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All the Congregation of Israel Shall Keep It
Posted by Brian Thornton on July 2, 2008
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.
danny said
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.
Your logic is valid but your premise is false.
The Lord’s Supper is given as a sacrament at the level of the outward administration of the covenant. Believers and unbelievers (false professors) make up the visible church, therefore your premise fails, because the ‘congregation’ today is not 100% purely elect.
Brian Thornton said
My premise doesn’t ‘fail’ because of the fact that there are unbelievers who go to church…the Lord’s Supper was never intended for those people, but rather for the TRUE church, the Bride of Christ. However, the Passover WAS designed for both believer and non-believer, because participation was based upon circumcision alone, and not upon faith.
danny said
“However, the Passover WAS designed for both believer and non-believer, because participation was based upon circumcision alone, and not upon faith.”
That is just not true. Again, you make assertions and are not backing anything up.
danny said
If someone was a non-believer, they would be cut off from the people (do a word study on ‘cut off’). The Passover was designed for the believers in the OT and professing non-believers would still participate, even though they weren’t truly saved, just like it is today w/ the Lord’s supper.
Brian Thornton said
Danny,
Participation in the Passover was based upon physical ethnicity, due to physical lineage. It was a national observance…done by the whole nation. Not everyone who was circumcised knew the Lord, and that is clear from God’s promise that, under the new covenant, “they shall ALL know Me”.
Participation in the Lord’s Supper is based upon spiritual ethnicity, due to spiritual lineage (those of faith are regarded as Abraham’s seed). Everyone baptized is supposed to know the Lord, and everyone who partakes of the Supper likewise is supposed to know the Lord.
They are both family meals. One was a physical family, the other is a spiritual family. One was based upon circumcision of the flesh (Passover), the other is based upon circumcision of the heart (Lord’s Supper).
Brian Thornton said
If someone was a non-believer, they would be cut off from the people
Incorrect. If someone was disobedient, they were cut off. Are you suggesting that everyone who was NOT cut off due to some sin or disobedience was elect?
Danny said
“Incorrect. If someone was disobedient, they were cut off.”
I should have been more clear. One who was a professor and turned out not to be (through disobedience, etc.)
“Are you suggesting that everyone who was NOT cut off due to some sin or disobedience was elect?”
Nope, I never said that.
Brian Thornton said
One who was a ‘professor’?
Don’t you mean one who was given the outward sign not long after birth because he was from the line of Abraham? Where in the OT are Israelites called ‘professors’ of anything? They were who they were by nature of their birth, not some profession of faith.
Les Prouty said
guys, interesting debate. wish i was not still driving.
Danny said
What I mean is this, at some point they had to ratify the covenant through their faith. You don’t like when I say ratify. Perhaps we mean it differently??
Did you ever come up with answers to my various covenant-related questions? That may aid this conversation.
Brian Thornton said
at some point they had to ratify the covenant through their faith
Even if this is true, which I don’t know that it is, it doesn’t negate the fact that the Passover was a family meal, and the family was based upon physical birth, while the Lord’s Supper is also a family meal, but the family is based upon spiritual birth.
Danny said
“family was based upon physical birth”
That is misleading. By virtue of the fact that those in the covenant community included bought slaves who were circumcised shows that the family was not based on physical birth (Ex. 12:44).
I think a better description is saying that those who are considered in covenant with God are valid recipients of the lord’s supper. The NT makes it clear, however, that those considered in covenant with God must examine oneself before partaking. So even though infants are included in the outward administration of the New Covenant (the church), Paul makes it clear that one must examine oneself. We do not see any example or explicit command to baptize believers only and not baptize children. Therefore, it is not inconsistent to continue the practice unless there is a explicit command to stop based on a radical change in covenant administration.
Brian Thornton said
Hi Danny,
You are right about the the covenant community also including slaves and servants and foreigners under the authority of/who had joined up with the people of Israel. Exodus 12 states:
It appears that once the stranger and all his males were circumcised, though, he was considered to be a descendant of Abraham, since v.48 says, “he shall be as a native of the land.”
To be more accurate, I guess I should say that access and participation in the Passover was determined by who was circumcised and who was not. Every household who’s males had been circumcised were not only allowed, but commanded to participate.
Regarding the NT instruction concerning examination prior to coming to the Table, this is where I think you and other paedos make an assumption that is not in the text. I think the instructions by Paul himself assumes that everyone in the covenant CAN examine himself. Here is what the text says:
Paul does not say, “If someone is not mature enough to examine himself, then he should not be allowed to come to the Table.” Paul is saying, “Before you come to the Table, examine yourself.” There’s a big difference, and I think an interpretation that says Paul is assuming there are some not mature enough yet to examine themselves has to be read into the text.
I think you are also incorrect when you say we do not see any example or explicit command to baptized believers only. Brother, the ONLY examples and commands of whom to baptize we have in the NT are those who have professed faith.
danny said
“To be more accurate, I guess I should say that access and participation in the Passover was determined by who was circumcised and who was not”
Were women and girls excluded then? If not, why not?
“I think you are also incorrect when you say we do not see any example or explicit command to baptized believers only. Brother, the ONLY examples and commands of whom to baptize we have in the NT are those who have professed faith.”
Typo on my part. I meant to say that there is no explicit command to refuse the sign to believer’s children.
Brian Thornton said
Were women and girls excluded then? If not, why not?
No, the context of Exodus 12 is the household, which would include everyone in it.