March-April 2005
- The Lord’s Supper: Annual commemoration of our Lord’s death
- The Only Begotten Son: Jesus, the first and last direct creation of God
- Bible Question Box: • Why did Jesus have to experience death? • The Resurrection • No tales — no fire to put out!
- Controlling Yourself: The importance of self-control
- Features: Mail Box, Announcements
The Passover was a Jewish feast kept yearly, and it is still observed as a commemoration of their remarkable deliverance under the tenth plague upon Egypt — the passing over or sparing from death of the firstborn of the Israelites. The circumstances as narrated in Ex. 12: 1-51 — the setting aside and slaying of the lamb, the sprinkling of its blood on the headers and the doorposts, the roasting of its flesh with fire, and the eating of its roasted flesh with bitter herbs and unleavened bread while the eaters stood, girded and shod, and with staves in their hands, ready to depart out of Egypt for the Land of Promise — Canaan — are doubtless familiar to most of our readers.
Also, many know the antitypical meaning of these things which were but types: Jesus “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1: 29); “Christ our Passover,” who was set aside for death and sacrificed not for the Church exclusively but also for the world of mankind (1 John 2: 2). The doorposts and headers represented Divine justice for those Christians who are sprinkled with the blood of our Lamb — Jesus’ merit, and how they feast by faith on His broken body. It was by His sacrificed life and shed blood that effected better things for the Church — those of that High Calling as pilgrims and strangers, not making Egypt (this present evil world) their home, but with their feet shod and with staffs in their hands were intent on their journey to their promised land, east of the Jordan, the spiritual phase of the Kingdom. The “bitter herbs” represented the bitter experiences and trials of life which were needful and tended to sharpen their appetites for the unleavened bread (truth and sincerity in their purity — leaven being a type of sin, error, selfishness, and worldliness (Matt. 13: 33; 16: 6-12; Mark 8: 15; 1 Cor. 5: 7, 8), and for the eating of the Lamb, who said: “Unless you eat [by faith] the flesh of the Son of Man [partake of the merit of His perfect humanity] . . . and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (John 6: 53).
In this way the members of Christ’s Bride participated with their Lord all during the Gospel Age of nearly 2,000 years, in the sacrifice of the sin-offering for the alleviation of sin. They therefore partook of Jesus as their Lamb — making use by faith in Jesus’ Ransom merit for their deliverance to the heavenly realm which we believe has already been accomplished for them.
JESUS’ DEATH WAS ON TIME
Jesus died on the fourteenth of Nisan, the very day that the Passover lamb was killed, in fulfillment of the type — the death of the lamb (Ex. 12: 5, 6) and how fitting it is that all Christians, not only those who were participants in the High Calling privileges of the past, but those of us living now should commemorate the day on which “the Lamb of God” died! We certainly have much more interest in this day than have the Jews of today, “Israel after the flesh,” who recognize only the type. Then, while we keep the feast daily — partaking by faith of the merit of Christ and of His Word of Truth, is it not a great pleasure and a beautiful way to commemorate our Lord’s death on its anniversary?
BROKEN BODY AND SHED BLOOD
We understand that it was our Lord’s wish that this day be observed annually in remembrance of Him, and that He instituted what is termed, “the Lord’s supper” (1 Cor. 11: 20), of unleavened bread and the cup, the fruit of the vine — emblems of His broken body and shed blood, our antitypical Passover Supper — as a substitute for the annual Jewish observance of the type. Everything connected with it seems to show that this was His intention. He kept the Jewish Passover every year, and at the last one, on the night in which He was betrayed, He said: “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22: 15). What Jesus commemorated was the killing of the Passover lamb and not the “Feast of Passover” which followed it for seven days. The Jews at that time kept both, but particularly the latter. (They do not now, and have not for a long time, commemorated the killing of the Passover lamb, but the feast only.)
