Are You a Child of Abraham? – Tazria – April 9

This week’s Torah Portion begins with the subject of childbirth and how a woman is to deal with her uncleanness after she gives birth.  According to the Law, a woman is considered unclean for seven days after she gives birth to a male child and for 14 days after she gives birth to a female child (Lev. 12:1-5).  There is no real reason given for this doubling of the days of uncleanness of the mother for a female child compared to a male, however, I’d like to suggest, for the sake of all the females who read this, that it is because girls are double the value of boys in God’s eyes!

When a woman gives birth to a male child, she is to be unclean for seven days and then on the eighth day the male child is to be circumcised: “On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised” (Lev. 12:3).  As we studied in last week’s Torah Portion, Stealing God’s Glory, the eighth day was a significant day as it signified the commencement of the priesthood.  Just as the priests were separated from the community for seven days and then began their service on the eighth day so all the males of Israel are set apart for God on the eighth day and are circumcised as a sign of the covenant between them and God.

Circumcision is commanded as part of the Law for the first time in Leviticus 12, however, it wasn’t the first time that the Israelites were to practice circumcision.  Circumcision originated hundreds of years before the Law was given, during the life of Abraham (Gen. 17).

Watch this video for a brief introduction to this week’s study:

God’s Covenant with Abraham

God had chosen Abraham to be the person with whom He would establish a nation, a special people to whom He would give the land of Canaan.  In order to confirm this oath, God made a covenant with Abram, who was later called Abraham (Gen. 15).  It was when God changed Abram’s name to Abraham that God also gave him the mark of circumcision:

God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.” – Gen. 17:9-11

Circumcision was given as a permanent sign of the covenant between God and Abraham and continuing on through the descendants of Abraham, through his son Isaac (Gen. 17:21).

The sign of circumcision was considered to be of utmost importance to God to such an extent that He nearly killed Moses (or possibly Moses’ son) for not having his son circumcised (Ex. 4:24-26).  Circumcision was a physical mark that set the Israelites apart from the other nations and it was a continual reminder that God had chosen them to be His people on this earth.  Circumcision continues to be common practice for Jews today in Israel and around the world.

Circumcision in the New Testament

Despite having such a significant role in the Old Testament, for some reason the subject of circumcision is often spoken of in a negative manner in the New Testament: “Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.” (Gal. 5:2)  These words of the Apostle Paul seem to be contradictory to the Old Testament teaching on circumcision.

It is possible that Paul was writing to Gentiles, however, in his letter to the believers at Corinth Paul wrote the following:

Was any man called when he was already circumcised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? He is not to be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God. Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called. – 1 Corinthians 7:18-19

It seems that Paul was teaching, to Jew and Gentile alike, that the sign of circumcision is meaningless and has absolutely no value.  How did circumcision go from being the sign of the covenant between God and His people, with life or death consequences, to eventually being considered as “nothing?” 

The Original Intent of Circumcision

When God first spoke to Abraham about circumcision, it was for the purpose of being a sign between God and the descendants of Abraham.  It was a sign of blessing, relationship, and an amazing real estate agreement:

I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. – Gen. 17:6-8

God had promised to bless Abraham and his descendants and give them the land of Canaan.  Beyond this, God was establishing a direct relationship with the descendants of Abraham, as He was to be their God.  The Land and the people of Israel are forever in a covenant relationship with God.

The External Sign of the Internal Conviction

Circumcision was an external, physical sign on the male population of the Israelites, and to all the males who joined themselves to Israel.  The Israelites had to be circumcised as commanded by the LORD, however, just like all of the other commandments, for example the wearing of the four-cornered garment, the LORD was ultimately more concerned with the heart of the people and not simply the signs which He had given to the people, which pointed to something greater.  The external signs that they were to keep according to the Law were there to remind them of who they were and how they were to live but they were never intended to be an end unto themselves.

Moses himself explained the true intent of circumcision in his reiteration of the Law to the Israelites as recorded in the book of Deuteronomy:

Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the LORD’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it. Yet on your fathers did the LORD set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day. So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer. – Deut. 10:12-16

As Moses explained in these verses, the heart of God is for a people that are devoted to Him with all of their heart.  Moses admonished the Israelites to walk in all the ways of the LORD and to love Him.  He also reminded them of their unique covenant relationship with God, which was marked the circumcision of their flesh.  Above and beyond all of this, however, Moses called the people to circumcise their hearts.

