Bible references

Key NT Scriptures

• Colossians 2:8-12
• Romans 2:25-3:2
  Click to retrieve Romans 2:25-3:2

Key OT Scriptures

• Exodus 12:41-49
  Click to retrieve Exodus 12:41-49
  Jewish Commentary
• Genesis 12:1-3
  Jewish Commentary
• Genesis 15:18-21
  Jewish Commentary
• Genesis 17:1-8
  Click to retrieve Genesis 17:1-8
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 12:3
  Jewish Commentary

Supportive NT Scriptures

• Acts 15:1-20
  Click to retrieve Acts 15:1-20
• Acts 16:1-3
• Colossians 2:11-13
• 1 Corinthians 7:18-20
• Galatians 5:11
• Romans 2:25-29
• Romans 11:13-18
  Click to retrieve Romans 11:13-18

Supportive OT Scriptures

• Exodus 12:49
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 19:5-6
  Jewish Commentary
• Genesis 17:9-14
  Click to retrieve Genesis 17:9-14
  Jewish Commentary
• Genesis 17:18-27
  Click to retrieve Genesis 17:18-27
  Jewish Commentary
• Genesis 22:14-18
  Jewish Commentary
• Genesis 28:10-15
  Click to retrieve Genesis 28:10-15
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 24:22
  Jewish Commentary
• Numbers 15:14-16
  Jewish Commentary
• Numbers 15:28-29
  Jewish Commentary

Bible verses copyright: PUBLIC DOMAIN except in the United Kingdom, where a Crown Copyright applies to printing the KJV. See http://www.cambridge.org/about-us/who-we-are/queens-printers-patent

Commentary

Rabbi Michael Rudolph

It is a common misunderstanding to believe that God's covenant with Abraham (repeated through Isaac and Jacob) applies only to Jews. The Abrahamic Covenant defines the Jewish people generationally, but it is also the framework for Gentiles to willfully connect themselves to the Jewish people, thereby enlarging the "people of God" that comprises both Jews and Gentiles. It is why God told Abraham that he would be the " father of many nations. " ( Genesis 17:4 ). That notwithstanding, Gentiles (even K'rovei Yisrael - those closely connected to a Jewish community) are not themselves Jews because their priestly identity and covenantal responsibilities are not inherited, but are rather, voluntarily derived from their connection to the Jewish People through their covenant with the Jewish Messiah. In the Mosaic Covenant, Gentiles who wanted a special covenantal relationship with God received it by physically moving into the Jewish camp, becoming circumcised, sacrificing at the Tabernacle or Temple, and becoming part of the Jewish community. In the New Covenant, Gentiles who want a special covenantal relationship with God receive it by becoming grafted into the "Jewish" olive tree through faith in Messiah Yeshua (see Romans the "Jewish" olive tree through faith in Messiah Yeshua (see Romans 11 ). 1 B'rit milah (covenant circumcision) was (and still is) required of all Jewish males who are eight days old lest they be cut off from the covenant they have inherited. In the Mosaic Covenant, circumcision was required of any Gentile male who lived in a Jewish household and wished to covenantally connect to the Jewish people. Such a Gentile became subject to most of the commandments of Torah , but it did not result in his becoming a Jew or a Jewish convert, 2 and it is clear from Acts 15:1-20 that circumcision was not required for their salvation. Circumcising a Jewish child has historically been considered the duty of the child's father, but an experienced circumciser (a mohel ) is often employed. The surgery can be performed by a non-Jew, but only a Jew can receive the child into the covenant. The prevailing view is that b'rit milah should be done on the eighth day after birth when possible. So important is this eighth day principle, that halachah requires that circumcision be performed on that day even if it falls on a Sabbath. 1. Jewish individuals who have been broken off of their olive tree through unbelief have to be re-grafted. Jews that remain unconnected to their tree retain their covenantal responsibilities but not their salvific relationship with God. 2. Uncircumcised Gentiles can participate in today's Passover seders because today's seders do not include eating a sacrificed Passover animal (see Exodus 12:43-49 ). In 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 , Paul makes it clear that Yeshua is our sacrificed lamb, and he thereby encourages the Gentiles to whom he is speaking to celebrate the seder . We do not require that K'rov Yisrael Gentiles be circumcised.

Rabbi Daniel Juster

We note that participating at Passover seders has special meaning for believers in Yeshua because the fullness of the meaning of Passover is in the death of Yeshua as our Passover Lamb. As such, in the New Covenant order, both Jews and Gentiles commonly participate in the meaning of the Passover sacrifice in its New Covenant fulfilment form. Regarding Gentile participants in particular, since the Passover meal practiced by Jewish people today is a memorial without the sacrificial lamb, it is common for Gentiles to participate, even in traditional Jewish seders , without violating the Scriptures.

Classical commentators

Maimonides, Meir, and HaChinuch are in agreement concerning the requirement that a Jewish baby be circumcised on the eighth day if possible. HaChinuch and Meir state that if a Jewish baby is not circumcised, then there is a continuing obligation on the part of the uncircumcised individual to become circumcised when he is older. It is interesting that Maimonides and HaChinuch state that mothers have no responsibility to circumcise their sons in view of Moses' wife Zipporah having circumcised her son ( Exodus 4:24-26 ). Meir states that circumcision should be done after sunrise.

Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2

Source and License

Based on The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective by Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster.

Volume 1 & 2 | Volume 3

License: CC BY-ND 4.0 (Attribution required, NoDerivatives). CC BY-ND 4.0

Disclaimer: the original content is authored by Rabbi Michael Rudolph and Rabbi Daniel Juster; additional notes or implementation details on this website are not part of their original work and do not represent their views.

Record source: The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective - Volume 1 & 2

Copyright note: Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2