Christ in the Old Testament

Exodus 12:49

This instruction applies to everyone, whether a native-born Israelite or a foreigner living among you. (NLT)

Today’s Reading: Exodus 12:43-51 and Ephesians 2:11-22

God gives Moses another new instruction concerning the Passover that is ultimately good news for us Gentiles (non-Jews). I’m using the New Living Translation today as it offers a clearer picture. God gives Moses some rules around who can and who cannot eat the Passover meal:

• “No outsiders are allowed to eat the Passover meal.” (Ex 12:43)
• “Any slave who has been purchased may eat it if he has been circumcised.” (Ex 12:44)
• “Temporary residents and hired servants may not eat it.” (Ex 12:45)
• “The whole community of Israel must celebrate this Passover festival.” (Ex 12:47)
• “Foreigners living among you … let all their males be circumcised. Only then may they celebrate the Passover.” (Ex 12:48)
• “No uncircumcised male may ever eat the Passover meal.” (Ex 12:48)

So to summarize all of that, you cannot participate in the Passover meal unless you have committed to be a part of the Israelite community and been circumcised to prove your commitment. And once you’ve made this commitment, the Passover is no longer optional, you are required to celebrate it every year.

God’s intent for His people wasn’t to be an isolated nation that kept their own rules and rituals and allowed no outsiders to participate. Even further, God wasn’t choosing the Israelites and saying that He wanted no similar relationship with “foreigners.” God allowed a way for non-Jews to participate.

The Pharisees and many Jews saw their heritage as exclusive and special. If you weren’t born a Jew then God was not accessible to you. Paul explains it to the Gentile outsiders like this, “You were called ‘uncircumcised heathens’ by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision” (Eph 2:11). Simply being born as a Gentile labeled you as a heathen incapable of knowing God. This was not God’s plan.

So if you were an “outsider,” God made a way to know Him. First you had to commit to the community. You couldn’t be a visitor on vacation and you couldn’t be in town on a work visa. You had to be a permanent resident in order to be eligible. God wanted to see that you had left your old country and physically moved your house, your family and all your possessions into the community.

Second, the males had to be circumcised. Circumcision is the mark of God’s covenant with His people. This is not an optional practice for an Israelite as we see in Genesis 17:1-14. God made a covenant with His people that He will be their God and will give them the land of Canaan. He will keep his promise so long as His people do their part. Every descendant of Abraham was to be circumcised and any male who didn’t get circumcised was to be cut off the Israelite community.

So if you weren’t a descendant of Abraham, you could be treated as such by making the same commitment that was required of all God’s chosen people – be a permanent part of the community and seal that commitment in blood through circumcision. Then you not only could participate in the Passover meal but it would from then on be a requirement to participate.

This is also the story of Jesus. Very simply, we can join the family of God by leaving our old selves behind and committing to follow Jesus. Fortunately we don’t have to commit to being circumcised. We now prove our commitment by publicly accepting Jesus as our Lord and being baptized. Our status as child of God is not sealed with our blood through circumcision but through the blood of Jesus. Jesus took the place of circumcision in that he bore our sin, was cut off and died. “Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us” (Eph 2:18).

Today’s Prayer: Lord thank you for making a way for me to join your family. I’m thankful that I was once far away from you, but now have been brought near to you through the blood of Christ.