Brit Milah - Circumcision
Circumcision - B’rit Milah
Q. Out of love for Yeshua who is the Torah in the flesh, by the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) we attempt to walk according to the Torah of the L-RD. Yet for the Goyim (gentiles) Shaul says Galatians that if they go through Brit Milah (the rite of circumcision) then Messiah will be of no affect to them. Why? I do not ask in effort to say Shaul was wrong, G-d forbid. I ask to gain understanding of this truth. Could you expound upon this.
A. Let us examine what the Bible says about circumcision.
When G-d made His covenant with Avraham/Abraham, G-d told Avraham that the SIGN of the covenant was that that Avraham would circumcise his children. In Genesis 17:2-8, G-d made a covenant with Avraham as it is written:
“And I will make my covenant between me and thee and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face; and G-d talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram but thy name shall be called Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceedingly fruitful and I will make nations of thee and kings shall come out of thee, And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and to the seed after thee. And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession and I will be their God”
As a sign of this covenant, G-d instructed Avraham/Abraham that his children would be circumcised. In Genesis 17:9-13 it is written:
“And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant between me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed”
In Romans 4:1, 11, we can see that this circumcision was a SIGN of the covenant as it is written:
“What shall we say then that Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh hath found? And he received the SIGN of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised that righteousness might be imputed unto them also”
In Genesis 21:2-4, Avraham/Abraham circumcised his son Yitzchak/Isaac as it is written:
“For Sarah conceived and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare unto him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old as God had commanded him”.
Upon entering the promised land, G-d instructed Joshua to circumcise the children of Israel who had not been circumcised during their journeys in the wilderness. In Joshua 5:2-5 it is written:
“At that time, the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. And Joshua made him sharp knives and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: all the people that came out of Egypt, that were males even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt. Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt them that had not circumcised”
Circumcision was a SIGN of the covenant. The covenant was to be upon the HEARTS of G-d’s people. In Deuteronomy 6:4-5 it is written:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all your HEART and with all your soul and with all your might”.
In Deuteronomy 10:12-13, G-d reiterates that the children of Israel are to love G-d with all their HEART as it is written:
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways and love him and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy HEART and with all thy soul. To keep the commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, for thy good?”
In Deuteronomy 10:16, G-d associates loving Him with all you HEART with CIRCUMCISION of the HEART as it is written:
“Circumcise therefore, the foreskin of your HEART and be no more stiff-necked”
Therefore, PHYSICAL circumcision was to be a SIGN of the SPIRITUAL circumcision of your HEART. The physical circumcision by itself was meaningless if your heart was not circumcised and you did not love G-d with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. However, if you loved G-d with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, you will keep His commandments which involved physical circumcision.
In the NT we see that the emphasis is on making sure that you are circumcised in the heart. This is the most important matter of all. Even so, there is a ROLE that the Jewish believer plays in the Kingdom of G-d in professing their faith that Yeshua/Jesus is Messiah and maintaining their Jewishness as G-d commanded in the Torah that they are to be a “separate and distinct” people from the rest of the nations in the world. The ROLE that a non-Jewish believer has in the Kingdom as a believer in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah is not the same in all situations as the non-Jew. To the non-Jew, physical circumcision is not required but can be optional.
I am engaged to be married to a Jewish believer. Our children is considered by Jewish law as being Jewish. Therefore, I will make sure that our son will be circumcised the 8th day. However, if I was marrying a non-Jewish believer rather than a Jewish believer, then our son would not be required to be circumcised the 8th day. This is what Rav Sha’ul (the Apostle Paul) taught regarding the role of the Jewish and non-Jewish believer in Messiah.
In I Corinthians 7:18-19 it is written:
“Is any man called being circumcised? (the Jewish believer in Messiah) let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? (the non-Jewish believer in Messiah) let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God. (being circumcised in the heart).”
From this we can see:
#1) What G-d requires above anything else is a circumcised heart that would keep his commandments (Deut 10:10-12, 16, I Cor 7:19)
#2) For the Jewish believer, they are called to remain Jewish and be circumcised as this is their ROLE in the Kingdom of G-d.
#3) For the non-Jewish believer, they are not obligated to physical circumcision but only to be circumcised in the HEART.
In Galations 2:3, Paul writes concerning Titus who was a non-Jewish believer in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah:
“But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised”
Yet, in Philippians 2:5, Paul writes concerning himself:
“Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law, a Pharisee”
Therefore, Paul is making a distinction between himself being Jewish and being circumcised and Titus who was a Greek who didn’t need to be circumcised.
While G-d requires the Jew to be circumcised and the non-Jew not to be circumcised, once again, in Romans 2:25-26, 28-29, the emphasis in pleasing G-d is not solely based if you are physically circumcised or uncircumcised but if you love G-d and keep His commandments and if you are circumcised in the HEART. In Romans 2:25-26, 28-29 it is written:
“For (physical) circumcision verily profiteth, if you keep the law (love G-d with all your heart and keep his commandments): but if you be a breaker of the law (don’t love G-d and keep his commandments), thy (physical) circumcision is counted and is made uncircumcision (spiritually speaking without a covenant with G-d). Therefore, if the uncircumcision (the non-Jewish believer in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah) keep the righteousness of the law (love G-d and keep His commandments) shall not his (physical) uncircumcision be counted (spiritually) as circumcision? ... For he is not a Jew (a praiser of God and one who keep His commandments) which is one outwardly (keeping the physical commandments and not loving and obeying G-d with all your heart, mind, soul and strength) which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew (a praiser of G-d and one who keeps His commandments) which is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit (Deuteronomy/Devarim 10:10-12, 16) and not in the letter whose praise is not of men but of God”
CONCLUSION:
1. Circumcision is a SIGN of a covenant relationship with G-d
2. God’s greatest desire is that we are circumcised in the heart (Deut 10:10-12, 16)
3. The physical Jew is required to be physically circumcised. Therefore, the non-Jewish believer in Messiah should rejoice in the Torah observant Messianic believer who have their children circumcised and have respect for the Orthodox Jewish non-believer who also circumcised their children.
4. The non-Jew is not required to be physically circumcised but may do so if they want.
I hope that this helps to explain the issue of circumcision and what Paul was trying to communicate in his writings.