And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
Comment: Most promised agreements are signed with a handshake and a signature on a parchment or paper. This one was to be signed with a sharpened stone or knife on the males’ foreskin. It is often thought of as a ‘Jew’ sign but it is an Abrahamic descendant sign. Ishmael was circumcised in his 13th year and that is what Arabs do until the present, but this command was for the eighth day and that is when Isaac was born, he was ‘done’. In the New Testament the practice was strongly fought against by Paul when the Jewish believers tried to force it upon converted Gentiles to make them fully God’s people. Circumcision has nothing to do with being acceptable to God. To the Jews it is a mark of their Jewishness and continues to be so until today. It is their covenantal sign. It is worthwhile looking up circumcision on the internet. Many things God ordered in His laws seems strange to us but have health advantages. And not surprisingly to me there are a list of good results of circumcision – health wise. But we’ll go no further as it is a sensitive subject. I’ll bet that the camp of Abraham, if he goes on to do this, will be ‘out of sorts’ for a day or two!
Prayer; There are a few things which are meant to mark us as Yours, Lord Jesus. High amongst them is to be the true love between us. Please let it be seen as a reality in our world!
As I read it! 