Connecting the Passover and the Lords Supper

by Frank Klin

In April 2011 a small group of brothers and sisters gathered in the upper room at the Pataha Flour Mill in Washington state for a Lords Supper Passover love feast. To begin our evening the hymn The Passover by F.E. Belden was sung. Before the foot washing and meal certain brethren spoke on different aspects of the service. Brother Frank Klin took some time to remember Passovers past. His thoughts are shared here after the introduction. Brother Steve Lentz gave a thoughtful talk on the importance of selfexamination before entering into the service and Brother Casey Reiswig expounded on the ordinance of humility that brought out deeper meaning. After the love feast Brother Philip Garber lead out with thoughts on Gethsemane, the broken bread and cup of redemption. Before the service ended there were heartfelt testimonies and praises for the guidance, blessing and providence of our Father in heaven. We went out singing the hymn Blest Be The Tie knowing that we were bonded closer to each other and our Saviour. And (Pharaoh) called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said [This] is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. - (Exodus 12:31, 42) The history of Israel is written in Scripture for our benefit. This is that night when long ago in Egypt an innocent lamb was slain and the blood sprinkled on the door-posts of those who wanted to be passed over by the Lords angel of destruction. A meal was eaten in haste and a peculiar people, a chosen generation became free from those who had enslaved them. As a part of spiritual Israel it is such a blessing to be observing Passover, and the Lords Supper with each of you. Weak vessel that I am, would like to take a few minutes to

reflect on past Passover experiences from Scripture. Whether the words shared are new or a review, may our Father in heaven use them to establish or re-affirm our faith and give us hope for His eternal future. Last year was my first celebration of Passover when I didnt really have a good understanding of its significance for my life. Prior to that it was only relevant as a story from Scripture, a story that began with the Exodus from Egypt and ended with Christ and the last Passover supper with the disciples. End of story? Passover has more meaning and significance this year because of deeper study. For me this is just the beginning. Im discovering more and more that Passover and the other Appointed Times of Gods calendar are by no means irrelevant today. There are doubters, naysayers and mockers. Some here have been subjected to scorn and ridicule for daring to observe the feasts of the Lord. For me it has been a blessing to understand more fully that searching the Scriptures will give us truth on what it means to observe Biblical law today. Let me read some favourite verses in Malachi, Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. (Malachi 4:4-6) After quoting those same verses in the Southern Watchman, Ellen White made the statement, The closing words of Malachi are a prophecy regarding the work that should be done preparatory to the first and the second advent of Christ. {The Southern Watchman, March 21, 1905 par. 1} Have recently returned from Georgia where I attended the Turning the Hearts retreat where the Elijah message was our focus. I truly believe we are turning the heart of the children to the fathers by being here at this memorial. It is interesting to note that John the Baptist, the type of Elijah who prepared the way for Christs first coming, was born on Passover. Our Messiah was born six months later during the Feast of Tabernacles so He could dwell among His people as God with us. After the fall God could no longer tabernacle with us as before. A relationship had been broken. In all ages since the fall He has been calling to us because we no longer know who we are in the Father and the Son as our identity has been lost or forgotten. Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Spirit of Christ (2nd Peter 2:21 & 1st Peter 1:11) to point us to our Redeemer who became the Word to show us the way back home and remind us of our identity as precious sons and daughters of our Father in heaven. The children of Israel are an example of identity lost. After 400+ years of Egyptian bondage and influence the majority had forgotten the truth as it is in their heavenly Father. He sends them a redeemer through Moses, a type of Christ, who was to deliver His people from slavery. Moses received instructions from the I Am what to say to Pharaoh. Listen to the account recorded in Exodus chapter 5, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel

