Posted by 1 Corinthians on Monday, 11 January 2016
(2) The negative example of Israel (10:1-13).
10:1. So that the Corinthians might not think God’s discipline would be an unlikely eventuality for a people so blessed as they (1:5), Paul cited the illustration of another group of people who were greatly blessed by God but yet experienced His severe discipline. Israel of old was reckless and unrestrained after her physical and spiritual freedom from tyranny in Egypt. As a result God meted out severe discipline by cutting short the lives of many Israelites. They were all in the “race” (9:24), but almost all were disqualified (9:27) in spite of their advantages.
Five advantages were enjoyed by Israel. First, all the liberated Israelites enjoyed the supernatural guidance (Ex. 13:21) and protection (Ex. 14:19-20) of the pillar of cloud in their Exodus from Egypt. The Corinthians had similarly experienced God’s guidance (cf. Luke 1:79) and protection (cf. 1 Peter 1:5). Second, all Israelites passed through the sea and experienced a miraculous deliverance from those who sought to take their lives (Ex. 14:21-28). So too had the Corinthians experienced a miraculous deliverance—salvation (cf. Heb. 2:14-15; Gal. 1:4).
10:2. Third, the Israelites were all baptized into Moses, that is, united with their spiritual head, God’s servant, who became the object of their trust (Ex. 14:31; cf. John 5:45). The Corinthians had been baptized into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13) of which He is the Head (Eph. 1:22) and in whom they trusted (Matt. 12:21; Eph. 1:12).
10:3. As a fourth privilege, the Israelites all enjoyed spiritual food, the supernatural bread from heaven (Ex. 16:4, 15). The Corinthians too had eaten bread from heaven (cf. John 6:31-34).
10:4. As a fifth advantage, Paul listed the spiritual drink enjoyed by Israel in the desert (Ex. 17:6). According to Paul, Christ was the source of this supernatural water. Since the incident of the rock which produced water marked the beginning of Israel’s wilderness wanderings (Ex. 17:1-7) and happened again near the ending of their wanderings (Num. 20:1-13), Paul concluded that Christ accompanied them. Christ too was the source of supernatural water for the Corinthians (cf. John 4:10-14).
It is possible that these five blessings were intended by Paul to reflect the two ordinances of baptism (1 Cor. 10:1-2) and the Lord’s Supper (vv. 3-4) which the Corinthians may have thought communicated a magical protection like similar rites in some of the mystery religions. The Corinthians did seem to have a distorted view and practice of both of these ordinances (cf. 11:17-34; 15:29) which required correction.
10:5. The presence of supernatural privileges in the lives of Old Testament Israelites did not produce automatic success. On the contrary, in spite of their special advantages, most of them (in fact, all but two members of one generation, Joshua and Caleb) experienced God’s discipline, were disqualified, and died in the desert (Num. 14:29). In light of this, Paul’s avowed need for personal self-discipline (1 Cor. 9:27) was genuine since even Moses was disqualified for the prize (Num. 20:12).
10:6. Since this was so, the Corinthi ans’ complacency in matters of self- discipline and their corresponding pen chant for self-indulgence required immediate remedial action. Christian freedom was not meant to lead to self-indulgence but to selfless service (cf. Gal. 5:13), as the behavior of past Israelites illustrated.
Paralleling the fivefold blessings enjoyed by Israel in their newfound freedom from Egypt, Paul proceeded to recount a fivefold failure experienced by Israel during this time. He began with the Israelites’ craving for the pleasures of Egypt, summarized in their plaintive cry, “Give us meat to eat!” (Num. 11:4-34, esp. v. 13) God gave them what they wanted but while the meat was still between their teeth, He struck them with a plague. The Israelites named the cemetery for those who were killed “Kibroth Hattaavah” (“graves of craving”; Num. 11:34). The application to the Corinthian situation was obvious (cf. 1 Cor. 8:13).
10:7. Second, many in Israel failed by participating in idolatry (Ex. 32:1-6) and paid for it with their lives (Ex. 32:28, 35). Apparently some Corinthians were interested in more than meat in the pagan temples (1 Cor. 8:10; 10:14). For those who thought they as Christians could take part in idolatry with impunity, Paul intended, with illustrations like this, to knock out the false props which supported their behavior (v. 12) before God intervened and took their lives.
10:8. A third failure among the privileged Israelites was in the area of sexual immorality. In the Israelites’ case the immorality was associated with idolatry (Num. 25:1-2), which also characterized much pagan worship in the first century. But the Corinthians indulged in immorality in contexts other than idolatry, as the instances of rebuke in 1 Corinthians 5:1 and 6:18 illustrate. As God had brought death to the immoral among the Israelites (Num. 25:4-9), He could do in Corinth (e.g., 1 Cor. 5:5), a sobering thought for the libertines who said, “Everything is permissible” (6:12; 10:23).
A possible solution to the apparent discrepancy in the death count found in Numbers 25:9 (24,000) and Paul’s figure of 23,000 may reside in the phrase one day. Moses and most of Israel were mourning the death of those who had been executed by the judges (Num. 25:5) or killed by an ongoing plague. Meanwhile Phineas was dispatching an Israelite man and Moabite woman in their last act of immorality (Num. 25:6-8), which brought to completion God’s discipline of the immoral Israelites and ended the death toll by plague at 24,000, a number probably intended as a summary figure.
Another explanation of the 24,000 in Numbers (contra. Paul’s 23,000) is that the former included the leaders (cf. Num. 25:4), whereas the latter did not.
