Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 831 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Why Circumcision? – Wisdom Wednesday
Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 831 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. The past several weeks on Wednesday we have been focusing on interpreting current events through a Biblical Worldview.
To establish a Biblical worldview, it is important that you also have a proper understanding of God’s Word. Especially in our western cultures, we do not fully understand the scriptures from the mindset and culture of the authors. In order to help us all have a better understanding of God’s Word, I would like to invest the next several weeks reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser, which he has compiled into a book titled I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible.
We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. If you study local customs or cultures within nations around the world, you are likely to find certain practices that just will not make sense to you. This may apply to diet, dress, rituals, superstitions, or physical changes. One such practice that God set forth as a sign of separation from the world and dedication to Him was the practice of circumcision for all males that are the decedents of Abraham. These descendants became the Nation of Israel. So the topic of our essay today is…
Why Circumcision?
Circumcision is mentioned nearly 100 times in the Bible. It is a central focus for Old Testament and New Testament theology as mentioned in Romans 4:9-12.
Now, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith. But how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised!
Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith. And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.
More details about circumcision in the New Testament is also found in Galatians 2 and 5.
If we’re honest, circumcision as a covenant sign just sounds absurd. Was it unique to the Abraham and the Nation of Israel? Not really. Circumcision was the sign or mark of God’s covenant with Abraham and is found in Genesis 17:9-14, “Then God said to Abraham, ‘Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.’”
If you study the cultures in that area where Abraham was from, you will find that it was also widely practiced in the ancient Near East although the method wasn’t always the same. Jeremiah 9:25-26 notes that Israel’s neighbors were circumcised, “A time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will punish all those who are circumcised in body but not in spirit. The Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, the people who live in the desert in remote places, and yes, even the people of Judah. And like all these pagan nations, the people of Israel also have uncircumcised hearts.”
Archaeologists have also found that it was practiced in Syria and Phoenicia. Textual remains indicate that circumcision in Egypt goes back to at least 2200 BC, centuries before the Israelites were enslaved. Israelite men may have even submitted to Egyptian circumcision while in Egypt, since Joshua commanded the men crossing into the Promised Land to be re-circumcised in order to “roll away the reproach of Egypt,” which is found in Joshua 5:2-9. The evidence suggests that circumcision did not distinguish Israelite men from their foreign neighbors.
When God told Abraham to be circumcised, he was past the age of bearing children and his wife, Sarah, was incapable of having children. As we are told in Genesis [18:11]. Nevertheless, it would be through Sarah’s womb that God would fulfill His promise of innumerable offspring to Abraham. God’s covenant with Abraham could only be realized by miraculous intervention.
The miraculous nature of Isaac’s birth is the key to understanding circumcision as the sign of the covenant. After God made His promise to Abraham, every male member of Abraham’s household was required to be circumcised which is described in Genesis [17:15]-27. Every male and every woman, since the males were all incapacitated for a time, knew that circumcision was connected to God’s promise. It probably didn’t make any sense, though, until Sarah became pregnant.
Everyone in Abraham’s household witnessed the miracle of Isaac’s birth. From that point on, every male understood why they had been circumcised: Their entire race—their very existence—began with a miraculous act of God. Every woman was reminded of this when she had sexual relations with her Israelite husband and when her sons were circumcised. Circumcision was a visible, continuous reminder that Israel owed its existence to Yahweh, who created them out of nothing.
This is not the same under the new covenant. In the New Testament, membership in God’s family is “circumcision neutral” Galatians 5:6 tells us, “For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.”
It is faith in Christ, not a Jewish identity signified by circumcision, that makes someone part of the Church. Paul even connects baptism to circumcision in Colossians 2:10-12, “So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. When you came to Christ, you were ‘circumcised,’ but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision, the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.”
Like circumcision, baptism is a response driven by faith. It is the outward manifestation of an inward change of heart. Both signs are for men and women.
Next Wisdom Wednesday, we will look at Dr. Heiser’s next essay titled The Abandoned Child is a Basket Case. I believe you will find this another interesting topic to consider as we build our Biblical worldview.
Tomorrow we will continue with our 3-minute wisdom nugget that will provide you with a bit of wisdom that, if followed will allow you to grow healthier, wealthier, and wiser each day. So encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along with us tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.
That will finish our trek for today. If you would like to listen to any of our past 830 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. You can also subscribe to iTunes or Google Play so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.
Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.
Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.
As we take this trek together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you tomorrow!
