Physical Circumcision and the Abrahamic Covenant

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You may use class notes, the Bible, Bible references books, or the internet, to find answers.

• Review Question:

  Are the promises to Abraham “unconditional”?

  Christian preachers and teachers will sometimes say that “God’s promises to Abraham are unconditional.” But if you ask them exactly what they mean by that, they do not have a good answer.

  If you ask them, “Then do all Jews, all Israelites, all go to heaven, automatically?”, they will probably answer, “No.” Your professor agrees with that much. The Bible does not teach that all Jews / all Israelites automatically go to heaven. So is it helpful to say that the promises to Abraham are “unconditional”?

• Answer:

  In the lectures, in we pointed out that God’s promises to Abraham are not completely “unconditional.” Three of the main verses which say this are: Gen 18:19 & Gen 22:16-18, & Gen 26:5 (see H/O #17, under Genesis 17). They express the conditional dynamic of the Abrahamic promises. So we conclude that the promises to Abraham are not utterly “unconditional.”

  Rather, what the Bible teaches is that the blessings promised to Abraham → will go to all who have faith like Abraham’s faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles (Romans 4). Genuine faith is the necessary condition to receive the blessings promises to Abraham.

  Further, God guarantees that there will be a remnant of faithful Israelites who will believe and therefore will receive the blessings promised to Abraham. And yet further, God promises Abraham that he will be the “father of a multitude of nations” (Gen 17:5). The rest of Scripture applies that promise to the many Gentiles who have believed the Gospel. So Scripture guarantees that there will be many people who will have faith like Abraham’s faith, and who therefore will receive the promises to Abraham. But the Scriptures do not teach that the promises to Abraham are “unconditional”; the condition necessary to inherit them is to have faith like Abraham’s faith (Rom 4).

• Genesis 17 & Circumcision.

• Genesis 17 commands that all males must be circumcised on the eighth day, as the sign of the Abrahamic covenant. Any Israelite male who would refuse circumcision was to be kicked out of the people of Israel (Gen 17:14). So any Israelite who refused circumcision would not inherit the promises to Abraham.

• The question which this assignment will explore is this:

  If an Israelite was circumcised, did that guarantee that he would receive / would inherit the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant? What does the Bible teach?

The Main Old Testament Passages:

For each & all of the following passages, briefly summarize the key point that the passage teaches about circumcision. One good summarizing sentence for each passage listed below will be enough.

1. 2 points Deuteronomy 10:12–22

2. 3 points Deuteronomy 30:1–10

3. 3 points Deuteronomy 29:9–21

The prophet Jeremiah prophesied to southern kingdom Judah in the last two decades before Jerusalem & the Temple were destroyed by the Babylonians in 587/586 BC. He warned them that God’s judgment was coming soon if they did not repent. The following three passages from Jeremiah were written in that context.

1. 2 points Jeremiah 4:3–4

2. 2 points Jeremiah 6:10

3. 3 points Jeremiah 9:25–26

The Main New Testament Passages:

1. 3 points Romans 2:17–27

2. 3 points 1 Corinthians 7:17–24

3. 3 points Galatians 5:1–6

4. 3 points Galatians 6:12:-18

5. 3 points Ephesians 2:11–22

10 pts From what you have seen in the Bible verses above, write a brief answer to the question: If an Israelite male was circumcised on the eighth day, does that guarantee that he will inherit the blessings promised to Abraham?

1 page maximum; cite Bible verses in your answer.