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Genesis 19-21

1. Why are priests mentioned in Exodus 19:22 when the Levitical priesthood had not yet been established?

Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, or else the Lord will break out against them (Exodus 19:22).

The Levites had not yet been set apart for the service of the Lord, and the Aaronic priesthood as a subset of them had not yet been established. How is it that priests are mentioned at this early point in Israel's journey to the Promised Land?

It appears that God did have priests before the Aaronic priesthood was established. We do not have much information about them; however, consider these references:

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, 
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
And praise be to God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything (Genesis 14:18-20).

Melchizadek was both king and a priest of the true God. He gives praise to Abraham's God, who he designates as "Most High" and "Creator of heaven and earth," a designation that was unique to Yahweh. also, it would hardly be right for Abraham to give a priestly offering ("a tenth") to a pagan priest.  

Also Jethro, Moses' Midianite father-in-law may have also been a priest of Yahweh. He is designated as a priest of Midian, but he both acknowledges the "LORD" (Yahweh) and peforms sacrifices to Him:

Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt... Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. He said, “Praise be to the Lord, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.” Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God (Exodus 18:1,9-12).

Remember also, even before the Law of Moses, burnt offerings and sacrifices were made to the LORD. Making burnt offerings and sacrifices to the LORD were priestly duties. Yet Abraham gave a burnt offering to the LORD (Genesis 22:13). Noah offered burnt offerings to the LORD (Genesis 8:20). And Cain and Abel presented burnt offerings to the LORD (Genesis 4:2-3). Moses' also designated certain young men, presumably from various tribes of Israel, to perform these duties (Exodus 24:5).

So there was a kind of priesthood, both official and unofficial, even before the consecration of the Levites and Aaron for this role in Israel. This is also why the writer of Hebrews could speak of the priesthood of Jesus, who was not a Levite, being a priest of a greater priesthood than the Levitical/Aaaronic priesthood under the Law. Jesus was a high priest in the order not of Aaron but of Melchizadek (cf. Hebrews 5-7).



2. Why did Abraham circumcise his son Isaac (Genesis 21:4)?

When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him (Genesis 21:4).

Next to the Torah, the Law, this practice of circumcision is perhaps the most important aspect of Jewish faith. Why? Put simply, it was the siign of their existence as the people of God. It was the singular sign of God's covenant with Abraham. While we often speak of this covenant as being unconditional and unilateral to God, this is not entirely true, for God did have one condition, namely, the perpetual rite of circumcision. The key text is Genesis 17:

"I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him (Genesis 17:2-14,19).

God promised to make Abraham a great nation, with vast numbers, kings, and the whole land of Canaan as an everlasting possession. Such was God's part of the covenant to do. The part of the covenant for Abraham and his descendants was to circumcise every male. Circumcision would identify and qualify the participants of this covenant. If there were foreigners wanting to participate in this covenant, their males too would have to be circumcised.

This is why, when we come to the New Testament, the Jewish believers were insisting that Gentiles be circumcised (Acts 15:5), in order for them to enjoy the blessings of the New Covenant, which was given to Israel (Jeremiah 31:31-34). This is the only way that they understood from the Torah (the Books of the Law) that a Gentile could enjoy the benefits of any of God's covenants with the Jews.

Now, Paul makes the case that the crediting of righteousness came to Abraham before the covenant of circumcision, so that he might be both the father of those circumcised as well as those uncircumcised (cf. Genesis 12,15; Romans 4:9-12). Also, Peter at the Jerusalem Council argued that by divine revelation God made known to him that God accepted the Gentiles as they are, purifying them by faith and saving them through the grace of Christ (Acts 15:7-10).

But, as you might now appreciate, what Paul and Peter discerned through divine insight and revelation was by no means clear to the average Jew. And it was hard for many of them to embrace, not simply because of a distrust of or disgust with Gentiles, but because they may have just wanted to be faithful to God's covenant with Abraham. After all, Paul writes that this kind of inclusion of Gentiles with Jews into one body was a mystery unknown in times past but supernaturally revealed to the New Testament apostles (including Paul) and prophets:

In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:4-6).

Now, while Gentiles are no longer under the Law of Moses and not bound by the covenant of circumcision, believing Jews still practice certain aspects of the Law. In the New Testament there is freedom. One can practice the Law or not. We are not to look down on those who practice it, nor judge those who do not. But no one is to even imagine that their righteous standing by which they are saved is in any way based on their keeping the Law. As Peter declared, "We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus [only] that we are saved, just as they are" (Acts 15:11).