CIRCUMCISION

CIRCUMCISION

Genesis 17:23-27; Genesis 18:1,2; Exodus 4:24-31; Joshua 5:2,3; Joshua 5:8-11

It will be apparent to most of the brethren, if not to all, that I have the subject of circumcision in mind in view of this hour. It is a very important feature of the truth, and if it is not recognised and accepted we shall be hindered from entering into the greatness of the thoughts of God for us. I have particularly in mind to refer to circumcision as the basis of certain matters, for all the passages that we have read link certain results with circumcision. Paul says in Philippians, “We are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and boast in Christ Jesus, and do not trust in flesh.” It is a very easy matter to accept, in certain ways, the truth of God’s judgment as to the flesh, and the bearing of the death of Christ upon it, but when it comes to circumcision it is a very testing matter, and without circumcision and the recognition and acceptance of it, I do not think we shall experience the full weight of divine power that is operating on our behalf.

Now circumcision refers to the application in the power of the Spirit, of the death of Christ to the flesh. In Romans 6, we are taught as to reckoning ourselves dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus our Lord: now that is not circumcision. Romans 6 has in mind our arrival by faith at what has taken place in relation to the death of Christ, but circumcision involves more than what we arrive at by faith, circumcision involves the practical application in the power of the Spirit of the truth of the death of Christ to all that we are and have. Especially do I wish to stress the inwardness of it, as Paul alludes to it in Romans, that circumcision is not in letter, it is in heart and in spirit; chapter 2: 29. He says there, “He is not a Jew who is one outwardly,”

and so on. And what one feels, dear brethren, is needed so much is the inward bearing of circumcision, so that we should see, and we should learn to accept; the absolute judgment of God upon the flesh. I know we accept it as a doctrine, I know we talk about it; but I am concerned, as most of us would be, as to the wonderful way in which we have seen the Spirit is available to help us in regard to the various features of the truth, and that we should learn how to use the Spirit, and to make room for Him in regard to the truth of circumcision.

Gilgal, at which circumcision takes place in the chapter that we have read, is a wonderful place in the book of Joshua, it becomes as we have often referred to it, a base for the military movements that are so wondrously outlined in this book, where the inheritance is entered upon. At the very outset of this chapter, at the border of the inheritance, we might say in the Colossian position, as we have it in the New Testament, the teaching of Colossians bearing upon it, the people are confronted with this sober and serious matter of circumcision. We need to take on the things of God more seriously and soberly, and circumcision has in mind the terms on which we have to do with God and can enjoy His richest thoughts. It says in the first verse that we read that “at that time Jehovah said to Joshua.” Now the time is to be noticed, that enters into this book. Wonderful things had been done, a wonderful victory had already been wrought for the people, for through divine love the way had been opened up through the Jordan into this wonderful realm that we are on the border of. Where love’s choicest thoughts are to be known and enjoyed, where the inheritance is beginning to expand itself before them, and where the spiritual leadership of Joshua (a wonderful type of Christ in relation to the inheritance) is asserting itself more and more. And it is at this time that Jehovah says to Joshua, “Make thee stone-knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. And Joshua made him stone-knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of Araloth.”

