Read 1 Corinthians 10:14-22.

Introduction⤒🔗

Mr. Murphy is a Christian man who happens to be a Native American, belonging to the Stockbridge tribe. Several years ago he was elected to a position of leadership on his tribe’s governing counsel.

In his capacity as tribal president, Mr. Murphy was called upon to attend various conferences as his tribe’s representative. On one such occasion he was called upon to represent the Stockbridge tribe at a conference being held in the Wisconsin state capital of Madison. Many different tribes sent their representatives; and as a demonstration of unity, they were all invited to take part in a ceremonial Indian dance. The medicine man would perform his dance and offer his prayer to “the Great Spirit.” Each of the tribal representatives would smoke the peace pipe and offer incense as part of the religious service.

When it was Mr. Murphy’s turn to participate in this religious ceremony, what did he do? He politely declined, explaining that he was a Christian and could not participate in such an event. Mr. Murphy stood faithful to Christ, even though it meant refraining from a traditional Indian unity ceremony and receiving a scornful glance from the governor of Wisconsin who was present at the conference.

What would you have done if you were in Mr. Murphy’s place? What would you do if an Asian friend invited you to attend a Buddhist worship service? Would you say to yourself, “It’s just a lifeless statue to which they are offering incense, there can be no harm in going through the motions”? Would you think to yourself, “If I abstain I will surely offend them, they will not understand, so for the sake of avoiding hard feelings, I had better participate”? Would you reason in your mind, “We all worship the same God, don’t we?”? Or would you take the same action as Mr. Murphy, politely explaining that as a Christian you cannot participate in any worship that is not directed to the God of the Bible and to Him alone?

Because idolatry is a violation of the first commandment and because of the unholy spiritual forces that are present in it, we as Christians are called to flee from idolatry.

Flee from Idolatry, because It Brings You into Contact with Demons←⤒🔗

When the Apostle Paul writes, “Therefore, my beloved [brothers], flee from idolatry,” there is the indication that some of these Christian people were actually participating in some form of idolatrous practice. This was not merely a hypothetical situation or a warning of potential sin and danger; this was a real problem facing the Corinthian church.

We, too, are living in a society in which we are increasingly facing the same situation: being constantly confronted with pagan religious concepts and practices that are presented as worthy of respect and perfectly legitimate activities. By way of illustration, consider an advertisement that appeared in a news magazine offering a decorative plate to be used as a wall hanging. Under the heading, "The Majesty of an Ancient Spirit in a Limited-Edition Collector’s Plate," the plate is described in the following terms,

Two North American Indian scouts move slowly across the stark winter landscape, guided on their journey through the deep canyon by a mystical presence—the mighty cougar who reigns over the region. In “Canyon of the Cat,” a glorious testament to the Indian message of a shared universe, renowned Western artist Julie Kramer Cole re-creates this fascinating vision on a fine porcelain limited-edition collector’s plate.

The Corinthian Christians who engaged in pagan religious ceremonies, although they did not realize it, were involving themselves in a serious sin that would lead to tragic consequences if not forsaken. Some of these Corinthian Christians recognized the legitimacy of eating meat that had been offered to idols—as Paul confirmed in 1 Corinthians 8:4, “Now concerning the eating of food that has been offered to idols: We know that a worldly idol is nothing, and that there is no God except one.” But they were dangerously overstepping a spiritual boundary and going beyond what was acceptable. They were going beyond the point of merely eating meat that had previously been offered to idols; they were apparently participating in the idolatrous worship of their pagan neighbors: “If someone sees you—one who possesses knowledge—sitting in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, being weak, become emboldened to eat what has been offered to idols?” (1 Cor. 8:10)

Based upon Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 8:10, it appears that some of the Corinthian Christians were actually participating in the pagan worship ceremonies and religious meals. They were apparently operating under a mistaken application of the knowledge mentioned in 1 Corinthians 8:4—namely, the fact that no idol in the world is any true deity, and an erroneous application of the principle of Christian liberty presented in 1 Corinthians 6:12—namely, that “all things are permissible.” Consequently, they felt that there was no danger in engaging in pagan religious ceremonies; and furthermore, they were of the opinion that they were free to do whatever they desired. Byway of contemporary application, Christian people should not indulge in such practices as viewing occult movies, or participating in board games that have a heavy occult emphasis, or consulting the horoscope in the daily newspaper, as though their Christian liberty permitted such activities.

