Echoes of Covenant

 Meals in the Bible are never just about food. When we trace meals through Scripture, we find a pattern culminating in the Lord’s Supper, what Jesus calls “the new covenant in my blood.”

 In Ancient Israel, eating together was a way of entering into a relationship, ratifying a covenant, and acknowledging shared loyalty. When you begin to consider the various contexts in which meals were shared, we can learn a lot both culturally and theologically.

Covenant Meals in the Old Testament

A covenant was ratified by eating in Exodus 24:9-11: “They saw the God of Israel… and they ate and drank.”

 It is shocking when you realize that humans were eating in the presence of God WITHOUT judgment.

 In treaty-making, a meal sealed the agreement. YHWH adopted this cultural form to communicate the covenant relationship.

 In other ancient civilizations (Hittite, Mesopotamian, etc.), treaty-making often ended with a sacrifice, a shared meal, and the acknowledgement by witnesses or pagan gods.

 Israel’s covenant follows the same structure, but YHWH alone is sovereign.

 Peace / Fellowship Offerings

The main reference or explanation of a Peace or Fellowship Offering is found in Leviticus 7:11-18:

 “And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that one may offer to the Lord. If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the thanksgiving sacrifice unleavened loaves mixed with oil, unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and loaves of fine flour well mixed with oil. With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving, he shall bring his offering with loaves of leavened bread. And from it he shall offer one loaf from each offering, as a gift to the Lord. It shall belong to the priest who throws the blood of the peace offerings. And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning. But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow offering or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice, and on the next day what remains of it shall be eaten. But what remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned up with fire. If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten on the third day, he who offers it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be credited to him. It is tainted, and he who eats of it shall bear his iniquity.”

The worshiper offers the sacrifice, eats part of it, and symbolically shares a meal with God. Communion/the Lord’s Supper echoes this pattern:  atonement already made, fellowship enjoyed.

Passover: Redemption Through a Meal

Key text is Exodus 12. Take a few minutes to read it and refresh your memory. The key words are:

Passover is not merely remembrance. It is participatory reenactment (zikkaron H2146).

 In Jewish thought, participants are to see themselves as personally delivered from Egypt. Perhaps it’s not only a Jewish thought!

Jesus and the Passover (Reinterpretation) of the Meal

 The Last Supper

Key text comes from Luke 22:19-20:  This cup is the covenant in my blood.

Greek Textual Layer

• διαθήκη (diathēkē) – covenant (Strong’s G1242)
• ἀνάμνησις (anamnēsis) – remembrance (Strong’s G364)

 This is not simply an act of mental recall or remembrance. Instead, it is covenantal participation.

 Jesus re-centers Passover on Himself as:

-       The Lamb
-       The Blood
-       The Deliverance

 “This is My Body”
-       Greek σῶμα (sōma) – body (Strong’s G4983)

 In Second Temple Judaism, “body” often implies the whole person offered.

 Jesus is saying: “I am the covenant sacrifice.”

Communion / The Lord’s Supper

In ancient Israel, to eat at a king’s table signified allegiance. To eat in the presence of a god is an act of worship.

 Communion declares loyalty.
-       Rejection of other powers
-       Allegiance to Jesus Christ as Lord

 Paul makes this explicit:  “You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons”. (1 Corinthians 10:21)

 This is spiritual warfare language, not metaphor. There’s a battle going on for the allegiance of the worshiper.

Early Christian Meals (Agape Feasts)

-       Communion originally occurred within full meals
-       The Agape Meal echoed covenant banquets
-       The meal was in anticipation of the Messiah Banquet (Isaiah 25)

Forward-Looking Eschatology
-       “Until He comes…”

 Communion:
-       Looks back (cross)
-       Exists now (church)
-       Looks forward (Kingdom feast)

Conclusion

Communion is not symbolic minimalism.  It is:
-       Covenant renewal
-       Sacred participation
-       Declaration of loyalty

THIS IS A MEAL THAT TELLS THE WORLD, SEEN AND UNSEEN, WHO YOU BELONG TO.