PAUL AND IDOL SACRIFICES
PROSECUTION
We accuse Paul of contradicting our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, when he asserts that food sacrifices to idols may be eaten (I Corinthians 8:1-13, and I Corinthians 10: 23-28). Our Lord says in Revelation 2:14, addressing the church of Pergamos:
"But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to EAT THINGS SACRIFICED UNTO IDOLS, and to commit fornication".
DEFENCE
Once again the Prosecution have failed to do their research faithfully. Paul never at anytime refutes the Law or Jesus, as witnessed by his confession of his own beliefs after conversion as stated in Acts 24:14. I Corinthians 10:23-28 is but the second part of Paul's attack against all things associated with idolatry. This part really begins at verse 14, and follows on from I Corinthians 8:13. The crux of Paul's attack is given in I Corinthians 8:4, which states:
"We know that there is no idol in the 'world' and that there is no God except one".
Therefore Paul's argument is that - provided the meat is clean - then an idol has no power to affect the cleanliness of the meat one way or the other. But, Paul says, every Christian has not got the same knowledge and strength of will, so we must always consider the weaker vessel. Here Paul writes to the Corinthians on the matter of conscience, on much the same lines as in his letter to the Romans (as set out previously) in Romans 14.
In I Corinthians 10:14, Paul resumes the theme he was discussing at I Corinthians 8:13, and he now warns all his listeners to flee from anything to do with sacrificial feasts to idols. Then in verses 16, 17 & 18 he shows how an Israelite, by partaking of the Communion Cup and the Bread, was a partaker of the same sacrifice that Jesus made and therefore partakers in common with the worship of God as represented by the Altar. Similarly, by partaking of libations to idols and of food offered to idols at temple feasts, they were also partaking of the worship, which those idols represented.
Verse 19 - Paul says that such participation in no way made the idol real in any sense. But, verse 20 - the things sacrificed were sacrificed to evil spirits and not to God. Therefore, if they partook of meats or wine offered on an altar at one of the feasts to evil spirits, they became sharers of that worship of evil spirits in the same way that partaking of the Communion Bread and Wine made them sharers of the Worship of God and they could NOT partake in both!
Finally, in verse 25, we come again to the crux of the matter stated in chapter 8:4 ...
"Whatever is sold in the shambles".
This refers to the Jewish market where unclean meat could not be sold, let alone brought in. But clean meat, which had been offered as sacrifices to idols, was often sold afterwards in the market place. Thus what Paul says here is that once it has been brought to the market place it is simply clean meat and its previous use is of no consequence. One would buy it as meat, not as part of a sacrifice. This, one could eat without any qualms of conscience. But Paul also says:
'Ask no questions as to its origin lest some weaker Christian overhears that it was sacrificial meat and sees you eat it, and then because he knows you are a pillar of the 'church', buys and eats it himself against his own scruples and so destroys himself morally by disregarding his own principles.'
Paul goes on to illustrate this and says, verse 27, if a Christian is invited to a meal at an unbeliever's home, then again - provided the meat is clean - he need NOT inquire if it had been sacrificial meat. But if a weaker Christian is also present, and points out that it had been offered to idols, then DO NOT eat it, because of what your eating of it might do to his conscience - not your own conscience. Paul emphasises this in verses 29 and 30, where he states, in effect, that his own conscience will never deviate from what he knows to be true, no matter what another man's scruples may be. Nevertheless, he would, and did, refrain from indulging himself in any act of life such as eating or drinking which might cause a weaker Christian to stumble.
Thus far from contradicting Jesus in any way whatsoever, Paul upholds the Law at every turn, and in every respect, while at the same time giving practical explanations of how to deal with life's every-day problems without unnecessarily complicating it with things that do not matter.
In our Lord's statement in Revelation 2:14, His address is with reference to ...
"... them that hold the doctrine of Balaam ... to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to EAT THINGS SACRIFICED TO IDOLS AND TO COMMIT FORNICATION",
(which of course means worship of those idols, thus committing a spiritual degradation). The reference in Acts 15:29 instructing Christians thus ...
"That ye abstain from meats offered to idols" (from the A. V)
The word 'meats' is not in the Greek text, which would be more accurate if read ...
"..be (keeping yourselves) from having and holding to idol sacrifices. "
which Acts 15:20 calls the pollution of idols.
With this insight it is easy to see that Paul's justifying references for the edibility are only concerning that larger portion of meat, which was not burned on the altar to the idol in the ceremony - which view our Lord confirms in Revelation 2:14 by including the reference to an accompaniment of a committal of worship (fornication).
