Faith-building Bible studies and articles

• 8 Apr

  1 Corinthians: Chapter 10 (verses 1–15)

  After speaking about the Christian life, using an analogy of running a race to highlight the singlemindedness and self-discipline required to receive the prize, Paul continued his exhortation to the Corinthian believers.

  For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea (1 Corinthians 10:1–2).

  Paul used the word “brothers” here, translated in other Bible versions variously as brethren or brothers and sisters, to show his concern for the Corinthians. He was firm with them, as he loved them and was concerned about them. The Corinthians who ate meat offered to idols had some degree of knowledge in their understanding that an idol has no real existence and there is no God but one (1 Corinthians 8:4). But Paul was afraid that they were ignorant of the lessons of Old Testament history and the dangers that idolatry posed.

  He explained the dangers by drawing two comparisons between the Corinthians’ experiences and the wandering of the Israelites in the desert. First, God provided a cloud to lead Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 13:21–22) and used Moses to part the Red Sea to save His people (Exodus 14:21–31). Paul interpreted these events as the Israelites all being baptized into Moses to make the point that in a similar way, through baptism, the Corinthian believers had been baptized into Christ. Paul makes this analogy to identify Israel with the Corinthians, in order to apply Israel’s lessons to Corinth.

  … and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:3–4).

  In referring to the food and drink as being spiritual, Paul spoke of the manna from heaven that God provided to Israel for forty years (Exodus 16:12–35), and the water that He provided from a rock on at least two occasions (Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:11). Paul symbolically connected Christ and the water-giving: The Rock was Christ. In so doing, he refers to Christ as following the Israelites and gives Him the title “the Rock,” an Old Testament name for God (Deuteronomy 32:4, Psalm 18:2).

  Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:5).

  Paul next addressed his main concern. Five times in four verses Paul mentioned that “all” of the Israelites shared common experiences (1 Corinthians 10:1–4). The Israelites were joined together in their experiences of God’s grace, just as the Corinthians were joined together in Christian baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

  Even though God’s grace was enjoyed by all Israel, God was not pleased with most of them. Therefore, most of them died in the desert and weren’t allowed to enter the Promised Land. Paul mentioned this to draw attention to a similar situation within the Corinthian church. Everyone in the Corinthian church had begun a spiritual journey in Christ, and everyone had participated in baptism and the Lord’s Supper, but this did not mean that they had the freedom to engage in behaviors that were displeasing to God, which had led to severe judgments for the people of Israel.

  Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did (1 Corinthians 10:6).

  The Corinthians were to avoid setting their hearts on evil things. Paul may have been alluding to Numbers 11:4–6, where the Israelites valued Egypt’s food over their loyalty to God. Israel committed so many sins that all but two of the adults who originally left Egypt died in the wilderness (Numbers 32:11–13). Even Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land (Numbers 20:12).

  Paul highlighted these examples to warn the Corinthians of the nature of God’s blessings. If they willfully disobeyed God, He might judge them as He had judged Israel. Paul wanted the Corinthians to not allow their wayward desires to override their loyalty to God.

  Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play” (1 Corinthians 10:7).

  Second, Paul warned believers not to be idolaters, as some of them evidently were. Here he was thinking about Exodus 32:6, and he quoted it to make his point. While Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, Israel began to indulge in pagan revelry before a golden calf they had fashioned, which included pagan cultic meals similar to those the Corinthians were partaking of in pagan temples. Because of such idolatry, God nearly destroyed the nation of Israel. As it was, at His command, Moses had three thousand men put to death (Exodus 32:28). Paul thus warned the Corinthians to take this temptation of idolatrous eating seriously.

  We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day (1 Corinthians 10:8).

  In the third example, Paul warned against sexual immorality, referring to an incident recorded in Numbers when twenty-three thousand Israelites died after engaging in idolatry and fertility rituals (Numbers 25:1–9). The account in Numbers states that twenty-four thousand people died due to God’s punishment for these sins in the form of a plague. Paul’s number is slightly different, but his point is clear: many died because of their participation in pagan fertility rites.

  People who practiced fertility religions believed that taking part in religious prostitution and orgies brought health, fertility, and prosperity. The idolatry practiced in Corinth in Paul’s time involved such fertility practices. Paul’s warning was clear: eating meat sacrificed to idols in pagan temples and entering into their rituals may lead to sexual immorality, something the Corinthians were prone to (1 Corinthians 6:15–16).

  We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents (1 Corinthians 10:9).

  In the fourth example Paul warned the Corinthians not to test the Lord, as some Israelites of the past had done, when the people blasphemed God by rejecting His manna (Numbers 21:4–9). Paul used this parable because some in Corinth were not satisfied with what God had given them in Christ. As the Israelites in the past had desired food other than manna, the Corinthians desired meat so much that they disregarded all other considerations. God’s retribution against the ancient Israelites warned the Corinthians against these practices.

  nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer (1 Corinthians 10:10).

