The Table of Devils: Sacrifice, Spiritual Fellowship, and the Persuasive Tongue

The Table of Devils: Sacrifice, Spiritual Fellowship, and the Persuasive Tongue

Written on 26 July 2026.

Introduction

Pagan religion has frequently involved sacrifice.

Something valuable is surrendered. Animals, possessions, food, and in some cultures even human beings have been offered in connection with fertility, harvest, victory, protection, purification, divine favour, or the preservation of an existing religious order.

The Bible repeatedly warns God's people against becoming joined to such religious systems.

One particularly important warning appears in Exodus 34. Notice the progression from making a covenant, to fellowship with the inhabitants of the land, to their gods and sacrifices, and finally to eating of the sacrifice.

Exodus 34:12–15 KJV

12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:

13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:

14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;

The warning is not merely that false gods exist somewhere in the world.

The warning concerns participation.

There is a progression:

• covenant;
• fellowship;
• sacrifice;
• participation in the sacrifice.

The Table of Devils

Paul returns to the subject of pagan sacrifice and spiritual fellowship in 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 10:20–22 KJV

20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.

21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

The immediate context concerns literal idolatrous sacrifices. Paul is not speaking metaphorically about Christian ministers. That original meaning should not be changed.

Nevertheless, the passage establishes something important: spiritual fellowship is not neutral.

There are things with which a believer should not participate merely because somebody has invited him to the table.

The Pagan Principle of Sacrifice

Sacrifice involves cost.

Something is surrendered so that something else may continue, prosper, be restored, or obtain favour.

This creates a useful analogy when examining human institutions and religious movements.

Sometimes an organization, movement, ideology, ministry, or leader can begin functioning according to a sacrificial principle even without possessing a literal altar.

The institution must continue.

The reputation must survive.

The leader must remain important.

The movement must be vindicated.

The explanation must remain true.

When difficulties arise, somebody else may consequently be expected to bear the cost.

The question therefore becomes:

Who is being sacrificed so that the system can continue?

When Another Person Bears the Cost

This can become particularly dangerous around powerful religious personalities.

A teacher constructs an elaborate interpretation of Scripture and the world. Followers become accustomed to receiving his explanation of events.

Then something goes badly wrong.

Instead of allowing the event to challenge the system, almost anything can be incorporated into another explanation.

Failure becomes a trial.

Opposition becomes persecution.

Loss becomes spiritual warfare.

A broken relationship becomes separation from evil.

Criticism becomes evidence that enemies are attacking.

Another person's suffering becomes evidence that God is accomplishing some greater purpose through the ministry.

The system survives because the explanation changes to accommodate whatever happened.

Meanwhile, another human being may have borne the actual cost.

The Persuasive Tongue

Persuasive speech is not evidence of truth.

A sufficiently skilled speaker can make an interpretation sound convincing merely because he presents it confidently, repeatedly, and eloquently.

The danger becomes particularly serious when every possible outcome can be interpreted as confirmation of the speaker's original position.

If he succeeds, God blessed him.

If he fails, God tested him.

If people follow him, God expanded his ministry.

If people leave him, there has been a falling away.

If authorities leave him alone, God protected him.

If authorities oppose him, he is being persecuted.

If his predictions succeed, he possesses discernment.

If they fail, circumstances changed or God intervened.

Such a system can become practically impossible to falsify because every result is converted into another proof.

Saruman and the Power of the Voice

Saruman in The Lord of the Rings provides a useful literary picture.

His extraordinary weapon is his voice.

His danger does not consist merely in telling obvious lies. His speech can make the listener reconsider what he already knows. Events can be reframed. Responsibility can be redirected.

The important lesson from the illustration is therefore not:

Everything Saruman says must necessarily be false.

The lesson is:

Why continue submitting yourself to his voice?

If someone has repeatedly demonstrated that his speech produces confusion rather than clarity, endless listening is not necessarily discernment.

Sometimes discernment has already reached its conclusion.

Do not let him speak.

In practical terms this may simply mean:

Do not click.

Do not continually listen.

Do not continually argue.

Do not continually return merely to discover what the person will say next.

The persuasive voice loses much of its power when nobody is listening to it.

Professing Christian Teachers and Ordinary Lost People

There can be an important practical difference between an ordinary lost person and a professing Christian teacher.

Many lost people simply live their lives.

They may work, raise families, talk with neighbours, buy groceries, repair their houses, disagree about things, and continue with life.

They do not necessarily ask a Christian to receive them as spiritual authorities.

A professing Christian minister voluntarily assumes another position.

He teaches Scripture.

He speaks about God.

He tells believers how Scripture should be understood.

He may interpret current events as manifestations of God's purposes.

He may tell Christians whom they should trust, avoid, follow, or condemn.

He therefore invites spiritual examination precisely because he has presented himself as a spiritual teacher.

The mere profession of Christianity does not obligate another Christian to sit continually under his teaching.

Try the Spirits

Scripture does not command indiscriminate acceptance of everyone who speaks religiously.

1 John 4:1 KJV

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Neither does Scripture say that every teacher deserves unlimited opportunities to persuade the believer.

Romans 16:17 KJV

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

Notice the final words:

and avoid them.

Avoidance is different from spending hundreds of hours studying somebody one has already concluded should be avoided.

Wise as Serpents and Harmless as Doves

Avoidance also does not require creating unnecessary enemies.

Jesus said:

Matthew 10:16 KJV

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

Wisdom does not require publicly confronting every person whom one believes to be wrong.

A Christian can recognize danger without walking directly toward it.

He can reject a teacher without beginning a personal war with the teacher.

He can recognize manipulation without attempting to manipulate the manipulator.

He can disagree without making himself part of somebody else's controversy.

Sometimes wisdom consists precisely in understanding something and then walking away from it.

Leave Off Contention

Proverbs contains a remarkably practical warning:

Proverbs 17:14 KJV

The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.

And again:

Proverbs 26:17 KJV

He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.

A believer does not need to make every bad person his personal enemy.

Neither does recognizing something as wrong create an obligation to announce one's judgment directly to the person involved.

There is a difference between discernment and contention.

Sometimes the wise course is:

See it. Understand it. Avoid it. Continue walking.

Fellowship Is Not Neutral

Paul said:

"I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils."

And:

"Ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils."

Again, Paul's immediate subject was literal participation in pagan sacrifices. We should not pretend that every disagreeable preacher is therefore literally the "table of devils."

But the passage destroys the idea that spiritual participation is automatically harmless.

What a believer continually listens to matters.

Whose spiritual authority he accepts matters.

Which religious controversies he enters matters.

And sometimes refusing participation is itself the answer.

Conclusion

Exodus 34 presents a progression:

Covenant → false gods → sacrifice → eating of the sacrifice.

First Corinthians 10 presents another:

Sacrifice → fellowship → table → participation.

The Christian should therefore understand that spiritual fellowship is not something to enter indiscriminately.

Neither must he make a personal enemy of everyone whom he rejects.

There is another possibility.

He can refuse the table.

He can refuse the fellowship.

He can refuse the controversy.

He can refuse the persuasive voice.

He can be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove.

Sometimes there is nothing more that needs to be proved.

Do not sit at the table.

Do not let him speak.

And walk away.

AI Disclosure: Parts of this page may have been created, edited, or assisted by artificial intelligence tools (such as ChatGPT or other language models). All AI-assisted content is reviewed by a human before publication. For questions, contact the site administrator.