01-54 The Sign of the Covenant, Part 1
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Genesis 17:9-11
Genesis 17:9-11
There used to be a time in our nation/society when personal responsibility was expected (could be the product of Judeo/Xn values that were largely understood and affirmed). That personal responsibility was evidenced at every level. As a child, if you were disobedient to one your parents, there were consequences (severity depended on what you did). Today (and you see in children’s behavior) there are very few who will dare to discipline their children. As a student, if you failed to study for a test—you would get a bad grade on the test and you’d have to work extra hard to pull that grade up so you didn’t flunk. Today, you simply re-take the test without consequence. As an employee, if you over-slept and showed up late for work, you may need to find a new job. Today, it seems like an expectation that employees will not do the job(s) they’re hired to do.
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
Taken from the realm of agriculture, this proverb has not only physical reality but also spiritual. A farmer plants a seed (corn, wheat, soybean) that’s what he harvests (reaps). Paul explains in this passage that it is a grave error to suppose that you can ignore the commands of God and go you own way without there being any consequences.
Personal responsibility is a thing of the past. And as our nation walks farther away from the principles that it was founded on we will see the increase of the lack of accountability among the people. And when the unsaved are regenerated, saved, given new life and they are made to partake of the blessings of the Lord to the church, there is the personal responsibility that is repeated often in NT:
1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
27 Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
Colossians 1:10 (NASB95) Prayer to be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding
10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
12 so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
1 Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. 2 For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
God’s grace always comes with personal responsibility. We see this also with Abraham in Gen 17. God was gracious in His choice of Abraham. There was nothing in Abraham that deserved God’s favor but God was gracious. The Lord had just brought judgement upon rebellious humanity by scattering them into different peoples and nations—having confused their language. Abraham is introduced in ch 12 as the one thru whom God’s blessing would extend to humanity. Having chosen Abraham, God makes a covenant with him (Abrahamic Covenant). This covenant has been described several times since Gen 12 (mentioned in chs 12,13,14,15,17).
There are at least 6 promises as part of this covenant: 1) to make him into a great nation; 2) to give him a great name; 3) to pour out blessing upon him and his descendants; 4) to bless the nations of the world thru his seed; 5) to give him and his descendants the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession; 6) to enter into a relationship with him and his descendants (to be their God).
Most of God’s covenants (including Abrahamic—which God calls “My covenant” 17:2,9,10)—have common features:
Covenants are unilateral/unconditional: Conditions for the keeping of the covenant fall upon God alone. The ceremony of ch 15 (smoking oven/flaming torch—symbols of God’s presence) where God alone passes thru the divided animal carcasses, YHWH is irrevocably pledging the covenant promise to Abraham so that the hope of its fulfillment does not rest on the conduct of Abraham or his descendants, but on the flawless and surpassing character of God who binds himself by means of an oath that what He has purposed will happen.
Covenants are eternal: God does not change…so too His covenants which are made by Him and maintained by Him are not subject to change. The words of the Abrahamic Covenant are: everlasting possession, eternal, forever.
Covenants are gracious: only prompted by God’s goodness and not anything that God sees in Abraham.
Maybe as a footnote to this last feature…the idea of personal responsibility comes to the forefront. Wherever God’s grace appears, there is personal responsibility, personal demands required of Abraham (not to keep the terms of the covenant—for there are truly no conditions put upon Abraham), but responsibilities that would result in enjoyment of the covenant. Disobedience would bring consequences and though it would not mean the end of the covenant as far as God’s choice is concerned, it would mean the forfeiture of individual blessing and participation in the covenant as we’ll see in ch 17.
I. Abraham’s Responsibility
I. Abraham’s Responsibility
vs 9
“As for you...” Here is a contrast with vs 4 “as for Me”. There are 7 “I will” statements made by the Lord in vv 2-8. In those vv the emphasis is on what the Lord will do (His part of the covenant—the only conditions fall to Him).
Now, the emphasis is on “you” (Abraham). You can see this just in a cursory glance thru these vv.
vs 9, 10 God instructs Abraham to “keep” the covenant. “Keep” refers to watch over, to guard, to protect and expresses the careful attention Abraham must give to keep the way of the Lord—to follow His direction.
