NOTES ON THE FEASTS OF THE LORD.
No. 3.
THE PASSOVER,
Lev, 23: 4-8,
Although the Feast of the Lord's Passover, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, are combined in this passage, and have this in common, that they were instituted on the same occasion, and that the latter began on the day when theformer was celebrated, and formed an essential element in it, yet there is a distinctness in the character of the two institutions which admits of their being treated separately; and one advantage at least is gained in so treating them, namely, that the lessons taught by each are thus more definitely impressed upon the spirit of the student of Holy Scripture.
Their connection with each other, and the relation they bear to all the other Feasts wilt become more obvious as the special features of each are brought out in the examination: first, of the Feast of the Passover; and, secondly, of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
In turning to the Divine Record of the institution of the rite of the Passover, we are struck with the marvellous minuteness of the order given by the Lord to Moses and Aaron regarding it.
The exceeding importance of this may be inferred from the circumstance that the thrilling narrative of the deliverance of Israel from the iron bondage of Egypt is interrupted by the directions regarding the Lamb of the Passover, and the seven days of Unleavened Bread, through the observance of which the memorial of their escape from captivity and the purpose of God therein should be perpetuated among their generations for ever.
In Exodus, chapter 12, we have this narrative, and we thence extract the following particulars:
1: The change in their reckoning of time-v, 2;
2: The character of the lamb to be selected for a
sacrifice by each house, or each two houses -v.3-5;
3: The day of his being separated from the flock;
4: The day of his being slain-v. 6;
5: The striking of the blood on the door-posts of
their houses-v.7;
6: The roasting and eating of the flesh by the
family-v.8;
7: The unleavened bread and bitter herbs eaten
therewith-v.8;
8: The attitude of watchfulness and haste observed
in the eating of it-v.11;
9: The carefully abiding within their houses until
the morning-v.22; and
10:The charge to observe the Feast in all time coming-v.14.
A short notice of each of these particulars, will bring the whole subject before us in its bearing upon the great end of the Law, viz., Christ and His Church. Besides this primary application to the whole Church of God as one family or house Heb.3:6, this Feast has, more than any other, a clear application to the duty of family worship-a 1amb for every house-and even to the order of that worship.
But not to attempt too much in our exposition, we limit ourselves in the application of it to the grand objects of faith and hope of the Church, and to the character and spirit of her worship as one body.
1: The change in their reckoning of time-v.2.What had been the order of their months before this time does not appear from any text of Scripture, the allusion to months after the flood being to those of Noah's age, and not of the age of the world-Gen.8: I3, I4, nor does it matter to us, as by the directing of a new order God would have the old forgotten.
The day of the deliverance of the whole nation was, so to speak, the birthday of Israel and the month in which that day occurs is from this time forth to be celebrated as the beginning of months; that is, the first month of the year to them.-To this day the Jews have two orders of reckoning their year, an ecclesiastical and a civil; the latter beginning in the middle of the former, but it is with the former alone that the Scripture is concerned.
The day to be from henceforth observed in memorial of the exodus from Egypt is indeed one "to be observed unto the Lord for bringing them out"-v.43, and it is kept before the mind of the pious Jews by being made the very starting point of the revelation of the law of the Ten Commandments: "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shall have no other gods before Me." &c,-Ex.20: 2, 3.
From this point, therefore, we can look along the line of the annual Feasts prescribed to Israel, and observe the goodly order of these from the Pass-over, the first of them, onwards to the Feast of Tabernacles, the last of them.
The Passover, as we are about to show, has had a fulfilment in that stupendous fact which is the foundation of all Christian faith, which has a continuous fulfilment, as we shall see: "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep the Feast"-1 Cor,v,7,8, and shall still have a glorious and complete fulfilment when the darkness is for ever past; the bondage for ever broken, and the greater than Pharaoh the wilful king, the son of pride, the man of sin, destroyed by the brightness of the Lord's coming; but the Feast of Tabernacles, as we shall see in due time, has hitherto had no fulfilment at all but looks forward and carries the eye of every faithful Christian as it did that of every faithful Jews on to the time when the Tabernacle of God shall be seen: "descending out of heaven from God' and abiding on the renewed earth for ever--Rev.21: 2,3.
