Ship of the West

Many think that the Three Angels Messages as something new coming to the earth. But as we look at the Exodus story, we find that Yahweh had employed the same principals to awaken the world that will be used in the last days to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, “When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.” (Isaiah 26:9) It took only a few judgments from the hand of Yahweh to turn the Israelites back to righteousness and as soon as they began to obey, the plagues stopped falling on their community. Now that Israel was in submission to his Creator, the entire array of nations folded into Egypt could participate in His great plan of salvation! But for this great plan to work, the God of Israel had to convince all who dwelt in the land of Egypt that His judgments would “Pass-over” the homes of the Israelites.

He did not do this because they were Israelites per say, but because the community of Israel were first among the nations to see the fulfillment or prophecy and repent. They were the first to comprehend the signs and obeyed the voice of Yahweh. It was at that time that Yahweh said, “On that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, Yahweh, am in this land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This miraculous sign will occur tomorrow." (Exodus 8:23) As we know, Pharaoh and his nation continued to resist and the judgments of God continued. After months of these grueling plagues, even Pharaoh’s advisers were condemning Pharaoh saying “Egypt is ruined!” and after the ninth plague hit, the scripture says “Yahweh made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people (Israel), and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh's officials and by the people. (Exodus 11:3)

Now that Yahweh had fully arrested the attention of Israel and the Egyptian community, it was time for Him to implement the purpose of Israel – to bless all families of the earth! When the tenth plague was finally announced, those whose hearts were softened by the first nine plagues “feared God and gave glory to him for the hour of his Judgment had come”. Everyone in the land had received the knowledge that the on evening of the 15th day of the month of Abib, the angel of death was to come and destroy the first born (Israelite and Egyptian alike) accept for those under the roofs of Israelite homes with doorposts covered with the blood of the lamb.

Based upon the plagues that had already fallen with pinpoint accuracy; a great multitude of non-Israelites repented and believed in the ministry of Moses. They realized that the lives of their firstborn were at stake and sought refuge in Israel! Many gathered together the riches they had accumulated at the expense of Israelite labor and were ready to bless them with it. Israel was told to prepare for the Passover, but the scripture tells us that this feast was not just for themselves; they were to become the host of salvation in order to bless the nations! Yahweh gave Israel specific instructions how to prepare the meal and it was also important to know how many guests they were to expect.

“Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are.” (Exodus 11:3) Now a lamb can feed between 15-20 adults. The size of the average Israelite family at that time was about 2 adults and 3 children. This would have left room for at least two or three other families to. There were at least Six hundred thousand Israelites over the age of twenty years old at that time. So the potential number of people that could have celebrated the Passover that night was may have been in the millions. As you can see, the Passover was not for the Jews, it is a celebration designed for all nations.

Now let us examine the types of people who were coming to the Passover that evening: Yahweh said to Moses, "These are the regulations for the Passover: "No foreigner H5236 is to eat of it. Any slave H5650 you have bought may eat of it after you have circumcised him, but a temporary resident H8453 and a hired worker H7916 may not eat of it. "It must be eaten inside one house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones. The whole community of Israel H3478 must celebrate it. "An alien H1616 living among you who wants to celebrate Yahweh’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat of it." (Exodus 12:43-49)

The primary objective of the Passover that evening was to preserve the seed of both Israelite and Gentile alike. The Passover rules indicate that even uncircumcised men were in attendance that night and were to be warmly welcomed; not chased away. If we could freeze this image, we can see that Torah, at its root level, reveals that salvation was not, is not, nor ever will be obtained through the rite of circumcision, but rather to be covered by the blood of the Lamb. Forty years after the Passover, Moses warned Israel not to add to or take away anything from the Torah. Therefore anything that moves away from these fundamental teachings (and in this matter I am specifically pointing to circumcision and salvation) would make Israel subject to the curses of the Covenant.

But in God’s kingdom there is always more to the story. The Passover in Egypt reveals some secondary truths that are crucial if we want to reconcile Paul’s actions and comments about circumcision. The Passover rules reveal to us that Yahweh separated the people who attended into two different classes. 1) Those permitted to eat the Passover lamb and those who were not permitted. 2) Those who chose to journey into the wilderness and abide in the Abrahamic system and those who would not journey. Here are the two classes broken down below.

Class A: 1. (Circumcised) Israelite H3478 2. (Circumcised) alien H1616 3. (Circumcised) slave H5650
Class B: 1. Foreigner H5236 2. Temporary resident H8453 3. Hired worker H7916

Now let us consider why Yahweh classified the people as He did: For obvious reasons, “class b” attended the feast simply because they feared the Judgments of God and they were rewarded for their humble obedience. But for those animated by fear, the deep meanings of the Passover would be difficult to comprehend. Like the thief on the cross, “class b” was forbidden to eat the flesh of the lamb. But there is no record of any complaints. Class b was primarily made up of those who had a secular relationship with Israel such as merchant men, tradesmen and casual friendships. Class b would later serve as witnesses in much the same way as the soldiers who guarded the tomb of Christ on the morning of the resurrection. Though ignorant, class b would spread the light of truth throughout the region.

Class b had enough faith to come to the Passover, and like many who were blessed by the miracles of Jesus, they were not spiritually prepared to leave all and follow the master as did the 12 disciples. Unfortunately for class b, Egypt was a disaster after the 10th plague. You would think that nothing was left to eat after the plagues that had devastated their crops. But remember, the land of Goshen (where the Israelites lived) was in pristine condition. No plagues had destroyed their fields and the barley was ripe and ready for harvest. As you can see, the God of Israel left memorable parting gift for the people of “class b” who obeyed His voice.

Many who had brought their families and servants with them to the Passover had more than just a secular relationship with Israel. They were familiar with the Abrahamic 400 year prophecy and comprehended its real time fulfillment. They, like those who chose to sojourn with Abraham in were prepared to leave Egypt and travel with Israel into the desert. These men were already acquainted with the Laws and statutes that Abraham passed down through the generations and pledged obedience to them. For them, the slaying of a sacrificial lamb had a deeper meaning than those composing “class b” due to their lack of understanding. They (the alien) were permitted to eat of the lamb because of their willingness to live according to the ways of the Israelites. The Alien that traveled with Israel would be permitted to participate in the rites and services of Israel just like the Israelite himself.