The Table Of The Lord And The Table Of Demons
In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul warns God’s people of the grave dangers of eating and drinking from Babylon’s table of demon-inspired delicacies. In the first portion of this chapter, he uses the rebellion of the children of Israel during their wilderness journey to warn those of us upon whom the end of the ages has come to be careful not to crave evil as they did and fall away from following Christ.
Here we stand at the end of the age and the pulpits are silent regarding this passage and its extreme consequences. The reason for this is because many do not believe that a person, as Paul clearly points out, can start following Christ, as pictured in type by Israel being set free from the bondage of Egypt, and then never make it to the Promised Land of eternal life. Acceptance of Babylon’s lies concerning salvation is the reason.
As Israel found out, the promise alone wasn’t enough. They would have to work together with the Lord on their journey or face the consequence of being excluded from their inheritance. The Lord declared to Israel when they were in rebellion against Him, saying, “And you will, even of yourself, let go of your inheritance That I gave you.” (Jeremiah 17:4/NASU) Similarly, in the New Testament Paul uses the analogy of being careful to not be disqualified from the race of salvation through Christ that we have entered into (1 Corinthians 9:27). For obvious reasons, forfeiture of the eternal prize is the number one doctrine of truth Babylon has taken great pains to remove.
Paul then encourages us in chapter 10, saying that with every temptation the Lord always provides a way of escape for us (1 Corinthians 10:13). By standing firm, saying “No!” to sin as we look to the Lord, we are strengthened within by the Holy Spirit, gaining endurance to stay the course until the end. Without spiritual endurance we will not stand firm in Christ until the end and be saved (Matthew 10:22, 24:13).
These verses lead up to another strong warning in this chapter that, again, is rarely preached because of Babylon’s lies that produce a false sense of security. In this passage, Paul discusses the communion, also defined as “fellowship” or “partnership” that occurs between demons and Christians when we share in their pagan altars. His letter was written to the church in Corinth, not to unbelievers. He said;
“Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing [“partnership, communion, joint participation, intimacy] in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread. Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers [“a partner, associate, comrade, companion”] in the altar? What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers [“a partner, associate, comrade, companion”] in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?”
(1 Corinthians 10:16-22/NAS)
Per Paul’s inspired words, this means that we, THE CHURCH, can come into fellowship with demons by participating in their altar of lies! This is why so many churches are now dead, void of any life of Christ with no one to drive away the demonic birds of prey (see the Bible study Driving Away The Birds Of Prey). We cannot serve two masters. Partaking in idolatrous worship brings us into fellowship with demons and provokes the Lord’s jealousy toward us.
Tamar’s Tunic
In 2 Samuel 13, Amnon, the son of David, fell in love with his beautiful half-sister, Tamar. In a cunning act of deception, he faked being sick, asking David to allow Tamar to make and then bring him some food. When she came into his room with bread, he attempted to force her into his bed. She tried to resist him but he was stronger, and raped her.
Strangely, the Bible says after Amnon raped Tamar, he hated her with intense hatred. In fact, The Bible says he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!” “No!”’ she said to him. “Sending me away would be a greater wrong than what you have already done to me.” But he refused to listen to her. He called his personal servant and said, “Get this woman out of here and bolt the door after her.” Remember, Joseph’s brothers hated him as well. They too were filled with “intense hatred” and removed him from their presence.
We are told Tamar was wearing “a richly ornamented robe, for this was the kind of garment the virgin daughters of the king wore.” Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the robe she was wearing. She put her hand on her head and went away, weeping loudly. Her garment is a picture representing the covering of purity King Jesus gives to His virgin daughters.
As I meditated on this chapter, the Lord began to reveal an interesting connection between Amnon’s bed and Jezebel’s bed mentioned in Revelation, chapter 2. They reveal the deadly trap of enticement by our enemy that, once entered into, will cost some Christians their covering. Those who are controlled by this evil spirit are not interested in partaking of any spiritual food you are bringing with you to their fellowship tables. They’re not interested in the food of God, in knowing and doing His will and accomplishing His work (John 4:34). The demons that control them want you to join them in order to overpower you. Their only concern is to exercise their will over you, bringing you under their control. Again, are they knowingly doing this, with evil intent? Most likely not, but have come into agreement with the devil’s standards as being “the way we do things.”
After first commending the church of Thyatira for the good things they were doing, the Lord then rebuked them, saying;
“But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray, so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent; and she does not want to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will cast her upon a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds [“works”]. And I will kill her children with pestilence [similar to what happened to the children of Israel in the wilderness]; and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds [“works”]. (Revelation 2:20-22/NAS)
In the Old Testament, Jezebel was a wicked, idolatrous queen of great seduction who was married to King Ahab of Israel. She corrupted not only her husband, but the entire nation by promoting pagan worship. In fulfillment of Elijah’s prophecy, she experienced a very violent death. After being thrown out the window of the palace per the command of Jehu, she was then trampled by horses and eaten by dogs. Only Jezebel's skull, feet, and the palms of her hands were left to bury when the dogs were finished (2 Kings 9:30-37).
In like manner, the self-proclaimed prophetess named Jezebel in Revelation 2 also led God’s people astray through her teachings into immorality and idolatry. Her seductive spirit is alive and well in the church today.
The Greek for “adultery” in Revelation 2:22 is moicheuo [moy-khyoo'-o]. It’s defined as a Hebrew idiom used of those who at a woman's solicitation are drawn away to idolatry, that is, to the eating of things sacrificed to idols. This is exactly what occurred to the Israelites in Shittim where the Midianite women seduced them as they were waiting to cross over into the Promised Land. God’s people are being seduced right now by this sensual spirit, right before we cross over into the place of our final spiritual inheritance in Christ (see my book Babylon’s Counterfeit Glory; The Seduction Of God’s People).