It will befits the commencement of a series of Holy Feasts, which in all its steps points to the consummation, of which the last is, as it were, the Blessed Vision, the Earnest or Foretaste, that it should be made the inauguration of a new reckoning of time.
And the Christian Church has sanctioned such a course by counting time from the Incarnation, or Manifestation in suffering flesh, of Him who is our Passover.
It is further remarkable that there is in the Law a provision for a second; or subsequent keeping of this Feast, in mercy to such as were hindered from celebrating it in the first month-Num.9:9-I4.
This points to a time of restoration of pure ordinances to the Church, when for a season she has been deprived of them, through causes analogous to those mentioned in this passage.
2: The character of the lamb selected for a sacrifice by each house, or part of a family-Exod.12:3-5.
A 1amb without blemish, a male of a year old, a perfect and spotless lamb, sets forth, as no other emblem can, the Person of Him who was holy, harmless and undefiled; and who having by the one offering of Himself taken away the sins of the world, is still the Lamb in the midst of the throne and shall come forth again as the Conqueror, destroying them that destroy the earth.
3: The day of his being separated from the flock, viz., the tenth day of the month. In the numbers mentioned in Scripture are contained vast truths."God numbereth the stars, and calleth them all by their names"-Ps. cxlvii, 4.
Number, and weight, and measure entered largely into the revelation of the purpose of God to Israel. Every reader of the Bible is familiar with the recurrence of certain numbers, such as seven, and ten, and twelve, and the multiples or divisions of these.
On the very first page of it we have the sevenfold division of time; and on the closing pages we find the twelvefold mystery of the gates, and the wall and the foundations of the Holy City, the heavenly Jerusalem.
The frequent use of ten and the multiples--hundreds and thousands--by our Lord in His Parables-ten talents, ten virgins, ten pounds, ten pieces of silver, &c-, must satisfy even the most superficial, that where distinct numbers are employed in Scripture distinct truths are thereby set forth.
Not to go into any detail on this point, we may notice the tithe or tenth partof the increase of the earth as the Lord's, the laying of which on His altar is the acknowledgement of Him as Lord of all; and the seventh day, ur division of time, as emphatically the Lord's day.
From many texts it may be demonstrated that while seven, and the multiples of seven, and the division of it-three and a half-, regard the mystery of the Church, of which the seven-branched candlestick is the standing type or symbol, so ten and its multiples and divisions point to the kingdom of Heaven or of God.-See Dan, vil, 10; Deut, xxxiii, 2; Ps,lxviii. I7 ; Rev, v, I I ; xx, 4,
4: The lamb was slain on the fourteenth day of the month at even-Exod.12: 6. Fourteen is a twofold seven, a double mystery.
The word seven in the Hebrew language denotes lam perfection or completeness. This is the oldest division of time; the first series of numbers; as we find in the history of the Creation, and it is of all others the most frequently recurring in typical institutions.
Thus, in addition to the complete week of seven days, of which the Sabbathis the sanctification, the Lord's portion, we find the seventh month distinguished from all the rest by the number and importance of the feasts and sacrifices offered to God: the seventh year was the year of Release, and after seven times seven years came the grand year of Jubilee.
Again, the sprinkling of the blood of the sin-offering by the priest was seven-fold sprinkling-Lev. 4: 6; the fall of Jericho was marked by a combination of sevens-Josh. 6: 4, and many other uses of this number wilt occur to every thoughtful Christian; especially is it found in the book of the Revelation.
We learn from Ps. cxiv, 1,2, that "when Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, Judah was His sanctuary, and Israel His dominion".
This combination of ecclesiastical and royal dignity may, impropriety, without mystery contained in the numbers ten and fourteen connected with the Passover Lamb.
0ne of the most obvious typical or symbolical truths contained in the order of this Feasts viz., the time of the Death of our Lord upon the cross, has received its illustration from the fact, noted by learned students of Scripture, that He died not only in the month and week, but on the day and at the very hour appointed for slaying the Passover lamb.
