Remembrance of the Manna in the Wilderness
The Eucharist: Passover Meal or Kiddush Meal?
Why Leaven Bread and not Unleavened
Bread in the Eucharistic Meal?
Michael Daniels Cameronian Covenanter 13th Generation Cameronian Eastern Shore, Maryland ___________
Listopad 7527 Annno Mundi
_______or_______
10th Month 2018 Anno Domini
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“And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 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. 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. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.”
Exodus 12:2-11
Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.“And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day.”
Exodus 16:22-30
“On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover? He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.”
Matthew 26:17-18
“And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover? And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him. And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us. And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.”
Mark 12-16
“Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.”
Luke 7-13
“Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him; Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.”
John 13:1-4
Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.”
John 6: 31:58Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. … The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.”
1 Corinthians 10:1-4,16,17
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Kiddush Meal (Heb. קִדּוּשׁ, lit. “sanctification,” derived from kaddesh (קַדֵּשׁ; lit. “to sanctify”)), prayer recited over a cup of wine and the Challah Bread in the home and the synagogue to consecrate the Sabbath or festival.
The principal Kiddush Meal, is recited in the evening at the beginning of the holy day. The principal Kiddush, recited in the evening at the beginning of the holy day, was instituted on the basis of Exodus 20:8, “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy” (le-kaddesho). The sages of the Talmud interpreted this to mean “remember it, over wine” (Pes. 106a). The primary Kiddush is recited on the eve of the Sabbath or festival before the start of the meal, since it is forbidden to eat on these occasions until Kiddush has been recited (Pes. 105a).
As the Passover Meal is chiefly a Justification Meal and not a Sanctification meal like the Kiddush Meal would be, and remembering God taking us out of bondage of slavery which is sin. The Kiddush Meal is a Sanctification Meal which is our remembrance of God providing for us in the wilderness and striving to conform ourselves to the pattern of God’s laws, the rule of life. It is a remembrance of the shed blood, and that we have been redeemed and not in vain so that we can live to the glory of God. It is a remembrance that God provided the bread in the wilderness to feed us and by it’s symbolism we are spirit feed by the true heavenly bread (John 6:31-58) which is the body of Christ. God also provided drink from the rocks of the Earth so as to quench the thirst of the Israelites and by it’s example and symbolism our spirit is satisfied by the heavenly drink, which is the blood of Christ.
1 Corinthians 10 links the Manna and the Drink in the Wilderness directly to the Eucharist and the body and blood of Christ. After referring to the Baptism of Moses in the Sea of Reeds which is a continuation of our Baptism (Baptism), Paul says:
“And (they) did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.”
So the Manna (Bread) in the wilderness represented the spiritual meat of Christ, his body. Just as the drink in the wilderness represented the spiritual drink of Christ, his blood. Christ in John chapter 6 clearly links the bread from heaven with his body…
The Kiddush meal has been used by Jews at home and at all synagogue meetings during every holy day, both weekly sabbaths and other high holy days. It has been a meal that has been practiced over and over again for over 3000 years without cessation even to this very day. In fact Synagogue worship puts the Kiddush meal at the end of the worship service before the benediction much like Christians churches do with the Eucharist.
There is a remarkable resemblance of the Kiddush Meal to the Eucharist. Both contain a single chalice of wine and loafs of bread with blessings given over both. All come around and sit at the table to consume the Kiddush meal. Both the Eucharist and the Kiddush Meal is a Sanctification Meal. And like the Eucharist it was and is done on a weekly bases on the Sabbath.
Let us look into the Kiddush meal with more detail..
The Kiddush Cup is a silver goblet chalice filled with the blood of the grape which is fermented wine which is blessed and consumed by all who are partaking of the Kiddush Meal. It commemorates the drink that God provided from the rocks in the wilderness.
The Challah are “double loaf” (in Hebrew: lechem mishneh) that commemorates the manna that fell from the heavens when the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years after the Exodus from Egypt. The manna did not fall on the Sabbath or holidays; instead, a double portion would fall the day before the holy day or sabbath.
It recalls the Biblical scene of the manna which the Israelites ate every day following the Exodus from Egypt. When Moses told the people about the manna, he said that it would fall for them every day of the week. However, in deference to the holiness of Shabbat, the manna would not fall on that day. Instead, two portions of manna would fall on Friday, enough for that day and for the Shabbat (Exodus 16:22-26). This is given as the reason for the use of two braided loaves at Shabbat and holiday meals, as the challahs represent the double portion of manna that fell in honor of Shabbat.
