Exod. 12
Then in Exod. 2:8-10 we get instructions as to what was to be done with the lamb whose life had been given. They were to eat it. What is eating, for instance, eating the flesh of the Son of man, and drinking His blood? To eat a thing, physically, it becomes a part of ourselves. So faith appropriates the death of Christ. Not only sheltered by the blood, but the soul enjoying the One whose blood shelters it.
In Exod. 12 we get who was to eat the passover, and how it was to be eaten; and in Deut. 16:2, where it was to be eaten. In 1 Cor. 5:7 we read, "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." No unconverted person can truly keep the passover-feed upon the death of Christ in the consciousness of being sheltered by the blood.
We are told how they were to eat it in Exod. 12:11; "And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded." We might begin with the 8th verse: "And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof." How beautiful that is!-typical, you know. "And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste; it is the Lord's passover." There we get the how.
Why "not... raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire"? Because it is typical of Christ, the Lamb of God enduring the fire of God's judgment without any mitigation. No water came between the victim and the fire. The head-intelligence; legs-ways; the purtenance affections. All perfect, and the soul feeds on that. The affections of Christ devoted to God. "That which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire." How do you understand that? The feeding on the victim must not be too far separated from its death. All are intimately connected. You get it in the peace offering and the lamb of consecration. It is a very solemn thing for this day. The worship of God's people is now often so far separated from the cross of Christ the ground of worship. Take some popular hymns (I am not finding fault, only calling attention to it), how much do we find in them about the death of Christ for atonement of sin? We have to go back to the old ones for that. How sweetly Watts comes out on that, in:
"Not all the blood of Beasts,
On Jewish altars slain,
Could give the guilty conscience peace,
Or wash away its stain.
"But Christ, the heavenly Lamb,
Took all our guilt away,
A sacrifice of nobler name,
And richer blood than they.
"Our souls look back to see
The burden Thou didst bear,
When hanging on the accursed tree,
For all our guilt was there."
"Alas, and did my Savior bleed?
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head,
For such a worm as I?
"Was it for crimes that I have done,
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
"Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut His glories in,
When the Incarnate Maker died
For man, His creature's sin."
One almost envies that devotedness. That is what I believe we have in "let nothing remain until the morning." They could not gather manna today for tomorrow, except on the sixth day. Then they could gather for two days. If they did that any other day, and kept it over, it bred worms and stank. Every morning and every evening there was the lamb of the burnt offering, and on the Sabbath two. That is, God, in that typical people, that earthly redeemed people, kept ever before Him the coming death of Christ, as the ground of His relationship with them.
The 11Th verse looks like they were prepared to depart. "Thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand." What would that bring before us, eating in that way? How long is the Christian supposed to be in this world? The Christian position is to be ever ready to leave. He has not to gird his loins and put his shoes on, but, "Ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord"- waiting for that word to depart.
"Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." It is an accomplished sacrifice, the Paschal Lamb. "Therefore let us keep the feast" etc. The point in Corinthians is this: The feast is to be kept in consistency with this truth, that Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. What is not consistent with that, is not to be allowed.
Then we are told where they were to eat, in Deut. 16:2: "In the place which the Lord shall choose to place His name there." And for believers in our day, how important it is to keep in mind the Lord's words in Matt. 18:20, "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them."