Lesson 5
Book D
The Covenant Meal
In Genesis 18, God himself came to visit the tent of his friend Abraham to share a covenant meal with him. As they ate this meal, God confirmed to Abraham that the son of promise would be born within the year.
Genesis 18:10 – "I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold Sarah your wife shall have a son". (cf. 17:21)
In other words, as Abraham partook of the covenant meal, he was to understand that God was working the miracle. God had heard, God was in the process of answering and the fulfilment of the promise would soon be born into the earth. Even though there was no physical evidence as yet, the covenant meal testified to the fact that the miracle was already in motion.
When Sarah heard this prediction she laughed. But not even her scepticism could halt the action of God. Abraham had believed the Almighty, who was "watching over his word to perform it!".
Bondage in Egypt
For a number of years, the promised land was possessed by Abraham and his descendants. But within four generations, the children of Israel, who had migrated to Egypt to escape famine in the time of Joseph were placed under bondage.
Under the weight of captivity, they began to cry out. The knowledge of covenant had been lost to them, but not to God who remained ever-watchful over his people, and as soon as the descendants of Abraham began to cry out for release, Abraham’s covenant partner moved into action on their behalf.
The difference between religion and covenant is nowhere better illustrated than by a look at points (5) and (6). All gods see affliction, but it is the God of covenant who will "come down and deliver".
"Let my people go" – Exodus 5:1
God spoke to Pharaoh through Moses on behalf of his covenant people saying: "Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness".
God insisted on a meal being eaten for two reasons:
Judgement against the false Egyptian Gods – Exodus 12:12
The nine plagues which struck the land were designed to demonstrate Jehovah’s superiority over the gods of Egypt, which had been stirred up by the talk of covenant. They were also meant to show Pharaoh that his rebellion against Israel would ultimately result in disaster. For the sake of his covenant commitment to deliver Israel, God acted in judgement – ultimately bringing about the destruction of Egypt’s first-born.
The Covenant Meal – Passover instituted
Pharaoh had refused to allow a meal to be eaten in the wilderness, so God designed a meal of gigantic proportions that could be eaten right under the Egyptian’s noses – in Goshen, the homeland of the Hebrews.
A type of Christ
The lamb which was to be the substance of the Passover, is a striking portrait of the coming Christ. It was to be a "male of the first year without blemish" which speaks of the innocence and sinlessness of Christ. Its "flesh was to be roasted in fire", which speaks of the wrath which Christ was to endure. None of the sacrifice was to remain – this speaks of the totality of Christ’s sacrifice. The lamb was to be killed at twilight, that is between the ninth and eleventh hours. It was at the ninth hour that Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up his spirit (Matt 27:46-50).
That each household were to take a lamb speaks to individual revival and faith in the sacrificial work Christ, that the lamb was to be killed by the congregation speaks of corporate revival and faith in the sacrificial work of Christ.
To sum up the covenant meal, God was saying that deliverance from bondage is possible through Christ, the spotless lamb, provided by God before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:19-20).
The Blood of the Lamb
And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Exodus 12:7.
Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are (Exodus 12:13).
The blood was a sign for the people, it was to be placed not on the roof for God to see it, but at eye level on the doorposts and lintel, so that the people could see it. God did not need his faith inspiring – but the people did so theirs; and so God gave them an outward visible symbol of a spiritual truth. It was designed to inspire faith within the heart of the nation, as they passed between and beneath the blood.
The entire process would have been awesome to the senses. The sound of thousands of animals being slaughtered at one time, the sight of gallons of blood, and the smell of roasting flesh, must have made an enormous impression, not just on the Israelites, but also on their oppressors and Pharaoh. When judgement finally came, Egypt were without excuse.
You shall eat it in haste – Exodus 12:11
The people were to eat the meal dressed ready for a journey – belt on, sandals on, staff in hand. As they ate, they were to recognise that God was invisibly at work, and that the miracle was already in motion. They were meant to understand as they ate that deliverance was about to take place – from Egypt to the promised land from curse to blessing, from the dominion of darkness to the dominion of light, from the authority of the devil, to that of the Son.
