Genesis 17: the covenant developed: Abraham's part, and ours
At the end of Chapter 16, Abraham is 86 years old, but the story picks up again 13 years later, when Abraham is 99 years old. Once again, God expands on his covenant with Abraham. At a high level, in terms of the promises of God, it is part of the same covenant of Chapter 15. Although God has not changed and his promises are eternal, we know that Abraham wavered in his faith, resulting the events of Chapter 16 - could we understand this as a renewal and restating - God giving Abraham the chance to commit himself anew? I think it is certainly possible.
However, there is also a development in the covenant, and this is marked by outward signs in Abraham and Sarah's life, and that of their whole family and community: firstly the changes in names from Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah, and secondly the command of circumcision. Now, we know from the fact that God has already made his covenant with Abraham, and so circumcision was not the a precursor, but an outward sign of what was already there - as Paul writes to the church in Rome: [Abraham] received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised (Romans 4:11). This part is relatively easy for us to understand if we are familiar with baptism, which again, is the outward sign that we take part in to demonstrate an internal change that has already happened, rather than something that saves us. And both echo the fact that the Holy Spirit is God's 'mark' and 'seal' on us: When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14).
By while it's reasonably easy for us to grasp something of the imagery of baptism (burial and rebirth, and being washed clean), the covenant sign of circumcision is one of the moments in the Bible when one, once again, feels like one is a traveller in a foreign land, and the question (often unspoken) on our lips is: why circumcision? I get the role of a sign, but why that? It appears either very random, comical or barbaric - depending on your worldview. However, what none of the commentaries I have perused when writing this have failed to say that circumcision was a standard practice of the time, often involved in rituals. I have often read that when trying to understand the intent and message of any part of the Bible we should look not to things that were the same as the rest of the ancient world, but where the story differs, and the difference here is how circumcision is used.
In many of the surrounding contemporary cultures, circumcision was practised either as a ritual at puberty or marriage. However, here we learn that God's people are to circumcise baby boys on the eighth day of life. The covenant is not something one has to grow into - something that can only be grasped as an adult, but something we are 'born into' if we are part of the a community of faith. We are reminded of the words of Jesus: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. (Mark 10:14-16). What contrast to a celebration of 'becoming a man' and the associated strength, power and authority?
In trying to unpack this I find myself reminded of Genesis 15, when what is to us a seemingly random and usual set of events is actually a picture familiar to the original hearers. In Genesis 15 this concerns sacrificing some animals and a torch of light passing between them, resembling covenant customs of the time. Although this is reflective of customs of the time, however, the imagery itself still reflects the nature of God's covenant specifically as one sealed by the sacrifice and blood of Jesus. Can the same be said of circumcision?
If God's sign of covenant in Genesis 15 represents the sacrifice of Jesus, circumcision would be more accurately described as the resulting life-change in the believer - the act of continually trusting in God and wanting to walk with him. We see this in our lives accompanied by the Holy Spirit, as mentioned earlier. But what has the removal the foreskin got to do with this - either literally or figuratively?
The first stumbling block is that circumcision is only available to males. We should be grateful there was no command to 'circumcise' females (which is not circumcision but mutilation), but why choose something that excludes half the community? Were women and girls not included in the covenant? Sarah certainly was - God said: “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” (Genesis 17:15-16), and as the story progresses we see many women of faith who are blessed and under God's promises.
But what of circumcision itself? What can it tell us of the Christian life? Does it perhaps talk of the fact that devotion to God means giving of ourselves. The act is purely symbolic, and so doesn't require the actual sacrifice of a needed body part, and yet its the giving of an intimate part, a sense of vulnerability, and a permanent mark - not showy for everyone to see, but much deeper than that. Does it also point towards the future 'seed' of Abraham - the one promised? None of the scattering of commentaries I have perused on this subject say much, except Matthew Henry who offers the following:
It was the flesh of the foreskin that was to be cut off, because it is by ordinary generation that sin is propagated, and with an eye to the promised seed, who was to come from the loins of Abraham. Christ having not yet offered himself to us, God would have man to enter into covenant by the offering of some part of his own body, and no part could be better spared. It is a secret part of the body; for the true circumcision is that of the heart: this honour God put upon an uncomely part.
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