as well; they were ‘arrogant’ or ‘stubborn’. The rebellious are stubborn-hearted and stubborn, as is evidenced by their rejection of the authority of God.
Saul did what he thought was best rather than what God commanded, and so it was with Judah in the days of Isaiah. Many today want to do what they think is best rather than following God’s divine standard.
The admonition is to ‘flee’ from this way of life and thinking and follow only the divine standard of God’s word, 1 Corinthians 10:14. The word ‘wherefore’ takes into consideration all of the sins of Israel mentioned in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, and therefore idolatry is associated with unauthorised practices. Paul appeals to the Corinthian brethren’s ability to reason, 1 Corinthians 10:15. The word ‘judge’, in Greek, is ‘krino’, and it means to ‘consider’.
The chapter has revealed the purpose of the Old Testament. Those people of God who rebelled against the Lord’s authority were punished, and so will those who reject God’s authority today. Now Paul commands Christians to flee from idolatry and its influence.
These commands and admonitions are found in the context of one who would press his liberties to the point of causing another brother to sin against his conscience in the matter.
Paul now calls upon the brethren to reason with him regarding the sinfulness of their actions in relation to fellowship. The problem gets even deeper. One who would press his liberties to the point of sin is out of fellowship with God because he may be fellowshipping in error.
The word ‘cup’, 1 Corinthians 10:16, in Greek is ‘poterion’, and it means ‘cup, drinking vessel, the cup stands, by metonymy, for what it contains’. An examination of the use of the word ‘poterion’ in relation to the Lord’s Supper clearly identifies the substance of the cup rather than the cup itself. The cup designates the contents, i.e., the fruit of the vine, which is a representation, not literal, of the blood of Jesus Christ.
It’s called the cup, a ‘thanksgiving’ or ‘blessing’ KJV, because it represents freedom from sins through the blood sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, He said regarding the bread and cup, ‘this is my body, and this is my blood,’ Matthew 26:26-29 / Luke 22:17-20, though He was still alive.
Bruce, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Paul described the cup as a cup of blessing, a common Jewish expression for the last cup of wine drunk at many meals. The Jews used it as a kind of toast to God for His goodness. However, Paul turned this around by saying we bless the cup. That is, we give thanks to God for the cup because of what it symbolises, namely, our sharing in the benefits of Christ’s shed blood, 1 Corinthians 11:25.’
Paul states a fact, i.e., when Christians partake of the cup, fruit of the vine representing Christ’s blood, shed for the remission of sins, it is a ‘communion of the blood of Christ.’ 1 Corinthians 10:16. The NIV uses the word ‘participation’.
The word ‘communion’ in Greek is ‘koinonia’, and it means ‘fellowship, partnership, participation, communion’. Who is ‘partnering or participating’ in the blessings of the blood sacrifice of Jesus represented in the cup and the bread, His body? Paul uses the plural pronoun ‘we,’ 1 Corinthians 10:17.
Christians, that is, those who have obeyed the Gospel call, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14/ 1 Peter 2:9. Fellowship, partnership and participation, therefore, occur during the Lord’s Supper.
The ‘bread’ or ‘loaf’ NIV, of the first clause, is a representation of the body of Christ, 1 Corinthians 10:17 / Matthew 26:26-29. The body of Christ is a phrase used to indicate the church of Christ, Ephesians 1:22-23.
Fee, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The cup may focus on the vertical dimension of fellowship between the believer and the Lord, whereas the bread focuses on the horizontal dimension, 1 Corinthians 10:17.’
When the ‘many’, 1 Corinthians 10:17, come together on the first day of the week to partake of the Lord’s Supper, there is a communion, fellowship or sharing taking place.
That common oneness that we share is in our being united in purpose with the Word of God, 1 Corinthians 12:14-27. Jesus’ prayer in John 17 / 1 Corinthians 1:10 / Ephesians 4:1-2 / Philippians 1:27. The many are one as they partake of the one bread, 1 Corinthians 10:17.
The descendants of Abraham, Israel after the flesh, made sacrifices to God for sin offerings and various other oblations. When these sacrifices were conducted, both the priest and the one offering the sacrifice were allowed to eat a portion of the sacrifice, Leviticus 8 / Deuteronomy 12 / 1 Corinthians 9:13.
What transpired under such events? The one offering and the priest had communion and fellowship with the altar. Again, to participate in idolatry is to have communion with evil is the point.
In 1 Corinthians 8:4-5, Paul’s point was that eating meat sacrificed to idols was a non-issue because the idol is really nothing. 1 Corinthians 10 sets forth the sinfulness of communing with others at the table and altars of idolaters, 1 Corinthians 10:18 / Deuteronomy 14:22-27.
Robertson and Plummer, in their commentary, say the following.