Each morning the Israelites found the manna in the fields, encased in two layers of dew to preserve its freshness. Rashi describes the way the manna was found:
“Thus we see that the dew fell upon the ground and the manna fell upon it, and then dew fell again upon this, and so it was as though it were carefully packed in a chest” (Rashi on Exodus 16:13, quoting Mechilta, Yoma 75b).
The time in the wilderness was a historical drama. It was redemptive-historical narrative that represented a greater truth. While we are on this side of glory, we are being tested in the wilderness (Hebrews 3). This is our time in the wilderness and our test when we must trust God by Faith and not by Sight. We must not harden our hearts like they did in the wilderness but we must hear His voice (Hebrews 3) and obey Him.
There are several indications that the Last Supper was not a Passover. First of all, “bread and a drink” sounds a lot like the kiddush ceremony, in which a blessing is offered over wine and bread. This ceremony, in fact, can bear an absolutely uncanny resemblance to a Christian Eucharistic service. Skeptics are urged to actually participate in such a ceremony — the resemblance is striking. Here we have a Jewish ritual meal containing exactly the same elements as are found in a Christian ritual meal.
The next question is what was on the table at Christ’ last meal. We know what was not on the table: any lamb, or any other sacrificed animal. No bitter herbs, etc. We do have some limited evidence on this question, from the gospels and from the extra-biblical traditions that grew into the ritual of the Eucharist. The description of bread and a drink fits the description of what we would expect from the Kiddush Meal.
There is also the issue of timing. Christ was sacrificed according to the Gospel of John on the Day of the Preparation of the Passover (John 19:14) and John 13:21-30 plainly states that the last supper was “before the feast of the Passover”. John 18:28 tells us that “they led Christ from Caiaphas to the Praetorium but the Jews did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.” But the question remains, What are we to do with the accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke that seems to tell us that the last supper was the Passover Meal?
I believe the answer lies in the fact that people only read these accounts superficially without digging deeper or reading the surrounding context verses. Matthew 26:17 does tell us that it was “on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread” but the text is not clear enough on what Matthew is referring to.. On the surface, this appears to contradict John’s account, which plainly states that the Last Supper occurred before the Feast of Passover. However, Mark and Luke add an additional detail that helps clarify the time. Mark says it was “the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover”; Luke states it was “the day of unleavened bread when the Passover must be killed.” Scripture tells us in Exodus 12:6 that the Passover lambs were to be killed “between the evenings” on Nisan 14. Obviously, the day Matthew and Mark call the “first day of unleavened bread” is the same day that John calls “the Preparation Day of the Passover.”
Matthew 27:62 tells us that “on the next day (Nisan 15th), which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate. See also Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54. We are starting to see that all three accounts that there is no contradiction between them and John. But there is still one more nagging verse. Luke 22:15 has been used to support the assertion that the Messiah and his disciples ate the Passover meal.
But had Christ ate the Passover on a day that was NOT prescribed and commanded by God’s law, Christ would be a law breaker and therefore could not be the Messiah. For Christ to be the Messiah He had to keep the law and keep it perfectly. One violation of His Father’s law would disqualify Him from Messiahship. So how do we rectify John’s account.
In this scripture, Christ says “With fervent desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” The Greek and Aramaic translated “With fervent desire I have desired” is epithumia epthumesa. It literally means “with desire I desired”.
The words means: “long to have, and even also be used for forbidden desire”. Christ uses epithumia in this sense in Luke 22:15. It is to be read as an unfulfilled wish. Christ truly longs to eat that coming Passover with his disciples, but his desire could not be realized! It was forbidden because it would have destroyed the plan of God, since Christ was destined to be sacrificed as our Passover lamb on the afternoon before the Passover Meal.
So we can conclude that all the Synoptic Gospels do not conflict with John’s account of the Last Supper when understood correctly. Christ did not eat the Passover Meal but did eat and sanctified the Kiddush Meal which would have been done on the Preparation Night of a Holy Day.
