The last time we met we saw that a 2nd circumcision was required of Israel once they crossed over the Jordan River into the land of their inheritance.
Recall I mentioned that the purpose of the 1st circumcision was to establish Israel as a nation and as a separate people group distinguished from every other people group on the planet.
The 1st circumcision bonded them to both the covenants of Abraham and Moses.
However, and this is a big “however”, in order for Israel to be qualified to enter the Promised Land, they had to be circumcised one more time.
Again, the pattern is as follows:
The 1st Circumcision established Israel as a nation and bonded them to the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants.
The 2nd Circumcision was required in order for them to be able to enter into their Promised Land.
Remember how from the very beginning I have been driving home the idea that there ain’t absolutely nothing new in the New Testament.
Well, the 2nd circumcision we’ve been discussing is a perfect case in point.
Why?
Because we see this “2nd Circumcision” principle come alive in the New Covenant.
When a Jewish baby is circumcised on the 8th day after his birth, this sacred ceremony officially makes him a member of the people of Israel and binds him to the covenants of Abraham and Moses.
Recall Paul’s Olive Tree metaphor in the Book of Romans.
Well, it is the circumcised Jews who represent the Olive Tree.
Or to put it simply, the Olive Tree represents not only physical Israel but God’s ideal of what an obedient Israel should be like.
And in order to be part of the Olive Tree, one had no choice but to be circumcised.
However, once the New Covenant was ushered in, an amazing transformation took place.
Paul told us that in order for a Jew to enter into the real or spiritual Israel, a second circumcision was necessary OR HE WOULD BE BROKEN OFF OF THE OLIVE TREE.
Did you catch that?
Sure, a Jew may have been circumcised on the 8th day making him a member of physical Israel but if he doesn’t receive that 2nd circumcision of the heart (meaning faith in God’s son), then he is broken off of the Olive Tree.
Or to use Paul’s words…
“For the real Jew is not merely Jewish outwardly:
true circumcision is not only external and physical.
On the contrary, the real Jew is one inwardly;
and true circumcision is of the heart,
spiritual not literal;
so that his praise comes not from other people
but from God.”
-Romans 2:28-29
And keep in mind, we’re only talking about ethnic Jews here.
This has nothing to do with gentiles.
A lot of gentile pastors think that a gentile believer is what a “real Jew” here is in Paul’s argument.
They are soooo wrong, it’s laughable.
Remember, Yeshua only came for the lost sheep of Israel.
Keep in mind that all of the Israelites of the Exodus generation or the generation of the 1st circumcision died out in the Wilderness.
They never entered into the Lord’s rest.
Paul is telling us that Jews must have a circumcision of the heart (a 2nd circumcision) in order to BOTH remain as a branch in the Olive Tree (in his metaphor meaning spiritual Israel) and to inherit their final rest in Hashem’s kingdom when Messiah returns.
Romans Chapter 2 contains some deep theology and I personally don’t think any pastor, preacher or Bible teacher should tackle this book unless he has read the Torah at least 3 times and really understood what he was reading.
So let me break down Romans Chapter 2 nice and easy for you.
A physical circumcision is both required and does indeed make one a full-fledged member of physical Israel or “a Jew” to use modern vernacular.
However, there exists a 2nd circumcision.
It is spiritual in nature and this 2nd circumcision otherwise known as the “Circumcision of the Heart” is necessary to become a member of the true, spiritual Israel.
Or God’s Israel so to speak.
And Paul wasn’t the first one to talk about this 2nd circumcision of the heart by the way.
Check out this verse from Deuteronomy.
“Moreover, the Lord your God
will circumcise your heart
and the heart of your descendants,
to love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul,
in order that you may live.”
-Deuteronomy 30:6
There you have it, straight from the Lord’s mouth in the Torah.
The 2nd circumcision is a non-negotiable if a Jew wants to the enter the Lord’s rest as represented by the Olive Tree in Paul’s metaphor.
And I need to stress this 2nd circumcision was for Israel.
It belongs to Israel.
Yet you wanna know what else was mind-blowing and truly revolutionary?!
This so-called 2nd Circumcision of the heart was also available to physically uncircumcised gentiles through their faith in the Messiah of Israel.
And once that happened, they were also grafted into the covenants of Israel.
Can you say HOLY COW???!!!
Paul explains this quite eloquently in his letter to the Colossians.
“For in him, bodily, lives the fullness of all that God is. And it is in union with him that you have been made full- he is the head of every rule and authority. Also it was in union with him that you were circumcised with a circumcision not done by human hands, but accomplished by stripping away the old nature’s control over the body. In this circumcision done by the Messiah, you were buried along with him by being immersed; and in union with him, you were also raised up along with him by God’s faithfulness that worked when he raised Yeshua from the dead. You were dead because of your sins, that is, because of your “foreskin,” your old nature. But God made you alive along with the Messiah by forgiving you all your sins.”-Colossians 2:9-13
There are three main takeaways here.
FIRST, a Jew due to his physical circumcision may be a member of physical Israel but he is NOT a member of God’s spiritual Israel until he is born again via a circumcision of the heart.
A Jewish person who has not had his or her heart circumcised, has not yet crossed over the Jordan metaphorically speaking and received his or her inheritance.
SECOND, a gentile who is NOT physically circumcised but is circumcised in the heart through his faith in Yeshua, is born again and becomes grafted into the covenants that God only made with Israel.
Let me say that again.
From the Lord’s perspective, a physically uncircumcised gentle who has his or her heart circumcised becomes a member of God’s ideal or spiritual Israel.
In fact, his or her status is above that of a Jew who while being physically circumcised has not yet received the circumcision of the heart.
However, there did arise so-called Judaizers who said that a physical circumcision was necessary for salvation and tried to impose this onto gentile believers in the various Pauline communities.
In response to this, Paul said…
“Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Messiah will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Messiah; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Messiah Yeshua neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”-Galatians 5:2-6
Paul was saying that it is the circumcision of the heart that is most important and what leads to salvation (for both Jew and gentile), therefore, anything that would detract from that fundamental principle is heresy.
In fact, Paul concluded that…
“Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised.”-1 Corinthians 7:18
Well, there you have it.
In terms of being born again, physical circumcision doesn’t mean diddly squat.
I’ve actually met ethnic Jews (mainly from Russia) who had not been circumcised and I’ve met gentiles who have been circumcised…
…and I’m telling you circumcised or not, it doesn’t mean anything unless you are born again or receive the circumcision of the heart.
Okay, onward to my final point.
THIRD, the pattern established in the New Testament as a result of Messiah’s death and resurrection was established long, long ago right here in Joshua chapter 5.
That’s right man.
I’m telling you that Paul’s rabbinical argument as explained in Colossians is based on Joshua Chapter 5, what we are studying right here.
Heck, I betcha we could also make a good case that when Yeshua told Nicodemus that he had to be born again in order to see the Kingdom of God, he was basing what he said on Joshua chapter 5.
I’m done.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus,
a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Yeshua by night and
said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come
from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless
God is with him.’ Yeshua answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say
to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the
kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man
be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into
his mother’s womb and be born?’ Yeshua answered, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit,
he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born
of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit.”
-John 3:1-6
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