REAL CIRCUMCISION Devotion 5 of 39 Circumcision is first mentioned in relation to Abraham, who was called Abram prior to being renamed by God. When Abraham was ninety-nine years of age, after Ishmael was born, the Lord appeared to him. At that time, the Lord said, "And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly" (Gen 17:2). This was in keeping with the Lord's promise to him approximately three years earlier, and prior to the conception of Ishmael. "On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: 'To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates; the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites'" (Gen 15:18-21). – Tomorrow:
"For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. (Rom 2:25-29, NKJV)
The only covenant God made with men prior to this was made with Noah (Gen 6:18; 9:9-17). The covenant with Abraham, however, differed significantly from that with Noah. That covenant established safety for Noah and his family during the flood. It also assured the world would never again be destroyed with a flood.
The covenant with Abraham, however, was one of blessing. At the time God made this covenant, he changed Abram's name to Abraham. "No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations" (17:5). Having promised the land of Canaan to Abraham for "an everlasting possession," the Lord said, "This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you" (17:10-11). The requirement applied to every male offspring of Abraham, of all generations, and to any foreigner among them as well (v 12).
The requirement was exacting, with no leniency at all. The covenant of God would be ratified in the flesh of Abraham's progeny. "He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant" (v. 13-14).
The covenant was further defined as being through Isaac's lineage, and not that of Ishmael. When Abraham suggested that the covenant might be fulfilled through Ishmael, the Lord said, "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him . . . But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year" (17:19,21).
In faith, Abraham obeyed the voice of the Lord. "Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him" (Gen 21:4). Stephen referred to this occasion in his eloquent defense of the faith. "Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day" (Acts 7:8).
You may recall that Joseph and Mary also honored this covenant, circumcising Jesus when He was eight days old. "And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb" (Lk 2:21). That took place about 2,000 years after the circumcision of Isaac.
Circumcision was necessary under the First Covenant. Yet, it did not pertain to the Covenant made at Sinai, but the one made with Abraham – the covenant of blessing that centered in the coming Messiah.
PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You through Jesus Christ that the covenant You made with Abraham was one of blessing for the whole world.