Galatians 3: | 7: “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.”
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Galatians 3: | 29: “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” |
The dictionary definition of the word ‘circumcision’
is: “to cut off the foreskin of a male person as a religious rite or
surgically.” In scripture the act of circumcision - of males only -
is referred to as the ‘token of the everlasting
covenant.’ The circumcising of females is barbaric and unscriptural.
Here is the first scriptural record concerning male circumcision:
Genesis 17: | 1: “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 2: And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3: And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, 4: As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 5: Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. 6: And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. 7: And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 8: And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. 9: And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. 10: This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 11: And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. 12: And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. 13: He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14: And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.” |
Acts 15: | 1: “And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. 2: When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.” |
Acts 15: | 19: “Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: 20: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. 21: For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. 22: Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: 23: And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: 24: Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: 25: It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26: Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27: We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. 28: For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29: That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. 30: So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle: 31: Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.” |
Acts 21: | 18: “And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. 19: And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. 20: And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: 21: And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. 22: What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. 23: Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; 24: Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. 25: As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.” |
Acts 16: | 3: “Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.” |
Romans 10: | 12: “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.”
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Galatians 3: | 28: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
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Colossians 3: | 11: “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.” |
1 Corinthians 7: | 19: “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.”
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Galatians 5: | 6: “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”
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Galatians 6: | 15: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” |
The teaching that ‘circumcision is a sign of holiness’
is not new. It is found in the Old Testament. The Most High has always required that
His people have circumcised hearts (motives/thoughts) and lips.
(words) Even the fruit of their trees was to be dedicated and holy.
Exodus 6: | 12: “And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?"
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Deuteronomy 10: | 16: “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked.”
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Leviticus 19: | 23: “And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.”
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Leviticus 26: | 41: “And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:”
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Jeremiah 4: | 4: “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.” |
Yes, circumcision is an age-old, personal sign of faith, obedience and absolute commitment to Yahweh the Almighty God of Israel. That's what the Sriptures teach.
The Holy Spirit was (and still is) fully aware of this fact: and,
in my opinion, temporarily postponed implementation of the
'everlasting sign of circumcision,' just as He did during Israel's
40 year wilderness wanderings in the days of Moses. But the
everlasting covenant was, and still is, alive. After Israel's 40 year
wilderness wanderings Yahweh gave this instruction to Joshua:
Joshua 5: | 2: “At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. 3: And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. 4: And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt. 5: Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised. 6: For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. 7: And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. 8: And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. 9: And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.” |
What exactly will the Saviour do at that time? The answer is: he
will circumcise our minds by writing his Father's law on the tablets of
our souls. We will then eternally reflect Yahweh's character and will.
That is the true circumcision, the everlasting token of the everlasting
covenant.
Hebrews 8: | 10: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.”
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Hebrews 10: | 16: “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them...” |
Notice that this covenant is made with the House of Israel. It is new in that now Yahweh's law is written on the mind. Previously it had been written on tablets of stone; but alas! Israel's promises to obey it had proved false. In the new covenant, when the Saviour writes his Father's law on the believer's heart and soul, spiritually circumcises him/her so to speak, then that sacred law will be kept to perfection. That is what circumcision signifies.
1 Corinthians 7: | 18: “Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.” |
Ezekiel 44: | 9: “Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.” |
Here are some texts concerning the everlasting covenant:
1 Chronicles 16:17 | "And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to
Israel for an everlasting covenant,"
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Psalm 105:10 | "And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:" |
Jeremiah 32:40 | "And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me." |
Isaiah 24:5 | "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant." |
Ezekiel 37:26 | "Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore." |
Genesis 17:13 | "He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant." |
Exodus 31: | 13: "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my
sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout
your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. 14: Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people ... 16: Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant." |
1 Corinthians 7: | 18: "Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised." |