I thought I would once again take up my blog. The past year has been quite an experience for us, but more on that on a future post. Today I would like to interact a bit on other posts in cyber-world regarding our children and their worship of God. A much discussed and often debated topic today regarding this topic is baptized children’s participation in the Lord’s Table. Are baptized children allowed at the Lord’s Table, or should we fence the Table from the little children until such a time when they can make a credible profession of faith? This is the question.

Since Passover has such a strong connection with the Lord’s Supper, it is often used to understand more of the meaning and recipients of the New Covenant meal we enjoy today. So in addressing the question if baptized children should eat the Lord’s Supper, we might back up a bit and ask if the children of the Old Covenant ate the sacrificial and sacred meals of their time. After all, they all point to the same truths that the Lord’s Supper points to. Some would even say that the Lord’s Supper is the culmination of all the sacred meals and feasts of the Old Covenant, and a foretaste (or even a part of) the eschatological Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

With that said, I want to show that the children of the Old Covenant ate the Passover Meal along with their parents, and that baptized covenant children in the New Covenant ought to eat the Lord’s Supper.

Opponents of covenant communion (the term I am using to express that all who are in the covenant ought to eat the covenant meal, including baptized children) usually take one of two roads to “prove” their case (at least in its connection with Passover). The first road is, while admitting that children partook of the Passover meal, that there exist such a strong discontinuity between Passover and the Lord’s Supper that we can’t apply any of the principles of the Old Covenant meal to its New Covenant predecessor. According to this view, these two meals are completely different, isolated from one another, and therefore, nothing from one can carry over to the other. This is a hard road to travel when we see that the Lord instituted His New Covenant Meal in the process of observing Passover. Also other New Testament revelation would seem to relate the two very closely (e.g. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8,11).

While it is hard to escape the close tie between Passover and the Lord’s Supper, opponents to covenant communion try to take issue with children partaking of Passover. They can see the logic at this point – IF children partook of Passover, and IF the Lord’s Supper is the New Covenant meal that replaces Passover, then . . . well . . . you can see where reason takes us – children ought to come to the Table. Therefore, those who take this second road will do everything in their power (even to ridiculous lengths) to find that children in the Old Covenant did not eat of the Passover.

The notion that children were excluded from Passover is wholly without biblical support, and it is my intent to demonstrate such.

1. When God instituted the Passover, He gave instructions for each man to take a lamb for a household, according to how many were in the household.

Exodus 12:3-4 gives us the account,

3"Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. 4 ‘And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. (Exodus 12:3-4)

The phrase, “according to the number of persons” in the Hebrew is literally, “a man according to his eating.” The word for man is ‘ish. Some have argued from this that only men were to eat the Passover. However, the term ‘ish is often used, very generally, to denote “person,” and our translation above indicates. I checked seven translations (KJV, NKJV, ESV, NIV, ASV, RSV, NASB), and all agree with each other that the word should be translated more generally to indicate persons (not men). In fact, I could not find any translation that translated the term or phrase narrowly to indicate that only “men” is indicated. The exact same phrase is also used in Exodus 16:16,18, and 21 in the gathering of manna. Clearly every human in Israel except newborn infants, ate the manna, since there was nothing else to eat. The term ‘ish is used in other texts such as Genesis 10:5, Exodus 19:13, and Leviticus 15:5 where it is obviously used in the more general way to denote persons and not merely grown males.

With that said, the Passover lamb was chosen according to the number of persons in the household, men, women, and children. The idea that children were served something else, while only the adults, or only men, partook of Passover is wholly without any foundation in the text.

2. It was customary in Israel to assume that the children, including the little ones, would eat sacrificial (i.e. sacred or worship) meals along with the whole body.

At this point, we should recall the interaction between Moses and Pharaoh that was leading up to the first Passover. Just prior to the eighth plague, Moses requested Pharaoh to let his people go into the wilderness to hold a feast to the Lord. This feast, which would ultimately be realized at Pentecost, was a sacrificial meal of God’s people. It was worship. This can be seen more clearly when Moses appealed to Pharaoh to allow their animals to go with them so they could offer up sacrifices at their feast (cf. Exodus 10:24-25). When Pharaoh finally consented to allow the only the men to go, Moses refused Pharaoh’s consent saying that their young and old, their sons and daughters must go with them as well. When Pharaoh allowed the men only to go, but excluded the women and children, God sent the eighth plague! It’s important to realize that the whole body of Israel was to go into the wilderness to participate in a sacrificial meal with their God, including their “little ones” (Exodus 10:24).

I highlight this point to illustrate the fact that Israel expected their children (including their little ones) to eat sacrificial meals in worship to God along with the whole body.

3. It should be remembered that the whole purpose of the original Passover event was to spare the firstborn sons of Israel.

When Moses later took a census of the firstborn sons of Israel, he included in his number firstborn males from one month old and older (Numbers 3:43). These sons who were spared during the Passover event were the most notable participants in the meal – and should we say they should be excluded? The notion that God was claiming these boys (as the census would indicate), but at the same time exclude them from His feast and worship is nonsensical.

4. God commanded the whole congregation of Israel to keep Passover (Exodus 12:47).

The whole congregation includes the women and children and is not merely the male population over the age of 20. In keeping Passover, the congregation had to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread which required all the congregation to abstain from leavened bread for the week. It was expected that all of the congregation of Israel would observe this (not merely the men). In fact, the command God gave was not to have any leaven in the house or dwelling which would of course keep anyone (including the children) from eating leavened bread. God would not require unleavened bread for the males while the women and children could eat leavened bread during that week (which is analogous to the males eating Passover while the children were excluded). No, the whole congregation was to eat the Passover and also eat unleavened bread for the week. These two go together. So strict was God’s requirement that any person failing to keep the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread would be cut off from Israel.

5. The only people excluded from Passover were the uncircumcised and the unclean, not the children. (cf. Exodus 12:43-44; Number 9:1-14)

God makes it clear to Israel (to whom the Passover was given) who was included and who was excluded. If children were to be barred from Passover, God would have included them in the instruction to exclude them. But He is very clear who is included and who is not, and children are not ones to be excluded from the Feast.

6. Children were explicitly included in other required Sabbath Feasts

God required Israel to keep three annual feasts: Passover; Pentecost; and Tabernacles. Now God did indeed command all the males to keep the feasts (Exodus 23:17). However, that was the minimum requirement and not the exclusive requirement. There would be times when the women and children would not be able to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the feast, but when they could they went and participated. The Scripture also states that Pentecost was a time of rejoicing before the Lord, “You shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant . . .” (Deut 16:11). In addition, the Feast of Tabernacles includes the family members and members of the household (Deut 16:14). While the males were required to attend, the women and children were certainly welcome and encouraged to participate. God includes all the body in every sacred feast and Sabbath celebration. It can be argued that all the Sabbath Feasts of the Old Covenant culminate in the one covenant meal we observe in the New – the Lord’s Supper, and children ought to be included in the Feast.

Again, I reiterate, the notion that children were excluded from Passover does not have biblical support. Children, like their dads ate the Passover meal. And also, like their dads, they ate unleavened bread for the week following. In fact, they ate at all the Sabbath Feasts.

Likewise, children are included in the New Covenant meal, and we should be careful not to exclude them.

Rightly discerning the Lord’s body (1 Corinthians 11:29) includes discerning who is included in the body (i.e. congregation), and the Scriptures are clear throughout that covenant children (either circumcised males in the Old Covenant, or baptized ones in the New Covenant) are included in the “body” of the Church and should participate in the worship of God (including sacred meals).

Let the little children come unto me!