go. And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God; lest He fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. (Exodus 5:1-3) While Pharaoh was unsubmissive the call was sounded throughout the land of Goshen. I liken it to the voice of a trumpet from Revelation 18:4, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. Can you imagine the soul searching and self-examination in those days and hours that led up to the pre-exodus Passover? Those who heeded the call to come out made the necessary preparations and celebrated the appointed feast under duress. Every detail of that night gave pause for reflection and also pointed forward to future fulfillment in the seed of promise. It was at midnight that the Lord delivered His people and in haste they came out of Egypt with great substance and received none of her plagues. Pharaohs identity was wrapped up in elevating himself to the position of a god. He hardened his heart and would not acknowledge our Father as the God of heaven. Because of his obstinate attitude the judgments of pestilence and sword fell upon Pharaoh and his people. In their newfound freedom the children of Israel needed to rediscover their identity and relationship. Throughout the exodus, the Father, through Christ, tells the chosen ones who He is and how He wants to be their God and personally tabernacle among and dwell in them. As their Father He reminds them of His channel of blessing and their duties to Him and to each other by giving them the laws of His kingdom: commandments, statutes, judgments, precepts, and ordinances. In the statutes Scripture records special occasions, throughout the year, that the Father personally requested to meet with His people. These convocations have been and continue to be landmarks in the plan of salvation that also nourish Gods people physically, and as the blessing flows from the Father through the Son our spiritual health is rejuvenated and revitalized with each gathering. There is further significance because just like the faithful throughout history we as a congregation and body of His people are likened to a chaste virgin without spot or wrinkle who have been invited to have communion, fellowship and quality time with her future husband, the only begotten Son of God, several times annually, once a month and weekly every seventh day on the Sabbath. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body of Christ. - (Colossians 2:16-17) We know from Scripture that there will be another fulfillment of Passover in the plan of salvation. The bride will have washed her robe in the blood of the Lamb and will be wearing the wedding garment of Christs righteousness when He comes again. The redeemed will be passed over and rise to meet the Lord in the air while the wicked parish at the brightness of His coming. Tonight, as the bride and body of Christ we are in rehearsal for a glorious shadow of things to come, the wedding supper of the Lamb.

To help us remember our marriage covenant and duty to the Bridegroom, the law with the commandments, statutes, judgments, precepts and ordinances have been written in a book. (Hold out the Scriptures) Please turn to Deuteronomy chapter 30 and we will see the importance of the Book of the Law. Im going to read verse 6 and then 9-14. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as He rejoiced over thy fathers: if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. Though we as the chosen bride have promised to do all that our heavenly Father asks, we have a tendency to try and keep His laws, statutes and judgments in our own strength. We will be unable to follow through if we have not allowed Jesus, through His Spirit, to write His words in our hearts. In the days of the children of Israel this neglect eventually caused the people to rebel against their heavenly King, follow their own desires and go after other gods. They had again forgotten who they were. Identity lost, relationship severed. Scripture records in Judges 17:6, In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. We do the same when our identity is wrapped up in self exaltation. Lives in the nation of Israel spiraled out of control, and the people again desired a king to rule over them. They feared Him who they believed was an invisible God that spoke only amidst thunderings, lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet from a smoking and burning mountain. They wanted a representation of God in the flesh, one they could see like those of the heathen nations around them. Scripture records the chronicles of those kings and throughout their history a relationship with and identity in the Father was on a fast track to annihilation. One of the kings, Jeroboam, set up his own counterfeit feast and system of false worship. A prophet of the true God visits Jeroboam at one of his idolatrous altars and puts the king under condemnation prophesying that a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name, who would return the people to worship of the one true God. The name Josiah means founded; set; fixed; established; begun and built-by Jehovah. Three hundred years later the prophecy is fulfilled. During the reign of Josiah a book is found. The way I remembered the story from childhood is that he simply found the 10 commandments. No, this was the Book of the Law spoken by God and written by Moses. This is where the Scripture has come alive to

me in just the past few months as deeper study has helped me understand more of the significance of the feasts and how they apply to our lives today. Upon hearing the words of the book Josiah rends his clothes in an act of repentance and submission. It was moving and inspirational to know that reading the Book of the Law could have such a powerful and humbling affect. Josiah then read all the words of the book to the people. Like those who heard Peters sermon on the day of Pentecost were pricked in their hearts, a majority hearing the Book of the Law repented and turned from their wicked ways. Revival and reformation sweeps through the kingdom and this battle in the war for identity was won on the Lords side. Josiah and the people cleanse the land of anything related to false worship thereby re-establishing the worship and government of heaven, and the kingmade a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. (2nd Chronicles 34:31) Now turn to Deuteronomy chapter 6 and we will read some of the words from the Book of the Law that Josiah read to the people. Well begin with verse 4, (to verse 9) Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words (the commandments, statutes and judgments), which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. Did you notice the Passover language? Because of Christs sacrifice on the cross we no longer apply literal blood on the doorposts of houses or eat a literal Passover lamb. With our bodies being the temple or dwelling place of the Holy Spirit we show we have love for our Father when we allow Him to write the book of the law on the posts and gates of our hearts. His words are written upon our minds as frontlets between our eyes bringing about right thinking. They will also be a sign in our hand as we show others by our actions what is written in our heart. Like Josiah before Him, we know of another prophesied child born unto the house of David who was to be King. Notice how Scripture records the importance of Passover in the beginning of Jesus ministry. And the Jews Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: and when He had made a scourge of small cords, He drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not My Fathers house an house of merchandise. (John 2:13-16) Our Messiah had no need to remove the leaven of sin from his own heart, but he did have a temple, His Fathers house of prayer, to cleanse by removing the leaven of sin and idolatry that dwelt there.

