Moreover... all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 The castaways and the victors Prof. Godet. The analogy between this passage and the preceding is striking. This nation that had come out of Egypt to get to Canaan corresponds to the runner who, after starting in the race, misses the prize for want of perseverance in self-sacrifice. The one runner whom the judge of the contest crowns is the counterpart of the two faithful Israelites, to whom it was given to enter the Promised Land. ( Prof. Godet. )

Benson Commentary 1 Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 1 Corinthians 10:1-3 . Moreover — Or now; brethren — That you may be induced to attend to the exhortation which I have been giving you, and may run your Christian race with resolution, zeal, and diligence, and not become reprobates, consider how highly favoured your fathers were, who were God’s elect and peculiar people, and nevertheless were rejected by him. They were all under the cloud, that eminent token of God’s gracious presence with them, which defended them from the Egyptians; ( Exodus 14:20 ;) being to the latter a cloud of darkness, but giving light by night to the Israelites; the cloud which accompanied them in their journeyings, and was spread over them like a covering, to screen them from the heat of the sun, intense in the deserts of Arabia, Numbers 14:14 . And all passed through the sea — God opening a way through the midst of the waters; and were all baptized, as it were, unto Moses — Initiated into the religion which he taught them; in the cloud and in the sea — Perhaps sprinkled here and there with drops of water from the sea, and from the cloud, by which baptism might be more evidently signified. But whether or not, as the Israelites, by being hid from the Egyptians under the cloud, and by passing through the sea, were made to declare their belief in the Lord and in his servant Moses, ( Exodus 14:31 ,) the apostle very properly represents them as being thereby baptised unto Moses. And did all eat the same spiritual meat — That is, the manna, which was an emblem of the bread of life; that came down from heaven — Namely, 1st, Of Christ’s flesh and blood, or his obedience unto death, which is meat indeed, John 6:55 . 2d, Of his heavenly doctrine, whereby the souls of the faithful are supported and nourished, John 6:63 . And 3d, Of the sacramental bread which we eat at his table. The word spiritual is here used for typical, as it is also Revelation 11:8 , where we read, Which great city spiritually, (that is, typically,) is called Sodom and Egypt. That the feeding of the Israelites with manna had a typical meaning, appears from Deuteronomy 8:3 ; and that it signified true doctrine in particular, appears from its being called angels’ food, Psalm 78:25 . And it is termed spiritual meat, because the spiritual blessings which it typified were the same with those typified by the bread in the Lord’s supper, which the Corinthians ate. 1 Corinthians 10:2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 1 Corinthians 10:3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 1 Corinthians 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:4 . And did all drink the same spiritual — That is, typical; drink — Namely, typical of Christ and of the living water, the divine influence derived from him, John 8:37 . For they drank of that spiritual — Or mysterious; rock — The wonderful streams of which followed them in their several journeyings for many years through the wilderness. It must be observed, water was twice brought from a rock by a miracle, for the Israelites in the wilderness; once in Rephidim, which was their eleventh station, and in the first year after they came out of Egypt; of which miracle we have an account, Exodus 17.; the second time was at Kadesh, which was their thirty-third station, and in the fortieth year after their leaving Egypt, Numbers 20:1 . To both places the name of Meribah was given; but the latter was called Meribah-Kadesh, to distinguish it from Meribah of Rephidim. It is the miracle performed in Rephidim of which the apostle here speaks. The water, it appears, that issued from this rock formed a brook, which ( Deuteronomy 9:21 ) is said to have descended out of the mount, that is, out of Horeb; ( Exodus 17:5-6 ;) for before that miracle there was no brook in these parts. And it issued in such abundance as to be termed a river, Psalm 78:16 ; Psalm 105:41 . Indeed, six hundred thousand men, with their women and children, and cattle, required a river to supply them with drink. And Horeb being a high mountain, there seems to have been a descent from it to the sea; and the Israelites, during the thirty-seven years of their journeying, appear to have gone by those tracts of country in which the waters from Horeb could follow them, till in the thirty-ninth year they came to Ezion-Gaber, ( Numbers 33:36 ,) a port of the Red sea, far down the Arabian side, where it is supposed the water from Horeb went into that sea. The country through which the Israelites journeyed so long a time, being watered by this river, produced, no doubt, herbage for the cattle of the Israelites, which, in this desert, must otherwise have perished. And that Rock was Christ — A manifest type of him, the Rock of ages, who, being smitten in his death and sufferings, poured forth streams of redemption, grace, and heavenly blessings, which follow his people through all this wilderness, and will end in rivers of pleasure at the right hand of God for ever. 1 Corinthians 10:5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 1 Corinthians 10:5-6 . But with many of them — Although they had so many tokens of the divine presence with them, and enjoyed such singular favours; God was not well pleased — So far from it, that he swore in his wrath they should not enter into the rest he had provided for them; and therefore they were overthrown in the wilderness — With the most terrible marks of his wrath. Even the whole generation that came adult out of Egypt died there, and sometimes in such multitudes, that the ground was overspread with carcasses, as a field is in which a battle has been fought. Now these things — These punishments; were our examples — Showing what we are to expect, notwithstanding our profession of Christianity, if we act like them; if, enjoying the like benefits, we commit the like sins. The benefits are here set down in the same order as by Moses in Exodus; the sins and punishments in a