Reading: Exodus 12:1-16, 21-24. Luke
22:1,7,8,14-21.
We have
been seeing something of what the Lord is seeking
in the way of companions of a heavenly calling. We have
also been seeing how the Israel of old failed Him in that
respect and how, in the time of their final failure, He
revealed what He had ever had in His heart, even before
there was an Israel - that is, a people of a heavenly
life and a spiritual nature.
The
Lord's Table is perhaps the most beautiful expression of
this wonderful reality of companionship with Christ.
Judas
had gone out. He had taken sides with the rejecting
Israel and was numbered with them in judgment, so it was
not only one man but a whole nation that went out that
night. Judas was but the representative of the nation
which rejected Christ and was rejected by God. It is
impressive that such a representative of the rejecting
Israel should be right there in the presence of the
companions of Christ! And there, in the inner circle, he
demonstrated what had become true of Israel - he was no
companion of Christ.
So, with
the rejecting Israel gone out, the companions were left
with their Master. Of them He was able to say: "Ye
are they which have continued with me in my temptations"
(Luke 22:28).
This
Lord's Table, or Lord's Supper, is one of the great
features of the transition from the old Israel to the new
heavenly, spiritual Israel. What the Passover was
intended to mean in the old Israel has become true in the
new Israel. We are, therefore, going to look at some of
the features of the Passover which relate to the
companions of Jesus.
We go
back to the twelfth chapter of the Book of Exodus, where
the Passover was first instituted and established, and
look right into the heart of this matter to see exactly
what it did mean. When we have looked closely enough we
discover this; that it was the great contest between God
and the gods of Egypt. God summed it all up when He said
that that night He was going to finish and complete His
judgment not only upon the Egyptians but upon all the
gods of the Egyptians. The nine judgments which had
preceded had been declared to be against the gods of the
Egyptians, and you do not understand those plagues unless
you recognize that factor. If it were necessary we could
show you how each judgment had some relationship to the
gods of Egypt. Just as an example: the frog was a sacred
thing in Egypt. It was worshipped as representing a god,
and God - Jehovah - turned their very gods upon
themselves in judgment. So it was with every judgment.
They worshipped the sun, so God blotted it out.
The
whole thing is being gathered up and consummated on this
Passover night. God is going to finish this quarrel that
He had with the Egyptians because of their gods. He is a
very jealous God and He had said: "Thou shalt
have none other gods before me" (Exodus
20:3).
That is
the heart of the thing, and we must carry that over to
the Lord's Table. In the first place this Table means: No
compromise with anything that is against God. It is to be
the Lord, and the Lord alone.
The
second thing to be noted is the focal point of this whole
settlement - the first-born sons of all in Egypt. In
those days, and even today, the first-born is
representative of all the others. He includes the whole
family, and if you touch the first-born, you are touching
the parents and the family. So all the Egyptians were
represented in their first-born - and the Lord said
"I... will smite all the first-born in
the land of Egypt, both man and beast". Another
kind of first-born, which was not of God, had to be set
aside in order to bring in what the Letter to the Hebrews
calls the "church of the first-born" (Hebrews
12:23). One first-born must be removed to make room for
the other first-born.
Those
who rightly partake at the Table are of the "church
of the first-born". They are those who
have been born again by the Spirit of God, and they are
the companions of Christ.
Then
note the third thing: the point where this whole thing
was settled. It was all settled on the threshold of every
home. It is a pity that the translators have not been
consistent in translating a Hebrew word which you read
twice in Exodus 12:22: "Ye shall take a bunch of
hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and
strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood
that is in the bason". Evidently the
translators could not get the idea of the Hebrew there
and so they used the word 'basin', as that seemed to suit
it best. Of course, in their minds the blood would be
collected into a basin, and so the bunch of hyssop would
be dipped into the basin. But the Hebrew word 'saph' is
translated 'threshold' elsewhere in the Old Testament.