It was the last time that Jesus commemorated the killing of the typical lamb, and then He gave Himself as the real sacrifice. When He had instituted the new, the antitypical supper remembrancers, the bread and the cup, instead of the old, the typical annual lamb, He gave them to His disciples and said: “This do in remembrance of me [keep no longer the type or shadow but use these new emblems to commemorate Me — the antitype]” (Luke 22: 19). “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death [not the death of the typical lamb in Egypt] till he come [until the kingdom is established and the type is completed by the passing over, or sparing, of all the firstborn overcomers, the Church and the ultimate deliverance of the entire household of faith]” (1 Cor. 11: 26).
The killing of the antitypical Passover Lamb, Christ’s death, can be remembered at no time so appropriately as on the regular annual anniversary, the evening of the fourteenth day of Nisan, the first month, lunar time (Ex. 12: 2-8; Lev. 23: 5; Num. 9: 13; 28: 16), regardless of which day of the week it may come. According to God’s reckoning (Gen. 1: 5, 8, etc.), the “evening,” the night period of a 24-hour day, beginning at 6 p.m., precedes its “morning,” or day period. [This year the fourteenth of Nisan begins at 6 p.m., March 22 — Ed.] The feast of seven days’ eating of unleavened bread which followed, represents the continuous, perfect, and everlasting feast of the Christian life which we enjoy after and because of partaking of Christ our ransom, seven being typical of perfection.
Some Christians observe the Lord’s Supper every Sunday, usually in the morning, and claim that their custom is based on the oft-repeated mention in Acts of the “breaking of bread,” e.g., “upon the first day of the week, when the disciples were come together to break bread” (Acts 20: 7). They overlook the fact that in the days of the Apostles, bread-breaking was of necessity a frequent occurrence, and there is no mention of the cup in any of these instances, whereas the cup constitutes as important a feature in the Memorial as the bread. In addition, none of these meetings on the first day of the week were ever called “the Lord’s supper” or by any name that should lead us to the conclusion that they were observances of it.
SUNDAY RESURRECTION DAY
There are several reasons why “The Lord’s Day,” the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, would not in its “day” portion, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., be at all appropriate for the commemoration of His death, the principal one being that “the first day,” or “Lord’s Day,” was instituted and used to commemorate an event the very opposite in its character, viz., the resurrection of our Lord. The institution of the Memorial of His death was after 6 p.m., hence was in the “night” and was called a “supper,” not a breakfast (1 Cor. 11: 20, 23). On the other hand, the commemoration of His resurrection was observed in the daylight hours. The one was in a night of weeping and sorrow, while the other was in a morning of joy and rejoicing, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed.” The night was a type of the Gospel-Age time of suffering, while
the day was a type of the bright Millennial Day, in which the Body members were resurrected very early in the beginning of that day and have now been raised to the spirit realm.
JOYFUL EXPERIENCE TO BREAK BREAD
After Jesus had risen from the dead He appeared to the disciples frequently, if not invariably, on the “first day” of the week, and on several occasions made Himself known to them in the breaking of bread at their ordinary meal. Upon the organization of the Church, what would be more reasonable than to suppose that they would set apart the first day, as especially a day for meeting with each other and with Him, and that they, because of coming from distances, as well as because He had thus revealed Himself first, would arrange for partaking of their food together on that day? But this was always a day of joy, as the other was properly a night of sympathizing grief. The proper observance of the Lord’s Supper, like that of baptism, seems to have been lost sight of during papacy’s reign. This one doubtless was made void to allow for the deathbed administration of the “so-called sacrament,” which was supposed to keep the dying person from hell, to aid them in getting out of purgatory, etc. Protestants have not generally given the subject much attention, using the words, “as often as you drink it” (1 Cor. 11: 25), as authority for observing the Lord’s Supper at any convenient time. Jesus’ words really signify this: As often as you, my disciples (all of whom as Jews are accustomed to keeping the typical Passover annually on its anniversary, Nisan 14, at night), keep this Passover supper, do it in remembrance — not of the type, but of the antitype — Me. We do not say that a sin is committed by an untimely observance, but we do say that the observance of it as instituted by Jesus, in place of the annual Jewish Passover Supper, is the most appropriate and commemorative time.
