Circumcision

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]

Why circumcision?

I mean, there needed to be a sign of the covenant... But why cut the foreskin off the male organ? Why not just notch an ear or something like that? A notched ear would certainly make identification less awkward!

It seems that circumcision was necessary because the sex organ was man's most vulnerable area when it comes to God's will. In other words, no other body part represented man's vulnerability like the foreskin of his penis.

The vulnerability I am speaking of is not just physical. The wonderful sex drive God gave to man has unfortunately cost many a man his health, wealth, family, peace, and even his life. Far too many important life decisions have been disrupted, confounded and thwarted altogether by the involvement of sex.

For God to require circumcision was to remind Abraham and all mankind that good things come from obedience to God, but there are inherent pitfalls to be avoided.

Earlier in Genesis 16, Abraham's vulnerability is seen:

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “The LORD has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. [Genesis 16.1-2]

I know very few (if any) men who would have turned down Sarai's offer to her husband - and especially so in a polygamous culture. Abraham didn't give it a second thought - the text leads us to believe he agreed immediately.

What we have to understand is that Abraham's agreement was, without question, highly influenced by sexual drive. I am sure everyone reading this post is familiar with that moment when sexual drive takes charge and all thought processes drop from the head to the groin! 

To see Abraham's circumstance here without considering its sexual aspect is pure denial. Even if Abraham's sole purpose was to procreate, he still had to become sexually aroused in order to complete the act - yes, I know this is "too much information", but can we just get real for a moment?

And yet, we are compelled to see that Abraham was dealing with God's promise all at the same time!

What is the lesson? Well, I believe circumcision serves to remind that forethought needs to be given to every decision made. It tells us specifically that sex can lead to poor judgment. And, it furthermore teaches us that the primary responsibility of separating sex from decisions falls upon the male.

I apologize for the graphic nature of this post, but we should all reconcile with sex and its undeniable influence over our lives. Circumcision served as that reconciling factor for Abraham and all his descendants.

Father, thank you for helping me finally see that circumcision had to be what it was regarding Your promise to Abraham because we all need to acknowledge and understand the potentially damaging influence of sex upon our lives (even though You gave us sex).