Warnings from Israel’s Past
1 Now I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors i were all under the cloud, j all passed through the sea, k 2 and all were baptized l into Moses m in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food, n 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock o that followed them, and that rock was Christ. p 5 Nevertheless God was not pleased with most of them, since they were struck down in the wilderness. q
6 Now these things took place as examples for us, so that we will not desire r evil things as they did. ,s 7 Don’t become idolaters t as some of them were; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party. ,,u 8 Let us not commit sexual immorality v as some of them did, and in a single day twenty-three thousand people died. w 9 Let us not test Christ as some of them did and were destroyed by snakes. x 10 And don’t complain y as some of them did, ,z and were killed by the destroyer. ,a 11 These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction, b on whom the ends of the ages ,c have come. d 12 So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall. e 13 No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; f he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide a way out g so that you may be able to bear it.
Warning against Idolatry
14 So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I am speaking as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I am saying. 16 The cup h of blessing i that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread j that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one k body, since all of us share the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel. Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? l 19 What am I saying then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but I do say that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons! 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share in the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 22 Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? m
Christian Liberty
23 “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything builds up. 24 No one is to seek his own good, but the good of the other person. n
25 Eat everything that is sold in the meat market, without raising questions for the sake of conscience, 26 since the earth is the Lord’s, o and all that is in it. ,p 27 If any of the unbelievers invites you over and you want to go, eat everything that is set before you, without raising questions for the sake of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This is food from a sacrifice,” do not eat it, q out of consideration for the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience. 29 I do not mean your own conscience, but the other person’s. For why is my freedom judged r by another person’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thanksgiving, s why am I criticized because of something for which I give thanks?
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. t 32 Give no offense u to Jews or Greeks or the church of God, 33 just as I also try to please everyone in everything, not seeking my own benefit, but the benefit of many, v so that they may be saved.
10:1–5. The people of Israel had made similar presumptions as those who together had been under the cloud and had passed through the sea (10:1; see Ex 13:17–14:31). Indeed, their experience suggests to Paul that all Israel underwent a baptism into Moses analogous to Christian baptism into Christ (10:2; cf. 1 Co 12:13; Gl 3:27). Furthermore, they all ate “spiritual food” and drank “spiritual drink” (10:3–4; see also Ex 16:1–17:7; Nm 20:1–13), experiences corresponding even more closely to the Christian (Jn 4:10; 7:37). For the “spiritual rock,” from which the drink came, continued to appear throughout their journey (according to a common Jewish understanding that interpreted Israel’s repeated ability to find water in the wilderness in this way). So Paul does not hesitate even to identify this saving action with the preincarnate work of God in Christ. Nevertheless, these experiences did not succeed in protecting most of the people from evil or from God’s judgment when they failed to take their actions seriously (10:5).
10:6–10. This should now serve as an example to dissuade Christians from stubbornly refusing to acknowledge and give up what is evil (10:6). The temptation to stubbornly ignore evil and acquiesce in an act of idolatry should be rejected (8:10–12; 10:14–22) if the Christians at Corinth are not simply to repeat in their own experience the experience of Israel (10:7; see Ex 32:6). In the same way, the temptation to “commit sexual immorality as some of them did” (Nm 25:1–9; the difference in the exact number of those who died is insignificant to the point of the argument) should also be refused (10:8). Persistence in behavior that might “test Christ” (in his resolve either to provide or to punish) should be eschewed, as should every temptation to grumble (10:9–10; Nm 16:41–50; 1 Co 1:11; 3:3).
10:11–13. Thus the past still serves to provide typical examples of divine judgment and, in this case, gives instruction to those who now participate in the fulfillment toward which all God’s action in the past was pointed (10:11). Christians who are entrenched in the firm defense of their conduct are especially urged to be careful (10:12). Yet no temptation, even of pride and stubbornness, is theirs alone. They are involved in something that has proved itself to be a common experience for all God’s people before and since. And God can be trusted not to allow temptation to go beyond their ability to resist if they will seek and do not ignore the way of escape he will provide (10:13).
10:14–15. In this case, the way of escape lies in a flight from the site of idolatry (10:14). Paul appeals without qualification to their ability to reason and form judgments based on what they know, for Christians are “sensible people” (10:15). Yet some of the Corinthians have failed to take into account all that needs to be considered before coming to a decision about how to respond when invited to a pagan temple. Paul has sketched out the potential implications of their conduct for others (8:9–12); now he invites them to consider the potentially harmful effects on themselves.
10:16–22. Once again the argument is by analogy. Paul’s first point of comparison is the Lord’s Supper: the acceptance of the “cup of blessing” and the “bread that we break” at the celebration of the Lord’s Supper enables a corporate and real participation or communion (Gk koinōnia) with Christ (10:16), because though many are present with individual thoughts, all “share the one bread” and thus become one body (10:17). He then draws on Israel’s sacrifices as a second analogy: the same sense of participation or communion is experienced in the life of the “people of Israel” in the sacrificial worship going on at the altar by all those who eat the sacrifices (10:18).
10:23–24. The discussion to this point has highlighted two principles, which Paul now summarizes in 10:23–11:1. Paul has labored thus far to show that Christian freedom is not absolute. It must be qualified (10:23) through the exclusion of any attitude or action that is not beneficial to the development of the individual (10:1–22), or not constructive with respect to the growth of the community (8:1–13). Moreover, the two are tied together, because the goal for the Christian is to seek not simply one’s own good but also the “good of the other person” (10:24; cf. Php 2:4).
10:25–29a. Abruptly Paul turns to those who have gone to the opposite extreme and placed more restrictions than necessary on their freedom of conscience and behavior. They should eat whatever is sold in the market, without raising questions that are unnecessary outside the environs of a pagan temple (10:25). For beyond the confines where false worship is given and evil dwells, the earth—and all that is in it—is the Lord’s (10:26; see Ps 24:1). They may also accept an invitation to a meal at the home of an unbeliever and eat whatever is set before them (10:27). When they do, they should not raise questions of their own conscience, although they must respond to someone (Christian or not) who feels obliged to inform them that others present who are consuming this food both know and accept that it has been offered in sacrifice (10:28–29a).
10:29b–30. The next two questions are obviously intended to reinforce this advice, but the flow of thought is difficult. It may be, however, that the questions are intended to draw attention back to the basic advice of 7:27. If so, then the sense is that there is no need for Paul or any Christian to exercise restraint in deference to “another person’s conscience” unless that other person expresses his objections. For if that person does not (given that our conduct should not rest on assumptions about another person’s conscience), then Christians should be free to eat any meal with thankfulness and without fear of denunciation (10:30; cf. Gl 2:11–16).
10:31–11:1. This action or any other, however, should be construed as an opportunity to glorify God rather than an occasion to express our freedom (10:31). And the praise of God can only be diminished if our action causes anyone inside or outside the church to doubt the moral integrity of the gospel. So the Corinthians should follow the example of Paul, who attempted to “imitate Christ” (11:1) by conforming as far as possible to different standards (1 Co 9:19–23; Mt 9:10–13; Lk 7:36–50) and neglecting the pursuit of his own good in favor of the good of many (1 Co 10:24; cf. Mk 10:45) in order that they might continue in faith and so be saved (10:33).