It is a very painful matter, circumcision, to the flesh, but God shows us in this particular section, that if we are going to enter into the inheritance and go forward in it, we must face in our souls what the teaching of circumcision means. In the verse that we read, in verse 9, it says, “And Jehovah said to Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. And the name of the place was called Gilgal to this day.” God comes into this position in a remarkable way. He personally takes a hand in the matter, as if He loves us so much, dear brethren, that He cannot bear the thought of our being in this environment that is now before us with any feature of Egypt’s reproach upon us. It is important, dear brethren, that we should get this firmly in our minds, because it is the basis of the service of God, it is the basis of the worship of God, that all that is linked with the flesh must go, not just arriving at it as a matter of faith, reckoning ourselves dead indeed unto sin, but in the power of the Spirit, in practical application, the truth being brought to bear upon our souls. So in Romans 8, as some of us were seeing the other night, there is the thought of the deeds of the body and what is referred to in Colossians too, as to the putting to death, the mortification of our members, which are upon the earth. It involves the power of the Spirit coming into the practical application of the truth, it is not just reckoning ourselves dead, but the living, active feature in the power of the Spirit of applying the truth so that no quarter, no room is made for the flesh at all, I think God would help us, dear brethren, as to it more and more, because it does not matter what kind of flesh it may be, worldly flesh or religious flesh, none of it in any shape or form will do for God. The great matter that God would impress upon our minds is that as having part in the assembly and what is linked with it at this time and in this section, there is to be no feature of Egypt’s reproach upon us. Egypt represents the realm where man has full scope, where the energy of the flesh has full scope, but God is reminding us at the very immediate entrance to the land of His choice, which speaks to us of what is secured in Christ, in heaven, according to His purpose and counsel; God reminds us of the necessity of the refusal, in heart and in spirit (I am not referring just merely to ways, and to actions, and to behaviour, but to heart and spirit) the constant need for the application in the power of the Spirit of the death of Christ inwardly, so that the flesh has no ground to stand on in any department of the service of God. God is reminding us of that. In the last fifty years we have had remarkable light recovered to us in regard to the service of God, in regard to the greatness of His thoughts, but we cannot go on without the inward acceptance of the truth of circumcision. So that no flesh is to glory in God’s presence. If God gives us light, dear brethren, we have no ground whatever to glory, we cannot rest on our oars. We cannot, as it were, adopt a complacent attitude, that things are all right just because we enjoy so much, and have liberty to enter upon so much: we must make no room for the flesh, in any shape or form, whether actively or passively, because we may deny it and cut it off actively, but the point is to see to its cutting-off passively, so that there is no room for it at all.

It is remarkable, dear brethren, how much we may, while accepting the truth generally, allow the flesh in some ways. God is reminding us in this matter of circumcision at the very doorway of the inheritance that if we are going to be with Him we are going to be with Him on His terms, not our terms, that is what God is saying to us here, and circumcision is one of the basic terms on which we have to do with God. So that, dear brethren, it cuts athwart all that is around us. People do not like to accept the true position of Christianity, in the assembly, because of the reproach it involves, the complete cutting off of the flesh, that no flesh should glory in the presence of God. People come in touch with the truth, they get a ray of light in their souls, they know that the truth is in the assembly, is among the brethren, but if only they could add a little, they think, if only they could do a little, if only they could carry on in some way something that would give the flesh some little room to glory, it would be all right. But what God would remind us of at the very beginning of the book of Joshua is that if we are going to enter into the great range and scope and realm of His thoughts, conceived before time, before the worlds were formed, it must be on the basis of the acceptance of circumcision, the application in the Spirit’s power of the death of Christ in relation to the flesh, and the reproach of Egypt. Think of what God thinks about it that He should bring it up in this way! They had come through the Jordan, the stones had been placed in the bed of Jordan and the stones had been brought up out of the bed of Jordan. We are in the presence, as it were, and testimony, of a people that have been made to live in the life of Christ as risen from the dead, and in the power of that life, with the help of the Spirit, the truth of circumcision is to be brought to bear upon us. Not in the wilderness light, but in the light that belongs to the other side of death - the other side of the Jordan. It is the heavenly man that can rightly apply circumcision. It is in the heavenly letter, that speaks of heavenly men and women here on earth, the epistle to the Philippians, that it says,

“We are the circumcision, “And I am sure if there are any here who are having difficulty as to the truth, difficulty as to going all the way, that if only they can see that it is a question of getting into the blessedness of the heavenly position, and enjoying what it is to be made to live in the life of Christ, the risen and the heavenly Man, that then they can look back, or then they can take up and deal with in power, by the help of the Spirit, the question of Egypt’s reproach, and all that is linked with the flesh. Sometimes we turn it around and try to do it the opposite way, but if God gives us light as to the heavenly position, if He gives us light as to Christ and the life that is linked with Him as out of death, let us move forward in it, and we shall get help by the Spirit to apply in power the truth as to circumcision, because you know as well as I know, that the great thing that tests everyone of us is circumcision.