‘As in the Holy Communion, therefore, so also in the Temple services, participating in sacrificial feasts is sacrificial fellowship with an unseen power, a power that is Divine. There is something analogous to this in the sacrificial feasts of the heathen; but in that case the unseen power is not Divine.’
1 Corinthians 10:19 is stated to prevent the accusation that Paul is contradicting himself. He re-states the fact that an idol is nothing. This issue really does not revolve around the idol itself.
The real issue is fellowship, idolatry, and authority. One who participates, shares or fellowships in the sinful, unauthorised practices of idolatry is in error. To eat meat sacrificed to idols at the idol’s temple with idolaters participating in idol worship is to commune or share with them in their unauthorised practices.
There was obviously a difference between eating the meat in the temple and eating the meat in the idol’s temple while worship was going on. One could not possibly participate in their worship! 1 Corinthians 10:20.
To participate in the sacrificial meals of pagan deities was to have communion, fellowship, or share with demons, Deuteronomy 32:17 / Psalms 106:37. Some brethren apparently were unintentionally sinning in this case.
Eating the meats sacrificed to idols was a liberty; however, when participation in cultish activities occurred, even though one knew within that the deity was false, sin occurred.
Paul gives the reason for this conclusion in 1 Corinthians 10:21. Note that ‘the cup’ is used figuratively here; people do not drink the literal cup. Our one-cup brethren believe the cup to be of great significance, yet the Lord places the significance upon the contents of the cup, 1 Corinthians 10:16.
To drink the cup of the Lord is to be one with the Lord and his people. To drink and partake of the cup and table of demons is to be one with demons, 1 Corinthians 10:21.
God has set the limits of fellowship. We cannot claim oneness with God and His people, yet partake of evil and unauthorised practices! The lines of true discipleship will not be marred. We are either in fellowship with God or not, 1 John 1:5-6. If I claim fellowship with God yet walk in darkness, practice unauthorised acts.
Notice Paul says, ‘provoke the Lord to jealousy’, 1 Corinthians 10:22, compare this passage to 1 John 1:5-7. The Old Testament pictures God as a jealous God because His people were likened unto a spouse to Him, Exodus 20:5 / Exodus 34:14.
Isaiah and Hosea illustrated the unfaithfulness of Judah and Israel by likening them to an unfaithful wife that caused Jehovah anguish and jealousy, Isaiah 1:21 / Isaiah 57:3-8 / Hosea 9:1. Such ‘provoking’ of God to jealousy is prompting His anger, Deuteronomy 32:21.
A Christian who does such activity must consider himself very powerful and able to stand against the wrath of God, and so Paul states, ‘Are we stronger than he (God)?’ 1 Corinthians 10:22. The answer is obvious.
Paul now makes practical applications to his teaching on the subject of eating meat sacrificed to idols in 1 Corinthians 10:23-33. This is parallel to what he had previously said in 1 Corinthians 6:12, however, he adds one thing, ‘not all things edify,’ KJV. The NIV uses the word ‘constructive’, 1 Corinthians 10:23.
The word ‘edify’, in Greek, is ‘oikodome’, and it means ‘a building or structure’. Paul’s point is that even though a circumstance is lawful, to participate in it may not edify all involved.
Wisdom must be used by Christians of all ages when participating in areas of liberty and expediency. The point is that we would not want to cause a brother in Christ to stumble over our liberties, 1 Corinthians 10:24 / 1 Corinthians 8:13 / Romans 15:2 / Philippians 2:4.
The liberty under consideration, eating meats sacrificed to idols, may be lawful; however, the Christian must ask ‘Will it edify all involved? To have any other mind is to be selfish and to lack brotherly love, 1 Corinthians 10:24 / Romans 14:15.
The Greek word ‘makellon’ is ‘the meat market’, 1 Corinthians 10:25. The Christian would find himself shopping in Corinth for groceries at the meat market with a variety of choices. Paul’s admonition is to ask no question regarding the origin of the meat but to buy and eat.
Clearly, some of the meat that came to the market was left over from a pagan sacrifice, and everyone knew it. No questions were to be asked with the intent of determining if the meat was sacrificed to idols for the sake of conscience.
Here was a case where the Lord did not demand an action to be done according to knowledge and conscience. The knowledge of the source of the meat was not needed because the meat in and of itself is clean.
The animal’s flesh was part of the ‘fullness’, in Greek that’s the word, ‘pleroma’ of the earth, 1 Corinthians 10:26 / Psalms 24:1 / Psalms 50:12. The earth was comprised of many things, meat was a part of that sum total. The sum total of all the earth and its contents ‘is the Lord’s’ and is therefore clean, Mark 7:19 / Acts 10:15.
Clearly, it was not the meat itself that was unclean; that which was unclean and sinful was the unauthorised idolatry. Many drugs are considered ‘the fullness’ of the earth; however, what men do with these drugs is sometimes unauthorised.
