To understand why it was necessary that Joshua should circumcise the children of Israel before they cross River Jordan, get into Jericho and then Canaan, we need to understand what circumcision is. Why did God insist that the Israelite will not walk into Canaan, their promise land until they are circumcised?
What is Circumcision?
Circumcision means the removal of the foreskin (prepuce) that comes with a male child at birth. In some other religions and cultures, females are also circumcised. Circumcision started as a seal of a covenant between Abraham, his offspring and God (Genesis 17:1-10). So it is a practice established by God Himself. For anybody to be part of the covenant God was establishing with Abraham, the person must be circumcised. It therefore means that if one is not circumcised, the person will have no part in the covenant even if he is biologically from Abraham’s lineage. Circumcision therefore is a qualification to partake of a divine covenant.
Circumcision Today
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God - Rom 8:28-29
And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy
God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live - Deuteronomy 30:6.
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked – Deuteronomy 10:16.
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings – Jeremiah 4:4.
From the above scriptures, it is obvious that the circumcision that matters most to God is not just the physical cutting of the foreskin of the flesh but rather the foreskin of the heart. Circumcision of the flesh is not as important to God as that of the heart (Acts 15:1-21).
For a man to access his willed inheritance from God, he must undergo a heart circumcision. Failure or refusal to do so shuts him out of the covenant of divine inheritance. God is saying, “Do it or you lose out of all that I have for you”.
In Exodus 4:24-26, God almost killed Moses for failing to circumcise his son on his way back to Egypt from Midian. This would have marked the end of Moses’ destiny had the wife not hurriedly performed the circumcision on the boy to save a dying Moses. There are things God can overlook in His relationship with a man but not the issue of cutting off the foreskin of the heart.
In our present day new testament church, circumcision would means “cutting off” everything God has asked us to cut off – worldliness, indecent dressing, immorality, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred emulations, wrath, strife, making trouble, jealousy, selfishness, envying, drunkenness (James 4:4, Matthew 9:16, Mark 2:21, Deuteronomy 22:11, Galatians 5:20-21).
Yes, you are a born again but have you done away with everything in your life that does not glorify God? What are the things (friends, business, books, movies, talks, fashion and make ups) that God asked you to cut off? Have you obeyed Him fully? Is there actually a marked difference between when you were an unbeliever and now that you have believed?
There are certain divine blessings you cannot access until you have cut off everything God wants you to cut off. Abraham got Ishmael without circumcision but for his promised child, Isaac to come, there must be circumcision. The children of Israel could not go into Jericho and the Promised Land until they were circumcised. Their foreskin placed a limitation on them. It pegged their progress just as it is pegging the progress of many believers today.
If there is no circumcision, there will be no possession. You cannot go into the promise land carrying your foreskin. It was not purposeless that God is insisting that you cut off the foreskins. He does not want you to get into your inheritance with a lifestyle that will not typify heaven. He desires that as you dwell in your inheritance that you do so as a spiritually discipline child of His. That way He is glorified. Our God is a God of order and His children should be the same. It should be like father like son and not otherwise. So when a supposed child of God refuses to be like his Father by cutting off things that the Father abhors, God will surely hold back certain blessings he should have inherited.
Click the link below to get the TAKE OFF YOUR SANDALS prayer e-book for more prayer points. https://ebooks.environsynergyservices.com/product/take-off-your-sandals//
Other useful resources:
YOU HAVE AN INHERITANCE IN GOD'S WILL - ebook
WINNING GOD'S HEART - ebook
TAKE OFF YOUR SANDALS - ebook
BEFORE YOU SAY I DO - ebook
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