God said further to Abraham, "Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants. A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant." (Genesis 17:9-14 NASB)
The custom of circumcision among Jews is the most well known of the practices, but it seems it isn't necessarily the oldest. Herodotus wrote of it in the 5th Century BC and considered an ancient custom then. The date of this custom with Abraham would be over 1000 years prior, almost 2000 years. If that is considered ancient by the standards of Herodotus this could pre-date the Egyptian custom. There is a wall depiction in the tomb of a priest/physician which depicts the custom in detail, and dates from the 6th Dynasty. That would put the custom fairly well established somewhere between 2500 and 2000 BC, right around this time. So it could have been in common practice when Abram visited there right after entering Canaan.
As my wife would say, "So what?" The reason I look at this custom is made up of a couple of elements. The elements answer the questions, "why this?" and "why now?" I don't want to argue for or against the practice, but rather grapple with the question of why use this as a sign of a covenant. The covenant it signifies has already been bound by God through a semi-Hittite covenant ratification ritual where God bound Himself to the promise. Here it is Abraham who is bound to the promise. But he's bound in a way that imposes this sign on the entire household, actually only the males of the household. How involved were they in this promise prior to this? If nothing else it would be a sign of their dedication to Abraham.
Another part of my reason for considering this important is that the custom is not typically something commonly observable in normal interactions. It's a sign that would be private, as if between the person and God. And yet it is something that Abraham had to know as customary in the cultures around him. So while it would mark to him and his household the sign of the covenant for people and the land to his people, that would not be obvious to others, even if they found out about Abraham's custom. What I mean is that when it was established, it wasn't that unique. It became unique as the Greeks swept through the nations around the Jews, and the practice died out everywhere else. That was 1500 years at least after this dialogue between Abraham and God.
So, this private sign of a covenant, a sign not that uncommon in Abraham's world, signified for his entire household that he believed in covenant between God and him. It also signified that his household was now intimately involved in the promise contained in the covenant. So, why this, and why now?
I believe the answer lies in the intimate nature of the sign and the timing of Isaac's coming. The intimate nature of the sign on the household of Abraham meant that it was a sign that each of them understood, but those outside the household knew little of. It was personal and bound them tightly distinguishing them from other households, even if not from other cultures (like the Egyptians). Everyone entering the household either through birth or money entered into this custom and were a part of the covenant promise.
A year after this custom is initiated, Isaac is born. So after the required healing, after the household returned to some semblance of normalcy, Sarah is with child. The household could care for her special needs effectively, and Isaac knows nothing of an uncircumcised life. For him, the covenant is an eternal thing beginning before him and continuing on well after.
I believe the point of application for me is in acknowledging the same desire my Master has for intimate private relationship with me. Not that I need this sign, but perhaps my heart does. Perhaps, as the prophet Jeremiah says, I need to circumcise my heart (Jeremiah 3:4). The sign of my belief, a sign that is private and intimate between my Master and me, may be the best application of this passage. Am I unwilling to take painful steps? Am I against personal pain? Of course! But it shouldn't keep me from honoring my Master. In fact withholding such an offering because of personal pain would, I believe, dishonor myself and my Master; or possibly even worse. I could lose the very thing I seek to save by saving myself from the pain!
Essentially, my belief is that my heart must be circumcised, set apart for my Master, focused energetically on my Master's face, and constantly seeking His pleasure rather than my own comfort. I don't see other options. Walking in the path of Abraham in his relationship with the same Master, I will probably do things that make little sense to those around me and will even hurt my own heart. For my Master, there can't be any reservation. Again, I'm not a fan of causing myself pain, I don't endure it well either. But circumcision of heart means painfully removing those secret intimate things that no one else sees, but still keep me from my Master. And so I hand my Master the stainless steel circular saw, lay back on the table, and get ready for the quadruple bypass of cardiocircumectomy. It just sounds fun doesn't it? What anesthesia?
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