Circumcision of the Heart

Towards the end of the book of Deuteronomy, Moses told the Israelites that after they break the covenant of their God and are driven out of the Land of Israel, God will restore them to the Land if they return to the LORD.  Moses then explained that God Himself would circumcise their hearts:

Moreover 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, so that you may live. – Deut. 30:6

The LORD wants life for His people and He knows that this can only be a reality if the people have a circumcised heart, a heart that has been changed from following after the gods of this world to a heart that follows after the LORD God alone.

The external signs of the flesh are completely meaningless if they are not combined with actions that reveal a dedicated heart to the LORD.  The prophet Jeremiah recorded a similar message from the LORD to His people:

For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, “Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD and remove the foreskins of your heart, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.” – Jer. 4:3-4

God wants a people who are fully dedicated to Him with hearts that are abandoned to Him alone.  Circumcision of the flesh without circumcision of the heart is a meaningless sign to God.

The Spirit of Circumcision

The subject of circumcision is commonly found in the New Testament, however, it is generally spoken of in a negative manner.  The early Jewish believers in Yeshua wanted all of the Gentile believers in Yeshua to be circumcised in order to be accepted by the establishment (Acts 15:5).  After much discussion and debate, however, the Apostles decided that it was not the intent of God to require physical circumcision from the Gentile believers but only that they receive the Holy Spirit and have their hearts cleansed by faith (Acts 15:8-9).

In the letter to the believers in Rome, Paul the Apostle explained clearly the emptiness of being physically circumcised if a person does not obey the Law of God.  Paul even goes so far as to say that if an uncircumcised Gentile keeps the Law, he will be counted as circumcised:  “So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?” (Rom. 2:26)  The life we live before God is much more important in God’s eyes than being descendants from a certain people group and having the physical sign of circumcision.

Paul continued to explain in more definitive terms in his discourse about circumcision, that to be a true Jew is a matter of the heart and not the flesh:

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 which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God. – Rom. 2:28-29

It is only the circumcised heart that will profit and give life in the end, for both Jew and Gentile alike.  The flesh counts for nothing.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything,

but faith working through love. – Gal. 5:6

Being the Children of Abraham

Circumcision began with Abraham and was passed down to all his descendants, the people of Israel.  Circumcision was to be a sign of the covenant that God had made with Abraham.  To be called a child of Abraham was to identify with the covenant that God had made with him and this is why the Jewish people are called the people of the Covenant.

When Yeshua walked this earth He once had a conversation with some Jewish people who believed in Him, and their conversation went as follows:

“If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” – John 8:31-32

Yeshua was challenging these people that if they really wanted to be His disciples, they would need to continue in His word and let the truth of His words set them free.  Their immediate response to Yeshua was that they were not slaves or some insignificant people, but rather that they were Abraham’s descendants.  They believed that their confidence, or their salvation, was in their genes!

In response to this group of people Yeshua agreed that they were Abraham’s offspring (John 8:37), however, He then challenged them to act like the children of the father whom they claim to be descended from:

“…I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.” They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus *said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham.” – John 8:38-39

I believe that Yeshua got to the heart of what it really means to be considered Abraham’s offspring.  It is not enough for the Israelites to fulfill the letter of the Law and simply have the mark of circumcision on their bodies.  To really be considered a child of Abraham one needs to live as Abraham lived and walk in faith.

The Mark of a Circumcised Heart

The story of Zaccheus illustrates well this principle of “doing the deeds of Abraham.”  Zaccheus had come to believe in Yeshua and immediately repented of his former way of life:

Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.” – Luke 19:8-9

Zaccheus was born a Jew, a physical descendant of Abraham, and was without doubt circumcised on the eighth day, like all Jewish males.  Zaccheus had every earthly right to identify himself as a son of Abraham, however, it was only through his belief in the Messiah and a repentant life that he proved himself to be a true child of Abraham.

As important as physical circumcision was when God originally gave this sign to Abraham, we see again and again in both the Torah, in the prophets, and in the teaching of Yeshua that God is more concerned with a circumcised heart than the physical sign itself.

Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. – Gal. 3:7

A True Child of Abraham

In the end, when we all stand before God, it will not matter who our parents were, nor our ancestors, nor the church, synagogue, or community center which we belonged to.  We don’t need to prepare ourselves to give the “right answer” to God when we stand before Him.  The only thing that will matter in that day is our faith in God through Yeshua the Messiah and a life that somehow displayed this faith.  This is what it means to be a true child of Abraham.

Shabbat Shalom!

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