What ought to have been said was: 'You shall take a bunch
of hyssop and dip it into the blood that is on the
threshold.' You probably know that the threshold of a
house is its most sacred place. You are very particular
about who crosses the threshold into your house, and
that is why some superstitious people put charms over it.
Sometimes it is a horseshoe - something to keep evil
away, or, as they call it, 'bad luck'.
This
thing has become a superstition, but behind it is this
great spiritual truth - there is a threshold that God
looks at as being very sacred, and behind that threshold
where the blood is are His own companions. The threshold
signifies a division between His companions and His
enemies. Did you notice that Moses said: "None of
you shall go out of the door of his house until the
morning"? In effect he said 'Don't let
any man cross that threshold into the realm where the
enemies are. Let that bloodsprinkled threshold become a
division between you, the Lord's own companions, and
those He is going to judge.' Judas went out over the
threshold when it was night.
I
believe that even today (certainly it was so up to recent
times) in the Jewish ritual of the Passover there is a
point where the first-born goes out and opens the outside
door, the door by the threshold. Then he comes back and
places an empty chair at the table and an extra cup on
the table. That is done in the hope that the Lord's
messenger will cross the threshold, come in and take part
with them. That is not here in the Bible, of course, but
the Hebrews knew the meaning of the threshold - something
sacred to the Lord, an open door to the Lord.
Judas
went out across the threshold and he met the judgment of
this world. The companions of Jesus stayed inside that
night. They were protected by the precious blood and were
saved from death.
The
picture behind Exodus 12 is of the rightful Lord coming
to His world to claim His rights, and He says: 'This is
the sign and the token. Whether you own Me as your
rightful Lord, or whether you do not, the sign is the
sprinkled blood. When I see the blood I know that you are
My friends and that you are loyal to Me. If I do not see
the blood I know that you are enemies, and you will meet
My judgment. My executioner is with Me and when I see the
blood I say "Not in there. Leave them alone. They
are My friends." When I do not see the blood I say
"You go in there".' You notice that the
Lord speaks in this chapter as though He is one person,
and the one who is going to give judgment is another. He
sends someone in. That is the picture behind the
Passover.
There is
just one other thing that we will mention. It is not said
here in this chapter of Exodus, but it is definitely said
in other places. Jeremiah (in chapter 31) says that on
the night of the Passover the Lord took Israel by the
hand and betrothed her to Himself. In principle, then,
the Passover was a marriage ceremony. To use the language
of the prophets, the Lord that night took the virgin of
Israel and betrothed her unto Himself, and He made a
blood covenant with her. What a lot that opens up as to
the marriage relationship! It is a relationship with
blood - "they shall be one flesh"
(Genesis 2:24). If ever Israel had anything to do
with other gods from that time it was called whoredom,
fornication, adultery. It was a breach of the marriage
covenant.
That is
why Israel was eventually abandoned by God. They remained
very religious, and still kept up the ceremony of the
Passover - but the Lord Jesus said: "Ye are of
your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is
your will to do" (John 8:44). It
was the devil's work to bring Jesus Christ to
crucifixion, and Israel was the devil's instrument in
doing it. It was the last phase of a long history of
rejecting the Lord and breaking the marriage covenant.
That is
the dark side. Let us look on the bright side! The Lord
Jesus, in constituting the new heavenly Israel on the
principles of the old, took up this very thing, in all
these respects, and in this one, I think, in particular.
There was a marriage supper that night in the upper room.
Jesus betrothed His Church unto Himself in a covenant of
blood - "This cup is the new covenant in my
blood" - and so He secured His companions of
the heavenly calling. Later we shall speak more fully of
the 'Bride'.
We must
apply all this to ourselves. On the one side it is very
searching. It says: 'No compromise with anything whatever
that is against the Lord.' I wonder if, every time there
is a service of Holy Communion, people recognize that
that is the meaning - a real and utter division between
companions of the Lord and others! In the Lord's Table we
celebrate our betrothal. We were joined to the Lord in
holy matrimony - by His precious blood made His Bride.
The marriage of the Lamb is the great coming event
(Revelation 19:7).