"Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn." Deuteronomy 10:6
The simple meaning and purpose of circumcision is that when the foreskin is removed, that which is exposed is the most sensitive and most tender part of the male anatomy. That portion of the man's body is capable of producing the most amount of pain as well as the most amount of pleasure.
God wants us to have a heart like His and that means that we must have hearts that are circumcised; hearts that break easily because they are unprotected and hearts that experience the "inexpressible joy filled with glory" that is spoken of in 1 Peter. David was such a man and if you read the Psalms you see a man whose heart is regularly broken; a man who weeps often; a man who rejoices in the Lord with shouts and song; a man who dances before God; a man who is profoundly sensitive and emotional.
"The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be a prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you." 1 Samuel 13:14
If we are to have hearts like God's heart we must be capable of the most profound sorrow and pain, as well as the most exhuberant joy and love.
If you are not deeply grieved over sin, betrayal, disunity and discord I would submit that you have once again grown a foreskin which protects your heart from the pain God has designed you to feel. Either that or you never had your heart circumcised to begin with. God feels the pain of rejection which is why our sin of rejecting Him causes such profound reactions of wrath from Him. In essence, God's sensitivity explain His anger over our offense against Him. When we ignore and reject God, He is offended and it deserves hell. If someone ignores you or rejects you, you ought to feel a deep pain because we are made in His image and likeness.
But, we must also have hearts that are capable of the most profound pleasure, joy and love. God rejoices loudly over His treasured posession, the Church. In Zepheniah we are told that God will exult over us and sing over us. God is a joyous and glad God. David was capable of the most exhuberant joy of any saint we have been priveleged to read about. David exulted, praised, sang, danced and shouted for joy.
To many, David seems schizophrenic because of his mood swings and his ability to go from exuberant joy to gloomy depression. I would submit to you that God saw David as a man after His own heart for the very same reason many view him as "moody."
David was a man after God's heart because he was sensitive. He felt pain deeply and he felt joy, love and gladness deeply. This is the essence of having your heart circumcised - it is no longer protected and therefore experiences pain, joy, love and sadness on the level it was meant to - on God's level.
10 years ago
3 comments:
Sorrells et al. showed that "Circumcision ablates [removes] the most sensitive part of the penis." After circumcision, the glans keratinises (becomes harder). Neither circumcision's meaning nor its purpose is simple. It has been and is done for hundreds of reasons, most of them foolish. Sorry, but you will need to to look elsewhere for your metaphors.
I really liked this post. I am not an expert on the medical aspects of circumcision, but I do see how Scripture has used the analogy between the removal of a male’s foreskin and the removal of hardness from a believer's hearts. Scripture is clear that the outward sign of circumcision was only meaningful because of what it represented. There are several Old Testament and New Testament references to the circumcision of our hearts within the context of removing the hardness of our hearts and revealing a heart that is tender toward God in belief in and love for God. In an analogy, two things are likened for the aspects in which it is useful to illustrate a point. There are always places in which an analogy breaks down. The heart of the matter here is that God cares about our soft, tender hearts toward Him in faith and love. The tenderness of our hearts enable us to believe in God, love God, have joy in God, grieve over sin, love our neighbor, and empathize with our neighbor. I am so grateful that God circumcised my heart- enabling me to respond to Him. He continues to remove hardness from my heart daily. Here are some more Scripture references that help explain that physical circumcision was only a symbol for a removal for the hardness of our hearts: Deuteronomy 10:12-22; Deuteronomy 30:1-9; Jeremiah 4:1-4; Ezekiel 44:9; Acts 7:51; Romans 4-7-9; Colossians 2:6-15.
Thank you for your responses, hugh7and anonymous.
I agree with anonymous...probably because he/she agreed with my post :)
Here is an example of how Jesus uses an analogy to make a spiritual point but not to make a scientific point.
"The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." Matthew 13:31-32
Now, clearly, a mustard seed is not the smallest seed in the world, in fact, the orchid seed (and I could be wrong here) is the smallest seed in the world. But Jesus was not trying to make a scientific statement...rather a spiritual one. In the region where he was teaching, a mustard seed may have been the smallest of seeds and so the analogy made sense.
As far as circumcision goes, I think the Bible is trying to do the same thing. Circumcision of the flesh is an outward symbol of circumcision of the heart. A circumcised heart is soft and not hard (even if, scientifically the glans does get harder).
I'm certain that there are many places other than your glans that you would prefer to have a needle stuck and I am fairly certain that if you want to enjoy your wife... well...it may involve other parts of your body, but ultimately the glans is very much the center of attention.
That was really the only point.
Thanks for reading.
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