Foundations of our Faith: Circumcision (Part 1)

What is Circumcision?

Circumcision was an ancient practice that was practiced among many cultures in the Ancient Near East. In fact, interestingly enough even the Egyptians practiced circumcision.

What did the circumcision represent for the Israelites?

We’re not going to start by discussing fleshly circumcision. We’re going to look at some other contexts of circumcision and build a working understanding. You’re going to find that there is a common denominator in all of these instances, and that is that circumcision is about something being suitable for use for the Lord. Another theme you will see among these passages is the generational nature of circumcision.

Circumcision of the heart.

Circumcision of the lips.

Circumcision of the ears.

Circumcision of the heart is mentioned in several passages across Scripture.

Explain what the heart is.

English Standard Version Deut 10:14-17

14 Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. 15 Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. 17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.

God here declares His own character as the reason to circumcise one’s own heart. Here we see the Lord discuss fathers and offspring. The Lord says something incredibly interesting in Deut 30:5-6.

English Standard Version Chapter 30

And the LORD your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

Again, fathers and offspring mentioned. But this time, God says when He brings them back from exile that He will circumcise their hearts.

English Standard Version Leviticus 26:40-42

40 “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

Here we have again a generational charge. The iniquity of father and son is mentioned here. And God says if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, He will remember the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Moses talks about his lips being uncircumcised.

English Standard Version Exodus 6:12

12 But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?”

Moses believed his lips were unsuitable for use in speaking to Pharoah, because his own people wouldn’t even listen to him. Moses repeats himself in a later passage.

English Standard Version Exodus 6:28-7:4

28 On the day when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 the LORD said to Moses, “I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” 30 But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?” 7:1 And the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.

In this passage Moses repeats himself, and the Lord answers. He doesn’t believe his lips are suitable for use for the Lord. In Moses’ mind, the Lord’s purpose was for him to persuade Pharoah. The Lord responds, “You’re right. Pharoah isn’t going to listen. That’s not the point. The point is me demonstrating for Egyptian and Israelite, who I am.” Therefore, Moses lips were suitable for the Lord’s use.

Jeremiah pronounces judgment on Israel due to their uncircumcised ears.

English Standard Version Chapter 6

10  To whom shall I speak and give warning,

that they may hear?

Behold, their ears are uncircumcised,

they cannot listen;

behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn;

they take no pleasure in it.

11  Therefore I am full of the wrath of the LORD;

I am weary of holding it in.

It was their ears were completely uncircumcised, and therefore, they were unsuitable to hear the voice of the Lord. In fact, Jeremiah says that they scorned the voice of the Lord and took no pleasure in it.

Now that we’ve established that circumcision represented suitability of use for the Lord. We understand how they viewed the circumcision of the flesh and why it was used as practice in the ratification of covenant.

English Standard Version Genesis 17:1-16

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 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 throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

Covenants, in Scripture, in many cases weren’t made only with individuals, but with entire households and people groups. In cases where a covenant was made with an individual, that same covenant often applied to their descendants. Take for instance the Rechabites in Jeremiah 35. Jonadab, their father instructed them to abstain from wine and to live in tents, they obeyed their father, and the Lord said there would always be a man standing before Him.

We see other examples of household covenants. The Kingly covenant given to David, the priestly covenant given to Aaron, the service of the Tabernacle given to the Levites, and the promise not to flood the Earth given to all the descendants of Noah.

English Standard Version Exodus 12:43-51

43 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, 44 but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. 45 No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. 46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. 49 There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”50 All the people of Israel did just as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

Notice the similarities between this and Genesis 17. The entire household is to be circumcised, and that very day the Lord brought them out of Egypt.

English Standard Version Joshua 5:2-10

2 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. 4 And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt. 5 Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. 6 For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the LORD; the LORD swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the LORD had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 So it was their children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.8 When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. 9 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day. 10 While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho.

What does the Lord say after the Israelites are circumcised? He had “rolled away the reproach of Egypt”. They then keep the Passover.

Now, this is important to note that after their circumcision the Lord said that Egypt’s reproach had been rolled away. There is this link between the commandment of circumcision, the Passover, and the promise of national fulfillment.

Explain the connection in the last three Passages.

By tying circumcision in with the Passover and with leaving Egypt to bring them to a promise land the Lord was communicating something to them. The circumcision was intended to be a sign to the Israelites of where God had brought them from and where He was taking them, and that they were suitable for this High call.

However, it would be a mistake to believe that circumcision had any power in and of itself. Remember, during my last sermon we spoke about the concept of sacrament. A sacrament is a ritual or tradition used to communicate a spiritual truth about our relationship with God or about God’s character.

First, I’d like to point out that the first generation of Israelites circumcised perished in the wilderness. It’s because the circumcision of their flesh wasn’t reflected in their heart.

English Standard Version Jeremiah 9

25 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”

Here’s where things gets hairy and incredibly controversial.

In Genesis 17, the mark of circumcision given to Abraham was given with a promise, that from Abraham would come forth a multitude of nations and kings.

English Standard Version Ezekiel 44:6-9

6 And say to the rebellious house, to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: O house of Israel, enough of all your abominations, 7 in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. 8 And you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.9 “Thus says the Lord GOD: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary.

The question at hand is: does circumcision have a place in the Christian life? The answer is yes! However, we have to be measured and we have to place it in the proper place.

I want to lead out by offering two disclaimers 1) circumcision is not a prerequisite for conversion and 2) circumcision nor any work of the Law justifies us. I realize there are very difficult passages in the Apostolic writings that make things difficult, and we’ll talk about those next week.

In Genesis 17, the promise given to Abraham that was ratified with circumcision states that a multitude of nations and kings would come forth from him. It was with this promise that circumcision was ratified. In fact, it was to Abraham’s descendants that circumcision is given.

Paul makes reference to this passage, but in this passage He clearly includes the Gentiles.

English Standard Version Romans 9

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Paul references back to Genesis 17 to build his case, the case that the Gentiles will be considered part of Israel.

English Standard Version Chapter 9

24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea,

“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’

and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ”

26  “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’

there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ”

So Paul calls the Gentiles, who have been grafted in according to faith, offspring. They are co-equal inheritors of the promise and covenant of Abraham. This is Paul’s theology, not mine. So what exactly do offspring of Abraham do?

English Standard Version Chapter 17

9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 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 throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.

Now, Paul says a lot of things that seemingly contradict what is being said here, and next week we’re going to work through what is called the 2nd Temple discussion surrounding circumcision. For now, what I will say is this.

The place of all of God’s symbols and sacraments are all intended to be indicative of a spiritual reality. If you are more focused on the mechanics of the Torah, symbols and marks, than you are the meaning of them, you’re in danger of serious error. I want to be abundantly clear: If your heart isn’t circumcised, then physical circumcision is worthless to you.

The only way to truly circumcise our spiritual being is to allow God to make our hearts, lips, and ears circumcised for His purposes. There’s nothing mystical about physical circumcision. The physical circumcision is just a reminder to us of where we’ve been (that He has redeemed us from slavery to sin and death) and where we’re going (a kingdom of king’s and priests, and a land overflowing with peace, justice, and righteousness where the Lord will directly rule over His people as king), and that He has circumcised our hearts to make us suitable for this purpose.