God, Man, Sin, and Sex

Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.” [Genesis 17.9-14]

Circumcision is a strange thing. 

I think there is much we do not understand about God! For example, why was it a huge "fail" for Ham to see Noah's nakedness, but then Abraham is commanded to remove foreskins from every male in his association? How would Abraham cut the foreskins off men's and boys' penises without 'seeing' them? Is this a 'double standard?'

Before we get all alarmed, I think it is necessary to decide for ourselves if our goal is to find fault with the Bible, God, and His ways, or find understanding from that which does not make sense to us. Anyone who reads (or has read) my blog posts here very long and far back would see that this has been a struggle for me - far too often I have penned my thoughts here as one trying to rationalize God's doings rather than simply find understanding in them.

That said, this circumcision thing is yet another opportunity to become proudly alarmed, or humbly informed.

It would seem at this point in my understanding that God's choice of the removal of the foreskin of a man's penis to be the sign of His covenant has far greater understanding than we could ever imagine. I think somehow it has correlation to the shame Adam and Eve felt at their nakedness after sinning.

Just thinking here... Adam and Eve were completely and shamelessly nude in the beginning. After sinning, for some reason they suddenly felt 'naked and ashamed' and so God put clothes on them (to cover their sexual organs). Noah's son saw him naked and was cursed terribly - and his sin seems to have carried on in the Biblical record of sexual perversion carried down through his descendants. Consequently, out-of-bounds sexual engagement and perversion is constantly mentioned throughout the history of the Bible. Not ironically, sexual chaos abounds in our current culture.

There must be some reason the very sexual organ at the center of so much sin was then chosen by God to be the covenant-sign bearer! Something seems to be coming into focus here, but what? No doubt it has to do with God, man, sin, and sex.

One thing is for sure, circumcision did not stop sexual sin! With the Resurrection of Jesus then, circumcision is no longer valid or necessary. The blood of animals killed to make clothing to cover nakedness did not correct the sin problem. The blood of circumcision did not correct the sin problem. Only the blood of Christ can atone for the genetic sin of Adam and Eve passed through the generations. And yet, sexual sin is likely at all-time record highs.

Sex is a desire of man. It can be get quite unruly. Sex is not the only desire of man, but could easily be the poster-child, if you will, for desire of man. The shed blood of animals to cover it did not correct it (in the Garden of Eden). Even the shed blood of the penis itself did not correct uncontrolled desire (it could only be a "sign"). Desire has to be dealt with at the heart level and that is where the blood of God's own Son, willfully shed by Jesus Himself, could afford heart change. But that heart change can only be enjoyed through the avenue of faith. It is not ironic then that Abraham (with whom circumcision began) is called the Father of Faith!

I am certain that, with this growing understanding of the associations between God, man, sin, and sex, there is still much more to be understood and learned. And I look forward to it.

Father, You are so very very good! Thank You for gently helping me to see the associations discussed above and set my mind to understand further. You are faithful and I know You will reveal all in time. Thank You!