  Paul’s fifth warning was that the Corinthians should not grumble, as some of them were doing. Complaining against God and His leaders happened many times in the wilderness (Exodus 15:24; Deuteronomy 1:27). Although Scriptures don’t mention a particular time when the Destroyer or destroying angel (NIV) appeared to the Israelites in the wilderness, similar concepts appear in various places in the Old Testament.¹ Paul’s meaning is clear: Grumbling and complaining against God resulted in God’s judgment against them and their destruction.

  Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come (1 Corinthians 10:11).

  Paul again pointed out that the sins and judgments of the Israelites in the wilderness happened to them as examples and were recorded in the Old Testament as warnings for Christians. These events were not recorded just for the sake of the people of God of the Old Testament; the New Testament church also benefited from these lessons. Followers of Christ are always in danger of taking their Christian experiences of grace as a license for sin, but the Old Testament example prohibits such license.

  Scholars have various opinions regarding Paul’s meaning when he refers to the believers as those on whom the end of the ages has come. Some believe that he is making the statement that with the coming of Christ and His redemption, the previous ages have come to their appointed end. This also appears to be an eschatological reference, similar to expressions used by various authors in the New Testament such as “in these last times” (1 Peter 1:20–21), “this is the last hour” (1 John 2:18), and “in the last days” (2 Timothy 3:1).

  Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall (1 Corinthians 10:12).

  Christians who are overly confident and think they are standing firm should be careful not to fall as the Israelites did in the desert. Paul didn’t mean that one’s salvation can be lost; rather he meant this as a warning to those who wrongly thought they could indulge in behaviors God has prohibited.

  It is likely that Paul directed this comment to those who believed they had the freedom to eat in idols’ temples. While they acted with the confidence that in so doing they would not fall, they placed themselves in jeopardy of idolatry and sexual immorality. Paul may have been thinking of the weak brothers and sisters who gained the confidence to eat in pagan temples by seeing others do the same. Paul had expressed concern that these brothers and sisters might be destroyed by such activity.

  No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

  The word temptation in this verse is used in a broad sense that refers to both tests and temptations. One author explains, “The imagery is that of an army trapped in rugged country, which manages to escape from an impossible situation through a mountain pass.”²

  Paul’s statement here makes it clear that Christians will not be faced with a temptation that they can’t resist. First, he points out that all temptations that Christians face, including that of idolatry, are common to all people. The temptation the Corinthians faced to compromise by eating food known to be sacrificed to idols is not unusual; it is in fact common. Nor was it a temptation or test that could not be overcome. Other Christians had resisted the temptation toward idolatry, and the Corinthians could do so as well.

  Second, God is faithful, and He won’t desert His people. He can be trusted not to allow temptations beyond what Christians can bear. God will always provide a way out of temptation so that believers can take a stand against it and not fall into sin. He himself tempts no one (James 1:13), and because of His great love for His children, God doesn’t allow temptations to be so strong that they overcome believers. Instead, Christians fall into sin when they fail to take a stand against it and search for the way out that God provides.

  Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14).

  Paul addressed the Corinthians in friendly terms, calling them my beloved. Paul’s advice was simple but dramatic: Flee from idolatry. Elsewhere in his epistles Paul told his readers to “flee” from sin when they saw that they were in danger (1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22). As the preceding verses show, idolatry is a serious matter. Christians shouldn’t toy with it. The only wise course of action when it comes to sin is to have nothing to do with it, but rather to flee from it.

  I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say (1 Corinthians 10:15).

  Paul assumed that the Corinthian people were sensible people, and he wanted them to judge the matter for themselves. He thought the wisdom of the arguments he was making would convince them to his position.

  (To be continued.)

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  Note
  Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptures are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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  ¹ See, for example, Exodus 12:23, 1 Chronicles 21:15 and Psalm 78:49.

  ² Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 7, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 142.

   

  
• Mar 25 1 Corinthians: Chapter 9 (verses 18–27)
• Mar 11 1 Corinthians: Chapter 9 (verses 1–17)
• Feb 25 1 Corinthians: Chapter 8 (verses 1–13)
• Feb 11 1 Corinthians: Chapter 7 (verses 17–40)
• Jan 28 1 Corinthians: Chapter 7 (verses 1–16)
• Jan 8 1 Corinthians: Chapter 6 (verses 1–20)
• Dec 10 Practicing All the Virtues
• Nov 26 Virtues for Christ-Followers: Self-control
• Nov 12 1 Corinthians: Chapter 5 (verses 1–13)