066 - The “Uncircumcision” vs. the “Circumcision” [B]

The “Uncircumcision” vs. the “Circumcision”
Ephesians 2:11
Ephesians Series #065
May 17, 2020
Dr. Robert L. Dean, Jr.
www.deanbibleministries.org

Opening Prayer

“Father, we’re thankful so much for Your Word, that we can rely on its account, count on it, that it stands fast, stands firm. There have been attacks, assaults, there have been critiques, but nevertheless Your Word stands firm. It is evidence—a testimony—that this did not originate in the human mind, but it originated in Your mind, and was revealed through the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. So that every phrase, every clause, every word is guaranteed by You to be true. That we must study it, we must learn, we must assimilate it, internalize it, we must live our lives on its basis, and we must learn to use it, to take every thought captive for Christ.

“Father, we’re thankful for our salvation, that is by grace through faith and that You have made us “in Christ” a new masterpiece, a new creation in Him that we may stand as trophies of Your grace throughout all eternity, and that all that we are, all that we have is for the purpose of glorifying You, being testimonies and evidence of Your grace.

“We pray that as we study today that we would come to a greater appreciation of this, and we pray this in Christ’s name, amen.”

Slide 2

We are studying Ephesians 2:11, where we come to a passage which contrasts to groups of people: the un-circumcision and the circumcision. We’re going to see that for the period since Genesis 12 with the call of Abraham and the establishment of the Covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17, which was indicated by the act of circumcision as a seal of that covenant, the sign or the token of that covenant.

From that point on this became a symbol of the distinction that God made between Israel whom He chose not because, as He says in Deuteronomy, not because there was anything good in them that He saw. In fact, He told them that they were a rebellious and stiff-necked people, but because that was His plan, was to use them to be a trophy of grace in the Old Testament, to be a demonstration.

They had done nothing to earn or to be worthy of that covenant, and in fact, in many places we see that they are rebellious and apostate, and they are no better at all than their surrounding nations. In fact, in some cases they’re even worse. Yet they’re trophies of God’s grace: God did not desert them; God did not end His plan with them. God continued to work through them as He does with us in the church.

We need to understand what is happening in this passage: this marvelous shift that takes place in history. That after approximately 2,000 years of God working through one people of God: Israel the descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He is shifting gears to work through another people because Israel had rejected their Messiah. Yet He has not permanently rejected them as Paul teaches in Romans 11, but there is yet a future, a glorious future, for God’s people, Israel.

Slide 3

I want to remind us that this section, Ephesians 2:11–13, is a focus on the problem of the Gentiles. A reiteration of that is specifically spelled out in Ephesians 2:12; Ephesians 2:13 is the solution of what Christ has done.

Ephesians 2:11. “Therefore remember—that’s our focal point—remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh who are called Uncircumcision—and when you say that, it’s with a nasty tone. It’s an epithet: they are name calling, ‘You uncircumcised dog!’—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision—they’re the elite; they are above everybody else—the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands”

Ephesians 2:12, “that at that time you were without Christ—literally without Messiah—being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”

Ephesians 2:13, “But now …” Here we have grace, a passage that is parallel to what we saw back in Ephesians 2:4, ‘But God, who is rich in mercy …’ Here we see the same idea, “But now in Christ Jesus …” Ephesians 2:4 tells us that those who were dead or alienated from God, God made alive together with Christ; now we are in Christ—But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off—those who were aliens and strangers from the covenants of promise—once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

In the last two lessons we talked about the church. This is one of if not the most, foundational, passages in the New Testament related to God’s purpose in this new entity, the church: elevated with great honor to be called the body of Christ, as well as the bride of Christ.

I covered basic points and passages related to understanding who the church is, the meaning of the word “church,” when the church began on the Day of Pentecost in AD 33, and that it will end with the Rapture of the church prior to the Tribulation. When the Rapture of the church occurs. Christ will return in the clouds, not in the earth; the dead in Christ will rise first, and then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with Him in the clouds.

Interestingly right now because of this COVID-19 pandemic, there is a lot of speculation about being in the end times, the end of days, are we close to the Tribulation. Every week I see two or three headlines that indicate that we’re already in the Seal Judgments or the Trumpet Judgments. And this pandemic is identified as some plague that comes during the Tribulation, which is just based on a bad interpretation of Scripture.

