“Genesis 17:9-14”

Tuesday, December 03, 2019

“God said further to Abraham, ‘Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. 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. 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. 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.’”

---End of Scripture verses---

“Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant” (verse 9). We observed yesterday that God has His part in any covenant, which is the bulk of the heavy lifting because He is the all-seeing Almighty God, and His subjects have their part to perform. In verse 4 the Lord revealed His divine part to Abraham—“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations.” In verse 9 He tells Abraham his part—“As for you, you shall keep My covenant…” Another requirement that God demanded of Abraham and his male descendants, along with the command to “walk before” the Lord “and be blameless,” was the ordinance of circumcision (verse 10).

“And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.” (verse 11) Circumcision in the foreskin was the physical, outward sign of God’s covenant with Abraham and His descendants, much as the rainbow was the visible token of God’s promise to mankind to never flood the entire earth with water again (Genesis 9:13). But why did the Lord choose this obscure marking to be the outward symbol for His spiritual union with Abraham’s descendants? “The fitness of circumcision to be a sign of entering into a covenant, and especially into one to which children were to be admitted, consisted in its being a representation of a new birth by the putting off of the old man, and the dedication of the new man unto holiness. The flesh was cast away that the spirit might grow strong; and the change of name in Abram and Sarai was typical of this change of condition.” (Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers)

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible comments: “The rainbow was the appropriate natural emblem of preservation from a flood; and the removal of the foreskin was the fit symbol of that removal of the old man and renewal of nature, which qualified Abraham to be the parent of a holy seed. And as the former sign foreshadows an incorruptible inheritance, so the latter prepares the way for a holy seed, by which the holiness and the heritage will at length be universally extended. It is worthy of remark that in circumcision, after Abraham himself, the parent is the voluntary imponent, and the child merely the passive recipient of the sign of the covenant. Hereby is taught the lesson of parental responsibility and parental hope. This is the first formal step in a godly education, in which the parent acknowledges his obligation to perform all the rest… This admission cannot be reversed but by the deliberate rebellion of the child.”

“When God told Israel, ‘Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer’ (Deuteronomy 10:16), it meant that they were to remove their stubborn sinful thoughts from their minds. In other words, they were to purge sin from their lives and become obedient to the laws of God. ‘And 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, that you may live’ (Deuteronomy 30:6).” (La Vista Church of Christ)

Many people are quick to point out the connections between Old Testament circumcision and New Testament baptism. Colossians chapter one refers to baptism as a circumcision that is made without human hands. “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; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.” (Colossians 2:11-13)

But baptism into Christ is more than just an outward sign of our faith like circumcision was. Baptism is to be done for the remission of sins by the penitent believer. Circumcision was a decision made by parents for their newly born, innocent children, while baptism is always a deliberate choice made and a covenant entered into by a fully cognizant sinner who personally desires to meet God on His terms. Of course an adult could have chosen to be circumcised like Abraham did when he was 99 years old in humble obedience to God’s will. But even in such cases circumcision was never said to be done for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38) and to receive eternal salvation (Mark 16:16). While similarities and connections obviously do exist, circumcision and baptism are far from true parallels. Another obvious difference is that baptism is a command to be obeyed by both males and females.

“And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised…” (verse 12) “The radical reinterpretation of the common practice of circumcision from a pubertal or nuptial rite to a covenantal rite is reinforced by the unique shift of the operation to the eighth day after birth. The incidental result, noted in a midrash, is that the rite becomes more humane because it avoids the physical and psychological effects attendant upon the performance of circumcision at a more mature age. The eighth day is particularly significant because the newborn has completed a seven-day unit of time corresponding to the process of Creation. In like manner, Exodus 22:39 stipulates that the first-born of an animal is dedicated only on the eighth day after birth, and Leviticus 22:27 lays down that an animal is not fit for sacrifice before that day.” (Nahum Sarna) It has also been noted that the eighth day is optimal for medical reasons since a newborn typically obtains the highest levels of blood clotting factors on that day.

“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.” (verse 14) “Jewish commentators generally consider that this penalty consisted in the offender being left to the direct interposition of God, who would punish him with childlessness and premature death… Most Christian commentators suppose that the offender was to be put to death by the civil magistrate; but this view is untenable. For a distinction is constantly drawn between the penalty of death, and the being ‘cut off from among the people’… The punishment really seems to have been that of excommunication or outlawry, to which other penalties might have been attached by custom: but the main point was that one uncircumcised (as subsequently one who violated the principles of the Mosaic law) forfeited his privileges as a member of the Jewish nation, could claim no protection from the elders for life and property, and could not take his place at the gate of the city.” (Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers)

Please read Genesis 17:15-22 for tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!

- Louie Taylor

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