Read & explore together
Flee from Idolatry
This passage gives a direct warning to flee from idolatry. It explains that sharing the cup and bread is a real sharing in Christ, so joining idol worship is not something that can sit alongside the Lord’s table.
Understanding the passage
The setting of these words
The passage speaks as teaching and appeal. The writer addresses the readers warmly as beloved and calls them wise enough to judge what is being said. The argument moves from a command, to the cup and bread, to Israel’s sacrifices, and then to a warning about sacrifices offered to demons.
1 Corinthians 10:14–22Main takeaway
This passage teaches that sharing in the cup and table of the Lord is incompatible with sharing in idol worship.
Follow the letter’s teaching
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01A clear command to fleeThe passage begins with a plain command: “flee from idolatry”. Idolatry is presented as something to escape from, not to stay near.
Explanation
The passage begins with a plain command: “flee from idolatry”. Idolatry is presented as something to escape from, not to stay near. The writer also speaks with affection, calling the readers “my beloved”, and invites them to weigh the argument carefully as wise people.
02The cup and bread show shared lifeThe cup of blessing and the bread are described as a sharing in the blood and body of Christ.
Explanation
The cup of blessing and the bread are described as a sharing in the blood and body of Christ. Then the image widens: there is one loaf, and many people who partake of it are one body. The shared meal expresses a shared connection.
03Israel’s sacrifices show participationThe passage then says to consider Israel according to the flesh. Those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar.
Explanation
The passage then says to consider Israel according to the flesh. Those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar. The point here is stated in the verse’s own words: eating sacrificial food is participation in the altar connected with that sacrifice.
04Idol sacrifices are not neutralThe writer pauses to clarify the argument. The claim is not that an idol is anything, or that what is sacrificed to idols is anything.
Explanation
The writer pauses to clarify the argument. The claim is not that an idol is anything, or that what is sacrificed to idols is anything. Yet Gentile sacrifices are said to be offered to demons and not to God, so fellowship with demons must be refused.
05The Lord’s cup and demons’ cup cannot mixThe conclusion is very direct. People cannot both drink “the cup of the Lord” and “the cup of demons”.
Explanation
The conclusion is very direct. People cannot both drink “the cup of the Lord” and “the cup of demons”. They cannot both partake of “the table of the Lord” and “the table of demons”. To do so would provoke the Lord to jealousy, and the passage asks whether we are stronger than he is.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01How does the passage explain why idolatry must be fled from?
Follow the movement from the command in verse 14 to the warning that Gentile sacrifices are offered to demons and cannot be joined with the Lord’s cup and table.
02What does the one loaf show about the people who partake of it?
Notice that the passage says many people are one body because they all partake of the one loaf.
03Why does the passage mention Israel according to the flesh?
Verse 18 gives an example: those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar, which helps explain why shared worship meals matter.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
1 Corinthians 10:14–22
14Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
15I speak as to wise men. Judge what I say.
16The cup of blessing which we bless, isn’t it a sharing of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, isn’t it a sharing of the body of Christ?
17Because there is one loaf of bread, we, who are many, are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf of bread.
18Consider Israel according to the flesh. Don’t those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?
19What am I saying then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
20But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I don’t desire that you would have fellowship with demons.
21You can’t both drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You can’t both partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons.
22Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?