The Danger of Idolatry | 1 CORINTHIANS | Joe Macnamara | 1 Corinthians

Introduction: Warnings from Corinth

As we continue through 1 Corinthians, we come to chapter 10, which contains the longest warning Paul gives to this church. He loves the Corinthians deeply — he spent much time teaching, admonishing, and caring for them — and so his letter is full of warnings about the paths they are drifting down: greed, sexual immorality, and division within God's church. Now, in chapter 10, the warning centers on idolatry and pagan worship.

To make his point, Paul draws on the most famous story from Israel's past — the Exodus. He highlights where Israel went wrong in the wilderness so that the Corinthians (and we) might not repeat their mistakes.

"I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea and all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness." (1 Corinthians 10:1-5)

Blessed, Yet Not Pleasing to God

Paul reminds the Corinthians of Israel's history: they were led by the cloud, baptized into Moses through the Red Sea, fed with manna, and given water from the rock. He even tells us "the rock was Christ" — before His incarnation, Christ was already present with His people, nurturing, delivering, and satisfying them.

Four times Paul repeats the word "all" — all were blessed, all received God's provision. And yet, verse 5 says with most of them God was not pleased. Only Joshua and Caleb entered the Promised Land; the rest were overthrown in the wilderness because of their disobedience.

This is a sobering lesson: blessing and participation in the sacraments cannot save you. You cannot say,