# 140 A Painful Pun

The Book of Genesis Day 140 Ge 17:9-11, “And God said to Abraham: "As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 "This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 11 "and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. Now we get to the “as for you,” part of the covenant. God has already told Abraham what His part of the covenant will be, now He has something He wants Abraham and his descendants to do. Abraham, and every male child shall be circumcised. Circumcised? What is that? Abraham knew very well what that meant because it was already in practice in the culture in which he lived. Non-Jews practiced it as a puberty rite at about the age of 13. Ouch! The word “circumcise,” means to “cut off.” That is very significant as we relate the act of circumcision to God’s Covenant. Let’s jump ahead to verse 14. “And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be “cut off,” from his people; he has broken My covenant.” At first glance, this seems like some sort of a bad, painful pun, but it’s not! It’s a vital part of the covenant process! By obeying God’s command to be circumcised, Abraham was saying to God, ”We believe that You will do what You have said You will do in this rite. May we be cut off from You just as these foreskins have been cut off from us, if we don’t remain in the faith. As we have been saying all along, Abraham and his descendants must walk before God (be rightly related to Him through faith) in order to be blameless in His sight. Circumcision was meant to be an earthly picture of a heavenly reality! It is a graphic portrayal of the fate of those who refuse to walk before God. They will be cut off! Pray: Thank You Lord for painting these pictures for us in Your Word. Let us realize the finality of being cut off from You should we not endure in the faith.