I hear in this a warning from the Lord regarding the need for caution and a discerning heart. We need to be very wary, listening carefully to the Holy Spirit in these last days. The true motive of the evil spirits that control Babylon is to entice God’s people into a trap of destruction through the wine of fleshly passions and desires outside the Lord’s will. Listening and discerning, knowing when to say “No!”, will spare us in the days ahead from seductive demons that wish to bring us into “fellowship” with them in order to overpower us and remove our virgin garment from the Lord.
Many naively go into Jezebel’s bed of religious deception, ignorant of the power of the enemy ruling in her midst. Again, the cost of receiving her lies as the truth is the removal of the covering tunic from the Father. In that state we become as the Laodicean church (Revelation 3:14-22) who did not realize that they were wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked and were thrown out from Him (i.e. “to reject with extreme disgust”). Presumptive reasoning will shipwreck many Christian’s faith.
Remember, Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth was to believers. This means that we, THE CHURCH, can come into fellowship with demons by participating in their altars. The seductive Jezebel spirit has already overcome whole congregations.
The church in America suffers from a self-inflicted wound caused by a divided heart. Like Israel in the days of Elijah, we’re trying to serve two masters. By sharing in the altars of Babylon, we have literally been brought into fellowship with demons, provoking the Lord’s jealousy toward us. If we continue to walk in agreement with this wicked spirit, without repentance, many will perish who should have been saved. There will be nowhere to hide in the Divine storm of God’s wrath that is about to pummel the entire earth. Characteristically, the love of God is preceding His judgment giving us time to repent. May our hearts cry out as the prophet Habakkuk did when he said; “Lord, I have heard the report about You and I fear. O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy.” (Habakkuk 3:2/NASU)
Paul warned the Christians in Corinth even further in his second letter to them, saying;
“Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘And do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me,’ says the Lord Almighty.”
(2 Corinthians 6:14-18/NAS)
If, therefore, we will not separate ourselves from the darkness that now presides over most churches, we will not be welcomed by the Lord as His children. It’s that clear, and that serious.
Right before these verses, Paul had warned the Christians in Corinth to not receive the grace of God in vain (2 Corinthians 6:1), which means it had no effect within them. His Divine influence upon their hearts was not being reflected through their lives. Paul said they were not restrained by them, but rather by their own affections. Any desire outside the control of God, even those that seem to be good, can lead us into dangerous deceptions that might just cost us, the ones who have begun the race of salvation in Christ, our eternity with Him. As Paul warned, thankfully, the Holy Spirit is there to guide us along the way if we will submit to His leading, revealing all the hidden traps of the enemy. We then make the choice to obey, or not.
The Lord’s warning in Revelation, chapter two, concerning walking in agreement with the teachings of Jezebel, are not to be taken lightly. She is a very active and powerful demonic spirit that, when listened and adhered to, can destroy you. The Lord warned the Christians in Thyatira that if they did not repent from doing her works, her deeds of religious deception, that they would be cast into great suffering (Revelation 2:22). Not heeding the Holy Spirit’s warning to separate themselves from spiritual adultery with Babylon will cause many in the Body of Christ to be cast into the great tribulation unprotected, without the covering of the Lord, causing, like Tamar, great weeping and gnashing of teeth (for much greater insights on this, see the Bible study Elul; The Season Of Preparation And 40 Days Of Favor).
Because of Daniel’s resolve to not defile himself with the king of Babylon’s choice food or drink, God granted him favor and compassion in the sight of his enemies (Daniel 1:8). In contrast, God gave King Jehoiakim of Judah, the leader who did evil in the sight of God, over to his enemies. Our hearts toward God will decide our destiny in the end.
Babylon’s food and drink did not conform to the requirements of the Mosaic Law, including the fact that it was prepared by Gentiles which rendered it unclean. Most likely many things forbidden by the Law were served on the king's table, so to partake of it would defile the Jewish youths. Further, this royal food had undoubtedly been sacrificed and offered to pagan gods before it was offered to the king. To partake of such food would be contrary to God’s law that said Jews were forbidden to eat flesh sacrificed to pagan gods (Exodus 34:15).[1] From our earlier discussion of Paul’s warning to the church in Corinth not to eat from the table of demons, we should now understand why.
David declared, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” (Psalm 23:5/NIV) As He did for me on that particular Sunday morning, the Lord does this for His exiles that now sit in the churches of Babylon and have determined not to defile themselves by walking in agreement with her corrupt spiritual food and drink. Not only did God give Daniel favor, but, after his test of ten days eating vegetables and drinking water, his appearance, along with his three other Hebrew friends, was much better than those eating the king’s choice food. In a spiritual sense, so will those who refuse to share in the idolatrous altars of Babylon’s mixed wine.
In the Bible, ten is a number of testing, of proving the genuineness of one’s faith (see Revelation 2:10). In the end, during our final time of testing for the entire earth (Revelation 3:10), you will be able to clearly distinguish between those who serve God and those who do not (Malachi 3:16-18). Those who have heard the call to get ready and separated themselves from wickedness will rise up in the darkness that will be felt and be clothed with a garment of the light of God’s glory. Like the Hebrew young men, their glorious appearance will mark them out as the Lord’s... (continued in part 3)
[1] Bible Knowledge Commentary/Old Testament
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