In every department of service in regard to the service of God, we are tested as to the complete acceptance of circumcision. It is a searching matter but it is the only basis on which all the triumphant movements in this book can go forward. Wonderful persons come before us in this book, but the whole truth of the book of Joshua is based on what we have in Gilgal: they go forward from that base, they return to that base, and go forward again from that base. And if we are going to know what power is in our souls, it must be on the basis of the acceptance of circumcision, the complete rolling away of every reproach of the system that God has had to say to in judgment - Egypt. Now it is for every one of us to see if there is any feature of Egypt’s reproach that is holding us up. Egypt is a place where people do things according to their own resources, their own means, their own wisdom, their own ideas, their own thinking and planning: but God has brought us into touch with a realm where everything is done according to heaven’s direction, and according to strength which God supplies, and the blessedness of the enjoyment of it lies in the acceptance of what we are referring to - the truth of circumcision. It says, “The name of the place was called Gilgal to this day.” You take a person like Rahab that soon comes before us, she is a wonderful woman, you know! She represents what God can do. We do not know what God has done in persons here tonight. I do not know the persons that are here, but Rahab represents a person that God has wrought in sovereignly, apart from Israel. Wonderful thing that to take account of! From another viewpoint she represents the work of God as coming to light from the other side of the Jordan in the saints. She is a wonderful person, but she is one who accepts, in principle, what is involved in the truth of circumcision. Because for her, life in Jericho was over and finished. We get persons like Caleb who go forward in the inheritance in the full acceptance of what the death of Christ means, as we are referring to it now in relation to circumcision. We get Achsah and Othniel, a young brother and a young sister, in chapter 15 of this book, they are going forward in the light of all the victories, but it is based on this, no quarter for Egypt’s reproach, or the flesh, which Egypt embodies and sets out. It sets out the independency of the flesh, the strength of the arm of the flesh, it is developed there in Egypt: and God says to His people as they are going forward into the assembly and into the light of all that is established in Christ, I want every feature of that rolled away, rolled away! And God says, “This day have I rolled away,” as if as circumcision comes about God comes in to help us in regard to the matter, because it says in verse 8, “And it came to pass when the whole nation had finished being circumcised, that they abode in their place in the camp till they were whole. And Jehovah said to Joshua” - notice God immediately comes in with a word. Who knows but what there is someone here tonight who may be saying, Well, it means that I will just have to go out, I will lose my life if I take up things in the assembly! Well, that is just what it means, that we have got to lose our lives as far as this world is concerned. There is no hope for any of us, if we want to shine in the assembly according to the principle of Egypt or the principle of the flesh. We must be prepared to go in for a life that is completely hidden, in which the power of God is to be seen rather than the strength of the arm of the flesh.

Now let every one of us face the matter as to what is hindering us going all the way. You young brothers and sisters here who have not committed yourselves to the full position, the full light of the assembly, which the book of Joshua has in mind, and the inheritance as opened up in relation to it, what is your hindrance? Perhaps it is this matter. The Spirit is available to help us to apply the truth, the Lord Jesus says in John 17, He Himself having taken a position with this in mind, “I sanctify myself for them, that they also may be sanctified by truth,” or as it may read, “in the power of the truth.” He has taken a place in heaven that by the truth and light of that place, we might be entirely secured and held apart from all that is linked with this world; whether in Egypt or whether in the wilderness, because the wilderness represents what the world becomes to us as redeemed by power, as by faith, coming into the light of God and His saving grace. And the Lord Jesus has taken a place in order that we might be apart from it all, sanctified by the light of His place in heaven, and circumcision would help us in relation to heavenly-mindedness. The more heavenly-minded we are the less desire we have to be marked by Egypt’s reproach, whether it be in a good mind, or an amiable disposition, or whether it be in the ability to serve well; it may take many forms, but circumcision brings this home to us, that the body of the flesh in its entirety is completely dealt with in the death of Christ, according to Colossians 2, and circumcision for us means the application of the truth of that in the power of the Spirit in our souls. So that there is no ground whatever for any flesh to glory. And now it says, “The children of Israel encamped in Gilgal” - notice that! It says, the name of the place was called Gilgal to this day, and then it says, the children of Israel encamped in it. It does not say they encamped in it before, but they reached this point, as it says in verse 10, “The children of Israel encamped in Gilgal,” as if now a definite position is taken up in the acceptance of the light that governs the position, and there is the complete removal of the offensiveness of the flesh before God in the matter of circumcision, and it says, “And held the passover on the fourteenth day of the month, at even, in the plains of Jericho. And they ate of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened loaves, and roasted corn on that same day.” Now notice that there is no instruction as to this. It seems as if, as moving on the line of circumcision, for us the acceptance in the power of the Spirit of the death of Christ as applied to the flesh, the doorway is opened into this wonderful side of the truth where food that would build us up in relation to a heavenly constitution is there available to us. For the old corn of the land alludes to the Lord Jesus Christ as the heavenly Man, as indigenous to heaven. If in circumcision everything that is connected with the reproach of Egypt, the principle of Egypt’s world has been rolled away, there must be something constitutionally to take its place, and that is what comes out in the verses that follow: that as we accept the basis suggested in verse 2 to the end of verse 9, we find an opening into this wonderful suggestion of the truth - the food of the heavenly land, the old corn, feeding upon Christ, as belonging to the heavenly realm. We feed upon Him, of course, as manna in the wilderness, to sustain us in our everyday life here, but it is an important thing to feed upon Him as the heavenly One and the One who is in heaven, the One who belongs to heaven, so that we might become like Him constitutionally, “As is the heavenly One such also the heavenly ones.” Now I pass over to Genesis. Circumcision in Joshua is the basis of the inheritance, and of all the victories that are connected with the people of God in their appreciation and apprehension of God’s thoughts and His love for them.