This plague is a foreshadowing, as all plagues have been. Look at the previous pandemics throughout the history of the world from the plagues during the time of the Antoine Caesars, which was probably smallpox. Later on, in the Middle Ages the Black Death; the Bubonic Plague that ravaged Europe, and various other plagues of measles and smallpox that ravaged the earth.

All of these are simply foreshadowings of the kind of horrific plagues that will be at the end times. But we won’t be there as members of the body of Christ today! If you’ve trusted in Jesus Christ to save you, you will not go through the Tribulation.

Matthew teaches us that these kinds of things, Matthew 24: wars and rumors of wars, plagues, and famines: when he identifies those as signs of Christ’s coming, it’s at the end of the Tribulation. Those signs that he’s talking about in Matthew 24 are significant.

When we see THOSE wars, we see THOSE earthquakes, we see THOSE plagues and THOSE famines, they will be unlike any plagues, famines, wars that have ever occurred in human history. They will be much greater on a factor of a thousand; they will make all of these other things pale in significance.

All of the plagues, pandemics, famines and wars that we’ve seen for the last 6,000 years of human history would be like falling down and skinning your knee compared to having both legs and arms amputated. That’s the degree of difference. It will be horrific because they are the birth pangs of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The other thing that I have to remind people of, because I hear so much of this … It is just amazing the rumors and everything else that goes around the Internet, and so this I will tell you, just ignore all of that. It’s just nonsense.

One of my professors at Dallas Seminary was Dwight Pentecost, a very well-known writer, author, pastor, who taught much about prophecy. He would say to us men, “Remember, Satan has no more of an idea of when the Rapture will occur than you do or I do Therefore, in every generation, in every decade, he has got to have his men on the scene.”

He has to identify someone as a potential first beast and second beast; that is the Antichrist and the False Prophet. He has to have systems where he can put into place as quickly as possible all of the things that are identified in the Book of Revelation 6–19. He has to have that ready, so that means that wherever you live, whenever you live, you’re going to be able to look out there and identify certain people who perhaps were the ones that Satan had identified as a potential Antichrist or False Prophet.

The text teaches us that you’re always going to see things like this, because Satan has to be ready. So, when you read or hear of some pastors, some teachers, some article trying to identify a current event, that’s just newspaper exegesis. They’re just looking at a current event and saying, “This is that.”

Recently I saw an article by a post-millennialist. Remember they don’t believe in a future Rapture; they don’t believe that Christ will return before the Millennium. The headline of the email indicated “Great Bible Scholar Sees This Pandemic as a Sign of the Times.” But actually, when you read what the author who wrote the article said, he didn’t say that in the article. He knew better.

The person he was describing was a friend of mine who is also on the board with the Pre-Trib Rapture Study Group, Dr. Mark Hitchcock. He is also a professor at Dallas Seminary. What Mark said was what we’re seeing here is just a foreshadowing of what will come. Just like every other plague.

But Gary DeMar, who is a noted false teacher, noted post-millennialist, gets all upset about this and tries to paint dispensationalists in a corner. We as dispensationalist need to be sharper, wiser, more focused; to not get distracted by all of these claims.

Focus on our mission which is to take the gospel to the world. That’s what we need to focus on and to grow to spiritual maturity. We live in this distinctive age, marked by the fact that in Christ Jesus those who are far off, that is the Gentiles, have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Slide 4

As I went through my orientation to the church, I concluded with the last point last week that this problem of circumcision had to be addressed at what is known as the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15. It’s preceded by the key event of God giving a vision to the Apostle Peter in Acts 10, where he sees this tablecloth come down. And on this tablecloth are all manner of unclean animals: lobster, shrimp and catfish; pigs: bacon, pork chops and pork sausage—all kinds of things that were unclean according to the Law.

God’s voice comes and says, “Take and eat!” Peter represents that arrogance of works that was still present in him, still present from his Jewish background. He says “No, no, no, God. I’m not going to do that. I have never let anything unclean pass my lips!?” God does this three times to get the point across, and He says, “What I have declared clean is now clean.”