10:9. The Israelites’ fourth failure was the presuming of some to question the plan and purpose of God on their trek to Canaan. As a result they were killed by snakes (Num. 21:4-6). Did the Corinthians think that they knew better than God the path that would bring them to heaven? (cf. 1 Cor. 1:18-3:20)
10:10. Israel’s fifth failure, which God disciplined with death, occurred when they spoke rebelliously against God’s appointed leaders, Moses and Aaron (Num. 16:41-49). Was Paul facing a similar situation as an outgrowth of the Corinthians’ party spirit? (cf. 1 Cor. 1:11; 4:18-19) It is possible that each of these failures found expression in the Corinthian issue of eating food sacrificed to idols.
10:11. God’s dealings with Israel were more than a matter of historical curiosity for Paul. They were examples (cf. v. 6) and warnings for the Corinthians that the God with whom they had to deal, who was bringing His interaction with people to a close in this fulfillment of the ages, was the same God who disciplined the Israelites with death and would do so again (cf. 11:30).
10:12. If the Corinthians believed their standing in Christ and corresponding freedom could be exercised in sin with impunity, they were wrong, possibly dead wrong.
10:13. After kicking out the props of false security, Paul pointed toward the One on whom the Corinthians could rely. The temptations that seized the Corinthians were like those people had always faced. They could be met and endured by depending on God, who is faithful. Part of the Corinthian problem, of course, was that some in the face of temptation were not looking for a way out by endurance, but a way in for indulgence.
c. The application to idolatry (10:14-11:1).
10:14-15. The therefore (dioper) introduced Paul’s application of Christian freedom to eating food sacrificed to idols. He gave advice in three areas: (a) meat in the pagan temple (vv. 14-22; cf. 8:10); (b) meat in the marketplace (10:25-26); (c) meat in the home (vv. 27-30). His advice on the first count was uncomplicated— flee from idolatry (cf. 6:18, “flee from sexual immorality”). He believed that the rhetorical questions which followed would lead sensible people like the Corinthians (cf. 4:10) to agree.
10:16-17. Paul’s point in these verses about the Lord’s Supper was like that made earlier (5:6-8). The collective worship of Christians at the Lord’s Supper expressed the unity among the members and their participation (koinonia, “fellowship”) in the blood of Christ and in the body of Christ. The one loaf of bread, of which all partake, pictured their unity as members of the one body of Christ.
10:18. Likewise in the worship of Israel, the participants identified with what was sacrificed and with each other.
10:19-21. The same was true of pagan worship. It was true that an idol was nothing (8:4; cf. Ps. 115:4-7), but the ultimate reality behind pagan religion was demonic. Pagan sacrifices were offered to demons, not to God. Through his minions “the god of this age” blinded unbelievers and kept them from the truth (2 Cor. 4:4). There could be no union for good between Christ and Belial (2 Cor. 6:15). So those who were the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19) should shun the temple of idols (cf. 2 Cor. 6:14-18). No magical contamination was conveyed, but the corrupt character of the participants would be harmful for believers (1 Cor. 15:33). Being participants with demons was unthinkable for those who are participants with Christ (10:21; cf. v. 16).
10:22. Most importantly such behavior displeased God (cf. Deut. 32:21). Did the “strong” Corinthians (1 Cor. 8:7-10) require the same discipline as Israel? (10:7; Ex. 32:28, 35)
10:23-24. The principle of freedom (everything is permissible; cf. 6:12) was to be regulated by love for others. Activities that are not beneficial or constructive or that do not promote the good of others (cf. 10:33) should be avoided.
10:25-26. For a Christian who bought meat at a market with the intent of eating it at home, Paul recommended that selections be made without reservation. No one could contaminate what God had made clean (cf. Acts 10:15) since everything belongs to Him (Ps. 24:1).
10:27-30. For a Christian who accepted an invitation to another’s home Paul recommended eating from all the fare without scrupulous reservation. But if another Christian guest piped up (cf. 8:7-13) that the food had been part of a pagan sacrifice, the knowledgeable Christian should defer to the uninformed scruples of the weaker brother. To exercise his rightful freedom to eat might cause the brother with the scrupulous conscience to follow that example and cause him to sin (cf. Rom. 14:14-23).
A knowledgeable Christian did not need to alter his convictions to accord with the conscience of a weaker brother (1 Cor. 10:29b), but he did need to alter his behavior when in the weaker brother’s presence. Otherwise the weak brother might act against his conscience and harm himself (cf. 8:11), which would bring denunciation on the strong brother. What the knowledgeable Christian could enjoy privately with thankfulness be came in the presence of the weaker brother a contemptible act eliciting condemnation (why am I denounced [blasphemoumai] because of something I thank God for? cf. 8:12; Rom. 14:16, 22). An echo of 1 Corinthians 8:13 concluded the matter.
10:31-11:1. The principle which summarized Paul’s response to the question of eating food offered as a pagan sacrifice was an application of the command to love God and neighbors. Christian behavior should be for the glory of God. Also it should build up the church of God by leading some to new birth (v. 33b) and others to maturity in the process of salvation (justification, sanctification, glorification; cf. 1:30). Christians should avoid behavior that would cause others—whether Jews (cf. 9:20), Greeks (cf. 9:21), or the church of God . . . to stumble (lit., “fall”; cf. 10:12). (Interestingly this reference to Jews separate from the church shows that the NT church did not replace the Jewish nation. This argues strongly for premillennialism.)
The One who perfectly exemplified love for God and others was Christ (cf. Rom. 15:3; Phil. 2:5-8). Displaying the same spirit in his ministry, Paul urged the Corinthians to follow his example in this matter of food from a pagan sacrifice. They should allow their freedom to be regulated by love.
Excerpt from:
Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-c1985).
The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures.
Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