different order: evil desire first, as being the foundation of all; next idolatry, 1 Corinthians 10:7 ; 1 Corinthians 10:14 ; then fornication, which usually accompanied it, 1 Corinthians 10:8 ; tempting and murmuring against God in the following verses. To the intent we should not lust after evil things — Should not indulge irregular and luxurious desires; as they also lusted — After flesh, in contempt of the manna, and thereby brought the wrath of God upon themselves, and were consumed with pestilential distempers, while the meat was yet between their teeth, Psalm 78:30-31 . Learn, therefore, as if he had said, by what they suffered, to cultivate that temperance and self-denial which I have just been recommending to you. 1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 1 Corinthians 10:7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 1 Corinthians 10:7-8 . Neither be ye idolaters — By partaking of their idolatrous feasts: by no means join the heathen in these, because if the persons whose friendship you wish to cultivate, tempt you to commit idolatry, neither your superior knowledge, nor the spiritual gifts which ye possess, will secure you against their allurements: of these things you have a striking proof in the ancient Israelites. As it is written — Exodus 32:6 ; Exodus 32:19 , with relation to the feast of the golden calf; The people sat down to eat and drink — Of the sacrifices and libations which were offered to the calf. He says, sat down to eat, for in ancient times the Hebrews always sat at meat: see Genesis 43:33 . It was in later times only that, in compliance with the manners of eastern nations, they lay on couches at their meals. And rose up to play — Or to dance, as the word ??????? here signifies, in honour of their idol. Dancing was one of the rites practised by the heathen in the worship of their gods. And that the Israelites worshipped the golden calf by dancing, is evident from Exodus 32:19 , where it is said of Moses, that he saw the calf and the dancing, and his anger waxed hot. Neither let us commit fornication — A sin commonly committed at the idolatrous feasts among the heathen. And it was the more proper for the apostle to caution the Corinthians against it, because in their heathen state they had practised it even as an act of worship, acceptable to their deities; nay, and after their conversion, some of them, it appears, had not altered their manners in that particular, 2 Corinthians 12:21 . As some of them committed — With the Midianitish women, when they partook of the sacrifices offered to Baal-peor: the sad consequence of which was, that there fell in one day three and twenty thousand — By the plague, besides the princes who were afterward hanged, and those whom the judges slew; so that there died in all twenty-four thousand, Numbers 25:1-9 . 1 Corinthians 10:8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 1 Corinthians 10:9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 1 Corinthians 10:9-10 . Neither let us tempt Christ — By our unbelief and distrusting his providence, after the tokens he hath given us to encourage our faith, and engage our dependance; as some of them — Of the next generation; tempted him — While he resided among them as the angel of God’s presence, who led them through the wilderness, Exodus 23:20-21 ; Isaiah 63:9 ; and were destroyed of serpents — From the venom of which others were recovered by looking at the brazen serpent, which was so illustrious a type of the Messiah. “In the history, these are called fiery serpents, Deuteronomy 8:15 ; and Gesner is of opinion that these serpents were of the dipsas kind, (a name taken from the thirst they cause in those they sting,) which Lucian hath described in his treatise, entitled Dipsades, where, speaking of the deserts of Lybia, he says, ‘Of all the serpents which inhabit these solitudes, the most cruel is the dipsas, no bigger than a viper, but whose sting causes most dismal pains, even till death. For it is a gross venom, which burns, breeds thirst, and putrifies; and those who are afflicted with it, cry as if they were in the fire.’ For an account of this serpent, see Kolben’s State of the Cape of Good Hope, vol. 2. p. 165.” — Macknight. Neither murmur ye — Under those dispensations of providence, which may seem at present very afflictive, particularly on account of the malice and power of your enemies; as some of them murmured — When they heard the report of the spies, Numbers 14:2 ; and were destroyed of the destroyer — The destroying angel, who was commissioned by one judgment after another to take them off. The Jews generally interpret this of him whom they fancy to be the angel of death, and whom they called Sammael. See on Hebrews 2:14 . 1 Corinthians 10:10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 1 Corinthians 10:11-13 . Now all these things — These various calamitous events; happened unto them for ensamples — That we might learn wisdom at their expense, and not trust to external privileges, while we go on in a course of disobedience to the divine authority. The apostle’s meaning is, that punishment inflicted on sinners in a public and extraordinary manner, makes them examples of the divine vengeance to their own generation, and to all succeeding ones which have any knowledge of their history. And they are written for our admonition — To warn us Christians; upon whom the ends of the world — Or, of the ages; ??? ?????? , are come — That is, at the end of the Mosaic dispensation, whose duration was measured by ages or jubilees. Or it may signify the last dispensation of religion, namely, that of the gospel, which succeeded the patriarchal and the Jewish. The expression has great force. All things meet together and come to a crisis under the last, the gospel dispensation; both benefits and dangers, punishments and rewards. And under it Christ will come as an avenger and a judge. Wherefore — As if he had said, Seeing that so many who enjoyed great spiritual privileges, yet were punished for their sins, therefore let him that thinketh he standeth — Or rather, that most assuredly standeth, (for the word ????? , rendered thinketh, most certainly strengthens, rather than weakens the sense,) or is confident that he is able to resist temptation, and to continue steadfast in the practice of his duty; and that, thereupon, he shall be secure from punishment; take heed lest he fall — Into sin and perdition. There hath no temptation — ????????? , trial, of