Genesis 17:9-14

2007.Apr.28 00:26

Circumsion

Read Genesis 17:9-14 Full Chapter

God continued to Abraham, “And you: You will honor my covenant, you and your descendants, generation after generation. This is the covenant that you are to honor, the covenant that pulls in all your descendants: Circumcise every male. Circumcise by cutting off the foreskin of the penis; it will be the sign of the covenant between us. Every male baby will be circumcised when he is eight days old, generation after generation—this includes house-born slaves and slaves bought from outsiders who are not blood kin. Make sure you circumcise both your own children and anyone brought in from the outside. That way my covenant will be cut into your body, a permanent mark of my permanent covenant. An uncircumcised male, one who has not had the foreskin of his penis cut off, will be cut off from his people—he has broken my covenant.” (Genesis 17:9-14, MSG)

I’m not interested in discussing at this point the applicability of circumcision in the “New Covenant”–there’s plenty of discussion about this in the Bible itself. When I started this entry, I wasn’t particularly interested in exploring why Jehovah chose the particular action of circumcision as the sign of this covenant. As you will see, I changed my mind. However, I do so with caution, as such discussions can distract from the reality that Jehovah would ordain such a generational covenant affirming act at all.

Last entry, I looked at how, in Genesis 17:7-8, Jehovah explicitly extended his covenant with Abraham, formerly Abram, to his descendants. I am particularly struck by the wording in The Message version, when God refers to circumcision as “the covenant that pulls in all your descendants”. There is to be a physical reminder to all of Abraham’s descendants of this covenant, that this land is their’s not by the power of their flesh but by the decision and power of God.

Okay, I am going to explore a little why circumcision in particular. This is the only time that I know of that God calls for anything that might be considered self-mutilation. Significantly, this permanent change of the flesh is particularly apparent during sex. This means that circumcision does not have (intimate) consequences just for males, but also for most of the females of Abraham’s descendants. This point is important because there is nothing that implies to me that the covenant is with men only, but even the covenant act of circumcision includes women.

Additionally, this could be seen as a metaphor for Christ’s sacrifice. As God “gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16, NASB, Abraham’s male descendants were called to give a part of themselves that…erm…participates in the begetting process. And as we are called to take up our cross (Matthew 16:24) and “present [our] bodies a living and holy sacrifice” (Romans 12:1), and so have an experience of Christ’s sacrifice in our covenant with him, the women descended from Abraham also are called to experience the circumcision of their husbands within the marriage covenant.

And now I must take a moment and acknowledge that Christians may sometimes go overboard in trying to find metaphors for Christ in the OT. If the previous paragraph so qualifies, please ignore.

I want then to reiterate and highlight that Jehovah has placed before this people a continual covenant, and has ordained a generational reminder for it, within the covenant act of circumcision. This covenant is extended to all levels of society, including foreign slaves, because God’s promise is not dependent on some social strata. Instead, it is a reminder that we all are dependent on him.

Genesis 17:22-27

2007.May.21 02:49

A Family Obeys

Read Genesis 17:22-27 Full Chapter

God finished speaking to Abraham and then left. On that same day Abraham obeyed God by circumcising Ishmael. Abraham was also circumcised, and so were all other men and boys in his household, including his servants and slaves. He was ninety-nine years old at the time, and his son Ishmael was thirteen. ” (Genesis 17:22-27, CEV)

Here, Abraham does the kind of thing that helps explain why Jehovah has so blessed him and made a covenant with him and his descendants: he obeys. He has a bit of a crazy thing to obey, too. He must be circumcised and so must all the males of his household. And he does it, because Jehovah told him too. And all the males in his household go along. I don’t know, but I like to think it is because Abraham has led them effectively and kindly and so they trust him when he tells them what God has commanded. Then again, maybe he didn’t give them much choice. But in either event, they too obey.

Part of me just wants to leave this entry there. The value of obedience to God. Because it’s often a hard thing to get through our stubborn minds. Even more, immediate obedience. Even more, immediate obedience that you know is going to cause yourself and people you care for physical pain.

But I also want to consider something this is not. This is not Abraham creating a little cult to worship him and having half the cult members engage in self-mutilation to show their loyalty. Although it kind of reads that way. I’d say the first thing that demonstrates that Abraham is doing this for God rather than himself is that he is obedient to God’s command on his own body. More importantly, Abraham does not add anything to Jehovah’s command. This is a sign of the covenant between Jehovah and Abraham and his family. Abraham could have abused the opportunity by requiring additional obedience of his household to him–Abraham–but he doesn’t. Just as obedience should not take away from the command, neither should it add to the command. That doesn’t mean Jehovah has to be explicit on all points, but rather that we should not–even through our “reason”–add to ourselves or others additional commandments which God never gives.

It is also nice to note that Abraham is not using circumcision to create/embellish class distinctions. His family, his slaves, his servants, all his household, is part of this covenant (in my opinion, women included–earlier thoughts on that). And Abraham avoids such pitfalls because his focus–judging from his actions–is on obedience to Jehovah.

Genesis 21:1-8

2007.Nov.13 01:04

The birth of Isaac

Read Genesis 21:1-8 Full Chapter

Then the LORD took note of Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. (Genesis 21:1-3, NASB)

God fulfills a promise. Years after hope no longer makes sense, Sarah and Abraham have the child they’ve desired. And Yahweh takes another step in fulfilling his promise of creating from these two a great nation, because of their faith. Not only does God fulfill this promise, he does so just when he said he would. Isn’t he great?

I can’t help but consider, though, if the last chapter is in sync chronologically, whether Yahweh healed, as it were, Sarah’s barrenness (or Abraham’s infertility? Well, I suppose he was fertile once before, anyway…) at the same time as doing so for Abimelech’s wife and servants. I don’t know that there is any valuable point to be made about that, but it strikes me as neat.

Perhaps the reason this possibility strikes me is because of a mental constraint I tend to put on my understanding of Yahweh: I often think of God’s actions as being purely practical. He does such and such with the goal of bringing people to him, picking whichever option is best towards that end. Now, that may not be at all accurate anyway, but that is the way I tend to think about why he does things. So inclined, it strikes me particularly when he does something that seems to me primarily aesthetic. Did God create rainbows principally because they made a striking symbol of his promise, or did he create them because he thought they were beautiful, then used them as a symbol? Is that actually a sensible question? Probably not. But I need to remember that Jehovah does seem to like beautiful things, and to not try to restrict him to “the practical”.

Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.

Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. (Genesis 21:4-8, NASB)

So, what do the happy parents do in response to this. They largely forget about Hagar and Ishmael, apparently, but that’s for next entry. Aside from this unhappy point, Abraham and Sarah obey and celebrate. Abraham circumcises Isaac as God had previously commanded him, and they have a feast on Isaac’s, erm, weaning-day? And Sarah laughs.

I think that’s a good way to respond to Yahweh’s fulfilled promises: obedience and celebration.