Paul, in addressing this issue, appeals to the fact that the Corinthians are intelligent men (vs. 15). He is not being sarcastic; on the contrary, he is urgently seeking to have them view this issue with understanding and intelligent discernment. The argumentation he presents for their consideration in verses 16-18 is as follows: Those who partake of the sacrificial and sacramental meal are experiencing spiritual communion with the deity. In the case of Christian communion, there is spiritual communion with Christ the Lord. But, as Paul will point out, in the case of a pagan sacrificial meal, there is communion with demons (note verse twenty).

Before coming to his main point, Paul first makes several qualifying remarks to avoid misunderstanding. He inquires, by way of clarification, “[Am I saying] that meat offered to idols has [any] special significance?” We may supply an emphatic, No! to his rhetorical question. He reaffirms the fact that there is nothing inherently wrong with eating meat that had been previously offered to idols. Such meat has not become polluted, there is nothing evil about it, it is not under a curse or inhabited by demons; it is neither dangerous nor sinful to eat such meat. Paul then goes on to inquire, “[Am I saying] that an idol is anything?” Again, we may supply the implied answer, “No!” He is reasserting the fact that no pagan idol is any god at all; there is only one true God, the God of the Bible, He alone is the true object of reverence and worship.

At this point, we must briefly pause in order to consider the theology of idolatry and the biblical response to it. In that pagan theology it was believed that the spirit of the deity entered into the wooden or stone idol, and thus became “incarnate” in the image. However, the Scriptures teach that there are no such deities; the LORD alone is God, and beside Him there is none other. Thus, when the Old Testament prophets, (or the LORD Himself as in Isaiah 41), describe the idols of the nations as being nothing more than lifeless objects made of wood or stone, they are correct, in so much that these images are not inhabited by any legitimate deity who is worthy of worship. The images are, however, employed by spiritually filthy demons who are worthy of the just condemnation they shall receive. Indeed, there are very real spiritual beings that do employ the pagan idols; but it is the presence of demons, not that of authentic deities who are rivals to the LORD.

Thus it is that now, in verse twenty, Paul comes to the point of his concern: “[what I am telling you is] that the sacrifices of the Gentiles are being offered to demons, not to God; and I do not want you to have communion with demons.” Although the idol is no god and represents no actual deity to be worshiped as God; nevertheless, there is a very real spiritual presence behind the idol and involved in idolatrous worship, that is the presence of demons. Note how the Word of God defines pagan worship and religion: such religious practices have a very real spiritual dimension and reality, but that spiritual dimension is the presence and activity of demons, not that of the living God. Therefore, because of the very real but unholy spiritual presence that accompanies and permeates pagan religion, Christian people must not become involved in such practices.

We must flee from idolatry, because it brings one into contact with demons. Beware, too, of such music, movies, and T.V. shows that have a heavy emphasis on the occult, the mystical, or the activity of unholy evil supernatural powers. Be alert to the unholy religious dimension to so much of what is presented as “harmless” entertainment, or even as educational instruction, or healthy exercise, specifically, the practice of yoga. Yoga is a commonly known generic term for physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines that originated in ancient India. Hindu monks brought yoga to the West in the late 19th century. In the 1980’s, yoga became popular as a physical system of health exercise across the Western world.

Flee from Idolatry, because Christ is a Jealous God←⤒🔗

The view of religion propagated by the world is that all religions have a common source, all religions are basically the same. Such was the theme of a Parliament of Religions, which met in Chicago in the summer of 1993. According to the newspaper account of that conference, “leaders of the mainstream of the world’s religious communities have largely stopped seeing one another as potential converts, and have begun to accept the integrity of other faiths.”¹

This was also the theme presented in a T.V. adventure movie whose opening scene transported its leading character back to his boyhood days in India. As the character reminisced about those days, the camera showed various scenes of India, finally focusing in on the Ganges River. As the viewers took in the sights of the Ganges, with its muddy brown water and with its banks crowded with Hindus who consider the river to be sacred, the voice of the lead character could be heard commenting, “All the world’s religions flow from here.” In other words, all the world’s religions have a common source, they are all basically the same, this was the message being conveyed in this “innocuous’ adventure movie.