any kind, whether by way of suffering, as the word means, James 1:2 ; 1 Peter 1:6 ; and in many other places; or of inducement to sin, as the expression signifies, James 1:13-14 ; but such as is common to man — Usual and ordinary among men: or, as the Greek word more especially imports, proportioned to human strength. At the time the apostle wrote this, the Christians at Corinth had not been much persecuted; see chap. 1 Corinthians 4:8 . But — Or and; God is faithful — To his promise, and therefore will not suffer you to be tempted — Or tried; above that ye are able — Through the strength which he imparts, to endure the trial, and stand in the evil day; but will, with the temptation — By which he suffers you to be assaulted; make a way to escape — Greek, ??? ??????? , a passage out — That is, will provide for your deliverance; that — If you be not wanting to yourselves; you may be able to bear it — Yea, and may acquire new strength by, and comfort from the combat. 1 Corinthians 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it . 1 Corinthians 10:14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. 1 Corinthians 10:14-15 . Wherefore, my dearly beloved, &c. — To understand what follows, it seems necessary to suppose that the Corinthians, in their letter, put three questions to the apostle concerning meats sacrificed to idols. 1st, Whether they might innocently go with their heathen acquaintance into the idol’s temple, and partake of the feasts on the sacrifices which were eaten there in honour of the idol? 2d, Whether they might buy and eat meat sold in the markets which had been sacrificed to idols? 3d, Whether, when invited to the houses of the heathen, they might eat of meats sacrificed to idols, which were set before them as a common meal? To the first of these questions the apostle answered, chap. 8., that their joining the heathen in their feasts on the sacrifices in the idol’s temple, even on the supposition that it was a thing in itself innocent, might be a stumbling-block to their weak brethren, in which case it ought to be avoided; but whether such a practice were a thing innocent or sinful in itself, he did not on that occasion consider. Here, therefore, he resumes the subject, that he might treat of it fully, and answer the other questions proposed to him by the Corinthians relative to that matter. Flee from idolatry — And from all approaches to it, whatever circumstances of allurement or danger may seem to plead for some degrees of compliance. I speak as to wise men — I use a rational argument, which will bear the strictest examination, and which I am willing should be canvassed as accurately as you please; judge you, therefore, what I say — What I advance, to show you that the eating of the sacrifices in the idol’s temple is, or leads to, a real worshipping of the idol: and that, therefore, you will naturally bring guilt upon your consciences, by such associations and participations of their idolatrous feasts. 1 Corinthians 10:15 I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. 1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 . The cup of blessing — In the Lord’s supper, the sacramental cup; which we bless — Set apart to a sacred use, solemnly invoking the blessing of God upon it. Dr. Macknight renders the original expression, ? ?????????? , for which we bless God, a sense which he thinks is sanctioned by 1 Corinthians 11:24 , “where this blessing is interpreted by the giving of thanks. And he considers it as denoting the whole communicants’ joining together in blessing God over the cup, for his mercy in redeeming the world through the blood of Christ. Thus both Luke and Paul, in their account of the institution, express this part of the action by ???????????? , having given thanks. And hence the service itself hath long borne the name of the eucharist, or thanksgiving, by way of eminence.” Is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? — The means of our partaking of those invaluable benefits which are the purchase of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break — And which was appointed in the first institution of the ordinance for this purpose; is it not the communion of the body of Christ? — In the like sense? That is, the means and token of our sharing in the privileges which he procured by the offering up of his body for us, to be torn, broken, and put to death. For we, being many, are yet, as it were, one bread — One loaf, as the word ????? often signifies, and is translated, Matthew 16:9 ; where Jesus asks, Do ye not remember the five ?????? , loaves, of the five thousand? and Matthew 4:3 , Command that these stones be made, ?????? , loaves. The sense is, It is this communion which makes us all one: by partaking of one and the same bread, we are united and formed into one mystical body. “This account of the Lord’s supper, the apostle gave to show the Corinthians, that as by eating thereof, the partakers declare they have the same object of worship, the same faith, the same hope, and the same dispositions with the persons whom they join in that act of religion, and that they will follow the same course of life; so, in all reasonable construction, by eating the sacrifices of idols, the partakers declare they are of the same faith and practice with the worshippers of idols, that they have the same objects of worship with them, and that they expect to share with them in the benefits to be derived from that worship.” 1 Corinthians 10:17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. 1 Corinthians 10:18 Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? 1 Corinthians 10:18 . Behold — Consider, by way of illustration; Israel after the flesh — How it is with the present Jews, the natural descendants of Jacob, who worship God by sacrifices, according to the Mosaic law. He says, after the flesh, to distinguish them from the spiritual Israel, consisting of believers of all nations, called the Israel of God, Galatians 6:16 . Are not they who eat of the sacrifices — Who feast upon the remainders of the sacrifices offered at the altar; see Leviticus 7:15 ; 1 Samuel 1:4-5 ; partakers of the altar — Do they not join in the worship there performed, and own the God there worshipped? And is not this an act of communion with that God to whom such sacrifices are offered? And is not the case the same with those who eat of the sacrifices offered to idols? This argument, drawn from the sentiments of the Jews, was used with peculiar propriety, especially in reasoning with the false teachers at Corinth, who, it seems, were Jews, and who, to ingratiate themselves with the Corinthians, are supposed to have encouraged them to eat of the idol’s sacrifices. 