Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised him, but a temporary resident or a hired worker may not eat it. The distinction between a permanent household member (a slave, however acquired) and a temporary resident or wage laborer is significant. The covenant meal belongs to those who are permanently part of the household, not those passing through. The slave who is circumcised — brought fully into the covenant community — can eat. The free hired worker who passes through without covenant commitment cannot. Ephesians 2:12 describes the state of Gentiles before Christ as foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God — and verse 19 describes what the gospel has done: you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household. The transition from hired stranger to household member is what the gospel accomplishes.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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