But all of this is in striking contrast to the biblical view. John the Baptist, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, made a radical distinction between the religious teachers of the world and the Lord Jesus Christ:

The one who comes from above [John is here referring to the Lord Jesus Christ] is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and he speaks of the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. ³²He testifies of what he has seen and heard. Jn. 3:31-32a

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself declares, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, except by me” (Jn. 14:6). By the prophet Isaiah, the Lord Himself declares, “Look unto me...for I am God, and there is none other” (Isa. 45:22).

Scripture teaches that it is not true that the whole world worships the same God, merely calling Him by different names and serving Him in different ways. The fact is that the world has willfully and wickedly turned away from the God of heaven, inventing false substitute gods of their own choosing:

...although they knew God, they neither glorify him as God, nor did they give thanks... ²³they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles...²⁵They exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Rom. 1:21,23,25

Furthermore, as the Scriptures reveal, behind those idols of wood and stone, and operating by means of them, is the sinister presence of demons. This is why the Lord Jesus appointed Paul to be an apostle to the Gentiles, commissioning him “to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:18).

In Thessalonians 1:9-10, we find Paul rejoicing in the Thessalonians' response to the preaching of the Good News; he testifies, “you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead.” Following his ministry in Thessalonica, he journeyed on the Athens, where he preaching in the Areopagus, proclaiming to the Athenians the God of heaven and calling them to repentance. (See the Appendix that accompanies this present study for a brief exposition of the Apostle Paul’s ministry at the Areopagus in Athens.)

Then, the Apostle to the Gentiles came to Corinth, determined to preach nothing other than “Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). At the outset of this epistle, he has reminded these Corinthian believers that God has called them “into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9). But now he finds it necessary to warn them that by thoughtlessly participating in idolatrous pagan worship, they are dangerously exposing themselves to demonic forces that pose as rivals to Christ’s lordship—and this is something that the Lord will not tolerate. So it is that Paul rhetorically, and ominously, asks, “Are we trying to provoke the LORD to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?” (vs. 22)

We must flee from idolatry, because the LORD is a jealous God.

And God spoke all these words, ²I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ³You shall have no other gods beside me. Ex. 20:1-3

I am the LORD, that is my name. I will not give my glory to any other, neither [will I give] my praise to idols. Isa. 42:8

Conclusion←⤒🔗

Living in a society in which we are constantly confronted with pagan religious concepts and practices, and being told that such expressions of religion are worthy of respect and are perfectly legitimate, we need to give special heed to the admonition of Scripture that exhorts us to be discerning and to flee from idolatry.

Rather than accept a paganism that is both sinful and dangerous, let us heed the exhortation of the Psalmist:

Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. ³Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples—⁴for great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. ⁵All the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. ⁶Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary. ⁷Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. ⁸Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. ⁹Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth. ¹⁰Say among the nations, the LORD reigns. The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.Psl. 96:2-10

Discussion Questions←⤒🔗

1. In light of 1 Corinthians 8:4, why does the Apostle Paul exhort the Corinthians to “flee from idolatry”? See 1 Cor. 10:19-20. As a Christian, are you aware of the spiritual conflict in which we are engaged (cf. Eph. 6:12)? Are you daily arming yourself with “the sword of the Spirit” (cf. Eph. 6:17) and prayer (cf. Eph. 6:18)?

Now concerning the eating of food that has been offered to idols: We know that a worldly idol is nothing, and that there is no God except one. 1 Cor. 8:4

Now then, what do I mean? [Am I saying] that meat offered to idols has [any] special significance? Or that an idol is anything? ²⁰[No!] But [what I am telling you is] that the sacrifices of the Gentiles are being offered to demons, not to God; and I do not want you to have communion with demons. 1 Cor. 10:19-20

...our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the powers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual hosts of evil in the heavenly realms.Eph. 6:12

Also, take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸[By means of] every [kind of] prayer and petition, keep praying in the Spirit on every occasion, and in this state keep watch for all the saints with all perseverance and every petition. Eph. 6:17­-18)

2. Do you take the devil and the demonic forces seriously; or do you indulge the delusion of modern secular society that such spiritual entities are nothing more than superstitions entertained by the ignorant? What is the Apostle Paul’s concern for these Corinthian Christians, and for us? See 1 Cor. 10:20b; note, also, 1 Pet. 5:8-9,

...I do not want you to have communion with demons. 1 Cor. 10:20b

Be [spiritually] sober. Be alert. Your adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion, is prowling around, looking for someone to devour. ⁹Resist him by standing firm in the faith, knowing that the same [ordeals] of suffering are being placed upon your brothers throughout the world.1 Pet. 5:8-9

3. How might a weaker brother, (newly converted out of paganism) have unwittingly engaged in idolatry; might he have done so by exercising his Christian liberty against his better judgment? Note 1Cor. 8:4, 7. How might you unwittingly expose yourself to demonic influences; what about thoughtlessly viewing demonically-themed movies, or playing such video games?