What would this mean for Abraham? vs 10—circumcision. (Elephant in the room—no one wants to talk about it but its there, its massive and we can’t ignore)—for this reason: mentioned 10x: vs 10,11,12,13,14; 23,24,25,26,27
The act of circumcision involved the cutting and removal of the foreskin of the male reproductive organ (that’s as graphic as I’m going to get).
God told Abraham—vs 11.
“Sign” means a distinguishing mark, a commemorative token, or a signpost. This term was used for the luminaries that were “signs” in creation. The rainbow following the flood was an external sign of God’s covenant with humanity not to destroy earth again with water. The mark put on Cain was a “sign.” So too were the 10 plagues of Egypt—miraculous signs.
The sign is really not what’s important. It merely points to something greater beyond itself. That what a sign does. I remember going to Yellowstone with the family and we’d do what many families would do when you’re about to enter the park, you take a family picture around the sign. Now, I didn’t tell the family “OK, we’ve seen the sign so lets get in the car and go back home.” No—b/c we didn’t go to see the sign but to see what the sign pointed toward.
The same is true for Abraham—circumcision really is nothing in and of itself.
19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.
What the importance of circumcision was, is what it represented—pointed toward. First, who was the sign for? This was an intensely personal sign. Since most people would not walk around without clothing, the only people who would see it and know that a male had been circumcised were his parents (who would go thru the ritual at 8 days old; then later they would bathe and clothe the boy), the individual himself would see it, his wife would see it and of course God would see it. These were the only ones who would see the distinguishing mark of circumcision—very personal.
Another question—more important…what did the sign mean? I’ll mention at the outset that it had both a physical and spiritual meaning.
Physical Meaning of Circumcision
Physical Meaning of Circumcision
Note that God’s instruction to Abraham—vs 9 “as for you…you and your descendants. Again in vs 10 “you and your descendants after you...” and vs 12 “every male…throughout your generations”. Not only was this a reaffirmation of God’s promise that Abraham would have descendants that were innumerable (sands, stars, dust) but that God’s covenant was with Abraham and his seed/descendants. So the sign of circumcision was to mark off and identify the recipients of these promises and that the promises themselves were passed on to every generation of Abraham’s physical seed (Israel/Jews).
Stephen Wellum explains the primary purpose of circumcision was to mark the physical seed in preparation for the coming of Messiah. And it did so in 2 ways: First, it marked out Israel as a national entity and distinguished the individuals in that nation as a part of God’s covenant people. Second, it marked out a male line of descent from Abraham to David to Christ so that every Jew who was born—particularly those in Judah’s line—pointed forward and anticipated the day when the true/unique Seed of Abraham would come.
The primary purpose was to mark off the physical nation (from every other Gentile nation) inherit the promises of God to Abraham. So this was practiced faithfully by Jews even up to the birth of LJC (who Himself was likewise circumcised on the 8th day).
Spiritual Meaning of Circumcision
Spiritual Meaning of Circumcision
Because circumcision was a cutting off of the foreskin of the male organ, it would also come to symbolize the spiritual condition of every person—as the sin nature is passed on from Adam and then from every man to his children. The condition—the sin nature, the sinful heart stands in need of divine surgery in order to enter the kingdom of God. The heart needs the deadly disease of sin to be cut away from it and so the picture is the need for the inward surgery above and beyond the outward surgery. The spiritual meaning is what we get from progressive revelation.
16 “So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.
Israel has been wandering for 40 years b/c of disbelief and rebellion. The stiff neck comes from the ox that would stiffen its neck to make it difficult for the farmer to put the yoke on its neck. It became the picture of stubborn disobedience within the wandering nation. Moses is calling them to remove every obstruction that would keep them from loving, and fearing the Lord and obeying His will.
Dt 10:15, 17-20;
But so that we don’t think this is a matter of self-improvement and that a person in his own strength can accomplish this surgery of the heart required by God:
6 “Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
How does God accomplish this?
12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
This is what God’s Word accomplishes.
23 Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;
25 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised— 26 Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.”
Circumcision was not exclusively Jewish. Other nations practiced this (b/c there were benefits to it). But here, the Lord is revealing that it is possible to be circumcised and yet uncircumcised. (Physically but not spiritually). Without the spiritual circumcision—what Jer 4:4 says is the removal of the foreskins of the heart, you cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Let me move into the NT:
51 “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.
28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.
