Gen. 17:7-147And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 8And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. 9And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. 10This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 11And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. 12And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. 13He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant. (Genesis 17:7‑14)
“And I will establish My covenant, between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, and to thy seed after thee.” vs. 7.
A covenant requires the acts of two or more for fulfillment. In vss. 2-8 God sets forth His portion. It is as though He said: “I will never fail in what I have committed Myself to—either to you or those following you. But now here is your portion of the covenant to make its blessings effective to you.” “And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep My covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.” vs. 9.
Following this Abraham is given details of the covenant of circumcision which was to be a binding token to all his earthly family and descendants. There was nothing mysterious about this act. Its purpose was to speak of setting aside the flesh—to be an ever present reminder that God’s blessings and covenant to His people were based on faith and not on nature and the acts of the flesh. It was observed faithfully by Abraham, but in later years in the history of Israel it became a mere formality in which they took pride, but lost the value of its actual meaning.
When speaking to Christians of its figurative value the Apostle declares: “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew I that is, a genuine follower of God I, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Rom. 2:28,2928For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. (Romans 2:28‑29). This plainly shows that the true value of this sign of the covenant was in the heart of the believer.
“And the uncircumcised man child... shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken My covenant.” vs. 14. This tells us how important man’s side of the covenant was in God’s I sight. God would never break His side, but if man failed in his responsibility, the covenant would not be effective to him. The full work of Christ on Calvary has forever set aside the old covenant now and replaced it with His testament—which required only the work of One—the Lord Jesus Himself. (See Heb. 9:15-1715And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 16For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. (Hebrews 9:15‑17)). But as to principle, every believer belongs to the circumcision and the one who owns Christ as Saviour can say: “We are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” Philippians 3:33For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. (Philippians 3:3).
The believer’s “mark” now is the presence of the Holy Spirit within him. Since the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) that Person of the Godhead has indwelt everyone who truly believes. It is He who exercises the heart to know that the flesh must indeed be put to death—just as the covenant of circumcision did in type — and to prove blessings through faithfulness in the walk. Abraham and his family delighted in the covenant established between God and himself, for it took away trusting in his old nature and brought him into the enjoyment of trust and confidence in God. The New Testament child of God, walking in faithfulness, will also be found “rejoicing in Christ Jesus, and having no confidence in the flesh.”
ML 07/25/1965