6. Circumcision: The TOKEN of the Abrahamic Covenant

One basic characteristic of the Jews' religion was the fact that the Lord separated them from the Gentiles, by requiring every male in Israel to be circumcised. The Lord then made certain conditional promises to the nation of Israel, based upon this covenant of circumcision. By contrast, though, there is now no difference in Christ between Jew or Gentile (Ro.10:12; Ro.3:22), and physical circumcision is not required in the dispensation of grace (Gal.5:1-6).

There is, however, a tendency today for some believers to claim certain promises that the Lord had made only to Israel, and which are not ours to claim. We should therefore remember that at the time the Lord made these conditional promises to Israel, He also made a distinction between Israel and the Gentiles, based upon the fact that every Jewish male was required to be circumcised.

Circumcision actually originated as a token of the covenant the Lord made with Abraham (see Gen.17:11). In this covenant, the Lord first required Abraham to be circumcised, along with all males in his household. Circumcision was not merely an option, either; it was a requirement. The uncircumcised man was to be cut off from his people, according to Genesis 17:13-14 -

13: He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
14: And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

Uncircumcised Gentiles, then, were never allowed to be partakers of the Lord's covenants with Israel. Instead, each "stranger" (Gentile) who allied himself with Israel, and who wished to eat the passover, was required to first be circumcised, according to Ex.12:48-49 -

48: And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
49: One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.

Prophecy, too, forbids Uncircumcised Gentiles from ever becoming partakers of Israel's future inheritance. For example, when Isaiah prophesied concerning the holy city of Jerusalem, he plainly stated that the uncircumcised and the unclean shall "no more come into" Zion, in Is.52:1 -

Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

Ezekiel also states that no uncircumcised stranger shall enter the Lord's sanctuary, in Ezek.44:9 -

9: Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.

Circumcision, then, as the token of the Abrahamic covenant (Gen.17:11), was to be strictly observed, even by any Gentiles that allied themselves with Israel. Uncircumcised Gentiles were never allowed to be partakers of the passover with Israel; nor will they have any inheritance in the future holy city of Jerusalem.


7. The children of Israel were to SEPARATE themselves from the Gentiles


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