Cutting Off the Old Nature

The Covenant of Circumcision

And he [God] gave him [Abraham] the covenant of circumcision.—Acts 7:8

Michael Nekora

The subject of circumcision is first mentioned in Genesis 17. God speaks to Abram and tells him he is entering into a covenant relationship with him. He changes Abram’s name to Abraham and promises all the land of Canaan to him and his seed after him for an “everlasting possession.” As a proof or token of this special covenant relationship between God, Abraham, and Abraham’s seed, God required that 99-year-old Abraham be circumcised, and that every male in his house, whether a member of the family or a slave, also be circumcised. From that point forward all who entered Abraham’s family, or that of his children, or his children’s children, forever were to follow this ceremony showing that they were a part of this covenant arrangement.

The procedure was not optional: “The uncircumcised man child … shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant” (Genesis 17:14).

Ishmael was thirteen years old when he and his father were circumcised. Because of this, Arabs who trace their lineage to Abraham through Ishmael still circumcise their males at age thirteen. However, God said from that point forward, circumcision was to occur when a male was eight days old. Thus when Isaac was born a year later, he was circumcised on the eighth day. The importance of the eighth day was so great that when Israel received the Ten Commandments that specified that no work be performed on the Sabbath, an exception was made for circumcisions. Jesus used this exception in his answer to the Pharisees who accused him of violating the Sabbath by healing a man: “Because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath?” (John 7:22,23, NIV).

Moses and Zipporah

When Moses was forty years old, he thought he was ready to lead Israel out of Egyptian slavery; instead he was forced to flee for his life. He went into the land of Midian, eventually married Zipporah, and had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer (Exodus 18:3,4). Midian was a son of Keturah and surely Abraham followed the rite of circumcision with all the sons he had by Keturah.

Yet, for reasons that are never explained, in the land of Midian Moses does not circumcise one of his sons. This leads to a quite unexpected event as eighty-year-old Moses, Zipporah, Gershom, and Eliezer were on their way to Egypt: “And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD [Jehovah] met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision” (Exodus 4:24-26).

Who was God trying to kill? Many translators think it was Moses so they have substituted his name for the pronoun “him.” But since God had just told Moses what to say to Pharaoh, it was inconceivable he would now try to kill him. It is far more likely it was Moses’ son. The law of circumcision demanded that the uncircumcised person be “cut off from his people” (Genesis 17:14), not the father of the son. When Zipporah realized it was the son who was in jeopardy, she knew what must be done and she did it. At whose feet did Zipporah cast the bloody skin? We read that, as soon as she did it, “he [Jehovah] let him [the son] go.” Zipporah had just saved the life of her son, so she was not angry. She cast it at the feet of the angel or representative of the Lord, and said: “Surely a bridegroom by rites of blood art thou to me” (Exodus 4:25, Rotherham).

Zipporah was not a descendant of Jacob. In Numbers 12:1 she is called “an Ethiopian.” She was a foreigner in the commonwealth of Israel. But by this act, she claimed the right to a covenant relationship with God [through his representative, of course]. When this was all over, and for reasons that are never explained, Zipporah and her two sons returned to her father Jethro’s house; they did not go with Moses into Egypt. Later they rejoined him in the wilderness (Exodus 18:5).

The Exodus

We know circumcision continued to be practiced when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt because Joshua 5:5 says all who came out of Egypt were circumcised. But why did no circumcisions occur in the wilderness? The Scriptures do not give an explicit answer, but we know that because a lack of faith made the nation reject Joshua’s and Caleb’s favorable report of the promised land, the Israelites were estranged from God. It is probable that God himself prohibited them from enacting this sign of the covenant during the forty-year period of punishment. When this period was over, God told Joshua to circumcise the people: “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. And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you” (Joshua 5:8,9).

Israel had now returned to a covenant relationship with God. Perhaps the phrase “reproach of Egypt” can be best understood from the words Moses said to God when he threatened to destroy Israel for their wickedness: “Look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin: lest the land [Egypt] whence thou broughtest us out say, Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness” (Deuteronomy 9:27,28).

There is almost nothing more on this subject in the Old Testament except for a quite unexpected use of the word by Jeremiah: “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done” (Jeremiah 4:4, NIV).

Judah and those of Jerusalem were certainly practicing ordinary circumcision, but this outward act had no value unless they “circumcised their hearts”—a phrase that perhaps meant nothing to them.

Circumcision in the New Testament

The question of whether to circumcise or not was a controversial topic in the early church. Those who were deeply committed to Judaism were sure the Gentile converts had to come into the Jewish covenant to be blessed and that meant they had to be circumcised: “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” (Acts 15:1).