1 Corinthians 10:19 What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? 1 Corinthians 10:19-22 . What say I then — Do I , in saying this, allow that an idol is any thing divine? Or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing — Is a sacrifice to a real deity? Or is made either better or worse, or to differ from ordinary meat, by being thus offered to idols? You well know that I intend to maintain nothing of this kind: so far from it, that I aver the things which the Gentiles sacrifice — To supposed deities; they sacrifice to devils — For, though I grant the idol is nothing, yet those spirits that sometimes dwell in the images of these idols, and give answers from them, are something: they are demons, most wicked and unclean spirits, defiling every person and thing that has any relation to them. We may observe here, “The word ???????? , demons, is used in the LXX. to denote the ghosts of men deceased; and Josephus ( Bell., lib. 1 Corinthians 7:6 ) says, demons are the spirits of wicked men. It is therefore probable, that the writers of the New Testament use the word demons in the same sense, especially as it is well known that the greatest part of the heathen gods were dead men. The heathen worshipped two kinds of demons: the one kind were the souls of kings and heroes, deified after death, but who could have no agency in human affairs; the other kind of demons were those evil spirits who, under the names of Jupiter, Apollo, Trophonius, &c., moving the heathen priests and priestesses to deliver oracles, greatly promoted idolatry.” — Macknight. Such in reality, as if he had said, are the gods of the heathen, and with such only can ye hold communion in those sacrifices. And not to God — The heathen in general had no idea of God; that is, of an unoriginated, eternal, immutable, and infinitely perfect being, the Creator and Governor of all things. And I would not ye should have fellowship with devils — Or with their votaries, either in their worship, their principles, their practices, or their hopes; — ye who have at your baptism solemnly renounced the devil and all his adherents. For certainly it is not a small sin, nor a thing to be made light of, to have fellowship with them. Ye cannot of right — Or in reason, you ought not, it is contrary to your Christian profession so to do; drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils — Ye cannot have communion with both; cannot reasonably make profession of the worship of God, (which you do in the Lord’s supper in the highest instance,) and also of the worship of devils, (as you do in the idol feasts,) these being so contrary one to the other. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy — Namely, by joining devils in competition with him? or by thus caressing his rivals? Are we stronger than He? — Able to resist or to bear his wrath? Can we secure ourselves against his judgments, when he comes forth to punish for such sins? 1 Corinthians 10:20 But I say , that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. 1 Corinthians 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils. 1 Corinthians 10:22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he? 1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 . All things, &c. — He here comes to speak of another case, namely, the buying and eating privately, meats which had been offered to idols: are lawful for me — All kinds of meats according to the gospel. See on 1 Corinthians 6:12 . But — Granting this, it must also be acknowledged that all such things are not, in every circumstance, expedient — For the reasons mentioned before; (see on 1 Corinthians 8:9-13 ;) and all things edify not others — Do not help them forward in holiness. And we ought certainly to consider what may most effectually conduce to the edification of our brethren, and of the church of God in general, as well as what may suit our own particular inclinations or conveniences; for we may find good reasons for declining many things as insnaring to others, which, were we to consider ourselves alone, might be perfectly indifferent. Let no man, therefore, seek his own — Advantage or pleasure; but every man another’s wealth — Or weal, namely, spiritual; the edification and salvation of his soul, 1 Corinthians 10:33 . Or, let no man prefer his own temporal profit or satisfaction before another’s spiritual and eternal welfare. 1 Corinthians 10:24 Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth . 1 Corinthians 10:25 Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake: 1 Corinthians 10:25-26 . The apostle now applies this principle to the point in question; and on the ground of it, gives the following rules concerning meats. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles — Though it were offered to idols before, yet being now set openly to sale, the idol is no more honoured therewith, and it is common meat; that you may buy, and eat it in private, either in a friend’s house or your own, asking no question — Whether it has been offered in sacrifice to an idol or not; for conscience’ sake — With a view to satisfy your conscience respecting the lawfulness of eating it. Or the expression, for conscience’ sake, may mean, lest any needless scruple should arise, either in your own or your brother’s conscience, so that you could not eat of it freely, without doubting in yourself, or giving offence to your brother. For the earth is the Lord’s, as the psalmist has expressed it, Psalm 24:1 , and the fulness thereof — All creatures therein, which were made for man’s use, and are given us freely to enjoy in Christ, 1 Timothy 4:4 ; 1 Timothy 6:17 . And no demon hath any power or dominion over them. “By this argument the apostle showed the Corinthians that their knowledge and faith, as Christians, ought to prevent them from asking any questions concerning their food, which might lead the heathen to think that they acknowledged the power of their deities, either to give or to withhold any part of the fulness of the earth from the worshippers of the true God.” 1 Corinthians 10:26 For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof. 1 Corinthians 10:27 If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast , and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. 