Just as that finishes, there’s a knock on the door. There are some messengers from Cornelius the Centurion in Caesarea by the Sea calling upon Peter to come and to talk to Cornelius. Peter goes and gives them the gospel and they’re saved.

He says, “The same thing happened to them that happened with us on the Day of Pentecost.” This is the opening of the church, which had been existing since the Day of Pentecost, to Gentiles.

But as the church expanded in the Gentile community, there were still those Jewish-background believers, especially from a pharisaical background, who just couldn’t get away from the aw, and they were raising questions and challenges of what was happening with these Gentiles.

Slide 5

Acts 15:5, “But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed—they were believers, but they hadn’t understood what God was doing yet—rose up, saying, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them …” This is the sign of those who are believers; they have to be circumcised or they’re not really saved. They have—“… to keep the law of Moses.”

They didn’t understand that God was doing something new.

Slide 6

Paul responds to that, others respond to that, and James in his conclusion says:

Acts 15:15, “And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

Acts 15:16, “ ‘After this’ ” Then he quotes from Amos 9:11–12. The point is that at the end God says when He returns in the kingdom, there will be Gentiles, ‘And all the Gentiles who are called by My name …” He is telling these Pharisees that it’s not for Jews only. God always had a plan to save the Gentiles.

Slide 7

That’s our background for the verse we’re studying, Ephesians 2:11, “Therefore remember …” That’s your basic opening line.

“Therefore” indicates that it is a conclusion. The Greek word indicates “for this reason.” What does the “this’ refer to? It refers back to what was said in Ephesians 2:8–10 specifically, and more generally to Ephesians 2:1–10. It is referring to the fact that we are saved not from works. Since we are not saved by works, Paul is saying to the Gentiles, “Now remember your past: remember this.”

Slide 8

In Scripture we see commands “to remember”—here it’s the word MNEMONEUO, where we get our word “mnemonic,” a device to remember something. It’s a second person plural “y’all,” “all you Gentiles.”

“Remember” is a present imperative. This is something they continue to remember. We use the word “remember” sometimes as just a reflection on something that happened in the past, thinking back on this thing that happened before. Biblically from the Old Testament, the idea in the Jewish community is we’re to remember something in order to act on it, in order to do something. It wasn’t just a reminiscence.

Slide 9

He is telling them to remember something because by remembering, he is going to tell them how to change their conduct. “You were once Gentiles in the flesh …” emphasizes their mortal physical condition. They were not physical descendants from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They were physically distinct from Jews.

He introduces the fact, by this parenthetical clause set off by the em dashes (—) in the New King James version. Some others may use a different punctuation device. They “are called Uncircumcision by what is called—not just by what is called the Circumcision, but—what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands.”

You have to get the whole phrase in there. One of the things that’s important to recognize is that Scripture uses phrases as technical language as much as it uses individual words. They’re called the “circumcision made in the flesh by hands.” That’s interesting because in the parallel passage in Colossians 2:11, it stresses that the Church Age believer has a “circumcision not made with hands.”

What’s the significance of that statement “made with hands?” That would be a human work, a human effort, thinking that a physical act would somehow solve the sin problem that a physical act would bring about eternal salvation. That is in contrast to what Paul just said about works, that salvation “is not of works” in Ephesians 2:9, but that good works are what we are created for. It’s the result of our salvation, not the cause of our salvation.

Paul was a Pharisee. He understood completely the pharisaical mentality. He understood that this emphasized a great arrogance on the part of the Pharisees.

Today we have difficulty understanding that distinction, the contrast, the hostility and the enmity. This word is used later on in the chapter to talk about this enmity that had existed between Jew and Gentile. This was profound; it was a racist kind of situation. Jews would not have anything to do with Gentiles. They had by this time in history perverted the meaning of circumcision. Those who weren’t circumcised were strangers.

We live in a world today where we’ve got people who take offense at the word “alien,” which is the same kind of concept. I think it’s a good word to indicate the distinction. It comes out of a biblical view of nations. They were strangers: they’re strangers from the covenants; they’re alien.

Paul goes on to say in Ephesians 2:12 “… aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise.” They were strangers; they were not of Israel. They were not chosen by Yahweh, so they were some sort of lesser human.

