ICS Daily Devotions
Circumcision and the Blood Covenant
Genesis 17:7,11(NKJV) And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you… and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
The circumcision was a reminder of the covenant because men tend to be forgetful. It was a covenant between God and Abraham. David knew that the Israelites had a covenant with God through Abraham, his forefather and circumcision was the sign of that covenant. Circumcision has become a ritual or a practice in the Jewish culture. Every male has to be circumcised on their 8th day without remembering the value and the power of that covenant.
In 1 Samuel 17, all the Israelites had forgotten that they had a covenant with God except David. David understood the covenant and what it entailed. He knew that the covenant would be watched over by God for generations after Abraham. It was everlasting. God would honor His Word and He would be God to them.
A blood covenant between two parties is the closest, most enduring, solemn and sacred of all contracts. It absolutely cannot be broken. When you enter into a blood covenant with someone, you promise to give them your life, your love and your protection forever…till death do you part. It is a binding, unbreakable agreement.
It took ONE MAN who believed in his covenantal rights with God and invoked God to honor His part of the covenant. David knew that his covenantal God would support him to destroy Goliath who had come against God’s covenant people. If God were to react, then the situation would be a small issue instead of a major challenge from man’s perspective.
Can you imagine a young rosy-cheeked boy comforting the King of Israel? This was what set David apart from the rest of the men. Therefore, our faith in God and His covenant should also set us apart from the people in this world! When David was faced with this challenge from Goliath, the spirit of faith or faith in his covenant God arose within Him! He was filled with faith in God knowing that God would deliver them. He was so confident, unwavering and fully convinced of God’s character and faithfulness that he started to boast in the Lord!
In the Old Testament, the Israelites were the chosen ones, set apart as the covenant people of God, the token was the circumcision and they lived by the law. When Jesus Christ died for us, the physical circumcision stopped because all of us are able to come before God in true faith. We are accepted based on the blood of Christ. Physical circumcision means nothing today.
Romans2:29 (NKJV) but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
For the New Testament believer, it is the circumcision of heart that shows true faith in God. We have entered into a new covenant through Jesus’ blood and this is the covenant for all the families and nations of the world including Israel. Our covenant with God is established on the blood of Jesus Christ! A better covenant built on better promises! We need to rise up and know that we still have a covenantal God.
Sermon Series: You Are in the Hall of Fame (Part 3)