Above we have given briefly an account of the Memorial. As further aids to preparation for participation in it, we would suggest that our readers study “The Passover of the New Creation,” Chapter XI in Volume 6 of Studies in the Scriptures. May the Lord richly bless our preparation for and participation in the coming Memorial!
MODERN JEWISH PASSOVER CELEBRATION
As already shown, the Memorial Supper Jesus instituted to commemorate Him annually as the Lamb of God, our Passover, that “takes away the sin of the world” (John 1: 29, 36), was founded upon and typed by the annual Jewish Passover Supper, which commemorated the original Passover celebration in Egypt. Thus the Lord’s Memorial Supper, the antitype, supplants the annual Jewish Passover Supper. During the many centuries since the institution of the Scriptural observance of the Passover under the Mosaic Law, and even since the antitype has supplanted the type, the Jews continue to observe the annual Passover. Jesus said that they made the word of God of none effect through tradition (Mark 7: 8, 9, 13). Some of such traditions have attached to their annual Passover observance. The following letter (written to a newspaper), which gives a description of the modern-day observance of the Jewish Passover, may be of interest to our readers:
Dear Editor,
Passover, the spring festival of the Jewish people, signifies both the birth of a free Jewish nation and the return of spring. It begins on the 15th day of Nisan (Hebrew calendar) and lasts for eight days. The Hebrew word “Passach” literally means “act of passing over” — for according to the Bible, the “Angel of Death” passed over the homes of the Jews when he slew the firstborn in the homes of the Egyptians. The festival is also called “Z’man Cheruthenu” (the season of our freedom) because it commemorates the emancipation of their ancestors from Egyptian bondage. It is also frequently designated as Hag-Ha-Mazzoth, the feast of unleavened bread, reminding the Jews that in the hasty departure of the Israelites from Egypt they had no time to wait until the dough could ferment, but had to prepare their cakes from the unleavened dough.
Passover is chiefly a home festival and therefore the most important of the services incident thereto are celebrated in the home. This Passover feast called the Seder (observed on the first two nights of the festival) is always elaborately kept. The “Hagada” containing the whole story of the bondage and redemption is minutely repeated by the head of the family and explained to all the members of the household. It begins with a series of four questions which the youngest boy or girl on seeing the strange preparation, asks the head of the family. The whole of the Hagada constitutes an answer to these questions.
On the table are usually arranged all the silver dishes that the family possesses; this is remembrance of the fact that the Jews are now free men. The matzoh is prominently displayed. In a plate in the center of the table is kept a piece of roast bone in remembrance of the sacrifice offered in the temple on the first day of the holiday; a cupful of charosheth, a mixture of wine apples and nuts, to recall the mortar with which their forefathers toiled when they built the store-cities for Pharaoh; and some bitter herbs or vegetables, to commemorate the fact that their lives were made bitter in slavery.
At the conclusion of the “Seder,” the well-known “Chad Gadya,” “The Only Kid,” is sung. This is an allegory describing various events in Jewish history. Thus for example, the “only kid” is said to represent the Jewish nation, which God chose from among all other people to be the bearers of His message. The “dog,” which is mentioned in the song, is said to be Persia; the “fire” is Rome, which conquered Greece, and so forth.
Prominently displayed on the table is the cup of wine set aside for the Prophet Elijah. In Jewish folklore, Elijah is the protector of the Jewish people, and the man who will announce the coming of the Messiah. It is for that reason that a cup of wine, a symbol of welcome, is always set aside for him.
And so year after year the Seder is repeated in the Jewish home, the symbols upon the table each commemorative of the ancient story. What was the great power that awakened a longing for freedom in a horde of slaves under Pharaoh? What was there that aroused 600,000 serfs (2,000,000), ever obedient, to rise like one man and rebel against that tyranny? It was a longing for freedom; the desire to express their innermost convictions which were pent up within their souls for nearly 400 years suddenly broke loose. That stored-up longing for a land, for independence, found an outlet with the coming of a leader, Moses, who stirred them to action. They threw off their shackles of bondage. They became a free people, God’s people. Passover recalls to the Jew and the world not only a great past, but points out the way also to the future. Israel was redeemed. Israel will again be redeemed. Israel was master in “Eretz Yisrael.” Israel is on the way to become so again.
