Genesis 17:9-14 ESV
And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.
This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,
both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.
Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
Circumcision of the flesh is only skin deep. This prefigures the coming law which changed what was seen on the outside, but did not change the heart. True circumcision is in the heart. The sword of the word from the mouth of the Lord is the instrument of this cutting of the final covenant.
Just as flesh precedes the birth of the spirit of man, so does the circumcision of the flesh come before circumcision of the heart.
Old Testament circumcision was a teaching device used by the Lord to prepare the way for the New Testament circumcision, just as the sacrificial system prepared the way for the sacrifice of Jesus the Lamb of God for the sin of the world.
The unfolding of the light of the Lord continues, bringing us to the point where we can take in the light.
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