1 Corinthians 10:27-30 . If any of them that believe not — Any heathen who lives in your neighbourhood; bid you to a feast — Invite you to his house; and ye be disposed — To accept the invitation; whatever is set before you — At the entertainment; eat, asking no question — About its having been sacrificed to idols; for conscience’ sake. See on 1 Corinthians 10:25 . But receiving it, whatever it may be, as that supply which Divine Providence has then been pleased to send you. But if any man say, This food is part of what hath been offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not, for his sake that showed it — Whether he be a heathen, who might thereby be confirmed in his idolatry, or a brother, who might otherwise be insnared by thy example, and tempted to violate the dictates of his own mind; and for conscience’ sake — For the sake of his weak conscience, lest it should be wounded by seeing thee do what he judged to be unlawful. To explain this further, “The heathen often, in their own houses, made an ordinary feast of a part of the sacrifice, see on chap. 1 Corinthians 8:1 ; to these entertainments, the apostle told the Corinthian brethren, they might lawfully go when invited. But on such occasions, if a Christian domestic or slave, by informing them that this or that dish consisted of things which had been sacrificed to an idol, signified that they considered their eating these things as sinful, they were to abstain from them, for the reasons mentioned in the text.” For the earth is the Lord’s, &c. — This clause, inserted in our copies, is omitted in the Alex. Clermont, and other manuscripts, and the Syriac, Arabic, and Vulgate versions; and some other critics think it disturbs the sense. “But,” says Macknight, “it renders the argument more complete; for the meaning is, The Lord, to whom the earth and all its fulness belong, having allowed men a sufficiency of other wholesome food, no one is under any necessity of offending those who are either ignorant or scrupulous, by eating a particular kind.” Conscience, I say, not thine own — I speak of his conscience, not thine, lest it be troubled, and his mind be disquieted; for why is my liberty judged by another’s conscience — I ought not to use my liberty so as to do that which another man thinks in his conscience to be evil, and so judges me a transgressor for it. Or, as Dr. Doddridge paraphrases the verse, “I mean not thine own conscience immediately, but that of another person; for how indifferent soever thou mayest esteem the matter, thou art obliged in duty to be very cautious that thou dost not wound and grieve that of thy brother: but you will observe, that I here speak only of acts obvious to human observation; for, as to what immediately lies between God and my own soul, why is my liberty to be judged, arraigned, and condemned at the bar of another man’s conscience? I am not, in such cases, to govern myself by the judgment and apprehension of others; nor have they any authority to judge or censure me for not concurring with them in their own narrow notions and declarations.” Others think it is an objection in the mouths of the Corinthians, and to be thus understood: “But why should I suffer myself to be thus imposed on, and receive law from any, where Christ has left me free?” But the above interpretation seems more probable, which supposes that this and the following verse come in as a kind of parenthesis, to prevent their extending the former caution beyond what he designed by it. For if I, by grace — The divine favour; be a partaker — Of the common gifts of Providence; why am I evil spoken of for my free and cheerful use of that for which I give thanks — As tracing it up to the hand of the great Supreme Benefactor? 1 Corinthians 10:28 But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof: 1 Corinthians 10:29 Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience? 1 Corinthians 10:30 For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? 1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31-33 . Whether, therefore, &c. — To close the present point with a general rule, applicable not only in this, but in all cases, see to it that whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do — In all things whatsoever, whether of a religious or civil nature, in all the common as well as sacred actions of life, keep the glory of God in view, and steadily pursue, in all, this one end of your being, the planting or advancing the vital knowledge and love of God, first in your own souls, then in the souls of as many others as you can have access to, or by any means influence. Give none offence — If, and as far as, it is possible, neither to the unbelieving Jews — By lessening their abhorrence of idols; nor to the unbelieving Greeks — By confirming them in their idolatry; nor to the church of God — By making the ignorant think you idolaters. Even as I — As much as lieth in me; please all men in all things — Innocent; not seeking mine own profit — Mine own temporal interest or gratification; but the profit — The everlasting advantage; of many, that they may be saved — By being brought to and confirmed in that religion, on which their eternal happiness depends. 1 Corinthians 10:32 Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: 1 Corinthians 10:33 Even as I please all men in all things , not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of Bible

Expositor's Bible Commentary 1 Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; Chapter 15 FALLACIOUS PRESUMPTIONS IN discussing the question regarding "things offered unto idols," Paul is led to treat at large of Christian liberty, a subject to which he was always drawn. And partly to encourage the Christians of Corinth to consider their weak and prejudiced brethren, partly for other reasons, he reminds them how he himself abridged his liberty and departed from his just claims in order that the Gospel he preached might find readier acceptance. Besides, not only for the sake of the Gospel and of other men, but for his own sake also, he must practise self-denial. It would profit him nothing to have been an apostle unless he practised what he preached. He had felt that in considering the spiritual condition of other men and trying to advance it he was apt to forget his own: and he saw that all men were more or less liable to the same temptation, and were apt to rest in the fact that they were Christians and to shrink from the arduous life which gives that