After Josiah and the people turn their heart to the Father and Jesus cleanses the temple in His day, on both accounts there is a glorious celebration of the feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread. But the priests of the apostate church in Josiahs day would not repent of their evil and refused to go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem. The Pharisees, merchants and moneychangers in Jesus day were no better. They went right back to their corrupt system of worship not recognizing that the very Son of God was in their midst to be an example and bring them back to His Father. They refused to identify Jesus as a higher authority claiming, as did Pharaoh in Egypt, that they did not know Him. Rebellion always results in loss of identity. Repentance, revival and reformation comes as the Living Word found in the Book of the Law is written on our hearts. The road to regaining our identity and relationship continues by following the footsteps of our ultimate example when He tabernacled among us. He knew the paths to dwell in and showed us the way. Ellen White states, Christ is the Good Shepherd, with earnest, unwearied steps seeking for the lost sheep. He attended the great yearly festivals of the nation, and to the multitudes, absorbed in outward ceremony, He spoke of heavenly things, bringing eternity within their view. He gained the attention of high and low, rich and poor. To all He brought treasures from the storehouse of wisdom. He delighted and comforted the poor and lowly with the assurance of God's love for them. He spoke to them in language so simple that they could not fail to understand, and His words lifted their minds to the heavenly Father, full of grace and tenderness. {Letter 164, 1902, 21MR 99.1} The Passover at the end of Jesus ministry is full of importance and significance. Sister White comments, The innocent lamb slain in Egyptprefigured the sinless Lamb of God, whose merits can alone avert the judgment and condemnation of fallen man. The Saviour had been obedient to the Jewish law, and observed all its divinely appointed ordinances. He had just identified himself with the paschal lamb as its great antitype, by connecting the Lord's supper with the Passover. {Spirit of Prophecy Volume 3, 128.1} We are given the same opportunity to connect the Lords Supper with the Passover. Note how Jesus in Luke chapter 22 said to the disciples that He "desired to eat this passover" with them before He suffered. He then specifically says "I will not eat thereof" (Passover any more) "until it be fulfilled in the kingdom", nor would He "drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God comes." Isnt it wonderful that He instituted the communion meal as a reminder, among other things, of the first meal (Passover) He will share with us in Heaven? As often as we do it here until He comes, it is in remembrance of Him both for His sacrifice in the past and for the future fulfillment with Him in Heaven. Our Bridegroom is here tonight to speak to us of heavenly things in a language so simple that we cannot fail to understand, and to bring eternity within our view if we will let Him. How do we know this? It is on these, His own appointments, that He meets with and energizes His people by His personal presence All whokeep in view the true tabernacle and service, which the Lord pitched and not man, will never fail to derive benefit from every discourse given, and spiritual strength from every communion. {Advent Review & Sabbath Herald, May 31, 1898 par. 12} Scripture confirms that Christ is here. On that night of the last Passover Jesus shared with His disciples we have the beautiful discourse in John chapters 14-17 of the relation of the Father and the Son to us. I do not believe it was coincidence that this discourse

was given at Passover. Here it is that Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. He then promised to send the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth that dwells in all the fulness of the Godhead whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but, Jesus continued, ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to himand My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him. (John 14:20-21, 23) In these last days there is a call from Heaven inviting you to keep the statutes and ordinances of the Lord. The world has set at naught the law of Jehovah; but God will not be left without a witness to His righteousness, or without a people in the earth to proclaim His truth They are in harmony with that law that rests in the ark in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. The whole duty of man is summed up in its sacred precepts. {Signs of the Times, February 3, 1888 par. 5} Do you hear another voice in heaven? It is giving the same exodus call given to ancient Israel, come out of her my people. Come out from walking according to the course of this world in slavery and bondage to the flesh and carnal mind. Come out from the influence of the prince and power of the air, and his spirit that now works in the children of disobedience, who has elevated himself to the position of god and makes the same claim as Pharaoh in Egypt, Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let the captives go free? The Prince of Darkness with his Leviathan and Behemoth cohorts will have nothing in us when we humble ourselves as servants of the living God, eat the body and drink the blood of Christ so that the Father and Son can make Their abode in us as the temple of Their Spirit. While the bridegroom has tarried, weve all slumbered and slept. The night is far spent, the day is at handcast off the works of darkness, andput on the armour of light. (Romans 13:12) knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. - (Romans 13:11) I pray that tonight our heart will be turned towards our Father in heaven. We welcome Jesus, the Son and Bridegroom, to be here with us by His Spirit as we rehearse the wedding supper of the Lamb. If there is an identity war going on in your life right now, pray that your Kinsman Redeemer will teach you to love His law so that at midnight when the cry is made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; we, His bride, will go out to meet Him and go with Him into the marriage and the wedding feast. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.-(1st John 1:3)