Old Testament Flesh Circumcision and New Testament Spirit Circumcision – Genesis Chapter 17
by Sabrina Dawkins
When Abram was 99 years old, God appeared to him and told him to be perfect. The same word, “perfect,” was used to describe Noah (Genesis 6:9). Abram is renamed Abraham, and he will be the father of many nations. For a sign of the covenant that God made with Abraham and Abraham’s offspring, he instructed him to circumcise every male in his household, including male servants. Abraham also was circumcised. In Abraham’s generation, every male child in his household was to be circumcised eight days after birth. This is an example of an Old Testament physical act which is a sign or a representation of spiritual things to come. And Paul is very good at linking the Old Testament physical performances with spiritual reality. In Colossians 2:11 he says, “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.”
So the removal of flesh from the penis symbolizes the removal of the fallen body, the flesh beast body inclined to sin, and allowing Christ to live through you. The physical flesh removal performed by Abraham on the same day that God instructed him concerning the circumcision, a testament to his faith and obedience, didn’t have to be sincere, however: Those circumcised could then disobey God, just as the sacrifice of animals, another Old Testament physical sign of future spiritual things such as the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, could be done without any conversion but simply as a habit or duty; and Adonijah, for example, proves this in 1 Kings 1. When David was old, Adonijah decided that he would take David’s place as king. God had not given him the throne. He strategically did not invite Nathan, the prophet of God, or Solomon, the God-ordained successor to the throne, when he slaughtered the animals in an event to be recognized as the new king. It is the Holy Spirit that changes a person on the inside, a spiritual change that cannot be faked. You cannot go through the motions of a spiritual transformation because it is not an outward show but an inward transformation that counts. And God’s word will cut through your flesh and soul “sharper than any two-edged sword” to find out what kind of person you really are (Hebrews 4:12).
Although Abraham’s faith in God and willingness to follow him were shown in his quick obedience, his offspring, in addition to receiving the sign of the covenant in their cut flesh, will have to become perfect as well. And any who refuse to be circumcised as a sign of the covenant, in breaking the covenant, their souls will be cut off. God even sought to put Moses to death for not circumcising his son (Exodus 4:24-25).
Ishmael, whose birth was Sarai renamed Sarah’s idea, would not be the one with whom God would establish his covenant; Isaac and his offspring would come into an eternal covenant with God. But upon Abraham’s request, God did bless Ishmael. God told Abraham that Sarah would have her first child in a year, and Abraham laughed because he and Sarah were so old at this point. Nevertheless, “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37). And when Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90, they would have a child.