⁴Now concerning the eating of food that has been offered to idols: We know that a worldly idol is nothing, and that there is no God except one... ⁷But not everyone possesses this knowledge. When some people eat [meat] they [still] view it as an offering made to an idol, since they have been accustomed to idols until now, and [because] their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 1 Cor. 8:4, 7

4. How might a stronger brother (cf. 1 Cor. 8:4) presumptuously acted upon his knowledge, and by so doing place himself into a spiritually dangerous situation? May a Christian ever presume upon God’s protective care by recklessly participating in such overtly occult activities as consulting an ouji board or tarot cards? How did the Lord Jesus address the devil when He was presented with the temptation to presumptuously place Himself into danger? See Matt. 4:7/Deut. 6:16,

Now concerning the eating of food that has been offered to idols: We know that a worldly idol is nothing, and that there is no God except one. 1 Cor. 8:4

Jesus said to him, 'It is written... ‘You shall not test the LORD your God.’ Matt. 4:7

You shall not test the LORD your God as you tested him in Massah. Deut. 6:16

When the LORD led His people into the arid wilderness of Massah, they challenged Him by questioning His faithfulness (cf. Ex. 17:1-7)

5. What stark alternatives does the Apostle Paul set before the Corinthian church and before us as well? See 1 Cor. 10:21; note, also, 2 Cor. 6:14-15. As Christians, do we appreciate the fact that there can be no fellowship nor compromise nor peaceful co-existence with evil? What danger will we encounter if we neglect the warning? See 1 Cor. 10:22; note 2 Cor. 11:2,

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and [also] the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and [also] of the table of demons. 1 Cor. 10:21

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have with each other? Or what communion does light have with darkness? ¹⁵And what harmony does Christ have with Belial [the devil]? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 2 Cor. 6:14-15

Or are we trying to provoke the LORD to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? 1 Cor. 10:22

...I am jealous for you with godly jealousy; for I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 2 Cor. 11:2

Like a best man is jealous on behalf of the bridegroom when he sees the bride flirting with another man, so the Apostle Paul is deeply concerned when he sees Christians, who have been pledged to Christ, “flirting” with the dangerous forces of darkness. He realizes that such “flirting” can lead to devastating relationships with evil; which either will call forth severe disciplinary measures from the Lord, or reveal the person to never have been converted unto Christ, and thus returning to the darkness (cf. 2 Pet. 2:21-22).

Appendix to the Study on 1 Corinthians 10:14-22 - The Apostle’s Paul’s Message to the Athenians←⤒🔗

¹⁶While Paul was waiting...at Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols... ²²Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious; ²³for as I walked around and observed your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. ²⁴The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. ²⁵And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and all things. ²⁶He made out of one [man] every nation of mankind to dwell on all the face of the earth, (having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation), ²⁷to seek God; if, so then, they groped for him, [they would surely] find [him]; indeed, he is not far from each one of us, for ^28'In him we live and move and have our being.” As some of your own poets have said, “We are his offspring.' ²⁹Therefore, being the offspring of God, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image, [the product of the] craftsmanship and imagination of man. ³⁰Indeed, having passed over these times of ignorance, God now commands all men everywhere to repent, ³¹because he has set a day on which he will judge the world with justice by the man whom he has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all [men] by raising him from the dead. Acts 17:16, 22-31

Paul begins by mentioning that what he has seen in their city has impressed him with the extraordinarily religious inclination of the Athenians—an impression shared by many other people in antiquity; indeed, some considered the Athenians to be the most religious of all men. The term Paul uses in describing the populace (“very religious”) is ambiguous. As used by the apostle, it probably had a double meaning: whereas the Athenians might well be considered to be “very religious” by their pagan neighbors, Paul looked upon them as being pathetically “superstitious,” so much so that they had even dedicated an altar “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.” The Athenians were taking no chances that they may have inadvertently overlooked some deity, and by doing so, may have incurred his displeasure. The apostle now uses this point of contact as the means by which he will introduce the Athenians to the true and living God.

