Somebody’s Got Too Much Time

All the Congregation of Israel Shall Keep It

Who was to participate in the Passover meal? According to God’s instructions, it was everyone who was a member of the congregation of Israel. He was very detailed in who was, and who was not, allowed to participate.

Consider what God tells Moses and Aaron in Exodus 12 concerning how to determine what size lamb to get, and who it was that was to observe the Passover:

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.

And further down…

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, 44 but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. 45 No foreigner or hired servant may eat of it. 46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. 49 There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you. 50 All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.

Who was considered to be included in the congregation of Israel? It seems clear that it was the whole household of a circumcised male, as well as foreigners and servants who agreed to be circumcised, and then their whole households were also then considered to be a part of the congregation.

As I think is quite clear, the Passover meal was a family feast, and Moses and Aaron were instructed by God that ALL the congregation of Israel was to keep the Passover. The only instructions they received concerning who could NOT participate were foreigners, strangers and hired servants who had not been circumcised.

Much like the Passover feast inaugurated at the exodus of God’s chosen people, the Lord’s Supper today is also a family feast, a celebration among those who are God’s chosen people. The difference, though, is that, unlike the Passover where believer and unbeliever alike were to keep and observe the meal (everyone in the household was to participate regardless of beliefs), the Lord’s Supper is only for those whom Christ’s blood has been shed…only for those whom God has called by His Holy Spirit through the hearing of His precious gospel.

Prior to Christ, the chosen race and royal priesthood consisted of ALL those physically descended from Abraham, and those were the ones who were to keep the Passover. After Christ declared the new covenant in His blood, the chosen race and royal priesthood consisted of ALL those spiritually descended from Abraham, and those are the ones who are to “keep” the Supper.

Who are the spiritual seed of Abraham? Paul answers that in Galatians:

Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. – Gal. 3:7-9

So, just as with the Passover God instructed that ALL the congregation keep it, today under the new covenant regarding the Lord’s Supper ALL the congregation shall also keep it. The difference is in who makes up the ‘congregation’ today verses back then.

In the same way all those in the previous covenant were to keep the Passover, all those in the new covenant are to keep the Supper.