In ancient times and modern, it’s not unusual to permanently mark oneself to identify with a particular people or cause. Today it’s common to see the omega symbol branded on the arm of an athlete or a Latin phrase tattooed on a military veteran. To mark something is to set it apart and many choose to do just that. Similarly, when God made a covenant with Abraham, He instituted the rite of circumcision. It was a physical distinction between the haves and the have-nots. To have been circumcised was to be identified as a participant in God’s covenant and a recipient of His blessing. To have not been circumcised was a physical indicator of a life of disobedience and a sign the person was outside His covenant. “Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant” (Gen. 17:14).
This was so important to God and so ingrained in the culture of Israel that it became a turn of phrase. The enemies of God were referred to as “the uncircumcised.” One example is found the story of David and Goliath. After hearing about the obnoxious behavior of the contemptible giant, David said, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of God?” (1 Samuel 17:26).
To be subjected to the temporary discomfort of circumcision was to be identified with a permanent promise. The pain and the bleeding passed but those that were legitimate participants in God’s covenant enjoy its benefits for an eternity. The symbolism was not only one of personal identification and blessing, but of behavioral commitment. It was a physical demonstration of “putting off the old man.” To that end, Scripture speaks of God circumcising the heart “so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deut. 30:6).
In the believer there is an organic unity at play between love and obedience. In love for His people, God gave the command for them to be circumcised. Participation in circumcision was an act of obedience based on love for God. Love and obedience are interwoven again a few verses later.
“If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in His ways, and by keeping His commandments and His statutes and His rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to take possession of it” (Deut. 30:16).
Love and obedience, obedience and love—they are two sides of the same coin. Joshua saw the disconnect when he was about to take the second generation of wilderness wanderers into the Promised Land. The men had not been physically identified with God. They were uncircumcised.
When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. And the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” (Josh. 5:8-9)
They recovered the permanent marking that personally identified them with God while making a commitment to obey Him. That is what “rolled away the reproach of Egypt.” After Christ, it is not circumcision that sets people apart to God, but baptism once they have truly believed. If this describes you, could it be said that “the reproach of the world” has been rolled away from you?
What would your reaction be to a man with a “Semper Fidelis” tattoo burning an American flag? It is not just contradictory, it communicates disloyalty. Likewise, baptized believers must live a life consistent with their permanent marking. In fact, you are charged, publicly, to do so.
I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. (1 Tim. 6:13–15)