In replacing their self-professed ignorance with spiritual knowledge, Paul immediately presents God in His capacity as Creator and Lord—the One who is pre-eminently transcendent over all His creation: “the God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth” (vs. 24). Paul goes on to declare that God neither dwells in man-made temples (cp. Isa. 66:1; 1 Kgs. 8:27), nor does He stand in need of man’s service, as though He were dependent upon man (cp. Psl. 50:9-13); to the contrary, He is the one upon whom all creation is dependent (Acts 17:24-25). Thus, at the very outset, Paul refutes the Stoic’s pantheistic view of God, (a view in which God was seen as being a part of nature). By the end of his address, Paul will also have refuted the Epicurean’s deistic view, the idea that God is totally detached and unconcerned about the world and the lives of men—the coming Final Judgment dispels that notion (cp. Acts 17:31).

Having confronted the Athenians with God the Creator, Paul now proceeds to speak of God’s creation of man and the purpose for which man has been created:

He made out of one [man] every nation of mankind to dwell on all the face of the earth, (having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation), ²⁷to seek God; if, so then, they groped for him, [they would surely] find [him]; indeed, he is not far from each one of us, for ^28'In him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' vs. 26-28

The Greek text emphasizes the fact that God’s purpose in having mankind to dwell upon the earth was not an end in itself: The two Greek infinitives (to dwell, to seek) do not convey two distinct and parallel purposes of God, namely, that mankind should dwell on the earth and that they should seek God, with the latter perhaps being an optional endeavor. In the absence of any connecting conjunction, (i.e. the absence of the Greek conjunction και [“and”]), the second infinitive (to seek) is expressing the ultimate purpose; we may see it as defining the purpose for what has been stated previously in the sentence. Consequently, what Paul is telling the Athenians is that God caused mankind to dwell on the earth for the express purpose of “seeking” Him; i.e. for the express purpose of living a God-centered life in God’s world.

When Paul speaks of “seeking” God he has in mind a dual meaning. First, we should understanding the “seeking” to be the same as the “seeking” of which the Lord Jesus speaks in Matthew 6:33. When in that passage Jesus instructs His disciples to “seek first the kingdom of God,” He does not mean that they should hunt for that kingdom as though it were some hidden spiritual entity; rather, His meaning is that the kingdom should be their main concern; it should be the primary occupation of their lives. Likewise, Paul’s use of the verb “to seek” is first intended to reveal to the Athenians God’s original (and continuing) purpose for man: that he should live a God-centered life, expressed in the language of the Gospels, he should seek first the kingdom of God. (This divine purpose for man is succinctly stated in the initial Q/A of the Westminster Shorter Catechism: What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.)

But given the fact that mankind now finds itself in the state of sin and alienation from God, the apostle’s use of the verb “to seek” takes on an added connotation, that of “seeking” God in the sense of repentance. That is the sense of the verb as it is found in Isaiah 55:6, “Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.” Paul may very well have had that passage of Isaiah in mind, for he goes on to assure the Athenians, “[the LORD] is not far from each one of us.”

In the latter half of verse 27, Paul is expressing a wish, almost a prayer, on behalf of the Athenians: “if, so then, they groped for him, [they would surely] find [him]....” By expressing such a desire, Paul is acknowledging the fact that mankind in its present sinful state is not seeking after God; far from doing so, man is intentionally shutting himself off from God (cp. Rom. 1:18-23, 28; Eph. 4:17-19). Attached to his prayerful wish that mankind, most notably the Athenians, would grope for God, the apostle provides a word of encouragement: “[they would surely] find [him]].” The Greek construction is simply, “if they groped for him and find;” the Greek conjunction καL (“and”) is used here to express result: if they grope for Him the result will be finding Him.² Paul thus assures the Athenians that their groping for God would surely meet with success, (here seems to be the Gentile equivalent to the promises made to Israel, cp. Isa. 45:19; Isa. 55:6-7; Jer. 29:13-14). The assurance stems from the fact that God “is not far from each one of us,” (note the individualizing: God is within close proximity to each and every man). At this point, the apostle alludes to the writings of their own poets (vs. 28); being made in the image of God, and not being left without a witness of God, even the pagan thinkers had some comprehension as to the nearness of God.