What Is Circumcision In The Bible? When Was It Used?

What is circumcision mentioned in the Bible? When was it used and what purpose did it serve?

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

God introduces the command of circumcision to Abram (later changed to Abraham) in Genesis 17:1-6 where it was written, “When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.” God was making a covenant with Abraham saying “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” (Gen 17:10-12). So circumcision was given as a sign from God that a covenant or agreement was made between God and Abraham and all of Abraham’s offspring, later becoming the nation of Israel , showing the original purpose of circumcision.

Set Apart

Jesus was speaking in the temple about His authority from God telling them “Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me” (John 17:9) but they denied that (John 17:20) so “Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well” (John 7:21-23)? They were angered by Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath, which by the way was not unlawful, but apparently it was okay to circumcise someone on the eighth day. Jesus saw the hypocrisy in that and in their man-made Sabbath regulations and the duplicity in their lives even though the law allowed acts of mercy on animals on the Sabbath (Matt 12:11; Luke 14:5) since “it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matt 12:12). They had made circumcision and having strict Sabbatarian laws as the mark of setting them apart from the Gentiles and gaining righteousness but they overlooked one important thing and so Jesus said “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” (Matt 9:13).

Circumcision of the Heart

God told Israel to “circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Duet 30:6). It was when Abraham “received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised” (Rom 4:11-12). What Paul was saying was that “no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical” (Rom 2:28) because they were now under grace and not placed under any law. That time of circumcision was to set them apart from the other nations around them who did not know the One, True God “For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision” (Rom 2:25) but since no one could possibly keep the law, circumcision was of no use to them any more since Christ’s abolishment of the Old Testament laws and the fact that He fulfilled the law or completed the work of the law in His perfect, once-for-all sacrifice. These laws are separate from the Ten Commandments though.

Abraham’s Seed Today

We are in the age of grace which is why Paul wrote “Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision” (1 Cor 7:18) so today we understand that “neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God” (1 Cor 7:19) meaning the Ten Commandments which were not given until after Abraham’s time. Paul addresses this to the church at Galatian “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love” (Gal 5:16) and again, to repeat, and since he repeats it, this must be important, “neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” (Gal 6:15) and we are new creations in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:17). The point is “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Gal 3:29) because “it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring” (Rom 9:8) since “a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God” (Rom 2:29).

Conclusion

Jeremiah once wrote “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts” (Jer 4:4) and we understand this as repentance and faith toward God, without which no one will see God. They will only feel God’s wrath. Today is your day of salvation (2 Cor 6:2) if you have not yet repented and trusted in Christ. Tomorrow could be too late.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.