Today I came to a familiar passage in 1 Corinthians 10:19-33. This is the continuation of Paul's exhortation to the Corinthian church concerning their attitude and behaviour especially as it relates to the church within, and the pagans without. He began in the beginning of chapter 10 the history of Israel's disobedience while they were in the desert after having been freed from Egypt:
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. (verses 1-5)
Despite witnessing so many miracles from God - after crossing the red sea on dry ground, the Israelite were protected by the cloud from the heat of the sun during the day and warmed by a fire from the severe cold during the night; they received manna from heaven for food, quails sent by God to the camp for meat, and water from the rocks in the desert; and they witnessed supernatural events that represented God's presence - yet they grumbled, committed sexual immorality, and worshiped the golden calf! And ultimately because they did not believe that God would be powerful enough to drive out the enemies in the promise land, they would continue to wander in the wilderness for another forty years until the entire generation of fighting men over the age of twenty perished before they entered the promise land. We should therefore take heed of the warning:
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! (verses 11-12)
But God made a promise in the very next verse:
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (verses13)
So it is because of God's faithfulness that I can resist the temptation of this world. He will provide both the strength to endure as well as a way of escape from these temptations.
Paul continued in chapter 10 to use a practical example to help us live for God and not for ourselves. This is related to eating and drinking and the Lord's supper. So it should be a good reminder for me whenever I have Holy Communion at church (or for that matter every time I eat or drink!). The Lord's supper (see Paul's detail explanation concerning the Lord's supper in the next chapter 11:17-34) serves to remind us of Jesus' sacrifice and the hope we have in him. It is a reminder of the Passover which lead the Israelite out of their slavery in Egypt. Jesus is the sacrificial lamb that protects us from the destroying angels just as the blood of the lamb on the door posts protecting the Israelite. It is not about the food or the drink (which the Corinthians were abusing - see 1 Corinthians 11:17-22). Therefore,
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. (1 Corinthians 10:31-33)
So it is in the most ordinary things we do in life, eating and drinking, that can either bring God glory or cause others to stumble. We can choose to abuse our freedom in Christ to serve our own interest, or deliberately subject ourselves as slaves to serve others. I choose to please God (therefore trying to please everyone for God's sake) and not myself (therefore seeking the good of others).
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