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Title: After The Communion And The Passover What next? Pastor Tunde Bakare
Review of last week message:
Through the leading of the Holy Spirit we looked at the events that took place in May, the second month of the Ecclesiastical calendar called Ziv.
*We saw in Numbers 1:1 that God ordered for the census of Israel.
*He subsequently instituted the Passover while they were in Egypt.
*We saw the consequences of this first Passover.
*We learned that the census did by David on his own ran him into trouble.
*We learned that if we know how to trust God and release our mistakes and blunders into His hands He knows how to turn the mistakes into miracles.
*We realized that what started as a blunder by David ended up in locating where the temple of God will eventually be built by Solomon.
*We examined the irregular Passover that took place in Israel.
*We learned that King Hezekiah got away with the irregular Passover because he desired to bring God back to Israel, he cleaned the temple, the Priest humbled themselves and the majority of Israel repented before God. The unusual happened and a constructive heaven opened on them
Message Focus
Looking at the title of today’s message you may be wondering why the communion is put before the Passover. This is because communion took place before Passover happened.
God ordained three major feasts in Israel as a nation. He commanded that all men must appear before Him tree times in a year and must not appear empty handed.
The three feasts are the feast of Passover, the feast of Pentecost and the feast of Tabernacles. There is a divine purpose behind each of the feasts.
We should pray that we have clear understanding of God’s purpose in our life so that what is meant for our good does not turn to evil.
God did not just ordain the feasts for Israel but when our Lord Jesus was here in His earthly ministry he took part in everyone of those feasts and upgraded them.
There must be a reason for it, for He was bringing a new order and did not discard the old. He came to fulfil the law and not to break it.
Introduction To The Book of Isaiah
The book of Isaiah is like a miniature bible. The sixty- six chapters in the book represent the sixty-six books in the entire bible. The first thirty-nine chapters, like the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament are filled with judgment upon immoral and idolatrous men. Judah, the surrounding nations and the whole earth had sinned and God will not allowed such blatant sin to go unpunished forever Isaiah 1:1-20.
The final twenty- seven chapters like the twenty – seven books of the New Testament declare a message of hope that a Messiah is coming a Sovereign and a Saviour to bear a cross and wear a crown.
John 7:1-39 gives the account of how Jesus participated in the feast of Tabernacles and when it was time for Him to release the Holy Spirit upon the earth He waited until the day of Pentecost had fully arrived.
He participated in the feast of Passover Mark 14:12-16.
Jesus is the Passover 1 Corinthians 5:7. The disciples did not know who Jesus was hence they ignorantly, in Mark 14:12 asked the Passover to eat the Passover.
Jesus upgraded the Passover and instituted the Lord’s Supper.
When Jesus Christ told His disciples that one of them would betray Him they were sorrowful.
The reason why the disciples were sorrowful and began to ask Jesus one by one about the status of their loyalty is because there is a seed of betrayal in everyone. Don’t beat your chest that you cannot betray.
Peter did, he boasted and landed himself in deep sorrow and wept sore. Jesus went from the Passover to institute the Lord’s Supper.
A question to ask:
is there a divine purpose for the Passover celebration in Israel and the communion services that were served to the people of God both in the Old and the New Testaments?
If yes, what are the benefits of these celebrations beyond the our imaginable religious quotes and rituals?
Many people participate in baptismal service which is one of the ordinances but would go in as dry sinners and would come out as wet sinners.
In like manner people participate in communion service without understanding the purpose.
The first communion in bible history was served by Melchizedek to Abram Genesis 14:18-20 after the war involving Tidal the king of Nations and other kings.
The war was over resource control.
Melchizedek was a king already the tithe he received from Abram was not for his benefit but for the benefit of Abram Hebrew 7: 1-10.
If Melchizedek had not come at this point to make ethical adjustment in the life of Abram and if Abram intuitively had not responded by giving him tithe of all, the blessing that you think God had already pronounced on Abraham is not automatic.
God will still do what He will do but man has to respond accordingly and do what he needs to do.
When Melchizedek gave Abram the bread, the wine and the cup which was the first communion in the bible Abram responded by giving Melchizedek tithes of the spoils he got from the war.
The less was blessed by the better.
What followed the first communion was Abraham encounter with God and eventual God’s covenant with him Genesis 15.
Don’t walk casually into any communion service and just take part in religious sacrifice or ceremony without preparing for God encounter.
After the first communion came the first Passover under the leadership of Moses in Egypt. It was instituted by God Exodus 12: 1-14.
The second Passover took place at the wilderness of Sinai under the leadership of Moses.
The second Passover was what made room for the fourth Passover that took place in the era of the reign of King Hezekiah 2 Chronicles 30.
The appointed time by God for Passover is the fourteenth day of the first month but king Hezekiah celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month and God permitted him.
How did king Hezekiah get away with the time variation without consequences?
The change of time did not start with Hezekiah but with Moses when the second Passover was celebrated Numbers 9:1-11
We thank God that despite our shortcomings, failures and blunders God still make grace available to include us in the package of Passover celebration.
We are not qualified, He qualified us.
What followed the Passover in the days of Hezekiah was great abundance.
Known to God from eternity are all His works Acts 15:18. Israel sinned against God, they were scattered, went into the diaspora, taken to the nations of the world but by the mercy of God who have included the posterity of Abraham and his descendants in His plan, God ensured that Israel came back and became an independent nation on the fourteenth day of May 1948.
After the second Passover in the wilderness of Sinai the third time Israel observed the Passover celebration was in Canaan Joshua 5 when God commanded Joshua to make flint knives to circumcise the children of Israel who were not circumcised all the time they were in the wilderness this was called the circumcision of the second generation.
After the circumcision and the Passover the following happened:
*The reproach of Egypt was rolled away from them
*Manna ceased because they ate from the produce of the land
*There was an encounter between the Captain of the Lord of host and Joshua, Joshua 5:13-15. Please note that it is the presence of the Lord that makes a place holy
*There was a clear instruction that brought the wall of Jericho down Joshua 6:1-20. Genuine repentance preceded the fourth Passover and the healing of the people came thereafter 2 Chronicles 30.
The Lord Jesus Christ upgraded the Passover and established the Lord’s Supper Hebrew 7: 11-22.
After the communion was the experience at the garden of Gethsemane. Abraham received communion after the battle was over Jesus took communion before the battle began.
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