Sunday Morning Podcast December 4, 2016. Bro. Dave Goble.
TEXT:EXODUS 12:43-51
43 And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:
44 But every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.
45 A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof.
46 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.
47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
48 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.
49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.
50 Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
51 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.
Here, God was interested in how the Passover was observed. This passage deals a lot with how strangers were to be treated. If God has shown us mercy when we were once “strangers,” we then should also remember those not yet having partaken of it. How do you treat strangers, especially those being your guests? Do you do your best to give them your respect, your comfort, and your best? No matter how different and hard to understand they are, you should welcome them and enjoy their presence, although we of course cannot enjoy any of their potential sinful actions. How about those not necessarily invited, but you have occasion to come in contact with? How do you treat those strangers? Those you meet at the market, on the street, on the road in your car? How do you act towards them?
Sometimes we need to be corrected for when we might fall short of handling things the way God would have us to. How do we take that correction? This will say a lot about our attitude toward God, and those without Him being reached for Salvation. Moses and Aaron were interested in how to teach Israel their needed conduct toward the strangers among them. Jesus also taught us, as long as we are welcome, to stay among them in hopes to teach them about Him. If not welcome, we are instructed to “shake the dust off our feet,” to continue on our way, (And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house and city, shake off the dust of your feet. Matthew 10:14) Then we are compelled to “go out to the highways and hedges” for people to come to God, even if they don’t respond, (Luke 14:23).
Deuteronomy 10: 17-19 : God loves the stranger. We need to also, in our heart and our deeds!
Are we treating strangers among us as our self, as God commanded? .