Exodus 12:43 - Meaning and Application

Some further instructions are given here about the Passover, for how it was to be kept in later times.

All the people of Israel were to keep it (Exodus 12:47). All who share in God’s mercy should join in thankful praise. Even though it was celebrated by individual families, it was still considered the act of the whole nation, because the smaller family groups made up the larger community. In the same way, the New Testament Passover, the Lord’s Supper, should not be ignored by anyone who is able to take part in it. No one deserves the name of Israelite if he can calmly neglect the remembrance of such a great rescue.

No uncircumcised foreigner could eat it (Exodus 12:43, Exodus 12:45, Exodus 12:48). No one could sit at the table unless he came in through the proper way. In the same way, no one should now come to the strengthening ordinance, the Lord’s Supper, unless he has first submitted to the initiating ordinance of baptism. We must be born again through the word before we can be fed by it. And no one can share in the benefit of Christ’s sacrifice, or feast on it, unless his heart has first been circumcised, that is, cleansed and set apart for God (Colossians 2:11).

Any foreigner who was circumcised could be welcome at the Passover, even servants (Exodus 12:44). If they were willing, by circumcision, to place themselves under the burdens of the law, they were also welcome to share in the joy of its holy feasts, and not otherwise. It is also implied (Exodus 12:48) that masters of households were not only to be circumcised themselves, but to have all their males circumcised too. If we truly and eagerly give ourselves to God, we will give him all we have as well, and do our best to bring all that belongs to us under his rule. Here is an early sign of favor shown to the poor Gentiles, because the foreigner, if circumcised, stood on the same level as the native-born Israelite. One law applied to both (Exodus 12:49). This would humble the Jews and teach them that their true right to God’s blessings came from dedication to him, not from being Abraham’s descendants. A sincere convert was as welcome at the Passover as an Israelite by birth (Isaiah 56:6, Isaiah 56:7).

It was to be eaten in one house (Exodus 12:46), for the sake of fellowship, so they might rejoice together and strengthen one another while eating it. None of it was to be carried to another place or saved for another time. God did not want them so focused on getting ready to leave that they forgot to enjoy his kindness. They were to leave Egypt and go into the wilderness with glad hearts, and eating a full meal was a sign of that. The Roman Catholic practice of carrying the consecrated host from house to house is not only superstitious in itself, but goes against this symbolic law of the Passover, which required that no part of the lamb be carried outside.

The chapter ends by repeating the whole account, showing that the Israelites did as they were commanded, and that God did for them as he had promised (Exodus 12:50, Exodus 12:51). God will surely bring salvation to those who obey him.