As we read of this modern day Passover of the Jews, it shows how far they have degenerated from the God-given account in the book of Exodus. Here we are 3,620 from that original Passover and deliverance from Egyptian bondage under Moses who was a type of their greater promised Messiah: The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him shall you hear” (Deut. 18: 15, 18; Acts 3: 22). They are still looking for Him, having missed His presence when He came right in their midst at His first Advent. They failed to throughly study and understand the prophetic statements relating to their coming Deliverer as presented in the Law, Writings, and the Prophets. Their false pride prevented them from recognizing their Messiah in the person of the lowly Jesus.
In a more happy mode we wish to point out that the Old Testament prophecies indicate that the peoples of Israel as their attitudes change toward acceptance of Jesus as their Messiah, their God will forgive their mistakes and they will once again receive the blessings of Jehovah (Zech. 12: 9, 10; John 19: 37). They have already begun to have a change of mind in their leaders beginning in 1878 and gradually progressing to where
they are now a separate and distinct nation since 1948. Israel’s world position will continue to improve as they assume their leader position among the nations during the Millennial Kingdom as it is stated by the Apostle: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Rom. 1: 16).
IN OLDEN TIMES cities filled the role of places of refuge — where the inhabitants of the surrounding countryside could go for protection. When the earth was less populous and the necessity for a strong government was less, any marauding band was likely to take possession of whatever was out in the open and unprotected. So the cities of ancient times had strong fortified walls. This was true, we remember, of Jerusalem and Jericho. It was true of ancient Troy, and also true of cities in Europe. But as improved forms of government were adopted with security provisions in place, cities no longer needed protecting walls to such a degree. The police nowadays constitute a wall of protection. Our text is referring to a wall such as was formerly used, and to a city which had become dilapidated and the wall broken down. King Solomon gives this as a picture of a human being who has no rule over his own mind or will. He is unable to protect himself against evil influences from within or without, as a result of having allowed his will to be broken down.
What is self-control? Self-control is the strength of character whereby through firmness of mind we rule ourselves in well-doing. It does not include all kinds of character strength — it is that particular kind that manifests itself in firmness, resoluteness of will, strongly fixed in the direction of one’s determination to do good.
All are born with more or less of strength of will. Some have this in a very marked degree, others in a lesser degree; perhaps almost no one is wholly without this quality of will power and purpose, unless their wills have been invaded by evil spirit beings (Matt. 12: 22). But whether our wills are strong or weak they need direction and boundaries for areas in which they should not tread. Lessons in the directing of our wills come from various quarters. In our day, for instance, we have the laws of government, in city, state, and country which direct the people as to what we may do and may not do — particularly what we may not do. As one looks into the source and history of these laws, he finds that they represent the accumulated will of a long period. Generally speaking, mankind today has many good laws. The problem is not so much the quality of the law, but rather lack of means to enforce it. Although very good laws may be made, yet some people ignore the law. A jury may set aside the law in a special case. A judge may pervert the law. Thus things that are unlawful can become a practice of an individual, a town, or a city. To cultivate in one’s self a lawless disposition as is displayed for instance by a terrorist, is to cultivate the spirit of anarchy — a spirit of indifference to the rights and interests of others. There are some who manifest reasonable respect for the laws of society because necessity or public opinion makes it impossible or inadvisable to do otherwise — although they at heart are anarchists as regards the Law of God, the great Law-giver of the Universe.