That’s how this had become perverted, a source of spiritual elitism, whereas God desired, as we’ll see in our passages, a genuine humility among the Jewish people because they were to be the agents of God’s revelation and blessing to the world. But this had been transformed in the last couple of centuries before Christ into something that was quite different from what God had intended.

Slide 10

Paul understands this elitist mentality in Philippians 3:4–6 as he talks about how he was before he was saved.

Philippians 3:4, “… though I might have had confidence in the flesh.” That’s where the Pharisees are. They put confidence in the flesh, in the circumcision made in the flesh by hands. “If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so:

Philippians 3:5, “Circumcised the eighth day—according to the Law—of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;”

Philippians 3:6, “concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”

He had something to be proud about, but then he realized that there’s nothing that we can do, there’s no works, there is nothing that we should be proud about.

Ephesians 2:11 is referring to all that Israel has. It reminds us of a parallel passage in Romans 9:4–5, “… who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises.”

Think about that. They’re looking down at the Gentiles, saying, “Look at us! We are called God’s Chosen People. We are the apple of His eye. We are called the bride of Yahweh. We were redeemed by the Exodus. We were the only people on the earth given a piece of land and made a nation, and the Messiah is going to come through us. Who do you think you are? You’re nothing! God’s chosen us.”

They developed a hatred and a contempt for the Gentile. They would look at these Gentiles and say, “You Gentile dog!” And they would cross to the other side of the street rather than walk on the same side of the street as a Gentile. They were totally, absolutely socially distanced from all Gentiles. They wouldn’t lower themselves to speak to them and, God forbid, they would never walk into a Gentile’s unclean house.

That was Peter’s problem in Acts 10:20. He didn’t want to go into this unclean Gentile’s home, but he remembered that God said, “What I have declared clean is now clean.” There was this massive shift in God’s plan, described in Acts.

Paul is reminding the Gentiles of this hatred, this enmity, this contrast between the Gentiles and the Jews. Of course, the Gentiles didn’t call themselves Gentiles; they were just people. But there was this hostility from the Jews. I think that is part of the reason that you had the development of anti-Semitism: it was a reaction to this sort of elitist, haughty contempt that the Jews had for Gentiles, non-Jews.

Slide 11

In order to understand more about this terminology and to grasp its significance in this passage and others, we need to take a little time to look at what the Bible teaches about circumcision and this contrast between circumcision and un-circumcision.

In this verse, you just have this parenthetical phrase “who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands.” It seems almost as if Paul puts that in as an afterthought. But the Holy Spirit has no afterthoughts.

We have to look at this, to understand it, because the Word of God emphasizes it. And it’s important for us as Gentiles who are now a part of the body of Christ, where there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile, to understand what is going on here.

This is a fascinating study because of the way God uses circumcision. This was not just a simple ritual, but one that had great significance both for Israel and in our generation. Not the physical part, but that the physical ritual was to represent a spiritual reality—a circumcision of the heart. This is really fundamental to understanding our sanctification as it was for understanding the sanctification of the Jews in the Age of the Jews.

Remember, we have to keep a dispensational distinctive here. We’re going to talk about what was true about Israel in the Old Testament when they were under the covenant with Moses, and that’s distinct from the roles and responsibilities of Church Age believers. This is all about this new entity called the Church.

Slide 12

1.       Circumcision is the removal of the foreskin of the male’s genital organ.

This is important because of the imagery here—the removal of something. That indicates distinction, something that was necessary to be removed in order for there to be a spiritual advance. That’s what it represents.

The basic Hebrew word is Mul. Today Jews go to Bris, the Jewish ritual of circumcision of a male child on the eighth day. This is probably a Yiddish word, but it’s based on Mul. It’s Mohel, but they pronounce it “moil,” so the Mohel will be the rabbi who is trained, the one who performs the Bris.

“Bris” comes from the Hebrew Brit, but it puts an “S” on the end; that’s Yiddish. The trend of Yiddish is to put an “S” on the end instead of a “T.” If you’re talking to a Jew-speaking Hebrew, they’ll call it Shabbat. But if they’re from Eastern Europe speaking Yiddish, they’ll call it Shabbas. You’ll hear that difference; they will put an “S” there on the end.

