Circumcision

In Genesis 15, God established a covenant with Abraham, promising him countless descendants and the land of Canaan. At that time, Abraham was 85 and Sarah 75 as well as barren. So, Sarah gave her Egyptian maid Hagar to Abraham to bear sons for him. Ishmael was born when Abraham was 86 (Genesis 16:16).
13 years later, God re-established His covenant with Abraham. This time, God specifically mentioned that Sarah would bear Abraham a son to fulfill His covenant.
And Abraham said to God, "O that Ishmael might live in thy sight!"
God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him and make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation
But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year." (Genesis 17:18-21)
Furthermore, Abraham had to circumcise himself and all the males of his house as a sign of covenant.
This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised (Genesis 17:10).
Therefore, circumcision is not just a sign but the covenant between God and the Israelites. Furthermore, God made it clear that uncircumcised males should be cut off from the people because they had broken the 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. (Genesis 17:14)
Therefore, circumcision is a serious matter for the Jews. It serves as a bond linking them to God, thus with each other. It is very much like the tattoos inscribed on the skin of triad members to differentiate one gang from the rest. However, it brings in a "we-they" mentality. We are the 64K and they are the WSW. This turf is ours. We are the Chosen People of God and shall inherit the land. They are Gentiles and are cut off from us and the land. No wonder, during the development of the early Church, the Jews found it unacceptable for Christians to admit uncircumcised Gentiles into their community. They did not hesitate to persecute this sect of liberals.
Circumcision of new born male babies should be performed on the eighth day after birth.
He that is eight days old among you shall be circumcised (Genesis 17:12).
Joseph and Mary did the same to Jesus when he was 8 days old.
And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb (Luke 2:21)
The case of Moses was a bit curious. Moses was born to parents of the tribe of Levi (Exodus 2:1). Since Pharaoh had decreed to drown all new born Hebrew male babies in the Nile, Moses' mother had hidden Moses for three months. Later, Moses ended up living in the palace of Pharaoh.
Exodus does not mention whether Moses had been circumcised on the eighth day. Most likely, he had not. Otherwise, he would be painful, make a lot of noises and be discovered. When Moses was adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh and was brought up in the Egyptian court, he would not have the opportunity to receive circumcision.
Now, fast-forward to the story of the Call of Moses. Moses was about 80 years old, married to Zipporah, the daughter of a Midian priest, after fleeing from Egypt (Exodus 2:16-22). A mysterious pericope is found after Moses had accepted very reluctantly the mission of liberating the Israelites in Egypt.
At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to kill him.
Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin, and touched Moses' feet with it, and said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!"
So he let him alone. Then it was that she said, "You are a bridegroom of blood," because of the circumcision (Exodus 3:24-26).
Here "Moses' feet" refers to his penis. Remember, in ancient time, sacred scriptures were read aloud in public rather than silently in private. The language cannot be too graphic and explicit.
Now, the question was why the Lord sought to kill Moses. Obviously, from the action of Zipporah, it must be because Moses was uncircumcized. But God must have known that Moses was uncircumcised. Why then did He call Moses in the first place, if Moses was not "qualified" to be a Saviour? What was worse, the action of Zipporah was obviously a kind of sympathetic magic. Moses was NOT circumcised for real and God was appeased! Both of them were out of their character. How could God be satisfied with such superficial piety, such circumvention of the Torah? As for Moses, Abraham was circumcised at the age of 99. Was Moses, who represented the Torah and was at that time only about 80, too old to be circumcised?
This pericope is truly mysterious. What image of God does it want to portray for the readers and audience, a god who could be appeased, manipulated?
Most likely, Moses remained uncircumcised all through his life. So, what qualification did he have to impose, on behalf of God, this circumcision law on the Israelites? Moses must have been acutely aware of the ineffectiveness of circumcision. The Israelites were as rebellious and stubborn as ever. Moses knew that the heart counted more than the foreskins.
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn (Deuteronomy 10:16).
And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live (Deuteronomy 30:6).
Jeremiah gave the same advice.
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, remove the foreskin of your hearts (Jeremiah 4:4a)
If you reject the defence of the uncircumcised by an uncircumcised, let us hear how St. Paul, a circumcised ultra-orthodox, defended the admission of Gentiles in his epistle to the Romans.
Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.
So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.
For he is not a real Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical.
He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal. His praise is not from men but from God (Romans 2:25-29).
Now, we have a circumcised Jew defending the uncircumcised. We must circumcise the right part of the body; our hearts, not our foreskins.

My God, Come circumcise my heart. Rid it of its arrogance and stubbornness so that I may turn back to You and serve You. Amen.