A PERVERSION OF SOUND JUDGMENT
To investigate this subject along another line, let us consider what calamities might result if we were to yield ourselves to passion, and its intense power were to control us by emotion rather than the reasoning of the mind — we would possibly lose control to evil, allowing this influence to sweep over us and master us, devastating our Christian stand for truth, righteousness, or both. This passion can take the form of lust or intense anger or hate. The weak-minded have their limitations; the strong-minded have the excess of power and are more potent for evil if overcome. We hear many say, when they have lost control of their temper, or have been morose or ill-natured or discourteous: “Well, that’s my way; I do not mean any harm.” They acknowledge the matter and seek to justify themselves by saying that it is natural to them. In contradiction to this, no human being should live according to what is natural to his or her fallen imperfect nature. An example of this is homosexuality, condemned by God but seemingly justified by medical research in that persons are born with homosexual tendencies (Rom. 1: 26, 27; Lev. 18: 22, 23). Undoubtedly such research is genuine, in fact, research is shedding light on the myriad physical and mental problems due to mankind’s fallen condition, and in many cases has been of help to man. All are born with varying degrees of physical and mental derangement through the operation of sin in the human family. Some are brought into the world with tendencies toward kleptomania, murder, robbery, and the many variations of immorality. Does their condition justify a degraded life style in crime? Should we tell the bank robber: “Oh, too bad you inherited through imperfection your desire to rob banks, but you can’t help it,” so we give him a pat on the back and say: “Continue right on in your trade of robbery” — or does common sense and the law step in and through discipline, counseling, and rehabilitation help him to correct the criminal behavior. Should not immoral perversions, including homosexuality, be treated in the same way as other acts, and should we not seek to correct the behavior of those involved?
WHY DO WE NEED SELF-CONTROL?
Let us consider some of the advantages of attaining and retaining self-control. It prevents our becoming spiritual wrecks by enabling us to repel the attacks of evil. This is what our heading text describes: “A person without self-control is as defenseless as a city with broken- down walls.”
A being created in the image of God and still retaining some traces of his original Godlikeness should live above the plane of the lower animals which follow merely their natural instincts and passions. Some people seem to glory in what they are pleased to term their high spirit, which will always stand up for their “rights.” They are not as weak and childish as to let anybody run over them! If they do not like what others do or say, they will tell just what they think of the others. Oh, how the great Adversary and his hosts, together with the perverse fallen nature, can deceive and mislead and blind the judgment that is not guided and instructed by the only true Guide — the Word of God! How they can make that which is noble and truly strong and Godlike appear weak and childish — and make that which is weak, base, selfish, and animal appear strong and manly!
CORRECT STANDARDS NEED TO REGULATE
The inclinations, the impulses, and the preferences of the fallen nature are often contrary to that which is right, noble, and truly desirable. All should be regulated by some standard. The Law of God is the very highest standard of law. And the spirit of God’s Law is embodied in the Golden Rule (Matt. 22: 37-39). This standard the whole world recognizes as right, and surely the Lord’s people should measure all their conduct and their words, even their thoughts, by this standard. By doing this they will be rulers over their own spirit. The word spirit in the text under consideration represents the mind, the impulses of one’s nature. We are to rule our mind, our natural impulses. This means that if a thought presents itself to the mind, or if we feel a certain impulse, we should be quick to perceive the nature of the thought or impulse, and if it is not in harmony with the principles of righteousness or with our covenant as children of God, we should at once resist it. If our will power gives way and no self-control is exercised, Satan can devastate every good quality we have developed so far. To save us from such devastation, to make secure for us the results of our past efforts, it is necessary that we exercise self-control. It will prevent ruination of our hearts and minds and enable us to repel the attacks of evil.
Another advantage of having self-control is that we will be able to destroy the evil that is in us. One who takes a symbolic city of the mind skillfully overcomes sustained defenses and destroys its wall of depravity, houses of evil qualities, and soldiers of sin, error, selfishness, and worldliness. This is the greatest of all victories. This symbolical warfare of the mind requires above all, self-control, then perseverance, executive ability, finally wisdom, justice, and love of the highest order, and therefore makes one greater than one who takes a natural city. By it we are enabled to lessen the hold evil habits or besetting sins have on us. Because we desire greater freedom, this grace is the regulator and director we will need, every day and every hour
If we are unable to do this successfully of ourselves, as is often the case, we should promptly lift our hearts to the Lord for His promised grace to help in time of need. If we feel an impulse toward a certain action or course, we should carefully weigh the matter, and decide as to its righteousness or propriety in the circumstances, looking to our unfailing Source of help and guidance. The world would say that this is too exacting — that they would have more pleasure in doing their own will. This is a subterfuge, for in doing their own will, they frequently get into difficulty. A Christian has covenanted not to follow his own will. He has given up his own will and has taken the will of God instead. The more advanced the Christian, the more ability should there be to rule the spirit — “casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought” to the will of God in Christ. And if we rule our mind, our thoughts, we will rule our tongue.