I have been to a Bris before. It’s interesting in the Jewish community because everybody understands this and sees this and witnesses this. I went to an Orthodox ceremony. The women and men are always separated during the service, and so there’s that separation. But everybody is totally familiar with what a circumcision is and what the procedure is all about. Not so much in the Gentile community.

The Greek is PERITEMNO, used 14 times in Acts through Jude. A lot of that is in Acts; also in Galatians, in Ephesians, and Colossians, the primary passages. The verb is used 14 times in Acts through Jude, and the noun 34 times from Acts through Jude. This is not something that is hardly ever mentioned in either the New Testament or the Old Testament.

Slide 13

The second thing we need to pay attention to is its purpose, its significance:

Where did it come from?

Why did God have Jewish males be circumcised?

2.       Circumcision is the sign or the token or the seal of the Abrahamic Covenant. It was a sign of separation unto God. It was to make them a distinct people, and this was a sign of that.

Slide 14

The first time it is mentioned in the Scripture is when God establishes His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17:10.

This wasn’t a means of salvation. It was only an indication of one’s relationship to the covenant that God made with Abraham, and that covenant was not a covenant of salvation. It was a covenant whereby God was selecting and identifying the Jewish people as the people through whom He would work.

They were being adopted into God’s family as a nation. That doesn’t mean they were all saved. That was a perversion that came up later through pharisaical doctrine during the latter Second Temple Period. As Paul says, the giving of the law and the covenants were for Israel. It made them special and set them apart. It was an act of divine grace.

God chose Abraham, not because of who Abraham was or anything that he had done, but because of God’s own special purposes to be the father of this distinct people: this distinct nation through whom God would give His revelation, through whom God would give the promises of the Messiah, and through whom God would give the Messiah. That makes them special, but not because of anything that they did or anything that they were.

Genesis 17:10 God said, “This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised;

Genesis 17:11, “and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.”

That is its significance; it is a sign of the covenant. There’s no mention of salvation or some enhanced spiritual value, other than that God has blessed them with this contract and the specifics of it.

Slide 15

Genesis 17:12, the stipulations, “He who is eight days old—so a male child on his eighth day—shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations—notice it’s only for the men. Why is that? That’s one of the questions I’ve asked. We’ll talk about in a minute—every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house are bought with money from any foreigner—that would be a slave or servant—from any foreigner who is not your descendant.

Genesis 17:13, “He who is born in your house and who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.”

That tells us that this covenant with Abraham is everlasting; it’s not going to be set aside. That means that the Jewish people, whether they are apostate as they were during various times in the Old Testament, as they were under the leadership of King Manasseh—one of most evil kings in the Old Testament—they were still God’s people, and God’s covenant was still in effect. He never left them. Even when He kicked them out of the land in 586 BC, they’re still His people.

The Abrahamic Covenant is still in effect. God never went back on this covenant. It is an everlasting covenant. Even now I believe in the Church Age, because it is not related to salvation or sanctification but to this Abrahamic Covenant, I think that it is fine for Jews to be circumcised because it’s a sign that they’re related to that covenant. They’re a physical descendent of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Whether you’re a believer or unbelieving Jew, as long as you know it’s not a matter of sanctification or salvation, then that is fine because it is a fulfillment of this covenant, which is still in effect.

Slide 16

Genesis 17:14, “And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

Interestingly in Genesis 17:26, “That same day Abraham was circumcised, and his sone Ishmael.”

Ishmael isn’t in the line, but Ishmael was living in Abraham’s house, so Ishmael also had to be circumcised. Then when Isaac was born, he too was circumcised.

Why was this a sign that was only for the male? What does it signify? Well first of all, circumcision signified separation to God. What’s another word that we use for separated to service to God? We use the word “sanctify,” don’t we?

We will see in Deuteronomy 10 that they were to circumcise their heart to God, to the obedience of God. Almost the same language is used by Peter in 1 Peter 3:15, “sanctify your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ.” That parallels, is almost the same language there, so circumcision of the heart is equivalent to sanctifying, being set apart, and this is what it did, physically, is it set apart the nation for the service of God.

Slide 18

Why the men?

#1 it’s separation to God.

