January 30, 2002

Reading: Jer: 4:1-8

 

“Circumcise yourselves to the LORD” (4)

 

These words of God to His backslidden people call for them to identify themselves as His, and by so doing they will be announcing their commitment both to God and man. When God initiated the practice of circumcision it was to “be a sign of the covenant” between God and His people (Gen: 17:10-14).

Tribes and peoples often are recognized by an outward mark. The three great examples (other than the circumcision of the Jews) in scripture are: God’s mark on Cain (Gen: 4:15), the preservation of the righteous and destruction of the wicked (Ezek: 9:3-7 and the mark of the Beast (Rev: 13:16,17; 14:9-11). Circumcision identified the Children of Israel as belonging to Jehovah.

It soon became apparent that physical circumcision was not enough to instill love to God and obedience to His Law. While the people were outwardly identified as belonging to God, their hearts said otherwise. Their disobedience and rejection of God’s authority was as outward expression of their inward condition. Moses took this mark of identification and applied it to the heart: “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer” (Deut 10:16). In other words, identify yourselves as belonging to Jehovah by making a change in your heart then that change will express itself outwardly.

What is circumcision of the heart? “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 and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes” (Deut 10:12-13). Those who were penitent and returned to the Lord received this promise: “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deut 30:6).

Later in their history Jeremiah announced the same divine message: “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest My fury come forth like fire” (Jer 4:4). God’s condemnation of the nations was that they were not circumcised, in other words they were not His people, but the House of Israel it was because they were not circumcised in the heart (Jer: 9:26).

Centuries later Paul picks up on this theme: “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God” (Rom 2:28,29). God’s people are now identified, not by an outward sign but by an inward change. The heart of a Christian has been changed from that which was carnal to that which is spiritual; from love of self to love of God; from self-centeredness to God centeredness. When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment, He replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt: 22:37). Is this not the definition of “circumcision of the heart?” cp: Deut:10:12, 13 and 30:6.

The heart of every true Christian has been changed by the divine act of spiritual circumcision. The result of this change will be evident in the outward life of every Believer. The evidence of a changed heart is the exercise of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal: 5:22, 23). We have experienced a spiritual change by the Holy Spirit, therefore it is His attributes that will be evident and identifies us as God’s people.