2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; 3 for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,
Colossians 2;
In Christ, believers were circumcised (περιετμήθητε—API2P “to cut around”). Paul is acknowledging the “rite” of circumcision that was 1st practiced with Abraham and then subsequently every Jewish male at 8 days old. Over time, this ritual developed into a racial barrier b/t Jews and Gentiles (3:11). Jews would refer to the Gentiles as the “uncircumcision”.
Later, some Jews who professed faith in Christ believed the physical act of circumcision was a necessary requisite for all believers (Judaizers) and they tried to force this rite on all Gentiles who would come to Christ. This heresy was apparent also in Colossae.
Paul explains that circumcision was a symbol of a spiritual reality regarding the sin nature and that the physical rite was not what was important b/c circumcision cannot justify the sinner before God (we’ll look at this next time from Romans—very important part of the discussion of Abraham’s faith and his circumcision).
Paul is teaching that what saves is “circumcision without hands” (contrast Eph 2:11). This was contrary to what the Jews had believed about outward conformity to the law. They figured that as long as they were circumcised they were justified. This was the teaching of their rabbis for many generations leading up to Christ. They taught “Circumcision saves you from hell” and “a man circumcised would surely not be sent to hell.” The outward conformity did not equate to the inward reality.
28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.
This is the true circumcision (made without hands). This is why the prophets (beginning with Moses) commanded the people to circumcise their hearts. This spiritual circumcision results in the “removal of the body of the flesh” referring to the sinful, fallen human nature that totally dominates the person before salvation.
This was the reality for each one of us. In us the guilt of sin and its penalty was the operating force. We were subject to that sin nature (enslaved—Rom 6) and its power was demonstrated over us on a continual basis. But when you trusted in the LJC, He circumcised your heart, removed the body of the flesh so that the power of the sin nature is stripped away (sin nature is not eradicated—yet), but you are no longer a slave to sin that you must obey its dictates.
Col 2:12—there is a positive connection b/t circumcision and baptism—but they are not equal. Many people have taken this to mean that just as 8-day old child was circumcised under the OT; now every infant should be baptized b/c baptism replaces circumcision. They take this verse and Rom 4:11 to teach that baptism is to NT as circumcision was the OT.
There are many problems with this logic but let me mention 2 briefly. First, Paul would hardly replace one ritual with another ritual—especially in light of the legalistic tendencies of the heretical Judaizers who taught that justification came by means of conformity to the Law (several chs of Rom spent to dispel that thinking which actually diminishes the sufficiency of the work of JC).
2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; 3 for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,
Second, the baptism Paul speaks of in Col is not water baptism but spiritual baptism—the baptism of the Spirit. It is this baptism alone which saves (simultaneous to the circumcision of the heart). The picture for the apostle is that the believer has died with Christ, was buried with Christ and raised to new life (Rom 6). If this is the case, the old self is crucified (Rom 6:6) so that the body of sin might be done away with (you can see the similarities b/t baptism and circumcision—spiritual).
We do not practice infant baptism at CCC but credobaptism (believer’s baptism). Every instance in NT of a believer getting baptized is after they personally trusted in JC. This is what infants are not able to do.
Back to Abraham—God is commanding him to keep the covenant (his personal responsibility) not b/c the covenant would be nullified for failure to keep it but that he would have forfeited the enjoyment of obedience to God.
10 “This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12 “And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants. 13 “A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 “But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
This was an essential sign to the extent that failure meant forfeiting personal enjoyment of God’s promises—cut off from his people. God always takes delight in obedience. We’ll come back next time and look at Abraham’s response as well as a new name for his wife and why this was so important.
I’ll close by coming back to the spiritual circumcision that is necessary—the removal of the body of the flesh. If you are trusting in any ceremony or ritual for your justificaiton you nullify the work of Christ on your behalf. We teach “Christ alone.” What does that mean? It means that work of salvation is His alone. It means that His self-sacrifice, His crucifixion resulting in His death, and His resurrection alone is sufficient to make atonement for your sin, to redeem you, to forgive you, to save you—this is what LJC accomplished.
Yet so many people think they still need to do something beyond this. I need to be baptized, I need to go to church, I need to serve, I need to give (all things in themselves are fruits of righteousness) but none of these things impart life. Christ alone can do that and the commandment that God the Father gives to every individual and for which He will hold every person accountable is: BELIEVE.
That is a major theme in John’s gospel:
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
24 “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;
This is the command of the Father. Believe on the LJC—you will receive the circumcision that truly matters (of the heart). What is your response?