#2 it’s because the first significant sin was Adam’s.

Because Adam sinned in the Garden as the head of the human race, all sin passed down through Adam. This is why in the New Testament, Romans 5:12 and following, we read about the fact that in Adam all die, but in Christ all are made alive. It’s because of Adam’s sin, that the first male was responsible for bringing sin into the human race, so you have this emphasis on males in Israel.

#3 the man is designated as the head of the home. He’s the head of the wife. He’s the head of the home; and therefore, in the dispensation of the law there was emphasis on the man.

If you wanted to go and offer sacrifices at the temple, you had to do it through a Levitical priest.

Slide 19

What are the qualifications of a Levitical priest?

d.       They had to be from the tribe of Levi. It didn’t matter how competent you were in every other area of life. You may have been an expert butcher, you may have been an expert teacher of the Bible, but that responsibility was given to those in the tribe of Levi only, so this emphasis on a Levitical priest. But only a male in the tribe of Levi was to teach the Word, only a male in the tribe of Levi was to offer the sacrifices, and so that was part of that distinction.

Why is that? Because God had different roles and responsibilities for males as opposed to females. This is not sexist. God as the Creator is saying that I’m making different roles. Just like He’s not showing favoritism in giving the tribe of Levi the priesthood. That’s clear from many Scriptures that they weren’t so hot either. That is God’s plan; He’s designating certain people for certain roles.

In Israel you have only male Levites serving. So when you talk about circumcision, it’s continuing to show that the male is the one who is set apart as the spiritual head of the marriage, of the family, and of the nation. That is why the men and men only are set apart in this particular way.

This role distinction is just as much in effect today because it wasn’t based on the law, it was based on God’s created order in Genesis 2. We have two passages in the New Testament that reiterate this.

Slide 17

1 Corinthians 11: 3 Paul says, “But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.”

“Head,” the Greek KEPHALE, indicates headship, authority, and responsibility.

Ephesians 5:23, “For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.”

This indicates a distinct role, and in all these, 1 Timothy 2:9–15, as well as the 2 Corinthians 11 passage, Paul always argues from the order of creation in God’s design. He never argues from any cultural basis.

This has never changed. It was true in the Old Testament and true in the New Testament because it’s not grounded in the Mosaic Law, it’s grounded in God’s eternal purpose in the creation of men and women.

Slide 18

It indicates a separation to God, first of all,

a.       because sin came from Adam

b.       man is the head of the human race

c.       man is the head of the home

That’s why He chooses such a distinctive symbol. This indicates the distinct role of the male in the marriage, family and home in the Old Testament.

Slide 20

Genesis 17:10, “This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised;

Genesis 17:11, “… and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.”

Slide 21

3.       Circumcision was already practiced as part of distinct cultures in the ancient near East, but there was no meaning.

It was usually assigned to the advance from being a male child to a adult male. It was at an age around puberty that circumcision would take place, but it really had no other meaning or significance. It was only a few in the Middle East, but when you got out of that area, it was not practiced at all.

In fact, the Greeks and the Romans really looked down upon it as some sort of barbaric practice. That is true even today. There’s a lot of hostility developing towards this even in the United States. Some years ago there was an attempt by the City Council of San Francisco to render this illegal as some sort of a medical malpractice.

A lot of this stems from anti-Semitism to stop the Jews. Even Jewish doctors were on board with it because there are a lot of self-loathing Jews in the community, so they wanted this stopped. It all boils down to seeking to stop the identification of those who are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Slide 22

4.       Circumcision in post-Second Temple period.

It’s important to understand what happened when Jesus was on the earth, and also after that.

The Second Temple period is from when the Second Temple was built in 516 BC as a result of the Jews returning from the exile in Babylon. But in the first three or four centuries before Christ comes, you see this development of certain religious sects within Judaism. The most conservative were the Pharisees seeking to maintain a very rigid obedience to the Law, so that something like the exile to Babylon will never happen again.

Slide 23

Some interesting things are said, and they develop their own system of interpreting Scripture. I’m not going to go into a lot of that. One is Ezekiel 16:6, God is speaking, talking about the birth of the nation and is using a very graphic illustration. The child is born, the umbilical cord has been cut, there’s blood on the ground, and God says,

“And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’

This is talking about God giving life to the nation of Israel by virtue of the covenant, which is marked by circumcision, where there would be some shedding of blood.