"Thy word, 0 Lord,
is settled in heaven for ever"-Ps.cxix,8g.
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not
pass away"- Matt.24:35.
"One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law,
till all be fulfilled". Matt.5:I8.
5: The blood was applied, by means of a bunch of hyssop, to the lintel and two side posts of the door of the house-Exod.12:7, 22.
This mode of preservation of the life of the first-born of Israel not only sets forth the grand truth of Redemption through the blood of Christ, but it was for the Jews a sacramental act, whereby their first-born were separated or consecrated unto God.
Before Moses had returned to Egypt from Midian, the Lord had charged him to speak thus to Pharaoh-chap.4:22,23: "Thus saith the Lord," &C. And we read-chap.13:11-16: "And it shall be,"&C.
And later on in the history we learn that the Levites were chosen for the special service of the Lord instead of the first-born of all the tribes.-Num.3:6,12,13, and 41.
And the solemn act of their setting apart to that ministry is recorded-Numé, viii, 5.
This is very worthy of notice, as showing the Divine authority for a standing priesthood and ministry among a people who were all called: "a kingdom of priests, a holy nation"-Exod. 19: 6.
This applies with all its force to the constitution of the Christian Church.And the variety of ministry in the house of God is further taught by the factthat the house or tribe of Levi was subdivided into three parts: Gershon, Kohath and Merari being the respective heads of these, and each of them having a distinct border of work in the house of God. Num.3:17.
Gershon: vv.25,26:7500.West: Tabernacle, tent, covering, hangings, curtains, and cords.
Kobath: 31 8600, South: Ark, table,
candlestick, altars and vessels, and
hangings, and all its service.
Merari: vv 33,34: 6200, North: Boards, bars, pillars and sockets and vessels, and pillars of courtand sockets and pins and cords.
But Aaron was head or chief of the priests--5:6, and Eleazar, son of Aaron, was chief over the chief of the Levites-5:32.
6: The flesh of the lamb was roasted and eaten in each house by the family or household-Exod.12:8. It is of the utmost importance to observe that the Feast upon the flesh of the Passover lamb was as needful to the Israelites as the shedding and sprinkling of his blood.
It was by this eating of his flesh that their lives, spared from the destruction that fell upon the Egyptians, were nourished and sustained during their escape out of the house of bondage, and on their way to the rest provided for them.
The spiritual truth thereby typified is one most necessary for the children of God in this land and at this time. The distinction between Redemption and Salvation is not by many clearly perceived, although the language of the Apostle Paul in Rom.5:8-11, is most plain and positive.
We are not saved by death or blood-shedding, but we are justified, reconciled thereby; the work of salvation is not the elfect of any act external to man, but a work done in a man by the Spirit of God.
No doubt without redemption there can be no salvation, but the point here brought out is the essential distinction of the act from the work of salvation or sinner.
The work of Christ, which is the foundation of the Gospel for all men, has procured for all these four things:
1: A call, invitation, or command to repent and return to God-Prov, viii. 4 ~ acts xvii. 30.
2: A day of grace, during which that call is pressed upon him-Isa. 4: 6.
3: A resurrection from the dead-John 5:21-29.
4: A judgement by Christ Himself, according to the word of the Gospel received or rejected, and God's covenant, on our part, kept or broken.5:22.
Thus, in one word: "by means of the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we escape from the condition of bondage and mortality, of sin and subjection to the prince of the power of the air, of guiltiness and the curse; and come into the possibility of being visited with the power of an endless life." -Dow's Sermons; 2nd series; new edit. p. 389.
The Jews are the flesh of the lamp. We are called into Gods family and endowed with life by the act of God in thus adopting us, that we may eat at Him table, and enjoy all the blessings that are the heritage of His children. Our life depends on our eating ; when we cease to eat we die.
This is equally true of natural and spiritual life, for the former is but the visible form of the latter; and all the conditions of the one are learned from the other.