Now in Genesis I want to speak of circumcision in relation to a man and his house, and also in Exodus. I think Genesis 17 gives us a wonderful view of Abraham! It gives us a view of the moral power of this man who walked before God. It is a great thing to walk before God. We often walk before men. We are often concerned about what the brethren think of what we are ministering, what we are preaching - how well we did in it, and all the good works that we may carry on and do. We often think a lot about men, you know, we are more affected by men than we are inclined to give credit to, but it is very subtle. But Abraham walked before God, God indeed gave him a word as to walking before Him, and you will notice that in the verse previous to the portion read, it says, “And he left off talking with him” - I like that word, dear brethren! He left off talking with him! Not talking to him, but talking with him, “And God went up from Abraham”! Notice that, dear brethren. Think of this man that had responded to the light of the heavenly call! We are dealing now with the heavenly man properly in Genesis, the heavenly man morally - Abraham.

Isaac, of course, is the heavenly man officially but Abraham is the heavenly man morally, and I want to ask every one of us about the matter of heavenly-mindedness. Is there anyone here who has not responded to the heavenly call? It is a great matter to respond to the heavenly call, that God is calling us out of the world and all that constitutes it, circumcision is really referring to that, that God is not going on with anything in the world but cuts at the very root of what the world’s system is built up upon, the flesh in all its energy and strength. It says, “He left off talking with him and God went up from Abraham,” The chapter is a wonderful chapter, it opens with God saying to Abraham, “Walk before my face, and be perfect. And I will set my covenant between me and thee”: I think God would give us all a sense in our souls of settled and fixed matters on this line as walking before Him. Very often with many of us we have difficulty in arriving at just where we are, and how we stand. The covenant implies a definite fixed basis on which we know where God is and we know where we are, and that is a very important matter in regard to heavenly-mindedness, because circumcision lies at the basis of our progress in regard to heavenly things. And this chapter has in mind that Abraham should know where God was, and that he should know where he, Abraham, was, and I think we need to find our bearings, dear brethren, in this light. John’s ministry has that in mind, his epistle especially, that we should find our bearings in the truth: that it is not just always sitting in the meetings and under the influence of the ministry, and the power of the truth, while that in itself is wonderful and we thank God for it but John would help each of us to find our bearings in the truth, so that we know where we are inwardly, because circumcision, our subject, is bearing upon inwardness, as Romans 2, opens up. So while many of us may know where we are outwardly and externally, as in the assembly, we want to know where we are inwardly, and John’s ministry is especially calculated to help us as to where we are inwardly, so that things become fixed and permanent with us, as it says, “He that is begotten of God keeps himself.” It is interesting how John speaks of the work of God in the believer, and as we get our bearings in relation to the truth that John has in mind in his ministry, we shall find abstractly a certain invulnerability in the believer as to all that we have to do with in passing through this scene. We shall find that as we rely and make room for the inward and abstract side of the truth which John is enforcing and inculcating into our minds through the principle of teaching, we shall get a fixed bearing. So that our joy is not up one day and down another. We are not all buoyant one week and all down another week, John’s ministry is to help us to find our bearings. And the way that we are applying this thought of the covenant has in mind a certain fixed relationship between the believer and God, because Abraham is the father of us all, and is a pattern.

