You should understand, my brothers, that our ancestors were all under the pillar of cloud, and all of them passed through the Red Sea; and so they all received baptism into the fellowship of Moses in cloud and sea. They all ate the same supernatural food, and all drank the same supernatural drink; I mean, they all drank from the supernatural rock that accompanied their travels - and that Rock was Christ. And yet, most of them were not accepted by God, for the desert was strewn with their corpses. These events happened as symbols to warn us not to set our desires on evil things, as they did.

   Do not be idolaters, like some of them; as Scripture has it, "the people sat down to feast and stood up to play." Let us not commit fornication, as some of them did - and twenty-three thousand died in one day. Let us not put the power of the Lord to the test, as some of them did - and were destroyed by the serpents. Do not grumble against God, as some of them did - and were destroyed by the Destroyer.

   All these things that happened to them were symbolic, and were recorded for our benefit as a warning. For upon us the fulfillment of the ages has come. If you feel sure that you are standing firm, beware! You may fall. So far you have faced no trial beyond what man can bear. God keeps faith, and He will not allow you to be tested above your powers, but when the test comes He will at the same time provide a way out, by enabling you to sustain it.

   So then, dear friends, shun idolatry. I speak to you as men of sense. Form your own judgment on what I say. When we bless "the cup of blessing," is it not a means of sharing the blood of Christ? When we break the bread, is it not a means of sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, many as we are, are one body; for it is one loaf of which we all partake.

   Consider the Hebrew people; those who eat what is offered in sacrifice share in the altar's service to God. What do I mean? That an idol or the food offered to it really amounts to anything? No - but the sacrifices the heathen offer are offered (in the words of Scripture) "to demons and to that which is not God;" and I will not have you become partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the Lord's table and the table of demons.

Taken from I Corinthians 10, The New English Bible and Today's English Version.
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