Bible Study/Requirements for Passover Celebrants. Exodus 12:43 - 51 (KJV)

And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This [is] the ordinance of the passover There shall no stranger eat thereof But every man''s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof.

And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This [is] the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: But every man''s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof. In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will 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 one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. One law shall be to him that is home born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. And it came to pass the selfsame day, [that] the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.

The early chapters of Exodus all focus on the bondage of the Israelites to their Egyptians masters. But, more than just focusing on their plight, the whole purpose of the beginning chapters of Exodus is to reveal God''s might and His ability to rescue His people out of their plight.

In our previous study of Exodus 6, we heard God speak four "I will" statements to Moses regarding His people. The fulfillment of at least part of those "I wills" is found in the Passover Event.

We will not take the time here to go into details about the Passover or its lasting, yearly memorial. That topic will be discussed at length in a Holiday Article about the Passover and its yearly memorial. A few short notes are in order, however, about Passover.

First of all, there is a difference between the Passover Event and the yearly Passover celebration. There was only one Passover - one time that God "passed over" the people in Egypt. During that event, God killed the firstborn of every creature in every household that did not have the blood of a yearling lamb on
its door. That, technically, is the "Passover Event" -- and there is only one of them.

We read in Exodus 12:23, 29 -- 30:

For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite [you]. And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that [was] in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for [there was] not a house where [there was] not one dead.

But, immediately following the declaration of the Passover, God institutes an annual ordinance of remembrance about that one-time event. We read in Exodus 12:24: And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. That remembrance is done through a specially-orchestrated meal that we have come to call the Seder. The mandate for that meal is also found in Exodus 12.

Our discussion from the featured passage is not so much concerned with the celebration itself - but with the celebrants. This passage does not answer the question "How do we celebrate?" It answers the question "Who may celebrate?"

From our passage, we realize that foreigners, sojourners, or hired servants count not partake in the Passover celebration. Slaves could partake - if they had been circumcised. In fact, that was the rule for all "strangers" who wished to participate - they had to be circumcised.

The passage, while excluding many, mandates that all Israel keep the celebration. This was not an option for them. They had to keep it. Furthermore, there was only one law that covered the Passover celebration -- thus, eliminating the possibility of the celebration itself destroying the real message that was to be communicated through the celebration. The celebration was also to be conducted in one house. The meal could not be carried from that house to another --including any food left over.

Now for the real question: "How does any of this have any application to the New Testament Church as it speeds its way toward the 21st century?" There are three critical points found in our passage that are very important for us to understand, as the New Testament Church. Those issues are:

All Israel must keep it;
It is eaten in one house only; and,
No one uncircumcised can partake.

For those who have not yet read the weekly article from Exodus 6:2ff, it would be a good idea to do so since much of this material applies to the principles discussed there. That article is also found in the archives under the Holiday Articles entitled, "Salvation in the Name of the Lord."

At the last Passover Seder that Jesus attended, He instituted a new practice for the New Covenant. That practice specifically revolved around the celebration of the afikomen and the fourth cup of the Passover Seder. As He broke the afikomen and passed the fourth cup, He said (Luke 22:19), This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Paul further explains this celebration of the afikomen and the fourth cup - the Lord''s Table - in First Corinthians 11:26 - 33:

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord''s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink [this] cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of [that] bread, and drink of [that] cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord''s body. For this cause many [are] weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.

With the word "This do . . . " Jesus made the afikomen celebration from the Passover Seder a mandatory part of the Church''s experience. This corresponds to the mandate in Exodus 12 - that all Israel partake of the Passover Seder. It was not an option. Neither is the Lord''s Table. That is the New Covenant application of the first point - that all Israel must partake.

Paul, in First Corinthians, further expounds upon this practice. He says that a person should not partake of this celebration in an unworthy manner. While the whole church is mandated to partake, they are not to partake as though it were just some "feast" or common celebration. It was a holy celebration to be
confined as a separate practice of the church only. It was only be eaten in the House of God - the church. It should not be a "feast" of enjoyment which we might bring other to.

