Skip to main content

Circumcision - Ouch! Joshua 5:1

Joshua five starts with a stunning demonstration of fear by pagan kings. Then moves to a painful rite and ends with the Israeli General on his face before Jesus Christ the Commander of the LORD's army. It is an interesting mix of events. 

This important chapter tells the story of preparation for the Big Mission; that of conquest in God's Name. From verse two until nine, circumcision is described and explained. Usually this is a topic for private conversation. Here, however, it is performed on a nation. The reason Joshua spent so much ink on this topic is because it was of utmost importance. 

Way back in Genesis seventeen God reiterates his covenant with the patriarch and adds a new symbol to remind him that it is going to cost him some skin. 

The Abrahamic covenant was made between God and Abraham and was ratified by God to God. He was showing that it was a done deal that would never be broken. Later, however, he added circumcision to be a physical symbol of his promise. 

The practice today has no religious or theological significance and is practiced more for hygienic reasons. Believers in Jehovah God the Father of Jesus Christ His son have had our hearts circumcised. One author describes the process like this:

Deuteronomy 30:6, “And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.” Here, the Bible tells us plainly that God will circumcise someone's heart. The result is a full love on our part toward God.

God's heart surgery is forever. Have you had it yet? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tottering!

I was watching my one year old grandson, Brandon, today. He had on some baggy little shorts, weird flip-flops over his socks, and he was tottering. It made me think about how I often feel these days. Funny how that when we are little and "innocent" and tottering in our baggy pants, with our little potbelly sticking out from under our t-shirt we look precious. When we are older and tottering in our low slung trousers and the same potbelly, we looks pathetic! I guess that the two drastically opposite points of view are based on the viewer's chronological perspective. Brandon is growing and I'm dying. He is cute because the little guy has a lot to learn and we love to see him progress. The old guy has already had his chance at learning and what he is progressing toward is not quite so much fun to ponder. When I have these weird thoughts I praise my God because He never lets go of my hand whether a tottering little guy or an old one. And I found this verse to prove my po...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth?  Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Church Isn't a Place

  Many times we say, I'm going to church on Sunday. What some fail to understand is that "church" isn't a building. I remember our pastor saying, "the church is an organism, not an organization." He was teaching us the Bible truth about the church. Jesus Christ is the head of the body, and the church is his body on earth. Another pastor once said, "God's hands have human fingers." This is a difficult concept for some to grasp, pun intended. However, it is important to understand that God accomplishes his work through human beings. He uses us, the church, to do his will and work. It's not that if we don't do his will that he is stymied. But he does use willing servants. To be in the church, one must be a part of the family. You cannot be in the church if you don't have the Savior. The church is not for the lost; it is for the edification of the saved. The lost can come and hear the message of salvation. But the church is made up of t...
Post a Comment
Read more