”Circumcision” was common among many tribes in the ancient Near East, although the reasons are unclear. Perhaps the blood from circumcision was believed to provide protection, as when Ziporah circumcised her son to protect Moses from death (Ex. 4:24-26).
In the Bible, circumcision is first mentioned in connection with God's promise to make Abraham's descendants into a great nation and give them a land that would be their own. In response, Abraham and his descendants were to obey God. To show that they were keeping their promise to God, every descendant of Abraham had to be circumcised (Gen 17:1-14). Even Gentile men who wanted to be part of the nation of Israel had to be circumcised (Gen 34:21-24). Circumcision became a requirement in the Law (Lev 12:3). The New Testament reports that John the Baptist and Jesus were circumcised on the eighth day after birth (Luke 1:59, 2:21).
The prophet Jeremiah reminded us that outward circumcision alone was not a true sign of belonging to God's people because other nations did it too. The important thing was to worship God. Jeremiah delivered his condemnation of the nation of Judah. “I condemn those who have circumcised their foreskins:all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart ” (Jer. 9:25-26). Furthermore, he describes a final and eternal renewal of the covenant with God, written in the "hearts and minds" of the people (Jer 31:31-34). The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews used Jeremiah's prophecy to support his message that the first covenant based on the law had been replaced by the new covenant brought by Christ (Heb 8:1-13)
The practice of circumcision is controversial.
The practice of circumcision caused debate and division among the early Christians. Some Jewish Christians who lived according to the law argued that they and every Gentile follower of Christ should keep the entire law and perform all its ritual obligations, including circumcision (Acts 11:1-2, 21:17-24). Other Jews, particularly the Apostle Paul, asserted that Gentiles do not have to be circumcised in order to be ”justified” i.e. accepted by God. Paul had indeed been circumcised and was once very observant of the law (Phil 3:2-6). However, he came to believe that Gentile men could also be accepted by God and become part of God's true people even if they were not circumcised. For Paul, circumcision was meaningful only if the whole law was kept. If one does not keep the whole law, circumcision will not make him "a true Jew". Like Jeremiah, he believed that true circumcision takes place in the heart (Romans 2:25-29). Man is ”justified”, that is, acceptable to God, not because he does all the requirements of the law, but because he has faith (Rom 3:28; Phil 3:7-9).
Paul also criticized those he called "troublemakers", Jews who insisted that Gentile believers must perform Jewish rites, such as circumcision (Gal 1:6-9, 6:12-14, Phil 3:2). Paul said that they were mistaken if they regarded circumcision as a way to "complete" what the Holy Spirit had begun (Gal 3:1-3). In a nutshell, Paul said, "To be circumcised or uncircumcised is meaningless, but to be a new creation is meaningless" (Gal 6:15).
Quoted from:
Alkitab Study Edition published by LAI
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