Slide 24

What’s important here is not our exegesis of Ezekiel 16:6, but how Second Temple Period Jews interpreted that passage. Here’s a quote from the work of Mekhilta Bo, Chapter 5, talking about the rabbinical comments on Ezekiel 16:6:

Rabbi Matina ben Cheresh lived in the early second century, just after the last apostle died—a Rabbi and a Pharisee. Regarding this passage and the timing of it, he says, “But as yet they had no commandments to perform by virtue of which they might merit redemption.”

That’s the phrase I want you to focus on. He’s talking about the fact that these commandments are given, such a circumcision, so you can merit redemption, so you can earn your salvation, so it can be a work.

He says that that there were two commandments given by God: The sacrifice of the Passover lamb and circumcision, and they were given “so as to merit being saved. One cannot obtain reward except by deeds” or except by works. This is early 200s, and he’s saying that God gave circumcision as a way to earn salvation.

Slide 25

Jacob Neusner, who provides that quote, is one of several editors of the Encyclopedia of Judaism, and in this article on circumcision he says, “As the Ezekiel exegesis demonstrates, the central symbol of the circumcision ritual was its blood—here’s the point—regularly, therefore, we find reference not only to the salvific nature of the rite in general, but more specifically, to the saving merit of circumcision blood.”

You see what happened by the time you get to the midpoint of the first century? This is the problem in Galatians and other passages. You have these Pharisees who are saying you have got to be circumcised in order to be saved. That’s what those Pharisees are saying in Acts 15. It fits with the evidence that we have historically.

Slide 26

A further statement Neusner makes, “At any rate, the symbolic value of circumcision as an act of salvation is evident throughout our second century sources. It is the sign of the covenant that saves.”

Interestingly, he goes on to say that today almost no one is aware of the salvific symbolism it once contained. The blood that saves, the parallelism between circumcision blood and the blood of the Paschal Lamb, the very real hopes once invested in the child as a potential Messiah. Every male child was a potential Messiah, but this idea of salvation through circumcision is completely absent from modern Judaism.

Slide 27

5.       The Mosaic Law mandated circumcision for every male child on the eighth day.

Jesus’ parents took Him to the temple and He was circumcised on the eighth day; they followed the Law.

Slide 28

6.       The spiritual significance of circumcision is related to dedication and submission to God and His plan.

It’s separated unto God; it’s separated to the service to God. This is seen in three key passages: Leviticus 26:41, Deuteronomy 10:16, and Deuteronomy 30:6.

Slide 29

Leviticus 26:41 mentions circumcision of the heart. Because of Deuteronomy 30, which does talk about the new covenant, a lot of people think circumcision of the heart is for the Church Age believer. It’s not!

Circumcision of the heart was expected. That was the symbolic reality of physical circumcision. Physical circumcision was teaching this idea of being separated unto God for service.

Leviticus 26:41 is important because it’s right in the middle of a very long passage describing the fifth cycle of discipline. This is the central passage for the fifth cycle of discipline.

“… and that I also have walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—this is God walking contrary to Israel—His discipline. That’s why He is contrary to them; He’s disciplining them—and have brought them into the land of their enemies—that’s the fifth cycle of discipline where Israel is taken out of the land, finally, because they can’t enjoy the blessing of God in the land if they’re disobedient—if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they accept their guilt.”

Looking at the context tells us an uncircumcised person is not humble. He’s arrogant towards God, He’s proud, He’s rejected God, and He is not obedient to Him, He’s disobedient. That’s why He’s guilty.

This explains very clearly for us that a circumcised heart is going to be humble, it’s going to be obedient. That is exactly what we see in Deuteronomy 10:16.

Slide 30

There we see, in context, how the Israelite believer was to live his life. In the middle of it God says, “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.”

“Stiff-necked” is just an imagery of somebody who’s stiffened up their back and their neck, and they’re going to be disobedient, they’re going to do it their way no matter what. There’s no humility there ,only arrogance

Slide 31

The context gives us some guidance in Deuteronomy 10:12–13, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good.”