name its meaning. By means of two illustrations Paul fixes this idea in their minds, first pointing them to their own games in which they saw that not all who entered for the race obtained the prize, and then pointing them to the history of Israel, in which they might plainly read that not all who began the journey to the promised land found entrance into it. The Israelites of the Exodus are here introduced as exemplifying a common experience. They accepted the position of God’s people, but failed in its duties. They perceived the advantages of being God’s subjects, but shrank from much which this implied. They were willing to be delivered from bondage, but found themselves overweighted by the responsibilities and risks of a free life. They were in contact with the highest advantages men need possess, and yet failed to use them. The amount of conviction which prompts us to form a connection with Christ may be insufficient to stimulate us to do and endure all that results from that connection. The children of Israel were all baptised unto Moses, but they did not implement their baptism by a persistent and faithful adherence to him. They were baptised unto Moses by their acceptance of his leadership in the Exodus. By passing through the Red Sea at his command they definitely renounced Pharaoh and abandoned their old life, and as definitely pledged and committed themselves to throw in their lot with Moses. By passing the Egyptian frontier and following the guidance of the pillar of cloud they professed their willingness to exchange a life of bondage, with its security and occasional luxuries, for a life of freedom, with its hazards and hardships; and by that passage of the Red Sea they were as certainly sworn to support and obey Moses as ever was Roman soldier who took the oath to serve his emperor. When, at Brederode’s invitation, the patriots of Holland put on the beggar’s wallet and tasted wine from the beggar’s bowl, they were baptised unto William of Orange and their country’s cause. When the sailors on board the "Swan" weighed anchor and beat out of Plymouth, they were baptised unto Drake and pledged to follow him and fight for him to the death. Baptism means much; but if it means anything it means that we commit and pledge ourselves to the life we are called to by Him in whose name we are baptised. It draws a line across the life, and proclaims that to whomsoever in time past we have been bound, and for whatsoever we have lived, we now are pledged to this new Lord, and are to live in His service. Such a pledge was given by every Israelite who turned his back on Egypt and passed through that sea which was the defence of Israel and destruction to the enemy. The crossing was at once actual deliverance from the old life and irrevocable committal to the new. They died to Pharaoh, and were born again to Moses. They were baptised unto Moses. And as the Israelites had thus a baptism analogous to the one Christian sacrament, so had they a spiritual food and drink in the wilderness which formed a sacrament analogous to the Christian communion. They were not shut out of Egypt, and imprisoned in the desert, and left to do the best they could on their own resources. If they failed to march steadily forward and fulfil their destiny as the emancipated people of God, this failure was not due to any neglect on God’s part. The fare might be somewhat Spartan, but a sufficiency was always provided. He who had encouraged them to enter on this new life was prepared to uphold them in it and carry them through. One of the expressions used by Paul in describing the sustenance of the Israelites has given rise to some discussion. "They did all drink," he says, "the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ." Now there happened to be a Jewish tradition which gave out that the rock smitten by Moses was a detached block or boulder, "globular, like a beehive," which rolled after the camp in its line of march, and was always at hand, with its unfailing water supply. This is altogether too grotesque an idea. The fact is that the Israelites did not die of thirst in the wilderness. It was quite likely they should; and but for the providential supply of water, so large a company could not have been sustained. And no doubt not only in the rock at Rephidim at the beginning of their journey and the rock of Kadesh at its close, but in many most unlikely places during the intervening years, water was found. So that in looking back on the entire journey. it might very naturally be said that the rock had followed them, not meaning that wherever they went they had the same source to draw from, but that throughout their journeyings they were supplied with water in places and ways as unexpected and unlikely. Paul’s point is that in the wilderness the food and drink of the Israelites were "spiritual," or, as we should more naturally say, sacramental; that is to say, their sustenance continually spoke to them of God’s nearness and reminded them that they were His people. And as Christ Himself, when He lifted the bread at the Last Supper, said, "This is My body," so does Paul use analogous language and say, "That Rock was Christ," an expression which gives us considerable insight into the significance of the Israelitish types of Christ, and helps to rid our minds of some erroneous impressions we are apt to cherish regarding them. The manna and the water from the rock were given to sustain the Israelites and carry them towards their promised land, but they were so given as to quicken faith in God. To every Israelite his daily nourishment might reasonably be called spiritual, because it reminded him that God was with him in the wilderness, and prompted him to think of that purpose and destiny for the sake of which God was sustaining the people. To the devout among them their daily food became a means of grace, deepening their faith in the unseen God and rooting their life in a true dependence upon Him. The manna and the water from the rock were sacramental, because they were continuous signs and seals of God’s favour and redeeming efficiency and promise. They were types of Christ, serving for Israel in the wilderness the purpose which Christ serves for us, enabling them to believe in a heavenly Father who cared for them and accomplishing the same spiritual union with the unseen God which Christ accomplishes for us. It was in this sense that Paul could say that the rock was Christ. The Israelites in the wilderness did