Paul and Barnabas debated the matter without success, so a delegation was sent to Jerusalem asking the apostles to settle this question. During that discussion Peter speaks: “God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them [the Gentiles] by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. … We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are” (Acts 15:8,9,11, NIV).

That was a compelling argument. God had accepted the “uncircumcised” just as they were. Why could not everyone else accept them that way too? They could. James stood up and proposed a letter be sent to the distant congregations. It was sent and it contained not a word about circumcision.

Paul put this question into proper perspective: “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Romans 2:28,29).

Here is the “circumcision of the heart” Jeremiah spoke about. It is not the cutting off of skin, but the cutting off of the entire “old nature.” Once that “old nature” is gone, we have something new: “Neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature” (Galatians 6:15). To the Jews circumcision represented the entering into a relationship with God. But the relationship a Christian has with God is different. A Christian’s justification comes from faith, not from works. But if circumcision is not the means to show a Christian’s relationship with God, what is?

“In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses” (Colossians 2:11-13).

Baptism is the symbol for Christians. We are cleansed from sin. We go under the water, symbolically “buried with him,” and come up alive as a new creature, ready to walk with him in newness of life. Just as circumcision was a kind of initiation into a group possessing certain rights, privileges, and responsibilities, so also is baptism a kind of initiation into a special group with its rights, privileges, and responsibilities. It is a step taken only by those who share the faith demonstrated by father Abraham who “received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised” (Romans 4:11,12, NIV).

There was another reason God wanted the Jews to practice circumcision. It set them apart from their heathen neighbors and they knew it. Samson’s parents, for example, could not understand why he wanted a wife from among the “uncircumcised Philistines” (Judges 14:3). Likewise, baptism sets us apart from our heathen neighbors. Only Christians practice it, and only a few groups perform full body immersion in water as Jesus did: “After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized” (John 3:22).

The Greek word translated “baptized” is Strong’s #907, baptizo. It means “to make fully wet.” Like circumcision, it is only a symbol. That baptism is not required for spirit begettal was demonstrated with the first Gentile convert. In Acts 10 as Peter preached to Cornelius, the holy spirit fell on the uncircumcised Gentiles. They spoke with tongues and magnified God. The Jews who were with Peter were astonished, but he asked, “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 10:47,48, NIV).

Paul equates baptism with “putting on” Christ: “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. … And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26,27,29). This is similar to his words in Romans 13:14 where he writes, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh.” In other words, cut off the flesh; be baptized into Christ and thus become clothed with him. Put on the robe of Christ’s righteousness and enter a covenant relationship with God; be his special people.

Circumcision never guaranteed that the Jews would attain the blessings God had for them. The unfaithful circumcised Israelites all died in the wilderness and never entered the promised land as they expected to do when they left Egypt. Likewise baptism does not guarantee that Christians will attain the blessings God has for them. Unfaithful Christians will die in the “wilderness” and will not enter the promised land as they expected when they left their “Egypt” of sin, sickness, and death.

We should look at Israel’s failures and learn lessons that apply to us: “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first” (Hebrews 3:12-14, NIV).

The Eighth Day

Why did God require that circumcision be done on the eighth day? Although some suggest that certain clotting characteristics of the blood are better in a baby on the eighth day than at any other time, it is more likely there is a lesson associated with the number eight. For example, when the first high priest and the underpriests were inaugurated into office, a seven-day period called the “consecration of the priesthood” occurred (described in Leviticus chapter eight). On the eighth day that typical priesthood began to function. Likewise the antitypical “priesthood,” after its consecration, receives its mark of a “covenant relationship with God,” a “circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” (Colossians 2:11). After being faithful unto death, it can begin to function.

There is also a picture at the end of the Millennial Age. The close of God’s seventh day will be followed by God’s great eighth day when the complete cleansing of the flesh will have been accomplished through restitution. Mankind will have attained the perfection that was Adam’s when all perfection resided in him. All the obedient of mankind will reach this condition by the close of the Millennium before they are presented to God by the Christ class, whose work will then be complete. Mankind will be purified; the old, sinful, fleshly failings will have been completely cut off and they will have an everlasting covenant relationship with the heavenly Father.

Conclusion

God’s relationship with his typical people Israel contains lessons which teach us what we must do to be pleasing to him today. Baptism for the Christian is the equivalent of circumcision for the Jew. Through baptism Christians enter into a covenant relationship with God. It is not the water that saves, it is what Peter calls a “good conscience.” He saw the water which saved Noah and his family by floating the ark as a symbol of a Christian’s baptism: “In it [the ark] only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:20,21, NIV).

Baptism is not a one-time ritual that guarantees special favor. It is a life-long commitment. Jesus asked his disciples, “Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Mark 10:38). They said they could, and they were right. Jesus asks us that same question. By God’s grace and through his strength and power, may we all say, “We are able.”