Commentary - 1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Bird's-eye view

In this portion of his letter, Paul brings his argument concerning idolatry to a sharp and unavoidable point. Having just warned the Corinthians with the stark example of Israel's failures in the wilderness, he now applies that lesson directly to their circumstances. The central issue is fellowship, or communion. What you eat, you become. Who you eat with, you become like. The Corinthians were trying to maintain a syncretistic double life, attempting to blend their newfound Christian liberty with the pagan culture of their city, which was saturated with idolatry. Paul confronts this head on by contrasting two tables: the table of the Lord and the table of demons. He forces them to see that participation in one is a declaration of war on the other. This is not a matter of cultural sensitivity or intellectual enlightenment; it is a matter of spiritual allegiance. The Lord's Supper is not a mere memorial; it is a profound act of communion with the living Christ and with His body, the Church. To partake of that meal and then to turn around and participate in feasts dedicated to idols is to attempt to join Christ with demons, an act of spiritual adultery that provokes the Lord to a righteous jealousy.

Paul's reasoning is intensely practical. He is not dealing in abstract theology. He speaks to them as "prudent people" and invites them to judge for themselves the logic of his argument. He moves from the reality of their union in Christ, signified by the one bread and one cup, to the parallel reality of pagan worship. While an idol is materially nothing, the spiritual reality behind it is profoundly something. It is demonic. Therefore, to eat food sacrificed to idols in the context of pagan worship is to enter into fellowship with demons. The choice is absolute: you cannot have it both ways. You cannot drink the Lord's cup and the demons' cup. To attempt such a thing is to challenge God, to provoke His jealousy, and to foolishly presume that we are stronger than He is.

Outline

Verse by Verse Commentary

14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

Paul begins with a conclusion, signaled by the word "Therefore." Based on the disastrous example of Israel in the wilderness, who played the idolater and were overthrown, the logical and necessary response is to run. And notice the affection: "my beloved." Paul is not an angry tyrant; he is a loving father pleading with his children. The command is not to debate idolatry, or to study it, or to see how close you can get to the line without crossing it. The command is to flee. You don't tiptoe away from a forest fire; you run for your life. Idolatry is not a minor theological error; it is a soul-destroying treachery against the living God. It is the substitution of a created thing for the Creator, and it is the native language of the fallen human heart.

15 I speak as to prudent people. You judge what I say.

Here Paul pays the Corinthians a compliment, but it is a compliment with a barb in it. He addresses them as "prudent" or sensible people. He is not asking for blind obedience. He is laying out a spiritual argument and inviting them to use their God-given minds to track with him. "You all are sharp," he says. "Think this through." This is a masterful rhetorical move. He is challenging them to live up to the wisdom they claim to possess. If they are truly wise, they will see the force of his reasoning. If they reject it, they prove themselves to be fools, not prudent men. He is putting the ball in their court, forcing them to engage with the truth, not just dismiss it.

16 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?

Paul's argument now centers on the Lord's Table. He asks two rhetorical questions, the answer to which is a resounding "Yes!" The "cup of blessing" is a term drawn from the Jewish Passover meal, the third cup, over which a blessing was said. When we, as the church, bless this cup, we are participating, having fellowship, in the blood of Christ. The word for sharing is koinonia. This is not a mere symbol of a past event. It is a real participation in the life and benefits of Christ's atoning sacrifice. Likewise, when we break the bread, we are participating in the very body of Christ. The meal is a real communion with a real Christ. This is the foundation of Christian fellowship. We are brought into union with Him.

17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

This is a crucial verse for understanding the nature of the Church. The logic is straightforward: one bread, one body. Our unity as believers is not something we create through team-building exercises or common interests. Our unity is created by Christ. We are one because we all feed on the one Christ, who is our bread. The Lord's Supper does not just signify this unity; it constitutes and affirms it. When you eat this meal, you are declaring your membership in this one body. To fail to discern the Lord's body, as Paul will say later, is to fail to recognize the person sitting next to you in the pew as your brother, as part of the same body you are. The sacrament is profoundly corporate. It makes us who we are, together.

18 Look at the nation Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar?

Paul provides an illustration from the Old Testament sacrificial system, something his Jewish readers would understand instantly. When an Israelite brought a sacrifice, a portion was burned on the altar to God, and a portion was eaten by the priest and sometimes by the worshiper. By eating the sacrifice, the worshiper was identifying with the altar and with the God to whom the altar was dedicated. Eating was an act of communion, of fellowship. The principle is clear: eating a sacrificial meal creates a bond of fellowship with the deity being worshiped at that altar. The Corinthians should be able to see where this is going.

19 What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?

Paul anticipates a potential misunderstanding. Is he saying that the chunk of wood or stone that is the idol is actually a god? Is he saying the meat itself is magically tainted? No, absolutely not. He has already argued in chapter 8 that an idol is "nothing in the world." From a materialist standpoint, it's just carved lumber and cooked beef. Paul is not a superstitious animist. He knows that Zeus and Aphrodite are nullities, fictional characters. But this is not where the analysis ends. The sophisticated Corinthians might stop there and say, "See? It's nothing. We are free to eat." But Paul pushes them to look behind the curtain.

20 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they SACRIFICE TO DEMONS AND NOT TO GOD. And I do not want you to become sharers in demons.

Here is the punch. The idol is nothing, but the worship is not directed into a vacuum. Spiritual realities are at play. Behind the nothingness of the idol stand the spiritual entities the Bible calls demons. These are real, personal, malevolent beings. When pagans offer sacrifices, they are not engaging in harmless cultural festivities. They are, whether they know it or not, entering into communion with demonic powers. And Paul's fatherly heart comes out again: "I do not want you to become sharers in demons." He is protecting his flock from wolves. To sit at a feast in an idol's temple is to have table fellowship, koinonia, with demons.

21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

The antithesis is now absolute and stark. There are two cups, two tables, and they are mutually exclusive. You must choose. The cup of the Lord is the cup of blessing, of communion with Christ. The cup of demons is a cup of fellowship with the powers of darkness. The table of the Lord is where the body of Christ is nourished. The table of demons is where souls are poisoned. To attempt to partake of both is to have a divided loyalty, which is no loyalty at all. It is spiritual schizophrenia. It is an attempt to serve two masters, which Christ Himself said is impossible. You will love one and hate the other.

22 Or do we PROVOKE THE LORD TO JEALOUSY? Are we stronger than He?

Paul concludes with two sharp, prodding questions. The first appeals to the covenant relationship we have with God. God describes Himself in the Old Testament as a jealous God. This is not the petty, sinful jealousy of a human being. It is the righteous, holy jealousy of a husband for his wife. Our covenant with God is a marriage covenant. To go after other gods, to have fellowship with demons, is spiritual adultery. It provokes God's righteous anger. Are you really trying to make God jealous? The second question exposes the sheer foolishness of such an action. "Are we stronger than He?" Do you really think you can trifle with the Almighty and win? Do you think you can challenge God to a contest of strength and come out on top? It is the height of insanity. Flee idolatry, because to embrace it is to commit spiritual adultery and to declare war on a God you cannot possibly defeat.