An Everlasting Meal – Exodus 12:24-27
"And you shall observe this thing as an ordnance for you and your sons forever".
God instituted the Passover as an everlasting meal. He did this to impress upon His people that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will bring deliverance to any of His covenant people in any age. The children of the covenant were meant to understand in unambiguous terms that God would be whatever they needed Him to be at any time in history, due to the everlasting nature of the covenant. It was not His intention for deliverance to pass into Judaic folk lore.
This is why Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples and commanded them to continue eating it and so kept deliverance in the age of the church. It continues to be an everlasting meal speaking not of deliverance’s past, or deliverance’s to come, but of the availability through the covenant of deliverance here and now.
Communion
1 Corinthians 5:7 – "Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us".
Jesus was the One whom the Passover lamb had foreshadowed. Upon seeing Jesus, John the Baptist exclaimed "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world". (John 1:29).
On the same night that He was betrayed, Jesus kept the Passover and commanded us to continue in it. He declared that He was it’s fulfilment by saying "Take, eat, this is my body, broken for you". He is the substance of which the shadow spoke, the way to which the signpost pointed, and if the old covenant with all it’s promises was good, then the new covenant in Christ is even better:
Hebrews 8:6 – "But now, He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises.
2 Corinthians 1:20 – "For all the promises of God in Him are yes and in Him amen to the glory of God through us".
Matthew 26: 17-30 – At the last supper Jesus knew that the final countdown had begun. As he ate the Passover with the disciples, he knew the redemptive process was in motion. The meal summed up the entire covenant. It was a simple meal to celebrate the maturing of the old covenant into the fullness of the new covenant.
John 6:46-58 –The references to eating the body and drinking the blood of Jesus can be understood through the fuller understanding of the covenant. It has nothing to do with mystical cannibalism. The reference to eating the body testifies to our oneness with the Lord and with each other through the covenant, and the reference to our drinking the blood testifies to the life of God which gives us life through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
1 Corinthians 11:17-26 – Sharing communion together in remembrance of Him does not simply mean we look back with thankful hearts to the past work of the cross, it means we live in covenant remembrance of all that the covenant means to us now.
1 Corinthians 11:27-34 – Paul gives a severe warning to those who approach the Lord’s supper lightly. To share in the communion meal in an unworthy manner is to eat without giving due respect to the binding, sacred covenant, ratified in the flesh and blood of Jesus, to which we are part – both together with the Lord and together with each other.
A failure to give the respect due to this meal, which symbolises and summarises the entire covenant, will lead to weakness, sickness and maybe even death to the individual or group which persists in partaking of it in an unworthy manner.
Summary
As we eat, we recognise that our miracle is in motion. Just as it was for Abraham as he ate. Just as it was for Moses as he ate. Just as it was for the children of Israel as they ate. Just as it was for Jesus as he ate, in the run up to Calvary.
The Prodigal Son – Luke 15
For Abraham, the meal spoke of something answered. For Moses, the meal spoke of something delivered. For the prodigal son the meal spoke of something restored.
He had been out in the wilderness of sin for quite a time wasting all he had on riotous living. When he came home he expected that at best he would be taken on as a mere hired servant. But his Father would not hear of such a thing, his restoration as a son in the family of his father was complete and total and carried with it all the family privileges. He took the father’s name, he wore his fathers clothes and lastly, he ate his father’s meal. The fatted calf was killed for him. As he ate that meal, he was to recognise that a relationship had been restored and he had fully entered into his rights as a son, redeemed from his dead state and brought to fullness of life in the family covenant through the goodness of his loving father. As the son ate, he knew "All that my Father has is mine".
So we too can now eat and know that we are Children of God and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:16-17).
As we eat, we recognise that God has answered, God has delivered and God has restored.
Lesson 5
Book D
QUESTIONS FOR THIS SECTION
