Ye cannot drink [the] Lord's cup, and [the] cup of demons ye cannot partake of [the] Lord's table, and of [the] table of demons.
Some Christians in Corinth still sat down at meals held in idol temples, sure that an idol was nothing. His answer is not advice but a flat impossibility: two cups and two tables cannot both be yours.
Their reasoning began with real truth and ended in the wrong place.
Some of the Corinthians knew that an idol was nothing in the world, and that there was no God but one. Yet they thought that if they saw that clearly, they could sit and eat in an idol's temple. In this they were wrong... Granted that the idol was nothing, yet behind it were demons, and by sitting at the idol's festival they would be having communion with demons.
Each table stands for a fellowship, and each fellowship makes a claim on the people who share it.
The cup is the fellowship of the blood of Christ. The bread is the fellowship of the body of Christ. Every believer is bound to be faithful to this fellowship. It marks off the whole company from everything He died to — from sin and from the world. In connection with sin and the world, the god of this world spreads his table.
Paul could have said this was unwise or forbidden. He chose a stronger word, and repeated it.
He does not say you ought not to "partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons," but "you cannot." The heart cannot take in the Lord's rich provision, and so be filled and moved by His love, and at the same time be ruled by some evil thing it wants for itself. That is quite impossible.
The wider passage sets three forms of worship side by side. This verse names the two that collide.
Verses 16 to 20 set before us three communions: the Christian, the Jewish, and the heathen. Each has its centre — the Table of the Lord, the Altar in the middle of Israel, and the idol sacrifices of paganism. Each one shows itself in the act of eating... The issue here lies between the communion of Christ's death and the communion of demons. These two are totally, fundamentally and continuously opposed. It is impossible to be a participator in both. "You cannot," says the Apostle, twice in verse 21.
Earlier in the chapter Paul speaks of the blood and body of Christ. Here he switches to the Lord — and the switch carries weight.
He does not say here "the blood" or the "body of the Lord." That comes in 1 Corinthians 11. Here it is Christ, because it becomes a question of grace. "The Lord" brings in the idea of authority... But he does not forget His authority. It is not simply the love of Christ, but His full authority as the Lord. The apostle sets two mighty powers against each other. On one side are demons, a power stronger than man, struggling with him here below. On the other is the Lord who shed His blood for them — the Lord of all, who will judge the living and the dead.
Some readers have turned the phrase "table of demons" into a weapon against other groups of believers.
To call the tables of national churches or sects tables of demons is a simple absurdity, in defiance of the plain language of Scripture. What "demons" means is clearly stated in Scripture: nothing but the gods of the heathen... The apostle speaks of communion with demons (in idol temples) and heathen sacrifices, and nothing else. To apply this to wrong church principles, where the Lord is owned as the only object, is trifling with Scripture and nonsense in itself.
The next verse asks whether we provoke the Lord to jealousy, and whether we are stronger than He. That question has teeth.
We have seen that this was something that some of the Corinthians were doing. But they could not do it without consequence. It was a provocation to the Lord... If they kept up such gross inconsistency, the Lord Himself would take up the matter.
- Behind — the idol itself was nothing, but demons stood behind it, so the meal was real communion with them.
- Between — a table joins you to everything it stands for; two tables mean two fellowships that clash at every point.
- Beyond — Paul says "cannot," not "should not"; His love and a hidden rival cannot rule the same heart.
- Belonging — the title "Lord" is deliberate: grace invites us to His table, authority keeps us there.
- Beware — "table of demons" means the heathen feast, not other Christian gatherings. Keep both tables, though, and the Lord Himself takes the matter up.
Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?
Paul has just said that no one can share both the Lord's table and the table of demons. Now he turns from statement to challenge. Instead of a threat, the verse asks two questions. One asks what a divided loyalty does to the Lord. The other asks what we think we can survive.
Verse 21 says no one can mix the two tables. Verse 22 asks what follows when someone does.
Suppose someone ignores this "cannot." He has eaten at the Lord's table, and he is bold enough to eat at the table of demons too. What then? Then he provokes the Lord to jealousy for the sake of His Name and glory. The Lord will not give His glory to another. The offender will come into sharp collision with the Lord Himself. He will taste the bitterness of the Lord's discipline, and it may even lead to death. Under that discipline he will soon discover that he is not stronger than the Lord. He will face the hard road of repentance, which is the only way that leads to recovery.
The word "jealousy" here is not petty temper. It is what love does when affection wanders elsewhere.
But no one can have fellowship with the Lord and with demons. If he meddles with demons, has he not in effect abandoned the Lord? Demons may be glad to seize and harm someone who claims the name of Christ. The Lord refuses His fellowship to anyone who worships idols. If fellowship takes some in, it must shut others out… Love cannot help being jealous when affection wanders. It would not be love if it did not resent unfaithfulness.
Israel's law pictured this in marriage.
The law of jealousy deals with a man who is jealous of his wife, because he doubts that she still loves him. We must remember that his jealousy concerns something he has a rightful claim to: his wife's affection. It was the same with Israel: their affection was to be towards God, but in this respect they had failed.
The offence was not the meat. It was the message the Corinthians sent by sitting in both places.
"Demons" refers to the idols' temples themselves, because they made their offerings to demons and not to God. It is monstrous to apply the word to any group that professes Christianity… Suppose someone tried to eat at the Lord's table and also at the table of demons. That would be saying, "I can eat with a demon, and I can eat with you." This would provoke the Lord to jealousy, as verse 22 says.
The second question exposes a hidden confidence. It is the idea that we can handle both tables and come out unharmed.
And they are asked a question that searches the conscience: "Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy?" Is He not right to be jealous when we give demons honour that belongs to Him? Or, "Are we stronger than He?" Do we think we are strong enough to mix the two without danger, when God Himself is completely separate from them?
Across the letter Paul's warnings grow heavier — from the harm we do to fellow believers to the Lord acting Himself.
In 1 Corinthians 8 Paul warns us not to wound the consciences of fellow believers, and so sin against Christ (verse 12). In 1 Corinthians 9 he warns us to keep the body under control, in case we preach to others and are ourselves rejected (verse 27). In 1 Corinthians 10 the warning is to take care that we do not provoke the Lord to jealousy (verse 22). It is a solemn thing to ignore the consciences of fellow believers. It may be a fatal thing to provoke the Lord to jealousy. Some at Corinth found this out. In 1 Corinthians 11 we read that the Lord, provoked to jealousy, acts for His own glory, and many died as a result.
Commentators differ on how far the "table of demons" reaches. Darby ties the words to pagan temples. Others hold that the principle still presses on believers who never go near an idol temple.
In the mercy of God, we are in little danger from "the fellowship of demons." But let us not dismiss this truth from our minds for that reason, because its principle applies much more widely. If we eat at the Lord's table, we must keep watch, in case we also share in things that do not fit with it and its holiness. If we share in the communion of the blood and body of Christ, we shall find it great enough to shut out every other communion.
- Claim — The Lord's jealousy rests on a real right: the affection of His people, just as a husband has a claim on his wife's love.
- Rival — What provokes Him is not food but a divided table, the silent boast "I can eat with a demon, and I can eat with you."
- Bluff — "Are we stronger than He?" calls the bluff of anyone who thinks he can mix the two and walk away undamaged.
- Escalation — The letter climbs from wounding a believer's conscience, to provoking the Lord, to the Lord acting Himself. Grieving fellow believers is serious. Provoking the Lord may cost life.
- Watch — Sharing in Christ's blood and body is large enough to shut out every rival. Keep watch that nothing inconsistent takes a place beside it.