By the action of fire-one of the symbols of the Spirit of God-the Paschal Lamb was prepared for being partaken of by all the household assembled around one table, which recalls to us what is written of our Lord's having, through the Spirit, offered Himself to God-Heb. 9:14, and being according to the same Spirit, raised from the dead-Rom.1:4; this also signifies that our communion with Him must be in the same spirit.
Further, the fact of the Jews all eating of one bread and drinking from one cup,points so clearly to that spiritual feast ordained by Him who said: "Take, eat, this is My Body broken for you," and "Drink ye all of this," that we do not pause here to insist upon the parallel.
7: The flesh of the Lamb was eaten with unleavened
bread and bitter herbs.Of the former we have already had occasion
to speak in connection with the shew-bread, and shall have again
to speak when considering the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We
observed, then, among other particulars:-
a: That bread is the common staff of life.
b: That it is the symbol of a new
and changed life.
c: That its preparation sets forth a work of the
Spirit.
d: That it therefore symbolises
Resurrection Life.
e: That our Lord expressly calls Himself the True
Bread.
f: That in partaking of the bread of God we express
our oneness with Christ and our royal priesthood.
But as to the "bitter herbs", we observe, that in showing forth the Lord's death till He come again, we must never forget that the procuring cause of that death was our sin. The remembrance of past sins, even though forgiven by the Lord, must ever be bitter to our spirits; and the consciousness of inherent evil; and the daily experience of our natural contrariety to God and His holy will bring with them bitterness, which is most of all felt when we address ourselves to partake of the Holy Supper.
Where there is no godly sorrow for sin; there can be no sincere repentance, no true confession, no longing for the power of the Holy Ghost to subdue and keep down the uprisings of the flesh and the carnal mind; but where this longing is present, the power of the word of absolution will also be felt; and though conscious of all unworthiness in ourselves, we draw near in obedience to the express command: "Do this in remembrance of Me".
8: The Jews ate the Passover with loins girded, shoes on their feet, and staff in their hand, and they ate it in haste-Exod.12:11.
How often has this been literally the case with companies of the faithful in days of persecution in all ages, when partaking of the Lord's Supper, the antitype of this paschal feast !
What attitude could better set forth the true condition of spirit in which the Church of God stands when confessing that she is but a stranger and a pilgrim on the earth.?-Heb.11:I3; 1 Pet.1:13.
But it is with the spiritual attitude of watchfulness and haste that we have at present to do. It is expressed in the words of our Lord-Iuke.12: 35: "Let your loins be girded about; and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like men that wait for their Lord".
And again, in the words of St. Paul:-Eph.6:13-17, "Take unto you the whole armour of God.......having your loins girt about with truth....., and take the helmet of salvation".--"the hope of salvation," 1 Thess.5:8.
Nothing can so effectually beget and keep alive this attitude of spirit as the hope of the Lord's speedy return to this earth.
This prevents us from settling down in the world and making our home in it. It is no place of rest for the Church so long as it is polluted, any more than it was for her Lord and Master.
This truth, felt, no doubt, most keenly in times of persecution, is ever felt in proportion as the Church is filled with the Spirit, for that alone keeps alive the reality of her pilgrim condition, and enables her to discern the pollution of all things through sin.
The abating of this Spirit in the Church must of necessity lead to her settling down, and having no desire for the return of her Lord to deliver her from Egypt and Pharaoh, from the brick-kiln and the task-master and from cruel bondage. A Church at ease, having much goods laid up for many years, is surely not keeping the Feast of the Lords Passover, and a celebration of the Lord's Supper without reference to His second coming cannot be pleasing to Him nor profitable for us.
9: The Jews kept carefully within the doors of their houses during that night of danger and terror-Exod. 12: 22, end.
Among other lessons suggested by this circumstance, that of the necessity and blessing of unity in a household or family, and in the Church which is the great family of God, wilt be apparent; unity at all times during the whole night of the Lord's absence, but most of all in the matter of the celebration of that Feast which has been ordained for the binding together of all the members of the spiritual body of Christ, and keeping them as One Body, One House, One Holy Temple to the Lord until He come.