That leads us to our third point. The third point is connected with the second (as the second is connected to the first). The third point teaches us that no foreigner, or outsider can partake. The clear and unmistakable indicator that determined who could eat of the Passover Seder was circumcision.

Circumcision is a most curious form of initiation for any religion. It does not present the individual with some "outward" and visible "sign" for all to see. It is not a hair style, or a tattoo on the forehead, or a mandated manner of dressing that would allow anyone to acknowledge the individuals association with a particular religious group. What was the purpose of this bizarre "secret" ritual?

In the Garden of Eden, shortly after mankind''s fall into sin, God explained to the "serpent" that He would put enmity between his seed (the seed of the serpent) and the seed of the woman (later in verse 15 implying that the seed of the woman would be a righteous seed). The Greek word (in the LXX) for "seed" is "sperma."

It is from the make sexual organ that the seed of mankind originates. Circumcision is a ritualistic "cutting off" of the evil seed. It is a reminder that the seed of the man needed to be cleansed from sin - if that seed would ever be holy.

Certain sins under Old Testament Law mandated that a person be "cut off" from the people. This practice would have resulted in the individual being drive totally from the nation. Their ability to reproduce themselves among the people of God would have been forfeited.

Circumcision is a ritualistic "cutting off" and immediate restoration - a focus on the potential for judgment due to a corrupt seed, but yet, the cleansing power of the blood that covered the seed produced by the male sexual organ. It is a picture of the promise that a blood sacrifice would indeed cleanse and redeem the seed of the righteous.

The symbolism of blood redemption behind the act of circumcision itself is what made circumcision such an important aspect of the Seder celebration. Anyone wishing to celebrate the Seder had to have his seed (sperma) cleansed symbolically with blood - just as the door posts in the Passover Event were
covered with blood.

Circumcision is a ritual identifying one with physical Israel. Paul makes it rather clear that baptism is now the Christian symbol, much like circumcision, that identifies us as the people of God in the Church. In Colossians 2:11 - 15 he says:

In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with [him] through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; [And] having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Whereas, under the Old Covenant, the symbolical "cutting off" of the evil seed was pictured in circumcision, now in the New Covenant, baptism symbolizes our willful death to sinful habits and our resurrection to new life and righteous living. Baptism is our willful acceptance of all the mandates that God has placed upon us.

Even under the Old Covenant, circumcision was not meant to be seen as a ritual that - in itself - saved or purified anyone. It was only symbolic. It was to be a picture of a purified life and a repentance from sinfulness. Note the words in Deuteronomy 10:16 -- 21:

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff necked. For the LORD your God [is] God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. He [is] thy praise, and he [is] thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.

And, again, in Deuteronomy 30:6: And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

The Lord''s Table is only a place for the New Covenant Israel. It is only to be eaten in the House of God. It is not a common meal to be celebrated by the whole world - only by the Church. Furthermore, it should only be eaten after someone was purified themselves and repented of sins. It should be an occasion to repent of sinful habits and ways. It should be an occasion to circumcise our hearts. The Lord''s Table should call us to remember our baptism and the commits that the baptism implies that we were willing to make to Christ.

Again, the words of Paul speak to us about this most solemn celebration. In First Corinthians 11:26 - 33, he said: For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord''s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink [this] cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of [that] bread, and drink of [that] cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord''s body. For this cause many [are] weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.

Not only does he describe this as a remembrance of the Lord''s Sacrificial Death on our behalf, but he also says that in it we should remember His coming again. Not only was the afikomen celebration a celebration and a remembrance of the dead Passover Lamb, it was also a celebration of the fourth cup of wine. That cup corresponds to the fourth "I will" statement of Exodus 6:7. In that statement God Himself promised "I will take you to me for a people."

The Lord''s Table must encourage us to live holy lives cleansed by His holy Blood so that we might indeed reign with Him upon His return.

First John 3:1 - 3 says:

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Suggested follow-up reading: Exodus 10:1 - 13:16 and Jeremiah 46:13 - 28

Alan L. Joplin