not know that the rock was a type of Christ. They did not, as they drank of the water, think of One who was to come and satisfy the whole thirst of men. The types of Christ in the old times did not enable men to forecast the future; it was not through the future they exercised an influence for good on the mind. They worked by exciting there and then in the Jewish mind the same faith in God which Christ excites in our mind. It was not knowledge that saved the Jew, but faith, attachment to the living God. It was not the fragmentary and disjointed picture of a Redeemer thrown on the screen of his hopes by the types, nor was it any thought of a future Deliverer, which saved him, but his belief in God as his Redeemer there and then. This belief was quickened by the various institutions, providences, and objects by which God convinced the Jews that He was their Friend and Lord. Sacrifice they accepted as an institution of God’s appointment intended to encourage them to believe in the forgiveness of sin and in God’s favour; and without any thought of the realised ideal of sacrifice in Christ, the believing and devout Israelite entered through sacrifice into fellowship with God. Every sacrifice was a type of Christ; it did foreshadow that which was to be: but it was a type, not because it revealed Christ to those who saw or offered it, but because for the time being it served the same purpose as Christ now serves, enabling men to believe in the forgiveness of sins. But while in the mind of the Israelite there was no connection of the type with the Christ that was to come, there was in reality a connection between them. The redemption of men is one, whether accomplished in the days of the Exodus or in our own time. The idea or plan of salvation is one, resting always on the same reasons and principles. The Israelites were pardoned in view of the incarnation and atonement of Christ just as we are. If it was needful for our salvation that Christ should come and live and suffer in human nature, it was also needful for their salvation. The Lamb was slain "from the foundation of the world," and the virtue of the sacrifice of Calvary was efficacious for those who lived before as well as for those who lived after it. To the mind of God it was present, and in His purpose it was determined, from the beginning; and it is in view of Christ’s incarnation and work that sinners early or late have been restored to God. So that everything by which God instructed men and taught them to believe in His mercy and holiness was connected with Christ. It was to Christ it owed its existence, and really it was a shadow of the coming substance. And as the shadow is named from the substance, it may be truly said, "That Rock was Christ." These outward blessings then of which St. Paul here speaks had very much the same nature as the Christian sacraments to which he tacitly compares them. They were intended to convey greater gifts and be the channels of a grace more valuable than themselves. But to most of the Israelites they remained mere manna and water, and brought no firmer assurance of God’s presence, no more fruitful acceptance of God’s purpose. The majority took the husk and threw away the kernel; were so delayed by the wrappings that they forgot to examine the gift they enclosed; accepted the physical nourishment, but rejected the spiritual strength it contained. Instead of learning from their wilderness experience the sufficiency of Jehovah and gathering courage to fulfil His purpose with them, they began to murmur and lust after evil things, and were destroyed by the destroyer. They had been baptised unto Moses, pledging themselves to his leadership and committing themselves to the new life he opened to them; they had been sustained by manna and water from the rock, which plainly told them that all nature would work for them if they pressed forward to their God-appointed destiny: but the most of them shrank from the hardships and hazards of the way, and could not lift their heart to the glory of being led by God and used to fulfil His greatest purposes. And so, says Paul, it may be with you. It is possible that you may have been baptised and may have professedly, committed yourself to the Christian career, it is possible you may have partaken of that bread and wine which convey undying life and energy to believing recipients, and may yet have failed to use these as spiritual food, enabling you to fulfil all the duties of the life you are pledged to. Had it been enough merely to show a readiness to enter on the more arduous life, then all Israel would have been saved, for "all" without exception passed through the Red Sea and committed themselves to life under God’s leadership. Had it been enough outwardly to participate in that which actually links men to God, then all Israel would have been inspired by God’s Spirit and strength, for "all" without exception partook of the spiritual food and the spiritual drink. But the disastrous and undeniable result was that the great mass of the people were overthrown in the wilderness and did never set foot in the land of promise. And men have not yet outlived this same danger of committing themselves to a life they find too hard and full of risk. They see the advantages of a Christian career, and connect themselves with the Christian Church; they instinctively perceive that it is there God is most fully known, and that the purposes of God are there concentrated and running on to direct and perfect results; they are drawn by their better self to throw in their lot with the Church, to forget competing advantages, and spend themselves wholly on what is best: and yet the difficulty of standing alone and acting on individual conviction rather than on current understandings, the wearing depression of personal failure and insufficiency for high and spiritual attainment, the distraction of the haunting doubt that after all they are making sacrifices and suffering privations which are fruitless, unwise, unnecessary, gradually betray the spirit into virtual renunciation of all Christian hopes and into a practical willingness to return to the old life. And thus as the wilderness came to be spotted all over with the burial places of those who had left the Red Sea behind them with shouts of triumph and with hopes that broke out in song and dancing, as the route of that once jubilant host might at last have been traced, as the great slave routes of Africa are traceable, by the bones of men