I Corinthians
Chapter 10
Vs. 1 Paul is reminding the people of how long ago in Jewish/Hebrew history how the people came out of Egypt. The Hebrews had gone to Egypt during a famine.
They lived in Egypt for many years. At first, Joseph one of their own Hebrew people was a high ruler in Egypt. After Joseph died, another person became a high ruler along with a new Pharaoh.
These new leaders did not know Joseph and did not remember much about how the Hebrew people came to be in Egypt.
They thought of the Hebrew people as strangers and they were afraid of them. So they made them slaves.
After many years, God led the Hebrew people to come out of Egypt. As this large group of people walked across the desert God led them by a cloud over them. The cloud protected them from the hot desert sun and it led them along in the direction they were to go.
They also had to cross a large water place called the Red Sea. People who study the Bible and history are not sure just where this place was. Or at what place the Hebrew people crossed it.
God made a miracle happen at the water and made the water stop flowing and made it to stand up on each side like a wall so the people could walk through the middle of it to the other side.
Paul is talking about these two things.
Paul says that the people walking under the cloud and the people walking through the waters is like being baptized. When a person is baptized they are put under the water and brought back up.
So with the cloud or the waters of the sea the people were covered over by the cloud and the sea something like being baptized.
God did other miracles for these people. He gave them water from out of a rock.
Paul says this was like Jesus, being the Rock. Out of Jesus flowed water that was spiritual waters of healing and filling the thirst of the spirit.
All of these Hebrew people were part of these miracles. They saw them happen and they were part of the blessings of them.
Yet God was not happy with most of them and he made them walk around and around in the wilderness for 40 years until most of them died.
What happened to them is a warning for us.
Many of them had great desire for evil and sinful things. They worshipped idols. Exodus 32:6
At Mt. Sinai, Moses went up into the mountain where God gave him the 10 Commandments down on the ground the people made a golden calf like Egypt worshipped and they ate, and danced and worshipped the calf.
Then they began to act like the people of Egypt when they worshipped their idols after eating and drinking and dancing they began to have sex freely with others.
Later in another place the people joined with the people of Moab worshipping their idol god and having sexual relations and dancing and God used a plague to kill 24,000 of the Hebrew people. Numbers 25:9
Vs. 8 Paul warns the people do not have immoral wrong, sinful sexual relations.
Vs. 9, 10 Paul warns them do not test God by complaining and blaming God. The people also blamed and complained against God’s leader, Moses just as the people did in Exodus 16:2 and Numbers 21:8.
Vs. 11 Paul says these things that happened were written down so the people would remember. We are to remember, also and be careful.
Paul goes on to say that we should be careful to remember because we are living in the end of times.
Paul felt that he was living in the end of times and that was 2000 years ago so we who are living today should understand we are even closer to the end of time.
Vs. 12 Paul warns the believers if you think you are so strong in faith and believing —–then be careful you may find that temptation will come to you and in your pride you will not be as strong as you think and you will fall to the temptation and sin.
Vs. 13 Paul gives encouragement to those who feel tempted by sin that God will not let you be tempted more than you can take. God has given you a way of escape from the temptation (if you choose to use it).
That way of escape, is to turn to God in the middle of the temptation and ask for God’s strength.
The Holy Spirit is more powerful than any temptation but we must choose the Holy Spirit over the temptation.
Vs. 14 Paul tells them to “run” away from idols. Do not be part of worshipping idols or be part of their feasts and celebrations.
Vs. 14-22 Paul gives them an example: When you come together for the “Lord’s Supper” “Communion” you are eating the bread which is a symbol of the Lord’s body. When you eat it, you are taking the Lord’s body into your own body.
When you drink the wine or grape juice, which is a symbol of the Lord’s blood, you take the Lord’s blood into your body.
So the body and blood of the Lord comes into your body and you are one with Him.
This is a precious thing. It is a holy thing. You are one with God. The Holy God.
Paul says: When you go to the places of the idols and you join with those people in eating and drinking and dancing and having sex you are joining your body and your spirit with an idol god which is not a real god but an evil spirit a demon.
Why would you want to do this? If you belong to the Holy God and join yourself to Him you can not belong to 2 gods. Evil spirits and the Holy God do not mix.
As a believer you can not join yourself to an evil spirit of an idol and join yourself to a Holy God. You have to belong to one or the other.
God will not share you with an evil sprit.
So as a believer and follower of Christ you must not have anything to do with the worship and celebrating of the idols.
Vs. 22 God is a jealous God. Exodus 20:5 There are many other places where the same thing is said, and many, many places where God’s jealousy of His people is shown.
Many of us think of the word “jealous” as a bad thing. It can be. Often when we think of someone being jealous or we feel jealous of someone it is a bad thing.
Today the better word for us to use would be “envy”. When we want something someone else has. Envy can be a thought of wishing it was ours to being angry and trying to do something to make it ours.
The way the Bible uses the word “jealous” about God is the feeling a man has for his wife.
A man is “jealous” about his wife. He wants his wife to be his and only his. No one else is to have her love or her body. He wants her to be faithful to him only. He does not want to share her love or body with any other man.
In this same way God wants us to belong to Him. Often in the Bible God’s people are called “the bride”. God wants our love to go to him alone. We are not to love any other God. We are not to give ourselves to any other god. We are to be faithful body, soul and spirit to God. He does not want to share us with any other god.
Vs. 25 Paul says to them You think you have the freedom to do certain things. But is it wise? Will it hurt others spiritually? Is it wise for you to do something that would cause another Christian to be hurt spiritually?
That would not be Christian love. We are not to just please our selves. We have a responsibility to be a good example for others.
Vs.25 When you go to the store or market place to buy meat. Do not ask questions about whether it was first offered to idols. Then your conscience will not be hurt. The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. So accept it as from the Lord.
Vs. 27 If you go to someone’s house and they are not a believer eat whatever they serve you. Do not ask questions.
But if they say to you this meat has been offered to an idol then do not eat it because they have made it known that this is an important thing to them. So do not eat it because other believers may learn of it and it would bother their conscience that you ate it when you knew it was offered to an idol.
Vs. 29 You may ask Why should my liberty in Christ be limited by what someone else thinks?
You may ask if I can thank God for the food and not be bothered about it why should I have to be in “bondage” because of someone else’s beliefs?
Vs. 31 Paul says: Whatever you eat or drink do it all for the glory of God.
If God will not get the glory but it will cause upset and division do not do it.
It is not worth the trouble it would cause. Out of love you do not do it.
Vs. 32 Try not to offend and hurt others whether they are Jews or Gentiles.
( This is a general rule. We can not go through life and never “offend” or hurt others.
We do the best we can. )
Vs. 33 Paul says I try to please everyone. I do not do what is best for me or what I like I try to put others first.
Why? So that I can help them come to salvation in Christ.