And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. (2 Samuel 23:16-17)
Here, David clearly calls drinking water human blood, and consistent with the command of Deuteronomy 12:16; 15:23 (cf. Lv. 17:10,11), he poured it on to the ground, and did so as an act of worship unto the Lord. What David did not do was contrive some metaphysical justification for drinking this, but to be consistent with the professed plain-language hermeneutic Catholics insist they hold to in regards to "this is my body," then they should also insist this was literal in this case. As well as when God clearly states that the Canaanites were bread:
Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us (Num. 14:9)
Other examples of the use of figurative language for eating and drinking include,
The Promised Land was a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof. (Num. 13:32)
David said that his enemies came to eat up my flesh. (Ps. 27:2)
And complained that workers of iniquity eat up my people as they eat bread , and call not upon the Lord. (Psalms 14:4)
And the Lord also said, I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord. (Zephaniah 1:3)
While even arrows can drink: I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh ; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.' (Deuteronomy 32:42)
But David says the word of God (the Law) was sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. (Psalms 19:10)
Another psalmist also declared the word as sweet: How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalms 119:103)
Jeremiah likewise proclaimed, Your words were found. and I ate them. and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart (Jer. 15:16)
Ezekiel was told to eat the words, open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee... eat that thou findest; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel. (Ezek. 2:8; 3:1)
John is also commanded, Take the scroll ... Take it and eat it. (Rev. 10:8-9 )
And Scripture refers to Christ being spiritual food and drink which even OT believers consumed:
And did all eat the same spiritual meat; "And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:3-4)
And Christ's word in Jn. 6, "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst," (John 6:35) are correspondent to,
"Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." (Isaiah 55:2-3)
Moreover, like as bread is broken, Is. 53:10 states that "it pleased the Lord to bruise him," and the word for "bruise" (da^ka^') means to crumble, to break..., (Strong's). And like as wine is poured out, so Is. 53:12 also states of Christ, "he hath poured out his soul unto death," both of which are correspondent to the words of the Last Supper regarding bread and wine.
And which use of figurative language for Christ and spiritual things abounds in John, using the physical to refer to the spiritual:
Much more , by the grace of God.
Here's where it started...Matthew 26:17-19(ESV)17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover? 18 He said, Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples. 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover . |