Jeremiah 9:25-26

IV. THE UNCIRCUMCISED HEART Jeremiah 9:25-26

TRANSLATION

(25) Behold, days are coming (oracle of the LORD) when I will bring punishment upon all circumcised in their uncircumcision. (26) Upon Egypt and Judah and Edom and the children of Ammon and Moab and all those who cut the corners (of the hair) who dwell in the wilderness, for all the nations are uncircumcised and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.

COMMENTS

Circumcision was given by divine command to Abraham and his descendants as a sign of the covenant between God and that people. (Genesis 17:10). The men of Jeremiah's day while outwardly bearing the sign of the covenant had drifted far from God. spiritually they were uncircumcised. Their hearts were closed to the word of God. They were members by birth of the nation Israel; but actually they were no part of the spiritual Israel. Shortly, warns Jeremiah, God will bring His punishment upon all those who though outwardly circumcised were really uncircumcised (Jeremiah 9:25), Other nations of antiquity practiced circumcision as well as did the Jews. Five such peoples are named in Jeremiah 9:26: Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites and those who cut the corners of the hair. This latter phrase refers to the Arabian tribes who shaved the temples at puberty and consecrated them to their deities.[188] The circumcision practiced by these heathen nations was not done in obedience to the command of God and therefore their circumcision was regarded by God as uncircumcision. God's judgment would fall upon them. But God's judgment would also fall upon the men of Judah who were in this respect no different from their pagan neighbors. They were physically circumcised but not spiritually so.[189] Just as the men of Israel were not living up to their circumcision, so many today are not living up to their baptism. Many have had their bodies immersed in water but their minds, hearts and will remain unbaptized.

[188] Herodotus III. 8. This practice was forbidden to the Israelites. See Leviticus 19:27; Deuteronomy 14:1

[189] See Deuteronomy 10:16; Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4; Romans 2:25-29.