Rabbi Schneider - Cutting Away the Flesh, What It Really Means!
Growing up as a Jew, one of the highlights within my tradition is what is called a Bris, which is the Hebrew word for circumcision. It happens when a baby male is eight days old. Circumcision is really the God mark. It goes back to the book of Genesis 17:10, where God said this to Abraham. Hear the word of God. «This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised». So God called out His people, beginning with Abraham, continuing on with His lineage, Isaac and Jacob, that every male among them had to put this mark on them, by peeling back the foreskin of their male genitalia, and that made them unique out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
The male Israelites had this, quote, God mark on them. That they belonged to Yahweh, to their God, this distinctive mark on the foreskin of their genitalia. So we’re going to be talking today about circumcision, what it meant to Israel in its initial historical context, how it applies to us as New Testament believers, how it applies to you if you’re not a Jew. Let’s dig in today. Let’s read the scripture once again. Genesis 17:10. We’re talking about the God mark. «This is my covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised».
God was not playing around with this. When God had revealed that there was many Israelites that had not been circumcised, He made them get circumcised as adults, and that’s a very, very painful thing. It’s supposed to happen once again when you’re eight days old as a male child of Israel. Interestingly, in mystical Judaism, the number eight represents eternity. And I love that, that we’ve been sealed with the mark of the creator, that we are children of eternity, that our God is eternal. Jesus said, «This is eternal life, that you would know God and Jesus Christ whom He sent». And so this distinctive mark on the male genitalia of the children of Israel was visible, and it made them different physically than all the other nations around them.
So let’s dig into this a little bit. What did it mean? Is there something deeper than just the fact that they had a physical mark on them? What did it symbolize? Well, what it symbolized, beloved friends, is that they were released from, they were separated from their sinful inclinations. It symbolized the cutting away of sinful and fleshly desires to embrace a life of fidelity to their creator, to divinity, to their God, the God of Israel, Yahweh. The New Testament has a lot to say about circumcision. And what the New Testament teaches is that the real purpose of circumcision was not outwardly, but it was the spiritual significance and the implication of it that was important, and it’s still valid for us. The concept of it is still valid for us as New Testament believers today, whether you’re a Jew or Gentile.
So before I speak about the spiritual implication for New Testament believers right now, let me just finish up and talk about the implications for ancient Israel. First of all, it was mandatory for every male child, every male Israelite, once again, to be circumcised. It symbolized that they were in covenant with Yahweh, that they were in covenant, part of the covenant people that began with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, through the 12 tribes, that when they were circumcised, it showed visibly that they were part of this distinguished, set-apart covenant people. And Israel was chosen, according to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 7, out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be Yahweh’s own treasured people, to be His inheritance.
So the circumcision was a physical mark that showed that Israel was Yahweh’s, that they belonged to Him in a special way that was unique among the peoples on the face of the world. And so we take this principle today as New Testament believers, and we think about what Paul teaches about this. And what Paul teaches us about this is that Gentile believers are not required to get physically or physically circumcised, but what they are to do, what Gentile believers in Yeshua today are to do, is to take the concept of what circumcision is about and apply it to their lives. What is circumcision about? It’s about the peeling away of sinful and fleshly desires to instead be alive to God, and to be devoted to Him alone, and to be dedicated and faithful to His covenant.
And so the question is not whether someone is physically circumcised or not, the real question is, is are we living as a distinct people and as distinct individuals, as those that have lifted up our lives to the Lord to be His possession, allowing Him to have sovereign dominion over our life, choosing to yield to Him, choosing to obey him by putting Him first in our life, and not being part of the world. You see, once again, Israel was a distinct people in the earth. They were not of the world. So this mark of circumcision conveyed that, that they were different than everybody else. So the question we need to be asking as New Testament believers is, have we fully pulled away the fleshly, worldly mandates of this world from our lives, and instead are we living in fidelity to Yahweh? And that’s a question that you and I need to be asking ourselves.