The vastness of the common danger, and the magnitude of the impendingcommon deliverance of the nation, must have hushed all petty differences, silenced all personal quarrels, and animated all the Jews with a spirit of forbearance and forgiveness.
And is not this the very temper commanded to us as Christians at all times, but especially when, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together we approach the holy table and take the cup of blessing into our hands.?
10: Finally, the obligation laid on every household in Israel to keep this feast in all time coming, teaches many important truths.v.14, 24, 27.
To refresh the memory of the old, and to impress the heart and teach the inquiring mind of the young, this feast had to be kept yearly in its season. We may imagine with what interest an intelligent child or a lately received proselyte to the Jewish faith would look up into the face of a devout old man who had gathered around him his household in the days of Joshua--Josh.5:1IO; or of Josiah-2 Kings 23:21, or of Hezekiah-2 Chron.30; or of Zerubbabel-Ezra 6:19,20.
How much would such a one have to relate:--of the promise to Abraham-Gen. 15:13,14; of the weary bondage; of the groaning of the oppressed going up to God-Exod.2:23, 24; of the call, commission, words, and works of Moses, the man of God; of the revelation of god's Eternal Name; of the signs and wonders, the plagues sent to break the stiff-neckedness of the proud king; of the fearful hardening of his hearth and of the preparation for the final blow which should open the gate to the prisoners; of the first celebration of the Passover; of the night of watching, of the wail that arose throughout all the land when the angel of Death slew the first-born of Egypt; of the signal given, the mustering, the match, and the feeling of deliverance as the morning sun beamed upon the escaping host; the shouting and singing; the thanksgivings and tears of joy when they saw the pillar of cloud by day, and the light-giving pillar of fire by night-Exod.13: 20-22.
One of our own poets has sung of this scene in words which, although familiar to all of us, I make no apology for quoting here: "When Israel, of the Lord beloved". &c,.
Such an aged and pious Jew as I have imagined recounting to his household the story of the Exodus would not fail to tell also of the panic caused by the sight of the pursuing Egyptians-chap.14:I0, and of the reproaches addressed to Moses by the people, whose hearts failed them in that trying hour; and of the confidence of Moses: "The Lord shall fight for you," and the answer of the Lord: "Speak unto the people, that they go forward !", of the dividing of the sea, of the passage of the people in safety, and of the utter destruction of the purouing oppressor; and finally, of the Song of Moses: "I will sing unto the Lord, for He hat triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hat He thrown into the sea !"-Exod.15.
So should Israel keep the Feast of the Passover.
And at each of the times of which we read that they did so, the bitter herbs were assuredly not wanting.
The memory of the sins and chastisements of the people, and the consciousness of present evil supplied the reality which these foreshadowed ; and brought with them that chastening of their joy, that mixture of trembling with their mirth, which is spoken of in the second psalm.
0ther particulars connected with this first of the annual feasts might be noticed, such as the limiting of the participation of it to the circumcised; the consumption of the whole of the flesh by the family, or by fire if aught remained till the morning, the command that nothing of it be carried forth of the house, and the charge that no bone of the lamb should be broken, one of those minute details referred to as having had its fulfilment in the person of our Lord while He hung upon the cross illustrating the plenary inspiration of all Scripture, and the jealousy of God over His Word-John 19:31,37; but enough has been now said regarding the letter of this most wondrous type, and the obvious spiritual truth regarding Christ and the Church contained in all its details so that we may those our observations at this time by pointing to the prophecy contained in the words of our Lord when proceeding to fulfil with His first Apostles, as a household, the commandment of His Father-Luke 22:14-18.
Here we have the clearest assurance that words can give, that there yet remains the fulfilment of the Passover for all the people of God, in His kingdom.
And of the fact of a future feast, and of the participation of our Lord Himself thereat, we are assured in Matt.26:29, and Mark 14: 25. Into this, however, we enter not at present.
