What Was The Point of Circumcision (Genesis 17:1-27)
If You Want To Understand The Bible, You Need To Know The Book of Genesis
This is the seventeenth part in a multipart series on the Book of Genesis. You can find the others here:
Introduction
God has made His covenant with Abram and now has provided the sign of this covenant. It is a strange sign, one in which God requires the removal of flesh from the male generative organ. But what it points toward is the coming of The Seed who crushes the head of the Serpent. Why God chose this sign, what it really means, and which people were to receive it, is all that we will look at in the scripture today.
The Sign
Thirteen years after the events of chapter 16, where Ishmael was conceived and born, God appears to Abram again. He tells him that He is God Almighty, and He commands him to walk before me and be blameless. God reiterates His intent to cut a covenant with him and to multiply Abram exceedingly. In response to this, Abram prostrates himself before God, and God speaks to him further. He changes Abram’s name once again. Instead of being known as Abram, Exalted Father, now he will be known as Abraham, Father of Multitudes, because Abraham is now the father of many nations. What are the nations? At this point, Abraham only has one son, Ishmael, from the slave, Hagar. But he will also have Isaac, who will be the father of the Israelites and the Edomites. And then later on, he will marry Keturah and have nations born from her, as well. God tells Abraham that kings will descend from him, not just Israelite kings, but many kings of many nations. And in verse 7, we see the nature of God’s covenant with Abraham. It is established not just with him, but with his descendants after him. The nature of God’s covenant is not merely with a single man, but with those who are generated from him. It is not merely a promise to an individual, but a promise to an individual and his line. And to these descendants He will give the land of Canaan as an everlasting promise, so long as they keep His covenant.
God tells Abraham this is the covenant: that every male child among you shall be circumcised. This is to be done on the eighth day, and every male child in your household shall be circumcised. Interestingly, not just the ones that were born to Abraham, like Ishmael or (later) Isaac, but also those who are bought with money (i.e., also the slaves). Every man in the household this should be done to. Even the slaves, as well as the sons, are expected to keep God’s covenant. Additionally, refusing to be circumcised cuts you off from your people. To this point, this is the only stipulation that would be called covenant-breaking. You must do this, or you have been broken off from God’s covenant and your line after you is broken off from it.
God not only gives Abraham a new name, but also gives Sarai one as well. It is a much more subtle change than Abraham’s name change. Instead of being Sarai (My Princess) she is now called Sarah (Princess). She is no longer Abraham’s Princess; she is The Princess. Here God tells Abraham that this 90 year old woman, who has always been barren, will now bear a son for him, that she will be the mother of nations and kings.
How did Abraham respond to this? He prostrated himself before the Lord once more, but this time he also laughed. This was something so incredible that it was funny to Abraham. He asks that God would establish Ishmael, his now 13-year-old son. But God replies to him and tells him that Sarah’s son would be his heir. His name would be Isaac (Laughter). He will be blessed, made fruitful, and multiplied, just like his father. And God says he will beget twelve princes. What does this mean? Well it is obvious that this is about Jacob’s sons, but they are indeed begotten by Isaac through Jacob. God tells him that at the same time next year, Sarah will bear Isaac.
What was Abraham’s response to all of this? Obedience. Immediately, Abraham took Ishmael and all the other men of the household who were purchased with money, and cut off their foreskins as well as his own.
Conclusion
What does this mean? It is interesting, and maybe this is a thing you have never noticed before, but if Isaac was born 12 months after this takes place, and the gestation of a child is 9 months, then Isaac’s conception did not happen until after Abraham was circumcised. What does that mean? It means that Isaac’s conception is related to the sign of the covenant—circumcision—which is related to the promise of the seed. It is only after the sign of circumcision was given that the true Seed heir was conceived and born.
This takes us to the meaning of circumcision. God could have chosen literally anything as a physical sign on the human body for His covenant, but He chose that one in particular. It is a strange sign to us. It is something that is frankly awkward to talk about. He could have chosen some kind of tattoo or piercing or a distinctive hair cut like a tonsure or Chinese queue as the physical mark of His covenant people. But instead, it was cutting off part of the flesh of the male organ. An almost invisible sign since that part is ordinarily covered up. It makes you wonder how the Jews of the synagogue in Acts knew that Timothy was uncircumcised until Paul circumcised him! Why this sign? Because the promise was for future generations and always pointing forward to the Seed, Jesus Christ.
Each generation, on the eighth day, the male children were circumcised. Each generation, as the knife cut through the foreskin, they were professing hope that maybe, finally, the Seed would come now. They were the Seed people through whom the Seed would come. But the Seed one day did come. He was born, He lived, He was killed on the cross, was raised to life, and ascended to rule. He accomplished the mission of the Seed people, and those who believed all along, who were not part of the Seed people, the Gentiles, the Gentile God-fearers, were united to the Seed people through Him. And thus, the Seed people’s mission being fulfilled, this sign was fulfilled. Instead, another new invisible mark was placed upon those in covenant with God—baptism. No longer was there any need for a sign that looks forward to the salvation brought by the Seed, which has already come. Now, God’s people are united to Him in baptism.
Any circumcision happening now as a religious rite is blasphemous. It is declaring that the Seed has not come, that you still await the Seed to come. The sign of the covenant now looks both backward and forward; backward to what the Seed has done and forward to His return and the full consummation of His kingdom. It is a sign not just for the males of one nation and those who wish to join them, but a sign for all peoples on the earth, men and women, slave and free, and all nations of men.
For us today, when we read of this sign, it should remind us of our baptisms. Not because there are no discontinuities and distinct particular meanings to both, but rather that this sign has been fulfilled, and the new sign is the greater circumcision. Baptism is circumcision glorified. The blood of Christ has been shed on our behalf; no more blood needs to be shed. We have been washed clean by it. Baptism is not less than circumcision but rather more than. The features are indeed the same: you are part of His covenant, you are commanded to keep His covenant, and the promise belongs to you and your children. What is greater is that what was merely pointed forward to in hope has now been accomplished. The Serpent’s head has been crushed. Now we await the final victory of His kingdom. So trust in the Lord. Remember your baptism. Keep His covenant. And glory in the victory of the Seed of Abraham, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Is it possible to change to a male narrator voice for these articles?
One wonders why the Good Lord chose THAT as a sign of the Covenant. Turns out there is always more than just one reason. Health is always a factor. It's a known known that the wives of circumcised men have none to negligible incidence of cervical cancer...