If an unbeliever invites you to a meal, which means you are the guest, Paul says, eat what is put before you, asking no questions regarding the source of the meat, 1 Corinthians 10:27, because ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it’, 1 Corinthians 10:26.
The word ‘conscience’, in Greek, is ‘suneidesis’ and is once again used and means an awareness of one’s duty and surroundings through knowledge, 1 Corinthians 10:27 / Acts 10:28 / Acts 11:2-3.
The scenario is pressed further: what if, while you are sitting at a meal with the unbeliever, he tells you that the meat served is from the sacrifice to a pagan deity? 1 Corinthians 10:28-30.
Bruce, in his commentary, says the following.
‘A present-day analogy may be imagined if someone with strong principles on total abstention from alcohol were the guest of friends who did not share these principles. He would be well advised not to enquire too carefully about the ingredients of some specially palatable sauce or trifle, but if someone said to him pointedly, ’There is alcohol in this, you know’, he might feel that he was being put on the spot and could reasonably ask to be excused from having any of it.’
In this situation, the Christian is bound by love and influence not to eat. Not because the meat is unclean, but because the server or host needs to understand that making sacrifices to idols is wrong and unauthorised.
If the understanding brother eats the meats sacrificed to idols knowingly, he knows that all meats are clean regardless if they have been sacrificed to idols, while others have this common knowledge, he may give the impression that he endorses idolatry and said unauthorised practices.
The logic and application of these verses may be used in many activities that are not sinful in themselves, yet to participate in them would give the non-Christian a wrong signal regarding the greater spiritual picture. These verses presuppose the consequences of the strong Christian eating the meat set before him, even though the meat’s origin has been made known.
Fee, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The blessing offered at one’s meal, predicated on God’s prior ownership of all things, means that no fellow Christian may condemn another on this question.’
If the strong go ahead and give thanks for the food and eat it knowing that it is of the fullness of the earth, he does no good in this situation, 1 Corinthians 10:30. He is ‘denounced’ because even the unbelieving Gentiles would see his hypocrisy.
The determining factor as to whether or not I partake of a liberty or do anything ‘whatsoever’ is whether or not the action will bring glory to God, 1 Corinthians 10:31 / 1 Corinthians 6:20.
Jesus tells us that glory is brought to God by the Christian bearing fruit and abiding in the commandments of God, John 15:5-10. One who does not abide by the authority of God brings God no glory. To bring God glory is to cause others to speak well of the Lord through our fruits!
The Jews, Greeks, and the church involved all classes of humanity. Paul would not be a stumbling block to any of these, 1 Corinthians 10:32 / 1 Corinthians 9:19. No liberty was worth closing the door of opportunity to the Jews and Greeks, nor worth causing a weak brother in Christ to stumble.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Giving no offence means putting no obstacle in the path of a person, be he Jew, 1 Corinthians 9:20, or Gentile, 1 Corinthians 9:21, so that he might come to faith in Christ. If he is already a believer, it means putting nothing in his way that would hinder his growth in Christ, 1 Corinthians 9:22. It is not a matter of simply ‘hurting someone’s feelings.’
To seek his own good would be to participate in liberties, no matter what others thought, 1 Corinthians 10:33. Rather than selfishly casting away all others’ consciences on matters of these liberties and shut the door of opportunity, Paul would rather give up the liberty and help the needy souls and thus profit them. These chapters reveal the greatest love and concern for others.
Barclay, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Christian freedom is not given to us for our own sake but for the sake of others.’
The objective of 1 Corinthians 10 is to illustrate by Old Testament examples and God’s supreme authority that participating in liberty at the cost of a brother’s conscience amounts to sin. Paul meticulously compares the issue of practising a liberty at a brother’s soul’s expense to sinful conduct.
Though ‘the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof’ applies to the condition of the meat, it is not expedient in all circumstances to partake of the liberty, 1 Corinthians 10:23-25.
A Christian who participates in a sacrificial meal with non-believers who are worshipping their deity is in such a circumstance. Such activity would be having ‘communion’, fellowship or sharing, with an unauthorised practice. Though the meat is clean, the circumstances around the meat are not.
Eating the meat is not the real issue. The issue is in the fellowship error, 1 Corinthians 10:14-22. The thought is clearly established; i.e., I cannot be a good influence on one for righteousness’ sake while participating in their sinful deeds, 1 Corinthians 10:30. Such actions have a threefold effect.
1. I have shown my convictions to be weak, and thereby I lose my integrity among the unbelievers.
2. I have sinned against God and breached my fellowship with Him.
3. I have followed the error rather than exposing it.
When saints come together in one spirit to partake of the Lord’s Supper, we are in ‘communion’ with each other, 1 Corinthians 10:16. Likewise, when I partake of sinful conduct with someone else, I am in ‘communion’ with their sin and thereby am one in purpose with them in this sin, 1 Corinthians 10:17.