God is pleased with the position in this chapter - pleased with Abraham, despite the fact that Abraham said, Oh, that Ishmael might live before thee. A great man like this, yet we are reminded of his desires in regard to Ishmael, but nevertheless contextually God is pleased with Abraham, as He is with all heavenly-minded persons. And it says, “He left off talking with him,” as if the conversation would have gone on, and on, and on. A wonderful thing to walk with God and to converse with Him! It says, God left off talking with him. There will be no leaving off in eternity, but in the time scene things have to be broken in upon, so it says, He left off talking with him and God went up from Abraham, showing that the base of God’s operation in this great matter was Abraham, just as the base of His operations now is in the saints. And then it says, “Abraham took Ishmael.” Now I want to refer briefly to the moral power of this man; that he can not only bring the truth to bear upon himself, upon his own soul, but his whole household, the whole institution that is linked with him, as it says, “And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money - every male among the people of Abraham’s house - and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that same day” - not a week after, not two months after, but the same day. Now what is God saying to us tonight? Why is the word coming thus? Is there any one here that the truth is having to say to tonight? What about our movements in relation to it? It says of Abraham, “in the selfsame day.”

Now the secret of all spiritual prosperity and progress is immediate reaction to heavenly light, If God gives us light on the road it is important that we should immediately react to it and we shall get more light from God, because that is what this section unfolds. Abraham takes one step (you remember how Romans speaks of the “steps” of the faith of our father Abraham), a step at a time. And you will find that if you take one step God will give you light as to another step. Often persons that are exercised about clearing themselves from wrong associations think that God will give them complete light in the association in which they are - He will not. When you clear yourself of wrong associations, God will give you more and more light as to the whole position. And you will find, if you work it out, that that is how God operates. And it says, “Abraham - on the selfsame day,” notice how it is twice said! It says in verse 23, “On that same day, as God had said to him” - you see it was not a question of what anyone had said but as God had said to him. And then in verse 26, “In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised.” Notice how it goes over it twice, to stress the moral power in a man that is able to hold himself and all that he has, in relation to this great thought, on the basis of which God was walking with him, in fixed relationship - circumcision. I know it is a testing matter. Some of us are more ambitious than others, more ardent in our desires than others, some of us like to do things religiously more than others, but in coming in for life in the assembly, dear brethren, we have to accept the principle of going out completely as far as the flesh is concerned, that no flesh should glory in God’s presence.

And it says (notice in the next chapter) “And Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre.” Now I want to show, dear brethren, that circumcision in Genesis 17 is the basis for the wonderful, intimate relationships in such blessed communion with divine Persons, as is set out in chapter 18. I am sure, dear brethren, that the more, in the power of the Spirit, the death of Christ and the truth of it is brought to bear on our souls and all that we are, the more we shall enjoy the blessedness of the company of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. What wonderful grace, dear brethren, that God, who is so infinite in His greatness, yet in revelation has come so near in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit - come so near as to take up their abode with us, because John 14 points out to us the possibility of every divine Person, the Father, the Son and the Spirit, being with an individual believer. What immensity in the suggestion! But there it is! The Spirit is viewed as being with us and in us, and the Lord Jesus speaks about those that love Him and keep His word, the Father and Himself coming to them and making Their abode with him - think of it! And that is what we have in Genesis 18, it becomes the basis of known, happy relationships with divine Persons. We may wonder why we do not have it. Some of us might wish to have it, and why do we not have it? Well, perhaps we need to look into the matter of circumcision. Perhaps we need to look into the matter of the covenant, the idea of a fixed and known understanding with God as to where we are in the truth. I am sure as to the younger brethren, that the more we face this matter of a fixed and an abiding understanding as to where we are with God, the more we shall be helped in moving on with divine Persons, because They are on a journey, wonderful things are to be done, the world is to be overthrown (typified in Sodom and Gomorrah), the great supreme suggestion of love is to come in as in Genesis 22, the wonderful light as to Christ and the assembly shining in Genesis 24: it is all coming into the way, all on the horizon as it were, here, but the basis of it is circumcision.

