2012-06-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
How wonderful your kind notes were when Peter was having his eye surgery. I can’t tell you how much they meant to us, and also, what an awesome God we have in delivering Peter a wonderful result! The Holy Spirit commands me to go on writing about covenant assurance. Last week, we saw how both Abraham and Isaac enjoyed safety and acceptance from the Philistine king, Abimelech, during the time they lived around Gerar and in the Beersheba valley in SW Israel [See GN 21 and 26]. Both men knew how important their covenant relationships with God and with others were, living up to the promises they made. The same could be said of the covenant of friendship between Jonathan [Saul’s son] and David, who had heard the stories of Jews before them in their tents at night when they were young or by acting them out to pass time while tending their sheep. Now, let’s look at another covenant made with God, that of circumcision of males.
God decided to make a covenant with Abraham and all his male descendants. God promised to give the Jews all the land that was at the time called Canaan, where they were now foreigners and would then become inhabitants, and as a sign of this covenant, God commanded that all males should be circumcised at the age of 8 days [GN 17: 7,10b-12a]. (Interestingly, the number 8 is God’s number of new birth, new beginning). Adult males were also to undergo this procedure too. During the time of Paul, there was a controversy about the meaning of circumcision in the early church. Some tried to say that only those circumcised are justified, but Paul addressed himself to that question, making it clear that circumcision is a sign of the covenant relationship between a believer and God. It is not salvation itself [RO 4: 9-12]. Instead, salvation only comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ [JN 3: 16, 14: 6, RO 3: 24-25]. When Paul revealed the metaphor of the olive tree, in RO 11: 17-25, it was clear that this covenant relationship was not only for Jews, but was also available to believing Gentiles. David and Jonathan understood that their circumcision was an outward sign of an inward commitment to a covenant relationship with God. In today’s North American society, circumcision [the removal of the foreskin of the penis of male infants] is practiced for secular health reasons-to prevent infections. This wound quickly heals.
If the family are traditional, observant Jews, then it can be accomplished in a ceremony called a “Briss” by a trained Jewish man, called a “moyle” or a physician.
Circumcision also is a reminder, not only of God’s promise to give the Jews the Promised Land, but also of the day God appeared to Abram and changed his name to Abraham by adding the Hebrew letter, shin, the first letter of His own name, to Abram [GN 17: 5-6]. It’s the 21st letter that looks like a three-pronged fork. (I’ve often wondered if that represents God Triune nature, each prong being the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). I have written before about how each Hebrew letter represents a number, a letter, and a concept. In PS 119: 161-168, the 21st section of this Psalm of 22 sections-one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet-we find the dedication to the Law of the Lord. In it one can see God’s power, protection, and provision. Here’s some sample verses which contain covenant assurances. PS 119: 162, 165, 166, 168, “How happy I am because of Your promises—as happy as someone who find rich treasure…Those who love Your law have perfect security, and there is nothing that can make them fall…I wait for You to save me, Lord, and I do what you command…I obey Your commands and Your instructions; You see everything I do.” How comforting to know that El Shaddai [God Almighty] is watching over us, ready to help us when times of trouble assail us [PS 46: 1, “God is our Shelter and Strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.”]. Abraham’s name means “Father of Nations,” which is tied to the promise God makes that the Jews will multiply to be as many as there are grains of sand or stars in the sky [GN 17: 7-8; GN 26: 3-6, 24]. In addition, Sarai’s name was also changed by God to Sarah, which means “Princess” in Hebrew. It also means that Sarah will be a “mother of nations,” from which kings of peoples will come [GN 17: 15].
Any uncircumcised male (in the flesh) shall be cut off from his people; he has broken the covenant with God [GN 17: 14]. Circumcision represented a bond in both life and death with God, a covenant bond that could not be broken.
One might ask: what about today’s society? I personally hope that all boys, Jewish or Gentile, would be circumcised in the first few days of their earthly lives, because it is my hope that as many as possible will enter into an active covenant relationship with God and for the health reasons mentioned above. And what about girls? In Jewish society, the promises made to men are also indirectly made to women, i.e. women benefit from these covenant promises and have covenant relationships of their own with God. Outside the strictly Jewish culture, the same thing applies to Gentile believers. A serious problem arises when a circumcision-like procedure is done to girls. This sometimes happens in Gentile, non-believing Arab societies. This cruel, inhuman practice should be stopped, as it renders a women unable to participate in sexual relations for life. It is done to make slaves out of girls in some very fundamentalist Islamic circles. I don’t believe it is widely practiced is Islamic society. It’s important that we understand what circumcision of males signifies, and that it is not a guarantee of salvation. That can only come from faith in Jesus Christ, my Yeshua [JN 14: 6].
PRAYER: O Lord, through looking at issues like circumcision, You are allowing us to see Your attitude toward the making of wisely chosen covenant commitments with You. You reveal to us how crucial to our welfare entering into a covenant relationship with You really is. We can see this through Your words in IS 42: 16, “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. Those are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” And to think, these are not all the covenant assurances You make. While circumcision won’t bring salvation, it will surely remind us of the covenant promises You have made to us and ask us to keep. Doubt is one of Satan’s tools for putting distance between us and You. If we are willing to follow Your teaching, then the promises mentioned above in PS 119’s (21st section, the one which is the concept for the Hebrew letter, shin), will be our assurance of Your power, provision, and protection. There are things we may not understand, things You will ask of us or tell us, and that’s because of Your superior vision and wisdom. Our need is to feel comforted by Your presence, take Your guidance with the idea that it is in our best eternal interests, and most of all, allow ourselves to love You as Christ loves us [JN 13: 34-35]. You have told us, in PS 91: 10-11, “Nothing bad will happen to you; no disaster will come to your home. He has put His angels in charge of you to watch over wherever you go.” We thank and praise You forever, Dearest Abba. And, we say this prayer in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: God has given us direction in the Scriptures in making “covenant-worthy” agreements. We will begin looking into that aspect of our covenant assurance next week. In the meanwhile, God has given me the feeling that I’m writing to others in my own family in writing these weekly messages. That is because He forges interpersonal relationships for His purposes, which are always righteous. He gives us reason to feel that we belong to and have been adopted into His own family [RO 8: 14-16]. Things are quite different between acquaintances and family. Acquaintances come and go in our lives. Family is here for us whether things are going well or not so well. We are here for each other. I bring this up because of how God moved Peter and me into a group of believers who teach us to be better, stronger believers-whose covenant relationships with each other and us honor God. This is another kind of provision from physical provision of food, drink, and other material needs. PS 67: 1-3, “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us, that Your way may be known upon earth, Your saving power among all nations. Let the Peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.” This prayer is said for all of us, God’s family and those who potentially will be adopted into it. We need to have confidence that we can approach His throne in prayer and humility and have our prayers answered [PS 116: 1; EPH 3: 12]. EPH 3: 13, “I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory,” prayed Paul. Each person in the Scriptures who has suffered for the sake of his faith gives us God’s great perspective and helps us to understand why the making of wise covenants is essential to our spiritual maturation and eventually gaining the Kingdom. Praise and thanks be to our God!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15