And Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover No stranger shall eat of it;
God speaks to Moses and Aaron after the rescue, with Israel already on the move. He now says who may share the meal He has just given them, and who may not. The question it forces is not "who is saved?" but "who may sit down at the feast?"
(The writers quoted below use an older translation. It says "stranger" where the ESV says "foreigner.")
The limits appear here for the first time, and one writer is careful about what they do and do not touch.
We have looked at the passover and all that went with it. We still have to consider the "ordinance of the passover," which the Lord laid down as a lasting memorial. There are restrictions here that we have not read of before. They are important to notice and to remember. They apply, not to redemption itself, but to the enjoyment of it.
God gave these rules the moment the rescue was over.
We had a first hint of this in the unleavened bread. Now God insists on it much more strongly. He guards the precious feast of redemption against those who would dishonour it and turn God's grace into a licence to sin. Deliverance had only just happened. The people were hardly on the road before God announced how the passover was to be kept from then on. The deliverance itself becomes the reason, as it were, for the instructions that follow right after it.
Commentators differ on what the excluded person pictures. One takes the word simply as someone unidentified.
The first regulation given is that no stranger should eat of the Passover. A stranger is one who is not known. The New Testament tells us, "Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure" (1 Tim. 5:22). To lay hands on someone is to express fellowship with him. If we do not know the person, we must be careful not to do this until we know him.
Another reads the excluded classes by what each one lacks.
Strangers and foreigners as such had no place at it. A "stranger" was anyone not counted as part of the nation of Israel. A "foreigner" was anyone with no stake in the country they were heading for. The "hired servant" could not share in it either, since his link with Israel rested on the wages he earned. So when it came to sharing in the memorial feast, the Lord said with great clearness and precision who should and who should not take part.
The next verses name three groups. All three had to meet the same requirement.
Three groups might keep the passover: the Israelites, their servants bought with money, and the stranger living among them. But the condition for all of these alike was circumcision. No one could have a place at the passover table unless they had been circumcised. Only in this way could they come under the covenant God had made with Abraham — the covenant on which He was now acting, bringing them out of Egypt to be His own people. The feast had a household character. So a servant bought with money became part of the family and was included. A hired servant had no such place or standing, and so had no share in it.
One writer explains what that cutting meant, and what it levelled.
Circumcision was necessary before the Passover could be eaten. In other words, the sentence of death must be written on our nature before we can feed on Christ with understanding. Circumcision points forward to the cross. It made no difference what advantages of person or position a man had. He could have no part with Israel until he submitted to that cutting of the flesh. A circumcised beggar was nearer to God than an uncircumcised king. In the same way now, there is no share in the joys of God's redeemed except through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That cross sweeps away all pretensions. It levels all distinctions. It unites everyone in one holy gathering of blood-washed worshippers.
Yet the next verses leave a way in.
Yet God kept a door open for the stranger who would submit to Israel's law. He asked no stricter conditions from him than from the home-born. It is beautiful to see how all dividing lines give way before the faith that asks, "Is He the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also?" The answer can only be, "Yes, of Gentiels also."
Notice, too, that the outsider was never ordered to come.
No one commanded the stranger to keep the feast. If he wanted to come, the way was open. But he had to meet the same requirement as the children of Israel.
One writer applies this rule to the meal Christians keep now.
The Passover also tells us clearly who are to eat of this feast... In Ephesians 2:19 we read, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." It is clear that only those who are children of God, "brought near by the blood of Christ," may eat of this supper. How sad to see unconverted people eating, hoping to gain blessing! This is the opposite of the Word of God.
- Redemption first. The rules come after the blood, not before it. They govern the enjoyment of redemption, never redemption itself.
- Then guarding. God fences the feast right after the rescue. The rescue itself becomes the reason for the rules.
- One condition. Israelite, bought servant, resident stranger — three groups, one requirement. Without it, no seat at the table.
- No rank. One requirement levels everyone. A circumcised beggar stood nearer to God than an uncircumcised king, and the cross still sweeps away every distinction.
- Open door. No one ordered the outsider in. But no one shut him out either. His way in was the same as the home-born Israelite's.
but every man's bondman that is bought for money -- let him be circumcised then shall he eat it.
A slave bought with money could share the Passover meal, but only after his master had circumcised him; a hired servant could not. So who belongs to God's household, and how does an outsider get in?
One writer counts up who was allowed at the table. What ties them together is not birth but one requirement.
So there were three groups who might keep the Passover: (1) the Israelites, (2) their servants bought with money, and (3) the stranger living among them. But the condition for all of them alike was circumcision. No one could have a place at the Passover table without being circumcised. Only in this way could they come within the terms of the covenant God had made with Abraham (see Genesis 17:9-14). That covenant was the ground on which He was now acting, when He brought them out of Egypt and took them to Himself as a people.
The verse turns on how the man came to be in the house. He was bought, while a hired servant worked for pay. Commentators read the contrast as two ways people think they stand with God.
A servant bought for money could eat the Passover once he was circumcised. But a hired servant could not… The hired servant serves for wages. So he pictures someone who claims to keep the law as the basis of his relationship with God. So he is not saved by the grace of God. The slave, on the other hand, was bought for money. He belongs to his master, and so he pictures a believer whom the Lord Jesus owns.
Another writer says why wages in particular shut a man out.
The covenant of grace will not mix with the idea of working for wages. The feast of redemption is for people who can do no good at all. They shelter under the shadow of the Almighty: "while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."
