Genesis 17.23-27-Abraham Obeys The Law of Circumcision

Tuesday January 24, 2006

Genesis: Genesis 17:23-27-Abraham Obeys the Law of Circumcision

Lesson # 87

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 17:1.

This evening we will study Genesis 17:23-27, which records Abraham obeying the Lord’s command to circumcise himself and all the males in his household.

Genesis 17:1, “Now 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.’”

Genesis 17:2, “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”

Genesis 17:3-4, “Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, ‘As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations.’”

Genesis 17:5, “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.”

Genesis 17:6, “I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you.”

Genesis 17:7, “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.”

Genesis 17:8, “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

Genesis 17:9, “God said further to Abraham, ‘Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.’”

Genesis 17:10, “This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.”

Genesis 17:11, “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.”

Genesis 17:12, “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.”

Genesis 17:13, “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.”

Genesis 17:14, “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.”

“Circumcised” is the verb mul (lWm) (mool), which refers to the act of cutting of the foreskin of the male’s penis and was given as a sign to Abraham and his biological descendants that they were set apart by God and yet was not given to justify or save them.

The ceremony of circumcision consisted in cutting away the foreskin, the hood or fold of skin covering the head of the male organ, which was generally done by means of a sharp knife, but in more primitive times sharp stones were used (Ex. 4:25; Josh. 5:2, flint knives).

At first, this requirement seems to be strange but the Lord gave it to Abraham and his biological descendants as a “sign” of His covenant with Abraham and his descendants.

Circumcision symbolized to the Jewish man that he was a member of an elect nation, a peculiar people, distinctly holy before God, in relation to sexual conduct, so it came indirectly to speak of holiness in every phase of life.

Leviticus 20:7, “You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.”

Therefore, the organ of the male body that was used for procreation is consecrated to God (cf. Deut. 30:6; Jer. 4:4) and failure to submit to circumcision demonstrated one’s overt unwillingness to obey the Lord.

“Sign” is the noun `oth (tw{a), which refers to the distinguishing mark upon the organ of procreation among Abraham’s biological descendants who had entered into the Abrahamic covenant and served as confirmation of Abraham’s lineage to fulfill their covenantal responsibility.

The ordinance of circumcision could not save man but was to be the distinguishing sign of the Jewish nation from the other nations.

God has not commanded circumcision of the flesh for Christians.

Circumcision of the flesh is useless unless there is a circumcision of the heart.

Colossians 2:11, “and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.”

God is concerned about the condition of your heart and if your heart is circumcised, you will obey God's commandments and to be disobedient to the commands of God shows that you have a uncircumcised heart (1 Cor. 7:19).

There is no distinction between circumcised and uncircumcised for those who are in Christ (Col. 3:11).

Circumcision was a ritual speaking of a reality.

Abraham was first justified by his faith and then he was given circumcision as a badge or a mark that he was saved and set apart by God (Rom 4).

The Jews in Paul's day believed that because they were physical descendants of Abraham that they could ride into heaven on the coattails of Abraham.

They believed that they were sons of Abraham by right of circumcision, when in reality those who believe Christ are the true sons of Abraham.

The 1st Church Council in Jerusalem that is recorded in Acts 15 deemed that a person does not get saved through the practice of circumcision but through faith alone in Christ, thus the Gentiles were not required to be circumcised.

Galatians 6:15, “For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.”

Genesis 17:15, “Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.’”

Genesis 17:16, “I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

Genesis 17:17, “Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, ‘Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?’”

Genesis 17:18, “And Abraham said to God, ‘Oh that Ishmael might live before You!’”

Genesis 17:19, “But God said, ‘No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.’”

Genesis 17:20, “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.”

Genesis 17:21, “But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.”

Genesis 17:22, “When He finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.”

Genesis 17:23-27 records Abraham’s obedience to the implementation of the practice of circumcision as the sign of God’s covenant with him.

Genesis 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.”

Genesis 17:24, “Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.”

Genesis 17:25, “And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.”

Genesis 17:26, “In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son.”

Genesis 17:27, “All the men of his household, who were born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.”

Notice that Abraham does not procrastinate but immediately the very same day he obeyed the Lord and implemented the sign of circumcision.

In Genesis 17:10, the Lord commanded Abraham to “keep” the ordinance of circumcision.

So in Genesis 17:23-27, we see Abraham conscientiously observing the practice of circumcision, which was to be the sign or symbol of God’s covenant with Abraham.

Abraham’s obedience demonstrated his love for God.

John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will observe conscientiously My commandments.”

Abraham’s obedience demonstrated his love for God in the sense that he honored, respected, revered God and was dedicated and devoted to Him to the point of self-sacrifice.

Abraham’s obedience was the proper, appropriate, obedient and obligatory response by him to God’s revelation of Himself since Abraham had been created and redeemed by God for His purpose and good pleasure.

The “objective” in God revealing Himself and His ways to men through the living Word, Jesus Christ and the written Word, the Bible is so that men might love Him, experience fellowship with Him, glorify Him and worship Him.

1 Timothy 1:5, “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

The believer who thinks that gnosis, “knowledge” of God is the ultimate reason for the Word of God will be arrogant.

On the other hand, the believer who achieves epignosis, “an experiential knowledge” of God is affected by God’s revelation of Himself and His ways and will have a love for both God and all men.

Here we see that Abraham is affected by God’s revelation of Himself, His ways.

Abraham possesses an epignosis, “an experiential knowledge” meaning that he has personally encountered through the process of fellowship, the love God has for him as this divine-love is revealed by the Holy Spirit.

He has been affected by this encounter with the love that God has directed toward him resulting in the gaining of practical spiritual wisdom and more of the character of Christ.

God’s revelation of Himself and His ways is not so that the believer can simply acquire knowledge but rather so that a transformation of character might take place in the believer’s life where this knowledge of God and His ways affects the believer’s lifestyle and priorities.

1 Corinthians 8:1, “Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge (gnosis) makes arrogant, but love edifies.”

Abraham’s obedience was confirmation that he indeed was obeying the command to “walk before Me, and be blameless” in Genesis 17:1 and experiencing fellowship with the Lord.

Fellowship with the Lord: (1) Only believers can experience (2) Experiencing God’s love for us (3) Experience of loving God and others (4) Experiencing eternal life (5) Experience of being in the presence of God (6) Worshipping the Lord (7) Lost due to sin but recovered through confession of sin (8) Based upon obedience to the Father’s will.

Not only did Abraham circumcise himself and his son Ishmael but also everyone in his household including servants he had purchased and those born in his household while their parents were in service to him.

Even though Ishmael would not inherit the promises with Isaac, Abraham circumcised him desiring that he receive the spiritual blessings that would originate from the fulfillment of those promises.

The Lord’s promise that He would make His covenant with Isaac and not Ishmael meant that the Messiah would be a descendant of Isaac and in no way excluded Isaac from sharing in the blessings that originate through faith in the Messiah and the same holds true for everyone in Abraham’s household.

Abraham’s obedience to the law of circumcision demonstrated his faith since all the males in his household would be incapacitated for several days thus leaving his home and possessions with no protection at all except of course for the Lord.

Undoubtedly, Abraham met resistance and many questions but nevertheless, his entire household received the sign of circumcision.

The fact that all the males submitted to circumcision based upon the word of Abraham is a testimony to the fact that Abraham was highly respected among those in his household and those who were servants.

At this time, everyone knew that God was with Abraham and if this was what God required, they along with Abraham would obey.