The Communion

Studies in Numbers

I Faithfulness

B The Centrality

4 The Communion, Text: 9:1-14

INTRODUCTION

Our Jewish friends celebrate 4 major holidays in the 21st century. The first three are Rosh Hashanah, or the “Head of the Year,” Yom Kippur, or the “Day of Atonement, and Chanukah or the “Dedication” at the time of the Christian Christmas which refers to the rededication of the temple after the Maccabean revolt and is a festival of lights, but not a Biblical festival. The fourth is the best known, Passover, or “Pesach” which celebrates the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage when the first born of all the land, men and animals, died except for the Israelites who had placed the blood of the lamb upon their door frames, on the lintels as God commanded. A lintel is the crosspiece at the top of a door or window frame. This means anyone entering or leaving had to pass under the blood. Although many modern Jews keep the passover, it is no longer required because it has been replaced. When Jesus celebrated the last supper with His disciples it was a Passover meal at the appointed time. Our Lord transformed it into a memorial meal commemorating his atoning sacrifice. Jesus is the Passover lamb and thus Paul writes in I Corinthians 5:7, For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. Thus the Passover implicitly underlies much of the teaching of the New Testament about our salvation. As the blood of the Passover lamb protected the firstborn of every Israelite family, so the blood of Jesus protects true believers from condemnation, and eternal punishment. The Passover, then, was not simply a meal celebrating the deliverance of a nation, but a symbolic and typical feast picturing all salvation from sin and death. We study it here under three headings drawn from our text, the edict, the enquiry, and the exception. In each case we ask what does this mean to us today.

I THE EDICT

We read in verses 1-5, The Lord spoke to Moses in the Desert of Sinai in the first month of the second year after they came out of Egypt. He said, “Have the Israelites celebrate the Passover at the appointed time. Celebrate it at the appointed time, at twilight on the fourteenth day of this month, in accordance with all its rules and regulations.” So Moses told the Israelites to celebrate the Passover, and they did so in the Desert of Sinai at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses. The command comes from God through Moses, the mediator, to celebrate this important feast at the exact same time it was celebrated in Egypt. Numbers is not chronological history because it records the numbering that occurred in the second month in chapter 1. Even before that Israel was called to remember their deliverance from bondage in the Passover. They would not have come to this decision by themselves because at the time of the first Passover they are told in Exodus 12:25, When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And in Joshua 5:10 we read that they did that as soon as they entered the promised land, On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. Now, however God commands them, and our text tells us that they did exactly as they were commanded. In the new covenant, we Christians have greater freedom in the sense that no specific times on the calendar have been set for the celebration of the Lord’s table. Some churches observe it annually, some semi-annually, some quarterly some monthly and some even weekly. There is no unanimity in the frequency of communion, and it is usually determined by the elders of the church whom we are told to follow. When we come to Paul’s instruction to the church in Corinth in I Corinthians 11: 23-26, we read, For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it , in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come. Paul like Moses is delivering the words of the Lord. These words do not tell us how often, but they do emphasize the importance of communion as a means of grace and something we should not neglect. God has commanded it. We must remember that the celebration of the Passover in the wilderness presented unique difficulties and challenges, but Israel promptly obeyed. We know from extra-Biblical sources that the early Christians maintained the celebration when they were under severe persecution and subjected to slander because of the practice, even being called “cannibals” We should not make flimsy excuses for absenting ourselves from the Lord’s table.

II THE ENQUIRY

Now a problem arises with respect to carrying out the command, and we read about it in verses 6-8, But some of them could not celebrate the Passover on that day because they were ceremonially unclean on account of a dead body. So they came to Moses and Aaron that same day and said to Moses, “We have become unclean because of a dead body, but why should we be kept from presenting the Lord’s offering with the other Israelites at the appointed time?” Moses answered them, “Wait until I find out what the Lord commands concerning you.” Perhaps the most important thing here is that Moses does not render a decision without going to the Lord. He, of course, had what we call in these days, an open channel of communication. God literally spoke with him. Today we fulfill the same faithfulness when we go to the Word of God in the Holy Scriptures to settle questions that arise. It should always be our first and last resort. The next most important thing is the people’s realization that there were very important rules to be kept. These rules had previously been handed down by God through Moses. Defilement prevented participation in the feats until it was cleansed. Since death is a regular occurrence in any large population there were bound to be those who had become polluted through the death of acquaintances and relatives through no fault of their own. Then as now it was sometimes easy to struggle with the strictness of the rules. Did they have a case or not? We find the answer to that in what Moses learns when he asks the Lord. There is an exception.

III THE EXCEPTION

God’s answer is in verses 9-14, Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites: ‘When any of you or your descendants are unclean because of a dead body or are away on a journey, they may still celebrate the Lord’s Passover. They are to celebrate it on the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight. They are to eat the lamb, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They must not leave any of it till morning or break any of its bones. When they celebrate the Passover, they must follow all the regulations. But if a man who is ceremonially clean and not on a journey fails to celebrate the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people because he did not present the Lord’s offering at the appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin. An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must do so in accordance with its rules and regulations. You must have the same regulations for the alien and the native-born.” God does make an exception and not only for those who inquired but also for those who are away traveling at he appointed time. In short he tells them they must obey all the regular rules,. but they can celebrate the Passover one month later. we have no such regulations for the Lord’s Supper, but it is commanded by our Lord and therefore, is not to be treated lightly. Our church elders many years ago determined that, although we disapproved of secular labor on the Sabbath, we recognized that certain professions such as Doctors and Nurses, or Policemen must sometimes work on Sunday mornings. As a result we always offered communion again in the evening for those who had missed it in the morning. God does that with Israel here, but He requires that they fully observe the ordinance in all its particulars. It has occurred to me that Jesus also requires spiritual cleansing, not in outward ritual, but in spirit in Matthew 5:23 & 24, Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. Finally, God adds this unsought for advice about strangers or foreigners in their midst. They may participate only if they have met the prescribed conditions. These include, though not mentioned, the rite of circumcision as we read in Exodus 12:48, An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the LORD’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat of it. In our time elders must be sure that all those participating can, in the words of Paul, discern the Lord’s body, but also that they have been baptized which is the New Testament equivalent of circumcision. The Lord’s supper symbolizes spiritual feeding and growth in sanctification. This can occur only in someone who is in union with Christ and has that new life to be nourished and that is what baptism symbolizes. Sadly there are some churches where communion is vigorously offered to anyone that walks in off the street. What we should have learned from this passage is that God considers the Passover and the Lord’s supper as essential and necessary, and circumcision or baptism as a prior essential.