Buying the man was not enough. He still had to be circumcised, and one writer shows what that cutting of the flesh pointed to.
Whether the man was a native Israelite, a servant bought with money, or a stranger, all had to be circumcised. This outward rite cut around and off part of man's flesh. It pointed on to what the death of Christ carried out, as Colossians 2:11 shows… As Christians we are to recognise that we have put off the flesh completely in the death of Christ. We are "circumcised" in His "circumcision;" that is, His death.
God required the same cut of every man, whatever his birth or standing.
A man's advantages of person or position did not matter in the slightest. He could have no part with Israel until he submitted to that flesh-cutting operation. A circumcised beggar was nearer to God than an uncircumcised king. So it is now. There can be no share in the joys of God's redeemed except by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That cross sweeps away all pretensions, levels all distinctions, and unites everyone in one holy congregation of blood-washed worshippers.
The Passover was a family meal, and that explains which servant could join it.
Remember that this feast had essentially a household character. So a servant bought with money became, as it were, part of the family, a real member of the household, and for that reason he was included. But a hired servant had no such place or standing, and so he was left out.
The Passover rule named who could share the meal. Writers carry that straight over to the Lord's supper.
In Ephesians 2:19 we read, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." It is clear that only those who are children of God, "brought near by the blood of Christ," may eat of this supper. How sad to see unconverted people eating to get blessing! This is the opposite of the Word of God.
Who comes to the table matters, and so does the attitude they bring.
Circumcision is the cutting off of the flesh, so that the flesh is given no place. Someone with a self-confident attitude is in no condition to take part in the Lord's supper. Some say they have "a right" to do so, but no! This is rather a privilege for those who realize they have no rights, because all their confidence is in the living God.
- Bought — he reached the table because someone paid for him, a picture of the believer whom the Lord Jesus owns.
- Not hired — wages shut a man out. The feast of redemption is for people with no strength of their own.
- Circumcised — buying him was not enough. The flesh had to be cut off, and that pointed on to the death of Christ.
- Levelled — one condition for all meant rank counted for nothing. A circumcised beggar stood nearer to God than an uncircumcised king.
- Household — the outsider ends up a real member of the family, no longer a stranger but a fellow citizen with the saints.
A settler and a hired servant shall not eat it.
Exodus 12 ends with rules about who may share the Passover meal, and verse 45 shuts out two kinds of people: the foreigner and the hired worker. Why exclude a man who lives among God's people and even works for them?
These rules come after the Passover night itself. One writer marks the shift:
We have looked at the Passover and the things that went with it. We still have to consider the "ordinance of the Passover" as the Lord laid it down for a lasting memorial. There are restrictions here that we have not read of before. They are important to notice and remember. They apply not to redemption itself, but to the enjoyment of it.
The verse names two classes, and each is kept out for its own reason. One writer defines both, then shows how a man could change sides:
The Lord shut out strangers and foreigners as such. A "stranger" was anyone not identified with the "commonwealth of Israel." A "foreigner" had no interest in the country they were heading for — the country they belonged to, according to the Lord's purposes. The "hired servant" had a link with Israel based only on the gain of set wages, and he could not share in the feast. No uncircumcised person could join the company entitled to eat. By purchase and circumcision a servant could take his place, and a stranger who identified himself completely with the nation by circumcision became "as one born in the land."
Verse 44 lets in the slave bought with money; verse 45 turns away the man on wages. The difference shows in how easily each man could leave:
It was to be what we may call a household feast, for it shut out everyone outside Israelite households. The hired servant might leave his job at short notice, so he did not count as part of the household. The bondman had sold himself for money, under the rules of Exodus 21:1-6, and he did count as belonging to it — on one strict condition, that he was circumcised. This feast was for all Israel, and no one could excuse themselves from it.
One writer explains why the verse names the man on wages:
The main point here is plainly this: only the circumcised are to share in it. That is clear enough in meaning when we remember what circumcision implied, and it also shows why the rule names the "hired servant" among those refused. The covenant of grace refuses to be mixed with the thought of work done for wages. The feast of redemption is for people with no power for good, who shelter under the shadow of the Almighty. "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."
One writer traces the same rule in the plan the prodigal son made on his way home:
So the prodigal turns at last toward the light. There is bread in his father's house. He will return. Yet he makes a great mistake. He says, "How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread!" And there is not even one hired servant in his father's house! God may "hire" a man of the world to do His will, just as He gave Egypt into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar as the "wages" for His judgment, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried out on Tyre. But in His house He has only children at His table. As it was said of the Passover feast, which pictured it, "No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it."
One writer draws a line from this rule to the table Christians gather at now:
But the Passover also tells us clearly who are to eat of this feast… In Ephesians 2:19 we read, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." It is clear that only those who are children of God, "brought near by the blood of Christ," may eat of this supper. How sad to see unconverted people eating, hoping to get a blessing from it! This is the opposite of the Word of God.
- Belonging. The Passover was a household feast. It shut out everyone outside Israelite households, and the hired man could leave at short notice, so he never truly belonged.
- Bought. The slave bought with money could eat once he was circumcised, because he belonged to the house. The man on wages could not, because he only drew pay.
- Grace. God will not mix His feast of redemption with work done for wages. It is for people with no strength for good, who shelter under the Almighty.
- Sonship. There is not one hired servant in the Father's house — only children at His table. That is why the prodigal's bargain was a mistake.
- Now. The same line runs to the Lord's Supper. It is for people who are no longer strangers and aliens, but members of the household of God.