Study in 1 Corinthians - Session 12
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What we have been learning
What we have been learning
We must study the scripture in context or we will misunderstand the meaning.
Paul is exhorting the believers that in their freedom always consider love.
Idol worship is a theme throughout the entire Bible.
Let’s Rejoin the Community of Believers in Corinth
Let’s Rejoin the Community of Believers in Corinth
1 Corinthians 10:7 (NASB95)
7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.”
Remember at the base of the Mt Sinai.
8 Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.
Let's think about the story of the Hebrew Exodus. Where did Moses flee to? The land of Midian. His father-in-law was Jethro the priest of the Midianites. Now fast forward to about 20 years after the wandering. We are to consider as well the idolatry with the prostitutes of old.
1 While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab.
2 For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.
3 So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry against Israel.
4 The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.”
5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you slay his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor.”
6 Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand,
8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body. So the plague on the sons of Israel was checked.
9 Those who died by the plague were 24,000.
JETHRO (יִתְרוֹ, yithro). Moses’ father-in-law. Also known as Reuel (רְעוּאֵל, re'u'el).
Jethro in the Bible
Jethro appears mainly in Exodus, and is the main character of Exodus 18:1-27 . He had seven daughters, including Zipporah, Moses’ wife. After the exodus, Jethro advised Moses to delegate responsibility to avoid wearing himself out. His advice initiated a strategy for Israel to govern itself.
The biblical text appears to refer to Jethro by multiple names and titles:
• Jethro (Exod 3:1; 4:18; 18:1–2, 5–6, 9–10, 12)
• Jether (Exod 4:18)
• Reuel (“God’s friend”; Exod 2:18; Num 10:29)
• Hobab (Num 10:29; Judg 4:11)
• priest of Midian (Exod 2:16; 3:1; 18:1)
• a Midianite (Num 10:29)
• the Kenite (Judg 1:16; 4:11)
9 Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.
Remember being in the desert and again rebelling against Adonai and having to look upon the bronze serpent?
4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey.
5 The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.”
6 The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
7 So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.
8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.”
9 And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
10 Now the sons of Israel moved out and camped in Oboth.
10 Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
Why did all this have to happen to a people that Adonai loves?
1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took action,
2 and they rose up before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown.
3 They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”
4 When Moses heard this, he fell on his face;
5 and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; even the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself.
6 “Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company,
7 and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!”
8 Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi,
9 is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;
10 and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking for the priesthood also?
11 “Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord; but as for Aaron, who is he that you grumble against him?”
12 Then Moses sent a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up.
13 “Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us?
14 “Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”
15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not regard their offering! I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.”
16 Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company be present before the Lord tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron.
17 “Each of you take his firepan and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty firepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan.”
18 So they each took his own censer and put fire on it, and laid incense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron.
19 Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.
20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.”
22 But they fell on their faces and said, “O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”
23 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
24 “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’ ”
25 Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him,
26 and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart now from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, or you will be swept away in all their sin.”
27 So they got back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents, along with their wives and their sons and their little ones.
28 Moses said, “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not my doing.
29 “If these men die the death of all men or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me.
30 “But if the Lord brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the Lord.”
31 As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open;
32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions.
33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.
34 All Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, “The earth may swallow us up!”
35 Fire also came forth from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.
36 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
37 “Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the blaze, for they are holy; and you scatter the burning coals abroad.
38 “As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they did present them before the Lord and they are holy; and they shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel.”
39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar,
40 as a reminder to the sons of Israel that no layman who is not of the descendants of Aaron should come near to burn incense before the Lord; so that he will not become like Korah and his company—just as the Lord had spoken to him through Moses.
41 But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the Lord’s people.”
42 It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared.
43 Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting,
44 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
45 “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces.
46 Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the Lord, the plague has begun!”
47 Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.
48 He took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked.
49 But those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who died on account of Korah.
50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.
1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and get from them a rod for each father’s household: twelve rods, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ households. You shall write each name on his rod,
3 and write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers’ households.
4 “You shall then deposit them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you.
5 “It will come about that the rod of the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will lessen from upon Myself the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.”
6 Moses therefore spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods, with the rod of Aaron among their rods.
7 So Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.
8 Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.
9 Moses then brought out all the rods from the presence of the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.
10 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me, so that they will not die.”
11 Thus Moses did; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.
12 Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish, we are dying, we are all dying!
13 “Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, must die. Are we to perish completely?”
Ex 12:23; 2 Sam 24:16; 1 Chr 21:15; Heb 11:28
1 Corinthians 10:11–12 (NASB95)
11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.
Are you paying attention to the storyline of the Hebrews? He just told us all about what lead to their fall. Grumbling, complaining, standing against the will of Adonai and his leaders.
v12 This stands comment is something to do with arrogance again. Somehow these believers had come to a place where instead of a religious humility it had developed into pockets of arrogance in many aspects.
13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
We see the verse above applied to so many things, and rightly so, but look at the context. In the context of what is being talked about, it is about idolatry.
1 Corinthians 10:14–19 (NASB95)
14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
15 I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say.
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?
17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.
18 Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar?
19 What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
So there is altar sacrifice in the Israelite culture here and it is considered appropriate and even the meat is eaten. This is a constant juxtaposition between the evil and the good.
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.
What are the gods of the Greeks and Romans according to Paul here?
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.
22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?
23 All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.
Yes we are free in Christ, but not free to the costs of other humans.
24 Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.
25 Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake;
26 for the earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains.
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains,
The world, and those who dwell in it.
12 “If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the world is Mine, and all it contains.
1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,
3 men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.
4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;
5 for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.
I want you to think about how we pray each day. How we pray for food. How does this make you think about how food is prayed for?
27 If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake.
28 But if anyone says to you, “This is meat sacrificed to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience’ sake;
29 I mean not your own conscience, but the other man’s; for why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience?
30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?
In other words his two questions above are meant to make you realize it is not what you think about you, but it is about the testimony of Christ to others.
31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
32 Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God;
33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved.
1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
2 Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.
3 But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
We see an order here. An order of responsibility. Of course this verse has been used by some to relegate others to less important roles, but