Our midweek meeting included a discussion of 1 Cor. 10:8, which mentions 23,000 dying because they committed fornication (sexual immorality). One thing that stands out concerning 1 Cor. 10:8 is that it reports 23,000 died, but the account from which it draws gives a different number: 24,000.
Putting this point aside for a moment, the question asked in our congregation this week was why Paul used this Hebrew Bible account in the first place. Why did he even mention this account? 1 Cor. 10:11 indicates that what happened to the ancient Israelites is a warning example for Christians, then and now. In fact, the organization points to the licentious conduct of the 1st century Corinthians as one reason for Paul's counsel. Is there another reason why Paul might have alluded to Numbers 25:9?
What about the fornication that was occurring in the Corinthian congregation. After all, there was a man, who had an incestuous relationship with his father's wife (apparently his stepmother), and Paul gives strong counsel regarding fornication in 1 Cor. 6:9-11, 18-20. Compare 1 Cor. 5:1-13; 2 Cor. 12:21.
So there could be different reasons why Paul cited the instance of 23,000 dying in one day. More than a few proposals have been set forth to explain the seeming discrepancy, but one lesson we may still take away from Paul's words is the utter necessity of avoiding, eschewing, and repudiating sexual immorality.
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