That’s what God requires. It was expected and possible. There were times when Israel exemplified this. As it goes on it says that to do this requires that you circumcise your heart—that is, you set yourself apart to obedience to God, and that is a mental attitude. It’s referring to your heart, your soul; that you’re not going to be arrogant towards God, but you’re going to be humble and obedient to God.

Even in the Old Testament in the Age of Israel during the dispensation of the Law there was a circumcision of the heart.

Slide 32

Deuteronomy 30:6, “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants.”

Deuteronomy 29 talks about God taking them out of the land. The first couple of verses of Deuteronomy 30 talk about God restoring all of the nation back to the land in the future for the kingdom because they have turned back to God. At that time in the future, the beginning of what we call the Millennial Kingdom of Christ,

“… the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul, that may live.”

Slide 33

In other words, fulfilling what we just read in Deuteronomy 10. We can skip forward to Ezekiel 36:25–26, which shows that this is part of the New Covenant, where God says,

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give your heart of flesh.”

This is that new covenant fulfillment in the future. This is also seen in Jeremiah 9.

Slide 34

7.       Physical circumcision is not what’s significant, but the internal circumcision of the heart.

Jeremiah 9:24–25 makes it clear that it’s not the physical circumcision that’s important, but the internal circumcision:

“ ‘But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising, lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,’ says the Lord. ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will punish all who are circumcised with the uncircumcised.’ ”

Slide 35

Literally, this phrase has this meaning of “circumcised yet uncircumcised:” they’re physically circumcised, yet uncircumcised in the heart. That’s really a bad translation.

Slide 36

Acts 7:51 refers to the Jews who are circumcised. Stephen, when he’s about to be martyred, says to the Jewish leaders, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears —see, they’re circumcised physically, but uncircumcised spiritually—You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your Fathers did, so do you.”

That tells us you can be uncircumcised and circumcised. This is the significance.

Slide 37

It is wiped out in the body of Christ. Paul addresses this in Galatians 5:6, 11 and 6:15:

Galatians 5:6, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.”

It’s not a physical work that saves.

Galatians 5:11, “And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.”

The issue is not works, which he goes on to talk about.

One last passage, then we will pick this up next time.

Slide 38

Colossians 2:11, “In Him you were also circumcised—“in Christ,” is positional reality for every believer—you were—past tense—also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands—how did that happen?—by the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh—it indicates a separation and removal of the power of the sin nature, Romans 6:3-6—by the circumcision of Christ.”

There’s a new circumcision, a spiritual circumcision, a circumcision of the heart, which actually was always the point and was present in the Old Testament.

This lays the foundation for us to understand why the Jews were making such a big deal about Gentiles as uncircumcised, but we can see how they converted God’s grace in their lives to pride and arrogance and haughty contempt for the Gentiles.

There’s no room for works. It’s all about God’s grace. God has provided everything for us, and there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves, only trust in Christ for our salvation.

Next time we will wrap up a couple of things as review, then look at the five things that were the Gentiles’ problems in Ephesians 2:12, and God’s solution in Ephesians 2:13.

Closing Prayer

“Father, thank You for all You have provided for us in grace. We don’t deserve anything. We are born spiritually dead, alienated from Your life, alienated from the promises to the Jews, alienated from the covenants. That we have been separated from all these things as Gentiles, historically, but You in Your grace made us alive together in Christ, but You brought us near in Christ,

“You have given us all of these blessings, blessed us, as Paul says in Ephesians 1:3, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. Nothing that we have done gives us merit in Your eyes. Nothing we have done is the source of blessing. It is all Your goodness, Your grace toward us because of what Christ did on the Cross.

“If anyone is listening, may they clearly understand that there is no salvation on the basis of works, there is no salvation on the basis of ritual, there’s no salvation on the basis of good deeds. You can’t give your way to heaven, you can’t be in the right church, you can’t do many good deeds, you can’t be kind enough, good enough or sweet enough.

“Nothing that we do cuts any ice with You because we are all born alienated from You, and there must be new life. That new life comes only by trusting that Jesus died for us, that we believe in Him, and He gives us eternal life.

“Father, we thank You for this and pray that we might not forget who we are in Christ. We pray this in His name, amen.”