The opportunity wilt come again and again in the course of these Lectures, of dwelling on the glorious hope that is set before us; on the true Exodus of all Israel, spiritual and literal, from every form of bondage; the living from the tyranny of Antichrist, the dead in Christ from the oppression of the grave; on the safety of the faithful when the judgements of blood and fire, and hail and darkness go furth in the sounding of the trumpets-Rev.8, and the plagues of boils, and of scorching, and of swarms of devils as frogs following the pouring out of the vials-Rev. 16, and on the peace and joy and rest, that shall then be enjoyed by the risen and changed saints, when the cloud of His glory shall encompass them, who is the wall of fire around His own Zion, and the glory in the midst of her; when Moses shall see the return, the conversion, and the rest of all the tribes of Israel, the cast out and the scattered of which we read in Deut.30; when Isaiah shall rejoice in the fulfilment of the things sung by him and recorded in his book-chap. 11:12; chaps, 25,26,35, and lii; and from chap. lx, to the end; when Jeremiah's lamentations shall cease and his tears be for ever dried; because the Lord shall have got a greater name for Himself than that of Deliverer of His people from Egypt-Jer.16:I4,15; 23:7,8; and Jacob shall have been finally saved from all his troubles-chap.30: and 32; when Ezekiel and Daniel shall behold, not in visions of the night, but in the light of eternal day the glorious realities of the people gathered together again, and at rest; of the dry bones become a mighty host of living men-Ezek.36, and 37; of the Son of Man come in the clouds of heaven; of the judgement set , and all oppression of wicked men for ever put down and destroyed, and the dominion given to the saints of the Most High for ever and ever.
We turn now to the Second Feast--arising out of the first, but continued for 5lx days after it--, viz., the Feast of Unleavened Bread.-Lev.23: 6-8.
The remarkably urgent and oft-repeated command regarding the absence of leaven from the food of the Israelites at and after the Feast of the Passover, marks that something not good but evil, yea, something very displeasing to God, and most hurtful to His people, must be signified by leaven.
See: Exod, xii, 8, First intimation regarding it;
See: Exod. xii, I5,
Time, seven days, and removal from
houses under pain ofdeath.
See: Exod. Xii, 12,19 Again repeated twice.
See: Exod. xiii, 3, Reason assigned: separation from Egypt and all
its un-
cleanness.
See: Exod. Xii, 6,
7, Reiteration most
pressing.
See: Exod. Xii, 8,9,
Reason assigned again; and hand,
eyes and mouth sanctified,
See also xxxiv, 25,
Not offer blood with
leaven, and Lev,
ii,II, No meat-offering
with leaven.
The practice of the Jews to this day at the season of the Passover, in carefully removing all traces of leaven, is worthy of notice. They not only sweep the places where bread is kept, and wash them, but they scrape the wood with a knife.
In the books of the Gospels we find our Lord warning His disciples against he leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees-Matt. xvi,6,II, and of Herod-Mark viii, 15, and declaring the former to be hypocrisy-Luke xii, I.
And in the Epistles we find leaven always spoken of as something to be avoided, to be put away, to be purged out-1 Cor. v, 6-8, Gal, v. 9.
As it never means anything good; the popular interpretation of Matt, xiii.33, must be false, which makes it signify the highest good.
1: From the passage in 1 Cor, v, 6-8, it is obvious that the foundation truth expressed by the institution of this Feast--Unleavened bread-is: that the Lord will have a holy people, pure and separate from fleshly ways, corrupt practices, and hypocrisy in all forms; a people "not conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of their minds; proving what is ble and perfect will of God".-Rom. xii, 2, a people delivered from error in doctrine; in worship, in practice , in a word, separated to God.
No two feasts of the Lord teach precisely the same thing. All are needed to express the many-sided purpose of God.
Thus : The Sabbath teaches the difference between man's work and God's work; between man's house and God's house ; and shows that worship is the chief duty and dignity of man.
The Passover teaches the fact of Redemption through the Blood of the Lamb and the duty of dedictating our life to God, and the privilege of having that life sustained, through feeding upon the Lamb of God, until our complete escape from bondage.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread with its holy convocations and varied sacrifices teaches something of a continuous, uniform, social, and worshipful more o~ existence, sustained hy the purest food that the earth can furnish.
