The Passover ceremony was instituted at the time of the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt. The Lord commanded Moses to instruct the children of Israel in the way they should celebrate it. Every detail pertaining to the Passover ceremony should be strictly kept. We read:

“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” (Exodus 12:3-14).

The Passover feast was an ordinance for the Jewish people, a memorial of salvation and a commemoration of their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. By this ceremony they would remember how the destroying angel spared the life of their firstborn. The Passover feast was not a pleasant or joyous party. The people had to kill a lamb, eat the flesh, and sprinkle the blood of the innocent animal on the doorposts. They ate the flesh with bitter herbs, in haste, having their loins girded and in readiness to depart.

No Egyptian was allowed to take part in the blessings of this symbolic means of salvation. However, many of them who felt unsafe and believed sought shelter in the homes of the Israelites. They looked for protection in the homes of God’s people, but they could not take part in the Passover feast. If they wished to do so it was necessary for them to be circumcised first. The Bible tells us:

“The Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: but every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof. In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you” (Exodus 12:43-49).

Let us consider some important points of the Passover:

1. “There shall no stranger eat thereof.”

2. “A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof.”

3. “No uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.”

4. The flesh of the lamb should not be carried “abroad out of the house.”

5. If any wished to take part in it he must “be circumcised” first.

6. The “congregation of Israel (not outsiders) shall keep it.”

7. The same law applied to the “homeborn” and to the “stranger.” It was necessary for both to be circumcised and obey the principles established by God, before partaking of the Passover.

The Passover was not only a commemorative ceremony but symbolic also. The lamb without blemish represented the spotless Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul says:

“For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7, last part).

The Lord’s Supper took the place of the Passover feast. This ordinance was instituted on the very evening when Jesus had a private meeting with the twelve disciples, and for the last time He ate the Passover lamb with them. The Spirit of Prophecy explains this:

“When the Saviour yielded up His life on Calvary, the significance of the Passover ceased, and the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper was instituted as a memorial of the same event of which the Passover had been a type.”1

“Christ was standing at the point of transition between two economies and their two great festivals. He, the spotless Lamb of God, was about to present Himself as a sin offering, that He would thus bring to an end the system of types and ceremonies that for four thousand years had pointed to His death. As He ate the Passover with His disciples, He instituted in its place the service that was to be the memorial of His great sacrifice. The national festival of the Jews was to pass away forever. The service which Christ established was to be observed by His followers in all lands and through all ages.”2

Today the ceremony of the Lord’s Supper is celebrated as a memorial of salvation. The Jewish people showed their faith in the coming Saviour by partaking of the Passover lamb, and we show our faith in the same Saviour that has already come, by taking part in the Lord’s Supper. In both festivals the importance of the body and the blood is the same, and points to Jesus Christ, our Saviour. The principles involved in keeping these two ceremonies are the same. Those only who are circumcised can take part in them. The ceremony of circumcision had a special importance and significance.

“By the act of circumcision [Abraham and his seed] solemnly agreed to fulfill on their part the conditions of the covenant made with Abraham, to be separate from all nations and to be perfect. If the descendants of Abraham had kept separate from other nations, they would not have been seduced into idolatry.”3

Notice that by being circumcised one would be separated from all other nations. Baptism - the spiritual circumcision that makes it possible for one to enter into the community of God’s people - has the same significance: to be separated from all other people.

“Baptism is a most solemn renunciation of the world. Those who are baptized in the threefold name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, at the very entrance of their Christian life declare publicly that they have forsaken the service of Satan and have become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King.”4

Some may argue that members of other churches are baptized and, therefore, can take part in the Lord’s Supper in any Christian church. They may even think that the various factions of Sabbathkeepers, who believe in the threefold angel’s message, could participate in the Lord’s Supper of any Sabbathkeeping church.

The Bible explains clearly the relationship that the members of the church of Christ should have among themselves. The visible church of God on earth is a body which the apostle Paul compares to a physical, human body. Those who become members on the basis of the truth are baptized into one body: “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:12, 13).

We believe that God has His visible, organized church, which is the body of Christ. Its members are the individual members of His church. The body of Christ has nothing to do with the other bodies or corporations, and no communion should exist between them. The members of the body of Christ cannot be in communion with the members of another body. Just as one of our physical members cannot belong to another body or receive nourishment or life from another body; so it is with the spiritual body, Christ’s church (see 2 Corinthians 6:15).

In the experience of the Seventh-day Adventist Church which we all believe started as prophecy had foretold, the believers used to have the communion service privately, on their own, and thus they followed the example of Jesus. We read of their experience:

“I was pointed back to the time that Jesus took His disciples away alone, into an upper room, and first washed their feet, and then gave them to eat of the broken bread, to represent His broken body, and juice of the vine to represent His spilled blood. I saw that all should move understandingly, and follow the example of Jesus in these things, and when attending to these ordinances, should be as separate from unbelievers as possible.”5

That the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper is an institution of which only the members of the body can participate is clearly understood from the following Testimony:

“The ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are two monumental pillars, one without and one within the church. Upon these ordinances Christ has inscribed the name of the true God.”6

There is nothing clearer! The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance within the church, the established, organized body of believers, the body of Christ. The church should be a visible, organized church, as the following will reveal.

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:18, 19).

“The Saviour did not commit the work of the gospel to Peter individually. At a later time, repeating the words that were spoken to Peter, He applied them directly to the church. And the same in substance was spoken also to the twelve as representatives of the body of believers.”7

“Jesus gave sanction to the authority of His organized church and placed Saul in connection with His appointed agencies on earth. Christ had now a church as His representative on earth, and to it belonged the work of directing the repentant sinner in the way of life.

“Many have an idea that they are responsible to Christ alone for their light and experience, independent of His recognized followers on earth. Jesus is the friend of sinners, and His heart is touched with their woe. He has all power, both in heaven and on earth; but He respects the means that He has ordained for the enlightenment and salvation of men; He directs sinners to the church, which He has made a channel of light to the world.”8