1 Corinthians 10
Paul warns against idolatry using Israel's wilderness failures as examples. He assures believers that God is faithful, He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but will provide a way out. He teaches that participation in communion is participation in Christ.
1 CorinthiansChapter 10 of 1633 versesBerean Standard Bible
In this passage: Jesus
If God speaks to you through 1 Corinthians 10, record what He said in Doxa and come back to it.
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea.
Cloud and fire leading Israel — our ancestors were all under the cloud
“And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel by day or night.”
Read Exodus 13:21›They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
Baptized into Moses through the sea — type of Christian baptism
“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided,”
Read Exodus 14:21›Passing through the Red Sea — all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea
“and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.”
Read Exodus 14:22›They all ate the same spiritual food
and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Water from the rock — they drank from the spiritual rock, and that rock was Christ
“Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.”
Read Exodus 17:6›Rock that followed them — Christ the spiritual rock
“Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.”
Read Numbers 20:11›Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.
Bodies scattered in the wilderness — God was not pleased with most of them
“Your bodies will fall in this wilderness—all who were numbered in the census, everyone twenty years of age or older—because you have grumbled against Me.”
Read Numbers 14:29›These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did.
Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”
The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry
“So the next day they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”
Read Exodus 32:6›We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.
We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes.
And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.
Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
So the one who thinks he is standing firm should be careful not to fall.
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
I speak to reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say.
Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf.
Consider the people of Israel: Are not those who eat the sacrifices fellow partakers in the altar?
Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?
No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.
Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
“Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is edifying.
No one should seek his own good, but the good of others.
Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience,
for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”
The earth is the Lord's and everything in it
“The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.”
Read Psalms 24:1›If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat anything set before you without raising questions of conscience.
But if someone tells you, “This food was offered to idols,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience—
the other one’s conscience, I mean, not your own. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else’s conscience?
If I partake in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.
Do not become a stumbling block, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God—
as I also try to please everyone in all I do. For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, that they may be saved.
Read next
How to Hear God’s Voice: A Practical Guide for BelieversScripture is the record of a God who speaks. This guide covers how to hear Him today and keep what He says.Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 10
1 Corinthians 10:11Romans 15:4
“For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.”
1 Corinthians 10:132 Peter 2:9
“if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.”
1 Corinthians 10:132 Timothy 4:18
“And the Lord will rescue me from every evil action and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
1 Corinthians 10:31Colossians 3:17
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
1 Corinthians 10:311 Peter 4:11
“If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.”
Cross-references from OpenBible.info, licensed CC BY.
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If God speaks to you through 1 Corinthians 10
Doxa is where you record what God has said to you, in the words it came in, weigh it against Scripture with people you trust, and come back to it in the years that follow.
