Exodus 12:48-49 And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to 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 a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. (49) One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you."
We have established thus far that someone who can trace their biological ancestry back to Jacob qualifies as a citizen of Israel. Nevertheless, there is another way for an individual to qualify as a citizen of Israel. In the above-quoted passage of scripture, God made provision for individuals who were not of Jewish descent (i.e. Gentiles), to become part of Israel if they so desired. The Lord said in this passage that those individuals would have to become circumcised. In other words, they would have to convert to Judaism, i.e. obey the Laws of Moses. The term applied to such individuals is “proselyte”, and the Lord Jesus Himself acknowledged that such individuals were indeed part of the Jewish nation (Matthew 23:15).
Genesis 17:9-14 And God said to Abraham: "As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. (10) This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; (11) and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. (12) He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. (13) He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. (14) And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."
In the previous passage we saw that through the act of circumcision, God made provision for Gentiles to become part of Israel, even though they are not Jacob's biological descendants. And so this brings us to the second criterion Paul mentioned, which qualifies an individual to be a citizen of Israel. The second criterion is that the individual must be circumcised. So why is circumcision a qualifying criterion for one to become part of Israel? In the above-quoted passage of scripture, we have an account of the covenant that God made with Abraham and his descendants, i.e. the nation of Israel. And so we see that the nation of Israel is unique among the nations of the world because they have a covenant relationship with God. God stated in this passage that the sign of His covenant was that every male descended from Abraham had to be circumcised in the flesh of their foreskins, eight days after birth. And so we see the reason for circumcision; it identifies the individual as being a partaker of God's covenant with the nation of Israel. God went on to say in this passage that any descendant of Abraham who is not circumcised, has broken His covenant and would be cut off from His people. In other words, in God's eyes, they are no longer considered part of the nation of Israel. And so we can see two reasons why, in determining whether one is a citizen of Israel or not, the qualifying criterion of circumcision is ranked above ancestry; firstly, because it is possible for an individual not of Jewish descent, to become circumcised and thus part of Israel, and secondly because an individual of Jewish decent can be cut off from Israel by breaking God's covenant of circumcision.
Michael E.B. Maher
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