Exodus 12:8-9
“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”
The Lamb slain shows us our redemption by the blood of the Lamb of God and represents our Lord Jesus Christ as crucified in the room and stead of His people. The crucifixion of Christ was that means wherewith Christ Jesus finished the transgression and made an end of sins for His elect, as it is written: “ Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy” (Daniel 9:24). Our Lord was not crucified for Himself, that is He was not crucified because of any iniquity that was in His nature, as it is written: “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin” (I John 3:5). Nor was our Lord crucified because of any sin that was committed by Him, as saith the Apostle Peter: “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” (I Peter 2:22). Our Lord was not crucified because of any affinity He had to sin or for sin. He hated sin, that is He “knew no sin” as it is written: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (II Corinthians 5:21). His death was: “not for Himself” as it is written: “ And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined” (Daniel 9:26). Thus saith the John the Baptist: “..Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This world was chosen in Him and predestinated to the adoption of children by Him according to the will of God, as it is written: “ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will” (Ephesians 1:3-5).
Christ Jesus fulfilled the law in its precept and penalty for others and not for Himself. He did all that He did for the children that God had given Him before the foundation of the world, as it is written: “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:11-14).
The roasted lamb represents Christ Jesus (our Surety) as “being made a curse for us”, as saith the Apostle Paul, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). Our Lord Jesus endured all the curse of the law, that is He endured all the vengeance of a Thrice Holy God against the sin nature and the sins of those who had been given Him as His brethren, as it is written: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified” (Romans 8:28-30). And again it is written: “But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Matthew 12:48-50). Someone may ask, how shall we do the Father’s will? To whom the scriptures answer: “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son (by faith: writer), and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40). Believers are the brethren of our Lord Jesus Christ, as it is written: “Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee” (Hebrews 2:12).
Christ Jesus was made a curse for those who are His spouse, as it is written: “Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee. Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards. Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices! Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed” (Song of Solomon 4:7-12). And again, it is written: “And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: on the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Revelation 21:9-14).
Christ Jesus was made a curse in the room and stead of those who are His children by being their Everlasting Father, as it is written: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). “And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me” (Hebrews 2:13). These are believers, the children of the prophets and of the covenant, as it is written: “Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed” (Acts 3:25). Today Christ Jesus is gathering the children of God that are scattered abroad, as it is written: “And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad” (John 11:52). Our Lord Jesus saith unto Mary Magdalene: “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (John 20:17). And again He satih: “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). “And the Word was made flesh..” (John 1:14). This was a necessity: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14), “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead” (I Corinthians 15:21). “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight” (Colossians 1:20-22).
The God-Man, Christ Jesus was represented by a lamb “roast with fire”, not boiled in water nor eaten raw; but “roast with fire”. This is to communicate the direct and unmitigated contact with the fury of God that the Son of Man from Nazareth of Galilee endured in His body and soul as the Sin Offering prepared by God, as it is written: “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand” (Isaiah 53:8-10).
Christ Jesus made an end of the sins of His elect. The lamb being roast with fire, bore witness that the unmollified wrath that was poured out like fire upon the Head of the church was endured by the Lamb of God and the heat of the fury penetrated to every member of the Lamb (Psalm 139:16; I Corinthians 12:12-13, 27; Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18). In the reckoning of God, every member of the Lamb was roasted by the heat of the flame, all the tissues and even to the marrow of the bones. And all His members including every joint and tendon, every fiber and morsel was “roast with fire” as it is written: “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” (Exodus 12:9). The whole Christ of God, with all His members was roast with fire.
The Apostle Paul saith: “For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread (which is Christ Jesus John 6:35: writer). Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar” (I Corinthians 10:17-18)? As Israel after the flesh was “partaker of the altar”, in the same manner the church of Jesus Christ is partaker of the sufferings of Christ. Being in the reckoning of God “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20), “dead with Christ” (Romans 6:8; Colossians 2:20) and “risen with Christ” (Colossians 3:1). Now therefore we “have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
Christ Jesus is the propitiation for the world of God’s elect alone and not for others, as it is evident because not all men have faith, which is the gift of God, as it is written: “And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith” (II Thessalonians 3:2). The elect of God being one bread in Christ, rejoice in their fellowship with God. This rejoicing is because all the members of Christ suffered the wrath of God, not in their own proper person; but vicariously in the person of Jesus Christ. It is a risen living Christ to whom we come, who is at this moment seated at the right hand of God. And the Prophet Isaiah saith: “In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together” (Isaiah 27:2-4). The vineyard is the church, Christ Jesus is the True Vine and believers are His branches (John 15:5). And they with the Father and Son rejoice in fellowship together in Christ Jesus (I John 1:3) and His finished atonement. The red wine of redemption “cheereth God and man”, as it is written: “And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees” (Judges 9:13)?
The roasted lamb is a picture, or a type of Jesus Christ enduring the wrath of God on behalf of those who were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. In the reckoning of God, Christ Jesus “stood as a Lamb as it had been slain” from everlasting, as it is written: “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth” (Revelation 5:6). The Lamb stood as the “Head over all things to the church” (Ephesians 1:22), who constitute His members who are in Him and who will not worship “the beast out of the sea”, as it is written: “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). “These are they which were not defiled with women (would not be partakers in idolatry with the great whore: Writer); for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God” (Revelation 14:4-5). “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Ephesians 5:30). The entire assembly of believers was “crucified with Christ”. Paul speaking as a member and representative of the whole church saith: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
Those who ate the lamb literally represent those who eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God spiritually, as it is written: “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” (John 6:53). Having been saved from wrath through the blood on the doorposts, the Israelites had peace with God inside the house through the blood of the lamb. Eating together evidences fellowship and is a testimony that there is no rift between those who partake of the meal and He who provided Himself a Lamb (Genesis 22:8). The Israelite rejoiced in having peace with God by eating the lamb in the presence of God. Believers eat the flesh and drink the blood of Messiah spiritually when they hear, rejoice and are fed by the gospel of the Son of God, who is their life, as it is written: “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). Believers share (have fellowship: writer) in the issues that emanate from the death of Christ which belong to God, as it is written: “He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto GOD the Lord belong the issues from death” (Psalm 68:20). The God of salvation justifies whomsoever He will by the bloody death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of God, as it is written: “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification’ (Romans 4:25) and again: “..If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Romans 8:31-34). In the reckoning of God, believers endured His wrath when they were “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20). Now Christ Jesus saith to His beloved spouse: “Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee” (Song of Solomon 4:7).
AJ Ison
See the writer’s blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com and hear the true Gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.