Let us now examine the leading features
of this Feast.
2: The time of the institution is significant of
its character:---the night of the celebration of the Passover.
All the truth, therefore, arising out of that feast, concerning Christ and His Church, serves as a basis for the truth of this feast; and must enter into all our meditation upon it.
A people delivered from death through the blood-shedding of the Lamb of God ~ delivered from bondage by the mighty arm of the Lord; delivered that they may serve Him and be to Him a holy nation, a peculiar people,--such a people must have a pure food, nourishment for a new life, for strength to serve Him in all that He commands, to follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. In the mouth of such a people there must be no gulle.
3: The duration of this Feast is also most significant. The celebration of the Passover was limited to one day, for the act of God in the Redemption of the world was one act, complete in itself; but this feast continued seven days, setting forth thereby, that the whole life of every one of God's children is a life separate from the flesh and its old condition; and that the life of the Church during its whole continuance, from the day of Pentecost until the coming again of the Lord in glory, is to be wholly and unchangeably devoted to God as it is unchangeably derived from God.-Dow, p, 393.
4: To look somewhat closely into the character of the Bread whioh gives the name to this Feast; we must attend to the Apostle's exhortation in 1Cor, v. 7, From the manner of the working of leaven we learn the important truth that there are no little sins, and that the beginnings of evil are most dangerous.
We know that the leavening of bread was effected by introducing a morsel of old dough into the new lump, whereby the new was made exactly like the old.
For this reason we read of old leaven,
but never of new leaven.
The thing that is new is not a better kind of leaven but a new
lump without leaven-1
Cor, v. 7: "Purge out the old leaven, that
ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened." And to show how wondrously the divine Wisdom has
selected the symbols of spiritual truth, we may notice that the
Corinthians, in the matter For which the Apostle in the context
rebukes them, were "puffed up"-v.2, a word exactly expressing the eject of leaven
upon the lump with which it is mixed.
It is sincerity-v.8--, that God demands; it is truth in the inward parts.-Psalm li. 6.
The strain of all the Apostolic exhortations in the Epistles is to the same effect,
5: Although the circumstances attending this Feast are neither so striking nor so varied as those of the Passover, they are nevertheless, very interesting and very significant.
It was the first of those great assemblies of all the males of Israel at Jerusalem commanded of the Lord--Deut. xvi, 16--. This solemn appearing of all the males before the Lord God-Exod. xxiii, 17, was not only fitted to keep the people united, and kindly affectioned one to another, through exchanging gifts and exercising hospitality; but also to recall the purpose of God in making them His people; and to keep alive in their hearts the memory of His dealings with their fathers.
During this social intercourse of the men of Israel the continual use of unleavened bread must have kept these vast truths steadily before them; and whether they spoke of the past, the present or the future of their nation, they were constantly reminded of this fundamental principle: We are called to be a special people; a holy people; Gods people, therefore let us be holy in all manner of conversation-Lev, xi, 44, 45; xix, 2; xx. 26.
This is precisely what the Apostle Paul presses upon the Corinthians in another part of his First Epistle to them. In speaking of the unton of the Church with her glorified Head, and of the unity that should prevail among all the members of the One Church of God, itt warning them against idolatry, he shows the sacrificial character of the bread employed in the holy Communion.
As he who participates in what is sacrificed to devils is called a partaker with devils, so he who partakes of the bread offered to God, in the Eucharistie Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, partakes with God; and he who partakes of the wine of that holy Sacrifice is a partaker with Christ: "The cup of blessing," &c,-1 Cor, x, I6-I8.
6: Another feature of this Feast is that on each of the seven days of its continuance a remarkable burnt offering was presented to the Lord,-Numb. xxviii, 16-25.
Keeping in mind what was before said of the spiritual truth contained in the Burnt Offering of the Daily Sacrifice,--p, 42--, we observe in regard to this offering, that the component parts of it--two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs--are significant of the completeness of the congregation of worshippers presenting it.