Now I want just to finish with a word on circumcision in Exodus. I feel, dear brethren, that this is a sober matter with all of us, because we have the minister Moses here. Wonderful minister he was! But it shows, dear brethren, that God is not going on with any of us in carelessness as to the matter of the flesh. It is a serious thing to serve God and to have part in His service, I think we should all face that, brothers and sisters alike. It says in verse 24 of chapter 4 of Exodus, “And it came to pass on the way, in the inn, that Jehovah came upon him, and sought to slay him.” This is a serious matter, dear brethren. Men think that they can do what they like in the service of God, they can carry on in any way they think fit, or see fit, but dear brethren, the nearer we are to God the more we shall see that it is a sober and grave matter to have to do with God, and we cannot go on with the flesh unattended to, with this matter of the reproach of Egypt not rolled away. Moses started out first to do things in his own strength (we all have to learn the end of that kind of thing) but he sat by the well eventually, and I believe that was a turning point with him. We all have to learn what it is to sit in relation to the Spirit and His presence in the dispensation: and if things are to be done, in whatever way it may be, not only in preaching or in ministry but in service in any way, it must be done effectually on the basis of accepting circumcision. And the seriousness of it appears here that God came upon Moses, He did not send an angel, it says, “Jehovah came upon him and sought to slay him,” showing the seriousness of going on with any feature of the flesh unjudged in our hearts. “Then Zipporah took a stone and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, A bloody husband indeed art thou to me! And he let him go. Then she said, A bloody husband - because of the circumcision.” This is not the most attractive side of the truth. If we are prepared to go in for the service of God and what it involves, we must be prepared for this side of the truth. Zipporah’s language is not very refined, she has to learn, as all of us have to learn, in regard to divine matters, but what I would like to stress in finishing is, that while this is so sober and grave, and involves such serious issues, the acceptance of it involves God again coming immediately into the position, and it becomes the basis of the unjealous relations of love between one another. It says immediately, “Jehovah said to Aaron” (not now to Moses, He said to Aaron) “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses,” Think of God taking such issue with Moses and yet immediately the matter is faced, although not faced in an orthodox kind of way, God is thinking about Moses and He is sending Aaron to meet him, and it says, “And he went, and met him on the mountain of God, and kissed him.” Think of the grace of that! Think of the felicity of it - these kind of surroundings and circumstances, the mountain of God, the kiss of Aaron - all coming in behind this matter of circumcision and the application of it. It may look fearful to us, it may seem as if it is terrible to us, as in verses 24, 25 and 26. People say to us, Why it is a terrible thing. I have heard of fathers and mothers who have said to their children, It means you will be virtually buried if you go among the brethren, take up life in the assembly - well, it is really what it means. But then, behind the scene, the mountain of God behind the desert, is what they cannot see - this wonderful state of happy, mutual conditions of love, the links between the brethren suggested in Moses and Aaron, especially persons that are doing things.

And I would leave that word with the brethren, at this moment, that the right way to get on with one another, to go on unjealously with one another, is in the acceptance of the truth of circumcision. To give no quarter to the flesh, or any principle or feature of Egypt’s world. We shall thus know what it is to serve in relation to one another and in relation to the mountain of God where all the resources and power of God is known. We know how the enemy would work to cripple us, to render us ineffective in our service, but God would help us to see the effective way of service in the acceptance of circumcision. And as accepting it we will get the practical support of an Aaron, one who has the capacity to embrace us, and to kiss us. It may mean a journey. It may mean the taking account of the mountain of God, and what the mountain of God suggests - the exercise of the rights of God in His holy love - but it means the kiss of Aaron. And is it not worth while, dear brethren, in view of being effective in the service of God?

Well, may the Lord help us in this matter, for His name’s sake.

Workman’s Village, St. George, Barbados.