Upon the peril's desperate peak his heart stood up sublime; His first thought was for God above, his next was for his chime; 'Sing now, and make your voices heard in hymns of praise,' cried he, As did the Israelites of old, safe walking through the sea! Through this red sea our God hath made the pathway safe to shore; Our promised land stands full in sight; shout now as ne'er before !' And as the tower came crushing down, the bells in clear accord, Pealed forth the grand old German hymn,-'All good souls praise the Lord!"" P. DONCASTER. THE PASCHAL SUPPER. WHAT WAS IT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT ?-WHAT IS IT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT? THE Paschal Supper was instituted in Egypt in anticipation of the last Plague-the Plague of Death. The Israelites were to select a lamb without blemish, a male of the first year, a lamb for a house; to kill it in the evening, and "take of the blood, and strike it on the two side-posts and on the upper door-post of the houses wherein they eat it." They were to eat it in the night, roast with fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They should eat it with loins girded, shoes on their feet, staff in hand, in haste. It was the Lord's PASSOVER, for He would pass through the land of Egypt, and smite the first-born of both man and beast, and execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt: "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 " (Ex. xii. 13). Ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts, with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out of the house until the morning." "Ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as He hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And when your children shall say unto you, What mean you by this service? that ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who 66 passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses. And the people bowed their head and worshipped." It is clearly seen that the Paschal lamb was typical of Christ. The bondage of Egypt was typical of the bondage of sin. The blood upon the door-posts was typical of the blood upon the altar (Lev. xvii. 11), which was given as an atonement for the soul, and which must be sprinkled on the conscience-the door of the heart-by the Holy Spirit. It was eaten with loins girded, staff in hand, and with sandalled feet ready for a journey to the promised land, showing us a beautiful figure of the sinner's regeneration and deliverance from sin by the blood of Jesus, and by a perpetual covenant with God henceforth to live a life unto holiness in the obedience of faith that when our probationary journey is over we, too, can cross the river-the spiritual Jordan-into the fulness of blessing. We, too, need a ransom of sin and a deliverance from the plague of death, from a worse bondage than that of Egypt. 66 This ordinance to the Israelite had a spiritual as well as a ritualistic signification. It was eaten spiritually by faith-faith in Christ (Heb. xi. 28). Through faith he (Moses) kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under a cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptised 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" (1 Cor. x. 1-4). THE PASCHAL SUPPER. WHAT WAS IT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT ?-WHAT IS IT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT? 66 THE Paschal Supper was instituted in Egypt in anticipation of the last Plague-the Plague of Death. The Israelites were to select a lamb without blemish, a male of the first year, a lamb for a house; to kill it in the evening, and "take of the blood, and strike it on the two side-posts and on the upper door-post of the houses wherein they eat it." They were to eat it in the night, roast with fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They should eat it with loins girded, shoes on their feet, staff in hand, in haste. It was the Lord's PASSOVER, for He would pass through the land of Egypt, and smite the first-born of both man and beast, and execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt: 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" (Ex. xii. 13). "Ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts, with the blood that is in the bason; and none of shall you out of the house until the morning." "Ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as He hath promised that ye shall keep this service. And when your ch unto you, What mean you by this shall say, It is the sacrifice of the go shall say |