and the skeletons of children, so, alas! might the Church’s march through the centuries be recognised by the far more horrifying remains of those who once, with liveliest hope and unbroken sense of security, joined themselves to the people of Christ, but silently lost hold of the hope that once drew them on and either stole away on private enterprises of their own and were destroyed of the destroyer, or withered in helpless imbecility, murmuring at their lot and stone blind to its glory. As the retreat of Napoleon’s "grand army" from Moscow was marked by corpses wearing the French uniform, but bringing neither strength nor lustre to their cause, so must shame be reflected on the Church by the countless numbers of those who can be identified with Christ’s cause only by the uniform they wear, and not by any victories they have won. There were in the wilderness districts through which no Israelite would willingly pass, districts in which many thousands had fallen, and which were branded as vast "graves of lust," places whose very name stirred a deeper horror and raised a quicker blush on the Israelite’s cheek than is raised on the Englishman’s by the mention of Majuba Hill or Braddock’s defeat. And the Church’s territory also is spotted with those vast charnel houses and places of defeat where even her mighty have fallen, where the earth refuses to cover the disgrace and blot out the stain. These are not things of the past. While women and children are starved though they toil all day and half the night, with eagerest energy and the skill necessity gives; while life is to so many thousands in our land a joyless and hopeless misery; while trade not only panders to covetousness and selfishness, but directly contributes to what is immoral and destructive, we can scarcely speak of the "glorious marching" of the Church of Christ. We have our places of horror, which no right-hearted Christian can think of without a shudder. But while the distinction between the life we naturally seek and that to which God calls us is felt by all from age to age, the forms in which this distinction makes itself felt vary as the world grows older. To all men living in a world of sense it is difficult to live by faith in the unseen. To every man it is the ultimate, severest test of character to determine for what ends he will live and to carry out this determination; but the temptations which avail to draw men aside from their reasonable decision are various as the men themselves. Paul names the temptations to which the Corinthians, in common with the Israelites, were exposed idolatry, fornication, murmuring, tempting Christ. He saw clearly how difficult it was for the Corinthians to discard all heathen customs, how much of what had been brightest in their life they must sacrifice if they were to renounce absolutely the religion of their parents and friends and all the joyous, if licentious, customs associated with that religion. Apparently some of them thought they might pass from the Christian communion to the heathen temple, and after partaking of Christ’s sacrament eat and drink in the idolatrous festival, entering into the entire service. They seemed to think that they might be both Christians and pagans. Against this vain attempt to combine the incompatible Paul warns them. Do not tempt Christ, he says, by experimenting how far He will bear with your conformity to idolatry. Some of the Israelites did so and were destroyed by serpents. Do not murmur that you are hereby severed from all the enjoyments of life, dissociated from your heathen friends, blackballed in society and in business, excluded from all national festivals and from many private entertainments; do not count up your losses, but your gains. Your temptations are severe, but "there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man." Every man must make up his mind to a certain kind of life and go through with it. No man can unite in his own life all advantages. He must deliberate and choose; and having made his choice, he must not lament what he loses or be tempted from striving to gain what he judges best by weakly and greedily craving for the second best also. He may win the first prize; he may win the second: he cannot win both, and if he tries, he will win neither. The practical outcome of all that Paul has thus rapidly passed in review he utters in the haunting words, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." In this life we are never beyond the reach of temptation. And these temptations to which all of us are exposed are real; they do sufficiently test character and show what it actually is. Our suppositions regarding ourselves are often untrue. There is no reality corresponding, Our state is actually not such as we conceive it to be. We are at ease and complacent when we ought not to be at ease. We think we stand secure when we are on the point of falling. We live as if we had reached the goal when the whole journey is yet before us. Our future may be very different from what we wish or expect. Mere satisfaction with our present condition is a very insecure foundation on which to build our hope for the future. Mere reliance on a profession we have made, or on the fact that we are within reach of means of grace, tends only to slacken our energies. Heedlessness, taking things for granted, failure to sift matters thoroughly out, an indolent unwillingness to probe our spiritual condition to the quick-this is what has betrayed multitudes of Christians. "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." If determined wickedness has slain its thousands, heedlessness has slain its tens of thousands. Through lack of watchfulness men fall into sin which entangles them for life and thwarts their best purposes. Through want of watchfulness men go on in sin which exceedingly provokes God, till at last His hand falls heavily upon them. Every man is apt to lay too much stress on the circumstance that he has joined himself to the number of those who own the leadership of Christ. The question remains, How far has he gone with his Leader? Many an Israelite compassionated the poor heathen whom he left behind in the land of Egypt, and yet found that, with all his own apparent nearness to God, his heart was heathen still. Whoever takes it for granted that things are welt with him, whoever "thinketh he standeth"-he is the man who has especial and urgent need to "take heed lest he fall." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.