If the thought were not in the mind, the tongue would not utter it. There is a grave danger of saying things, or of doing things under a momentary impulse, that our heart, our consecrated judgment, would not approve, hence the necessity of bringing our thoughts and impulses into subjection. We are to consider, what would be the effect of our words or actions upon another? Would it be an injury or cause needless pain for me to say or do this thing, or would it therefore be all right? By scrutinizing one’s self, by taking ourselves in hand and ruling our spirit, we as children of God are showing our earnest desire of heart to be pleasing to the Lord and true to our covenant to Him. And those who learn to rule their own spirit according to the will of the Father are the ones whom He will be pleased to make partakers with His Son in the earthly or heavenly phase of His Kingdom.
HOW TO ATTAIN STRENGTH OF CHARACTER
In what way can a Christian cultivate this control of his own will? At first the individual has not the power to control himself in everything, but as he learns to exercise self-control in the little things, more and more doing what he can, he will gain strength of character. How do we proceed? By fixing the will firmly after making proper resolutions, and by firmly adhering to them, by forming the habit of saying with resoluteness, “I will! I will! I will!” Therefore brethren, we must be firm, standing for the right and not wavering from our resolution: I am determined that I will do right and not wrong. Subjecting our heart and mind to the influence of God’s Word, and by holding its instructions upon our hearts and minds, we will bring Divinely charged energy to bear for our benefit. As set forth in the Scriptures, let us learn from the examples of our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus as they met adverse conditions with self-control.
We would remember the story of the man who wished to develop his muscles, and began to practice each day by lifting a calf. He commenced when the calf was very young, and he lifted it day by day for weeks and months. In due time the calf became an ox, and he was then able to lift the ox. His daily practice had gradually strengthened his muscles. They increased in strength with the increase in the weight of the animal, until he was strong enough to lift the full-grown ox. And so with the Christian in his character development: if we daily practice self-control, we shall gradually attain a strong character along this line, which will be of inestimable advantage to us in our Christian warfare. The cultivation of self-control should properly begin in one before birth, yes, at the time of conception. The mother should practice self-control, that this disposition might be impressed upon the mind of her unborn child, that thus it might enter the world in a much more favorable condition. And this disciplined spirit will grow under the proper training of the parent, so that the child, approaching adulthood, will be able to exercise more natural self-control. These. if they become children of God, will make very noble Christians indeed. They will be strong in the Lord and be helpful to others. But all have not had this natural advantage, and must battle the more determinedly.
MORAL STRENGTH MORE DESIRABLE THAN PHYSICAL
There is no place where the proof of our ability to rule our spirit is better shown than in our own home. With husband and wife, with parent and child, with brother and sister, this is an important matter. The battle with self is the greatest battle we have to fight, and the Word of God declares that “he that rules his own spirit is greater than he that takes a city.” He is greater because he has learned to exercise the will, the determination, of a true character in the right direction, in the direction of control of self. Moral strength is infinitely nobler and more to be desired than the greatest degree of physical strength or the keenest strategy. And it is only after we have conquered ourselves, only after we have become master of our own flesh, only after we have cast out the beam from our own eyes (Matt. 7: 3), have subdued anger, malice, hatred, and strife in our own hearts, that we are able by means of these severe battles with our own weaknesses, to assist the brethren, to assist our neighbors, to aid them by our example in overcoming their besetments and infirmities.
What a wonderful thing self-control is! There are few character graces that act so universally as self-control. Faith now is the most important, love is now and always will be the greatest, but self-control is and always will be one of the most universally acting graces. There is not a single good act that can be performed without its cooperation. Let us therefore add to our knowledge, self-control. The Lord blesses us in developing this, one of the most indispensable qualities of the future rulers in His Kingdom.
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