In the very earliest church, the very first Catechism was written called and known as the Didache. It gives a prayer for the minister to recite for the Eucharistic meal. And the prayer goes not to the Passover Seder meal but the remembrance of the Manna that was scattered upon the mountains
“But as touching the eucharistic thanksgiving give ye thanks thus. First, as regards the cup: We give Thee thanks, O our Father, for the holy vine of Thy son David, which Thou madest known unto us through Thy Son Jesus; Thine is the glory for ever and ever. Then as regards the broken bread: We give Thee thanks, O our Father, for the life and knowledge which Thou didst make known unto us through Thy Son Jesus; Thine is the glory for ever and ever. As this broken bread was scattered upon the mountains and being gathered together became one, so may Thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Thy kingdom; for Thine is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for ever and ever. But let no one eat or drink of this eucharistic thanksgiving, but they that have been baptized into the name of the Lord; for concerning this also the Lord hath said: {Give not that which is holy to the dogs.}” -The Didache, (A.D. 50 to 120)
This is not to say that the Eucharist was not instituted during the Passover Season, for surely it did! It just was not the Passover Meal itself but the Kiddush Meal that was consumed on the eve of the Feast of Unleavened Feast, during the Passover Season, during the evenings when the houses were to be cleansed from all leavened which was done by consumption through the Kiddush or Anglicized (Sanctification) Meal. A Blessing that sanctified the holy day(s).
I firmly believe what the Westminster Confession of Faith states:
The sacraments of the Old Testament, in regard of the spiritual things thereby signified and exhibited, were, for substance, the same with those of the New. a. 1 Cor 10:1-4.
The problem is I can not believe that the Messiah would violate the Regulative Principle of Worship by observing the Passover and observing rituals that were not prescribed in Torah such as the 4 cups of wine which would disqualify Him from even being the Messiah in the first place.
I also believe that the Passover and the Eucharist symbolizes two separate things. The Passover symbolizing our Justification and the Eucharist symbolizing our Sanctification.
Notice what 1 Cor. 10 states:
“Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. …
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? …
Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.”
So the Eucharist is being referenced with the Manna in the Wilderness.. And the Eucharist is our Manna in the Wilderness…
The only Parallel connection with the Passover is that the Passover Meal which is distinct with the Passover Sacrifice is that of Christ’s Body being represented. John 6 also talks about Christ’s being our Manna and the Bread of Heaven which feeds and nourishes us in our sanctification and growth in grace.
There is scant references in the New Testament that calls the Eucharist a Passover. But there IS a reference to what the Eucharist was in the Old Testament. In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul links the Manna and the Drink in the Wilderness directly to the Eucharistic Meal and the body and blood of Christ. After referring to the Baptism of Moses in the Sea of Reeds which is a continuation of our Baptism, Paul says: “And (they) did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.” So the Manna (Bread) in the wilderness represented the spiritual meat of Christ, his body. Just as the drink in the wilderness represented the spiritual drink of Christ, his blood. Christ in John chapter 6 clearly links the bread from heaven with his body… This meal eventually became the Kiddush Meal that took place in Synagogue worship and was the Shewbread in the Temple. The Jews partook of this meal every Sabbath, AND at the start of every Holy Feast Day such as the Passover, in their Syangogues and it look remarkably like the Eucharist, In fact there is very little difference. Both were done on a weekly bases, both contain a single chalice of wine and loafs of bread with blessings given over both and all come around and sit at the table to consume meal. It recalls the Biblical scene of the manna which the Israelites ate every day following the Exodus from Egypt.
Of course this does not mean it the Eucharist was not instituted by Christ during the Passover season, it just means that the Eucharist was not the Passover Meal.
There is historical support for this position. Besides the Didache, the Church’s First Catechism in the first century that supports this position that is quoted above.
There was also found a 1500 year old Confession of Faith that was discovered that stated the following,
“’Fear you all who rule over the earth.
‘Know you nations and peoples that Christ is our God.
‘For he spoke and they came to being, he commanded and they were created; he put everything under our feet and delivered us from the wish of our enemies.
‘Our God prepared a sacred table in the desert for the people and gave manna of the new covenant to eat, the Lord’s immortal body and the blood of Christ poured for us in remission of sins.’””
And finally, Richard Sibbes states,
“In the ark was the manna, which was a type of our sacraments, and the testament, which was a type of the word preached, and the rod of Aaron, a type of government; wheresoever is spiritual manna, and the word preached, and the rod of Aaron in the government, there is a true church, though there be many corruptions.” -Richard Sibbes, Divine Meditations and Holy Contemplation, pg. 61
For Christ Crown & Covenant
“Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.”
Mint, Anise, and the Cumin 