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The first time the "10 commandments" ( Law, Torah ) were read after the sons of Israel entered Canaan
is accounted in Joshua 8. It says here that when it was read, it was read the "strangers" among them.
Josh 8:30; Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal,
Josh 8:31; just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones on which no man had wielded an iron tool; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.
Josh 8:32; He wrote there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written, in the presence of the sons of Israel.
Josh 8:33; All Israel with their elders and officers and their judges were standing on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the stranger as well as the native. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had given command at first to bless the people of Israel.
Josh 8:34; Then afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law.
Josh 8:35; There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel with the women and the little ones and the strangers who were living among them.
Who were these "strangers" living among the Jews, well if they would have been Jews that left Egypt with them 40 years earlier, they wouldn't be strangers. These were people like Rahab, who wasn't a biological descendant of Jacob, but joined the Jews during their conquests of Canaan ( In Rahab's case, the battle of Jericho ). We know that Rahab remained among them, because she is mentioned in Hebrews 11 and James 2, but also she is mentioned in Jesus's bloodline ( ancestry ) in Matt 1:5;
So if you wanted to be a "Jew" ( follow Judaism ) in the old testament, you had to follow the law.
Ishmael wasn't a Jew either, he was the first Arab/Palestinian. But even though neither he nor Abraham were Jews, they were cicumcised.
Gen 17:23; Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, as God had said to him.
Gen 17:25; And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Gen 17:26; In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son.
In fact even non-Jews had to be circimcised.
Exod 12:48; "But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it.
Even non Jews had to sacrifice animals for sins.
Lev 17:8; "Then you shall say to them, 'Any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice,
Lev 17:9; and does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it to the LORD, that man also shall be cut off from his people.
Lev 17:10 'And any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people.
There are several more verses like these, I won't post them all, because I think the point here has been made. But in the Old Testament, Gentiles had to follow the law.
[NLT]
Rom 2:12 When the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God’s written law. And the Jews, who do have God’s law, will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it.
Rom 2:13 For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight.
Rom 2:14 Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it.
Rom 2:15 They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.
Here's the absurdity of saying that Gentiles were never under the law. That means Gentiles could never sin. The law is what defines sin. You cannot name a sin that is not in the law.
Rom 3:20; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
Rom 5:13; for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Without the law, there is no sin. But yet Gentiles have sinned for... well since the beginning of time. We still sin today.
Now there are parts of the law that no longer apply to us. Jesus's death and sacrifice made a lot of differences.
For example, we no longer need to be cicumcised. Almost the entire book of Galatians is about cicumcision. But Paul says in Corinthians, we still need to follow the commandments.
1Cor 7:19; Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.
The three books below, were written by Paul ( the Apostle of the Gentiles ) to Gentiles. Epesus, Collosae, a Thessolonica were Gentiles towns, in Gentile countries.
Eph 2:15; by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,
Col 2:22; (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?
1Thes4:2; For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
Why would these books ( also also Corinthians mentioned above ) mention the Law? Because in the old testament Gentiles had to follow the law.
Why did the Galatians want to be circumcised? because under the old testament, Gentiles had to follow the law.
Gal 2:3; But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
Titus was a Greek, not a Jew. Why would he think he needed to be circumcised? Because even Gentiles had to follow the law.
If you are a Gentile, you can never say "I've sinned" if you were never under the law.
is accounted in Joshua 8. It says here that when it was read, it was read the "strangers" among them.
Josh 8:30; Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal,
Josh 8:31; just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones on which no man had wielded an iron tool; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.
Josh 8:32; He wrote there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written, in the presence of the sons of Israel.
Josh 8:33; All Israel with their elders and officers and their judges were standing on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the stranger as well as the native. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had given command at first to bless the people of Israel.
Josh 8:34; Then afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law.
Josh 8:35; There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel with the women and the little ones and the strangers who were living among them.
Who were these "strangers" living among the Jews, well if they would have been Jews that left Egypt with them 40 years earlier, they wouldn't be strangers. These were people like Rahab, who wasn't a biological descendant of Jacob, but joined the Jews during their conquests of Canaan ( In Rahab's case, the battle of Jericho ). We know that Rahab remained among them, because she is mentioned in Hebrews 11 and James 2, but also she is mentioned in Jesus's bloodline ( ancestry ) in Matt 1:5;
So if you wanted to be a "Jew" ( follow Judaism ) in the old testament, you had to follow the law.
Ishmael wasn't a Jew either, he was the first Arab/Palestinian. But even though neither he nor Abraham were Jews, they were cicumcised.
Gen 17:23; Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, as God had said to him.
Gen 17:25; And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Gen 17:26; In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son.
In fact even non-Jews had to be circimcised.
Exod 12:48; "But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it.
Even non Jews had to sacrifice animals for sins.
Lev 17:8; "Then you shall say to them, 'Any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice,
Lev 17:9; and does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it to the LORD, that man also shall be cut off from his people.
Lev 17:10 'And any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people.
There are several more verses like these, I won't post them all, because I think the point here has been made. But in the Old Testament, Gentiles had to follow the law.
[NLT]
Rom 2:12 When the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God’s written law. And the Jews, who do have God’s law, will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it.
Rom 2:13 For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight.
Rom 2:14 Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it.
Rom 2:15 They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.
Here's the absurdity of saying that Gentiles were never under the law. That means Gentiles could never sin. The law is what defines sin. You cannot name a sin that is not in the law.
Rom 3:20; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
Rom 5:13; for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Without the law, there is no sin. But yet Gentiles have sinned for... well since the beginning of time. We still sin today.
Now there are parts of the law that no longer apply to us. Jesus's death and sacrifice made a lot of differences.
For example, we no longer need to be cicumcised. Almost the entire book of Galatians is about cicumcision. But Paul says in Corinthians, we still need to follow the commandments.
1Cor 7:19; Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.
The three books below, were written by Paul ( the Apostle of the Gentiles ) to Gentiles. Epesus, Collosae, a Thessolonica were Gentiles towns, in Gentile countries.
Eph 2:15; by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,
Col 2:22; (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?
1Thes4:2; For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
Why would these books ( also also Corinthians mentioned above ) mention the Law? Because in the old testament Gentiles had to follow the law.
Why did the Galatians want to be circumcised? because under the old testament, Gentiles had to follow the law.
Gal 2:3; But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
Titus was a Greek, not a Jew. Why would he think he needed to be circumcised? Because even Gentiles had to follow the law.
If you are a Gentile, you can never say "I've sinned" if you were never under the law.