Rather than fellowshipping the sin and sinner, 2 Corinthians 6:14, we are commanded to expose their sin and remain separate, Ephesians 5:11 / 2 Corinthians 6:17-7:1.
The strong in Corinth knew the errors of idolatry and that there was truly only one God; however, they apparently participated in their unauthorised acts of worship and are labelled as sinners, 1 Corinthians 8:1-5. Just because one is a baptised believer does not mean that one is immune from sinful choices. Such a choice will result in falling away from the living God.
That which determines true fellowship with God is one’s stand in truth. The Lord will not permit the lines of fellowship to be marred. Israel’s wilderness journey provides the second of Paul’s illustrations. Because Israel is an outstanding example of a people who had every possible advantage, which began so well but failed miserably because of disobedience.
I think we may take it that, just as the illustration of the ‘Games’ rang a bell in the minds of the Greeks, the Jewish members of the church in Corinth would certainly feel the force of what Paul wrote about the journey of their forefathers from Egypt to Canaan when hundreds of thousands died on a trek that took forty years when it should only have taken a few months.
There is surely no greater single disaster in the entire recorded history of humanity. Of the vast multitude that Moses led out of Egypt, only two survived to lead their children into the Promised Land. They were happy to be released from the slavery of Egypt, but were not prepared to accept the responsibilities of freedom.
In fact, my personal opinion is that, as a Nation, Israel has probably been the greatest failure in history, and I doubt if they ever really understood or appreciated the role that God planned for them to fulfil.
The tragedy was that the descendants of Abraham deluded themselves into thinking that there was something special, outstanding, superior about themselves that caused God to choose them to be His People. They reached this mistaken conclusion by completely ignoring what their own Scriptures said about their origins.
The blunt truth is that, although they have, for centuries, been at war with the people whom we today know as the Palestinians, both they and the Palestinians have the same ancestry.
They both descended from Canaan, the son of Ham, Noah’s second son, not from Shem as is usually thought. In other words, Israel is not Semitic, but is Hamitic, as Genesis 10:16 states. Notice the name ‘Amorites’.
Look at Ezekiel 16, in which God issues a devastating condemnation of ‘Jerusalem’ by which is meant the inhabitants. In Ezekiel 16:3, God says ‘Your father was an AMORITE and your mother HITTITE’.
These were two of the tribes of Mesopotamia, also called Chaldea, where Abram lived in ‘Ur of the Chaldeans’. The word ‘Ur’ means ‘City’. In Joshua 24:2, Joshua tells the assembled Israelites things they would scarcely like to hear! ‘This is what YHVH, the God of Israel, says; ‘YOUR fathers, including Terah, the father of ABRAHAM and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times, and THEY SERVED OTHER GODS.’ Joshua 24:2.
And, even when they developed into a nation, the Scriptures state that they were not the largest, but the smallest of nations! But when God made a covenant with them at Sinai, making them His own people, they began to regard themselves as superior to all other nations, failing to understand the reason why God had chosen them.
When He called Abram to leave Mesopotamia, it was not because Abram had found God, but because God had found Abram. God did not look at what Abram was in Mesopotamia, but at what he could become and the role he was to play in bringing about salvation.
Paul states, ‘the scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen, preached the Gospel to Abram saying, ‘In your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed’, Galatians 3:8.
Although even today there are people who seem to revere the Jews and regard them as a special, holy people, the fact is that they played no active, positive part in God’s plan, because they failed to recognize that they were intended to serve as a kind of object lesson, a visible display, of the blessings that come to a people when they submit themselves to the control of God.
These Jews never did because time and time again they rebelled, disobeyed, served idols and were eventually rejected by God when He decided to create a new, obedient people, as Peter states in 1 Peter 2:9-19, and Paul even says, ‘Because of you, the Name of God is blasphemed among the heathen,’ Romans 2:24. By means of this reminder of Israel’s tragic failure, Paul issued a warning to the Church in Corinth against idolatry, 1 Corinthians 10:14.
His reference to the Lord’s Supper, which follows, was intended for those Corinthian members who regarded themselves as strong enough to sit at a feast in a pagan temple because they knew that an idol is nothing and that the meat was nothing more than meat!
There is a resemblance here to the warning he gives in 1 Corinthians 11, when he rebukes them for holding an Agape Feast, before going on to supposedly celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Notice the contrast between ‘The Table of the Lord’ and ‘The Table of demons’, 1 Corinthians 10:21.
It is true that an idol is nothing. It cannot do anything. But evil rites are real, and one cannot sit at the ‘table of demons’ without being unfaithful to the ‘Table of the Lord’.