1 Corinthians 10:19 Commentary and Bible Study

By making this comparison between the Lord’s Supper and sacrifice to idols, and between the Old Testament offerings of the law and sacrifice to idols, Paul might seem to be giving credence to the reality of the idol. If there is communion between the worshipper and the body of Christ, isn’t that because the one being worshipped is a real person? If there is fellowship between the Israelite after the flesh and the altar, isn’t that because the God of the altar is the true God? So then, does this mean that, in order for the same argument to apply, the idol must also have some real existence? But Paul has already said, ‘we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no God but one’ (1 Corinthians 8:4), so he cannot be saying that. Yes, but although the idol has no real existence, there is another entity behind the idols which the Corinthians may not have considered. The shocking truth is that behind the idols whom their practitioners worship, there are demons who are very real. The one who worships at the idol temple has fellowship not so much with the idols as with the demons behind them. So then, the knowledge that the idol is nothing does not protect the one engaging in idol worship from deep corruption. He cannot say that because he knows the idol has no reality, that no harm results. Although it might be safe to eat food offered by someone else to an idol and dismiss this from one’s mind on the basis that the idol is nothing, it is something altogether different to actually go to an idol temple and participate in the worship. That cannot be done without horrific involvement with the forces of darkness. The idol may have no existence, but the demon certainly does. Those who worship idols may not be aware of it and may not intend it, but they are actually worshipping the powers of darkness behind the idol. It is utterly abhorrent to the apostle that the Corinthian believers should be having fellowship with demons.