Good Morning.
And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.” (Exodus 12:48-49)
As we said yesterday, God has never prevented those who weren’t born into the family of Abraham from joining the family; He just always made it clear that if you are going to be part of the family, then you need to acknowledge the covenantal relationship between Israel and the Almighty. But if that “stranger” entered into the covenant, he was to be acknowledged as one of the family. According to the Jewish commentator, Ibn Ezra, there was to be no distinction between him and the native born Israeli.
Another Jewish commentator named Paul had a lot to say about this as well. Again and again, he made the point that, in Messiah, there should not be walls of division between the Jew and those who have come to faith in the Jewish Messiah. He said it this way:
For as many of you as were baptized into Messiah have put on Messiah. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Yeshua Messiah. And if you are Messiah’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:27-29)
The key phrase in these verses is “You are all one in Messiah.” That is the point of a covenant — to be united with each other and be one. That is why the Creator stipulated that any stranger that wanted to come into the family had to adopt the ways of the family. He couldn’t bring another way to do things into the family and expect that the family be united. To be one, God’s people have to do things the way He has prescribed and follow the path that He has ordained. His way and His purpose is embodied in the Messiah which is why those who are in Messiah are accounted as the seed of Abraham and have access to the promise. Let us then resolve to be one people, under the headship of our King, and live as family — united in faith and holding fast to the same promise.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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