It is demonstrable from the book of
Leviticus; that the different classes of
animals used in sacrifice set forth different classes of persons
in the one family of God.-See chapter iv, 3: a priest brings a bullock;
vv, 22,23: a ruler brings a goat; v, 27: the common people bring each female kid;
v.28, or a lamb, v. 32; or if too poor-chap.v,7:
two turtledoves or young pigeons; or if very poor-v.11, some fine flour. And as all this is for our
learning, we are taught thereby that the bullock or ox typifies
the priesthood, the Eldership as explained in the New Testament-1 Cor, ix, 9; 1 Tim, v, I8, the two bullocks here offered show that in the
ministry of the Church a plurality is essential to the blessing-teaching
and leading the worship of the people.
We know that according to Apostolic order there was always more than one Elder in a church-Acts xiv. 23; xx, 17; James v. I4; 1 Pet. v, I.
The ram is the symbol of deaconship--those of the flock who are chosen ancl set as heads, as leaders, as examples to the flock; the lambs denote the members of the Church not distinguished by position or office--those for whose sake all ministry is appointed, and endowed of God with varies gifts.
The number sewn indicates the totality or completeness of a united church or congregation; and the goat sets forth those in whom prophetic gifts are manifested, and through whom, as was especially the case in the first days of the Church; the flocks were comforted, reproved; exhorted; and edified according to their several conditions.
No reason whatever can be assigned for the absence of all the original ministries in the Church at the present day, save the lamentable falling away from the first love, the first order or organisation, and the first measure of spiritual life in the Church.
The offering of these Sacrifices every day during the seven days of the Feast was the expression of the faith and obedience of all lsrael, who stood before the Lord--elders or priests---judges or rulers---prophets and people, saying thereby "Here we are Thy servants, worshipping Thee", and it points to the attitude of the whole Church and of each particular congregation standing in the unity of the Church of the New Testament, offering the spiritual Sacrifices to which as a holy priesthood we are called, and continually dedicating ourselves to the service of God, renewing our vows and seeking His blessing through the one channel of our approach to God, which is also the one channel of God's blessing for us.
7: Finally, the commandment that the seventh day of this feast should be a holy Sabbath like the first; indicates the purpose of the unchangeable God, tbat the end or closing condition of His people shall be as the beginning was; that the Name of our Lord, the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega, shall be magnified in bringing again His people from all their wanderings; in recovering them from all their back-slidings; in healing all their diseases; and in vindicating His own law as the only holy and good and abiding thing, after all that is of the flesh and the world and the devil shall have been manifested and judged and destroyed by Him Who seeth the end from the beginning of all the works and ways of God.
To sum up in a few words the practical bearing of this Feast upon ourselves as Christians as members of the body of Christ, we observe that the separation from the old leaven, our separation from Egypt, our separation unto God, is a total, and if we have grace to persevere unto the end, an eternal separation from all that is of the old Man, of whom the Scripture presents the features in most unmistakable language.
In Isa. xxxi. we have the key to the mystery of Egypt-viz.,
man or flesh at its best estate.
In chapter xix, whe have to wisdom of Egypt declared to be folly-vv, 11,12,13,14; and the argument of the Apostle-1 Cor,1, when speaking of the philosophy of ancient
Greece, applies to this type with all its force.
In conclusion, we must point out the contrast between the Flesh and the Spirit the 0ld Man, with his affections and lusts, and the New Man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him-Coloss, iii-9, IO.
From being darkness we become Light
through Christ.
From being ignorant, we know God Who is life.
From being selfish, we present ourselves a Sacrifice.
From being suspicious, we are full of faith and confidence.
From being discontented, we give thanks continually to God.
From being proud, we submit to His Will.
From being disobedient, we delight to do His commands.
From being filled with malice and wickedness, we are full of love
and good works.
From being falsehood and hypocrisy, we are sincerity and truth.
Thus we serve the Lord as Christians, and rejoice to say: "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us;Therefore let us keep the Feast,"
Amen.