Celebrate the Greatest Victory in History
This week is Passover, known in Hebrew as Pesach. It has its origins in the biblical account of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. Moses led them to freedom after the series of plagues Yahweh visited on Egypt and their gods (Exodus 12:12). The final plague was the death of Egypt’s firstborn, while Israel’s households were “passed over” by the death angel. The Passover ritual commemorates this event and celebrates the Israelites' deliverance from bondage.
When Jesus was partaking of the Passover meal with His disciples (Mark 14:12-25), He departed from the normal procedure and inaugurated what we now call Communion or the Lord’s Supper. When He did so, Christ was actually fulfilling an event that occurred before the Exodus in the life of Abraham. The passage, Genesis 14, is very significant, containing several pictures of the Cross and events surrounding it. The chapter contains the story of Abraham rescuing several relatives, other people, and all their possessions from an alliance of various kings. After this victory, Melchizedek, King of Salem, blessed Abraham. In this important passage, Melchizedek pictures Yeshua (Psalm 110; Hebrews 5:6,10; 6:20; 7:1-10); Abraham represents we believers (Galatians 3:13-14). Verses 17-20 of Genesis 14 tell us:
“Then, after Abram’s return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the
kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh. And Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread
and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. And he blessed Abram
and said, ‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has handed over your enemies
to you.’ And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.” (Genesis 14:17-20 NASV)
Several interesting aspects of the story paint pictures of Christ and the church:
Many do not realize that Melchizedek was a Canaanite king, a race of people God declared was under a curse (“Cursed be Canaan” - Genesis 9:25). How can a cursed king picture a sinless Jesus? Because Christ “Became a curse for us” in order to give us “The blessing of Abraham” (Galatians 3:13-14).
Melchizedek was both a king and a priest (Genesis 14:18). This was unheard of and certainly pictured Christ our King and High Priest (Hebrews 6:20; Revelation 17:14).
This is the first mention of “bread and wine” spoken of together in Scripture, and Melchizedek giving Abraham the bread and wine is an obvious prophetic picture of Christ’s last supper with His disciples. During this meal, He departed from the traditional routine and served the disciples bread and wine, fulfilling this prophetic picture from Genesis 14. When doing so, Jesus declared that the bread pictured His body, and the wine His blood (Mark 14:22-24).
It is significant that the bread and wine in Genesis 14 was a celebration of victory following Abraham’s recovery of his kidnapped family and their possessions. It was a victory meal! Could there be a more appropriate picture of the Cross?! And just to make sure we see the symbolism, Holy Spirit uses two more important phrases in this passage.
For the first time in Scripture, God refers to Himself as the “Most High God,” doing so four times, and references Himself as “Possessor of heaven and earth” twice. This was unquestionably God’s declaration that satan, who had tried to overthrow Him in heaven and make himself the “Most High” (see Isaiah 14:14), had not only failed there but would also fail on earth. Yahweh was declaring, “Though satan thinks he has won, he has NOT. He couldn’t have heaven, and he won’t have earth! I AM - and will remain - the Most High God, possessor of heaven AND EARTH. I will take humankind’s curse upon Myself, redeeming both them and the Earth, and bless them once again.”
Amazing.
When Christ gave the disciples the bread and wine at the Last Supper, telling them these elements represented His body and blood, He was celebrating victory - in advance! Yeshua knew, of course, the price He was about to pay, but He also knew He would prevail, taking back His family and their stolen inheritance. Likewise, when we partake of communion, though we should remember and be grateful to Christ for the horrible curse He bore to redeem us, we should also remember that these elements represent the greatest victory in the history of creation! Satan was defeated, the curse was broken, and we were redeemed back into the family of God, and given once again the blessings of our lost inheritance.
Pray with me:
Father, as we take the bread together in a moment, we remember the broken body of Jesus, sacrificed for our healing and restoration. We thank You, Jesus, for becoming one of us, the Son of Man, to bring us back into Your family. You bore our curse! You are the Bread of Life, and as we partake of this bread today, it reminds us that we can partake continually of Your life. Eat the bread. (Feel free to pause the video for a moment or two if you would like, and spend time in personal prayer and Communion with Him.)
And now, as we drink the wine, we honor and place our faith fully in the shed blood of Jesus for the remission of our sins. We also remember that His blood does more than cleanse us of sin; it also makes us new creations in Christ Jesus. We are born again. We celebrate this great victory over sin and the curse. We receive health, wholeness, and salvation as we do this today. And we decree that through the blood of Christ, satan and his forces are forever defeated. Drink the juice. (Again, feel free to pause and take any amount of time you would like to spend personal time with Him.)
We thank You for this, in the name of Christ. Amen.
Our decree:
We decree that Yahweh is the Most High God, Possessor of heaven and earth, and He has redeemed us from the curse of sin!
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