Daily Devotions
1 Corinthians
"Do we provoke the Lord..."
Text: 1 Corinthians 10:22
A GRAVE DANGER
An idol is not to be feared at any time. The danger does not lie in the idol itself. The problem lies in the implications!
“Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice
they sacrifice to demons and not to God,
and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons;
you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.
Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?”
1 Corinthians 10:20-22
1. Sacrifice offered to idols
a) There were some who feared the idols.
b) There were some who took idols too lightly.
c) Paul was very wisely conscious of the former group when he wrote 1 Corinthians 8.
2. Sacrifice to demons
a) Some believers may have taken the step of partaking of food offered to idols nonchalantly.
b) They may have thought that since idols are “nothing” there was no “wrong” in eating freely of the food offered to idols.
c) This was an unwise decision on their part.
d) Thus Paul had to write to them very firmly about the ramifications of eating of food offered to idols.
e) The dangers:
i) They were in “fellowship” with the demons (the word “fellowship” is the same word translated “communion” in 1 Corinthians 10:11).
ii) Paul was concerned about this “fellowship” with demons!
iii) There should be no fellowship at all with demons!
3. “The cup of the Lord and the cup of demons”
When put together in this comparison, the case is clear! They cannot co-exist!
4. The table of the Lord and the table of demons
Once again, Paul made a startling comparison! The point of what Paul was seeking to communicate couldn’t be clearer!
5. “Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy”
a) Paul recalled the days when Israel provoked the Lord to jealousy through idolatry.
b) Israel paid dearly for this sin of idolatry.
6. Are we stronger than He?
Obviously, we are not stronger than the Lord! Thus, we must not risk offending the Lord! Let us fear the Lord!