Do we look like the world? Because Israel, the male children that had been circumcised in ancient Israel, they sure didn’t look like the world, right? They stood out like a sore thumb. So the question is, do we stick out, or do we look like the world? Because if we look like the world, then something’s wrong. We’re not living then as a distinct covenant people in the earth, which reflects our calling. We’re to be living in spiritual purity that’s characterized by a life of devotion. Interestingly, there were some during the time that the New Testament was written, they were still putting undue emphasis on circumcision, physical circumcision, even trying to get Gentiles circumcised.
Now, personally, I believe that for Jews, that we should still be circumcised, because it’s part of our lineage. Paul said, whatever state you were in when you came to faith, remain in that state. If you were circumcised when you came to faith in Yeshua, stay circumcised. Not that you could undo it. But if you came to faith in Yeshua as a Gentile, and you weren’t circumcised, Paul said, don’t get circumcised, because physical circumcision, Paul taught, at the end of the day, it doesn’t mean anything. It was to the higher realm that it was pointing to. But as Jewish people, to continue our lineage, as those that have been descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we still practice circumcision.
But if you’re a Gentile, there’s no reason for you to be circumcised. In fact, Paul taught that if a male Gentile gets circumcised for religious reasons, he actually severs himself from the grace that’s in Messiah. Because circumcision was part of the law. So if someone gets circumcised in order to try to keep the law, Paul says they sever themselves to Christ, because now they’ve aligned themselves with the law, rather than with the grace and mercy that we receive through Jesus.
So if you’re a Gentile, don’t think you’re going to get closer to God by being circumcised. You get closer to God by putting all your faith in Messiah Jesus, and following Him by the Spirit and by God’s Word. Even interestingly, more so, is the fact that during Paul’s days, there were some leaders in the New Testament church that were trying to get Gentiles to be circumcised, so that they could act like their ministries were growing. In other words, they would go around trying to get Gentiles circumcised, then bring them into their fold, so that their fold would be bigger, and they were doing it all so that they could look important, like they had a big congregation.
Listen to what Paul wrote here in the book of Galatians 6. «For those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation». In other words, it’s not whether you’re circumcised or not circumcised, it’s whether you’re part of the new creation that comes through the new birth. «And those who will walk by this rule, peace, and mercy be upon them, and upon all Israel». Amen.
And so, did you get the crux of that? There were some, during the time of the apostle Paul, and they were trying to get people to be circumcised, and bring them into their fold, and they were all doing this for fame, to say, look at my ministry, look how many people I’ve gotten to be circumcised. And it was all just a farce. And it’s very similar, unfortunately, to what many are even doing today. Just trying to get as many, you know, people that they can to follow them, to know them, to like them, however… you know, and the gospel gets polluted, because people are more interested in the size of their congregation, or their following, than they are with preaching the truth. I hate going into congregations where the music is so loud, that it damages your ears. I actually have earplugs that I carry in my glove box in my car, so if I happen to go to a congregation where they’re blaring the music, I put those earplugs in to keep my ears from being damaged.
And we ask ourselves, why do you have to blare the music so loud? It’s a scientific fact that over a certain decimal point, you’re going to damage people’s ears. But unfortunately, sometimes the leaders care more about the size of their congregation than they do about preaching the truth and doing it in a way that’s anointed by the Holy Spirit, rather than trying to do it through the pseudo anointing, with the decimal point of the base that’s blasting through their speakers. Well, it’s similar in effect to what Paul was saying here, people trying to boost up their congregation size, by getting people circumcised, mankind can rely on all kinds of fleshly means, to try to make themselves, somebody even up here, to be anointed.
Well, as we close out this section on circumcision, the main thing I want you to remember today is this law commanding Israel to be circumcised. It has relevance today because of what it represented. They had to stand out to be circumcised. Again, they did it on the eighth day, they were now connected to the God of eternity. You and I are called out of this world to crucify ourselves to the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, to be connected to Hashem, to our Creator, to the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, to pick up our cross, deny ourselves and to follow Jesus. We should be different. We must be different. We’re not of this world. We’re in covenant relationship with Adonai, the Creator who saved us through His Son.
So I want to encourage you today to live as one that’s circumcised, to live as one that’s different. This is serious business, friends. Jesus spits the lukewarm out of His mouth. Either we’re the real deal or we’re not. Either we’re going to compromise or we’re going to be fully devoted to Yahweh to the best of our ability every day. «…choose this day whom you will serve…»