E.O. “I’ve got your next sermon. Exodus 4:24-26. That’ll preach.”
Bronco:
E.O. “Okay, so I only actually texted you that because at first it made no sense to me…I was like”what the crap” .. and I guess I don’t fully grasp the significance and of circumcision in general-(the covenant-outward marking and separation- that they be set apart and different from the others- a physical act of obedience-I guess to the shedding of blood-so a blood covenant) I know some of that.. and that God is holy. But why the peene, why not the pinky, or everyone’s left eye ball, and why only men, not women? ….. then fast forward Paul won’t stop with his whole circumcised heart thing, which I usually knod in agreement with the preaching when he talks about our circumcised hearts- which honestly i have never actually understood 😂. But I’m too spiritual to admit that. Then I guess Moses know his sons where supposed to be, and the fact that one wasn’t. Was sin, and disobedience. Which results in gods judgment.. and the fact that his wife knew how to atone for gods anger/judgment shows she to was aware.”
Bronco:
1. Why the ‘peene’? Because of the promised SEED/offspring who will come and crush the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). In other words, the promised seed/offspring will come through the loins of circumcised men (generation upon generation, until Mary of Nazareth is conceived).
2. Why the ‘peene’/why men? Because the promised SEED/offspring will REPRESENT us (#headship); He will REP us as ‘perfect atoner’ and ‘perfect achiever.’ In other words, He will be perfect for us and impute His perfection to us (Matthew 5:48); and He will infinitely atone for our immense evil and our wretched selfishness …which REQUIRES His blood. So every time Abraham took a piss he would look down at his ‘peene’ and be reminded of the promised seed/offspring, and the necessity of the blood sacrifice of the promised seed/offspring.
3. THIS emphasis on Christ Crucified as the exclusive remedy for our immense evil and wretched selfishness is the fixation, framework, filtration, and primary furniture of our lives …i.e. it must pierce our hearts! (#circumcision of the heart). THIS emphasis on Christ Crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2) to FORGIVE evil, wretched, terrible enemies of God must dominate and define our identity and our primary agenda day in and day out (Paul is a thorough example of this – Romans 7:19, 24-25; 1 Timothy 1:15; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10). We must wholistically embrace this extremely offensive EMPHASIS and cherish it DEEP within our hearts! …Even if a person has been the victim of horrible suffering – their primary ISSUE is THEIR OWN EVIL, and their primary NEED is not justice or deliverance from suffering …their primary need is FORGIVENESS (Mark 2:5). Justice and deliverance from suffering is an extension of the promised Seed’s agenda (like the warmth of the sun), but the intense epicenter of the Seed’s agenda is His zeal to achieve and atone FOR HIS WRETCHED ENEMIES!
4. The vignette in Exodus 4 is about how Moses is extremely reluctant to participate in God’s agenda for the slaves in Egypt. Moses has profusely attempted to excuse himself from participation (Exodus 3), but God won’t allow Moses to abstain. So Moses figures he can remove himself from the equation by not circumcising his son, and thus God will kill him – similar to the way Jonah was reluctant to participate in God’s agenda in Nineveh, so he attempts to die by being thrown into the ocean to drown …but just as God UNEXPECTEDLY sends a giant fish to save Jonah’s life – so Zipporah (the daughter of a Midianite/pagan priest) performs an ‘emergency circumcision’ – thus saving Moses’ life! Just as the story of Jonah is ultimately ALL ABOUT God’s MERCY!, so also, the Exodus 4 vignette is ALL ABOUT God’s enigmatic MERCY (e.g. God’s merciful insistence on employing an 80 yr shepherd, who had previously failed in his prime years, and who has subsequently been wallowing in that failure, feeling insecure, developing a speech impediment, marrying the daughter of a pagan priest, and resigning himself to a life of obscurity – tending flocks of sheep in the wilderness of Midian).
Thanks for clearing this up! Circumcision in the Bible has always been something I just “glance” over, get confused about, and avoid thinking deeper about the act of…. There’s an element of PAIN involved too, I think, (both of the “peene”– physical — and the heart — spiritual — varieties), which brings the receiving of mercy that much more necessary for proper healing and functionality.