What Is the Circumcision of the Heart?

On Wednesday mornings I lead a Bible study with a handful of dear widows (and a few who aren’t widows but Wednesday morning fits their schedule better). I like to preach through one book of the Bible at a time. In my opinion that’s one of the best ways to give a solid diet of God’s Word to our congregation. But it also, on occasion, leads to rather awkward moments.

When I was a youth pastor, I found some texts were rather difficult for the audience. With my group of widows, I’ve now put Jeremiah 3 down as one of those sections that’s a bit awkward to teach. I think I had to say the word “harlotry” or “whoredom” about 15-20 times in order to read and explain the text. Needless to say, I was happy to move onto Jeremiah 4 — only to once again find myself in somewhat awkward territory with Jeremiah 4:4:

“Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”

It’s an important verse and will eventually point to Jesus. But it also leads to a few questions. What exactly is circumcision and what does it mean to have a circumcision of the heart? Why is God talking about “foreskin” on the heart? What does a verse like Jeremiah 4:4 mean for our lives today?

What Does Jeremiah 4:4 Mean?

Jeremiah 3:19-4:4 is all about corporate repentance. It is set during Josiah’s reform (2 Kings 22). The book of the Law was discovered and Josiah, the boy king, stirred up revival all throughout the land. The people removed idols and reinstituted important practices such as Passover. There is some indication though that much of this reform was only outward. Jeremiah 3:19-4:4 outlines what true repentance would look like.

There is some debate about the “weeping and pleading” that is happening on the “bare heights.” At first glance it seems as if the people are realizing the emptiness of idolatry and now engaging in repentance and crying out for God to rescue them. That is certainly a possible interpretation. But it is also possible that this crying on the barren heights is an act of rebellion. The barren heights are where the idols would have been worshipped. Are the people going back to their old places of worship and mourning? Are they trying to call out to the true God whilst keeping the rhythms of worship inherited from their false gods?

I am inclined to believe that this repentance is not complete. I say that because of where Jeremiah goes next. In verse 22 the LORD is calling back his wayward people. And I believe in verse 22b Jeremiah gives voice to what biblical repentance looks like. It includes acknowledging that the “hills are delusion” and that it is only in “the LORD our God” that “the salvation of Israel” is to be found. Jeremiah calls upon the people to mourn and to “lie down in our shame” because they have sinned and have not “obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”

In 4:1-2 God gives the terms of their acceptance. They must return to Him and they must forsake their other lovers. They must be people of truth, justice, and righteousness. If this happens, then God will restore them and once again “nations shall bless themselves in him” and through their witness “in him shall they glory.” They are to then break up their fallow ground — do the hard work and do something different than before, and then in 4:4 we see the call to circumcise the hearts.

What does that mean? To understand that we must first learn a little about the practice of circumcision.

What Is Circumcision?

Simply put, circumcision is the medical procedure whereby the foreskin is removed from a penis. You might be wondering, “Why would anyone do this?” Though performed differently, a type of circumcision was widely practiced in the ancient Near East. We’ve lost the origins for why someone like the Egyptians would have practiced this, but we know from Scripture (Genesis 17) why this was practiced by Jews. It is connected to God’s covenant with Abraham. But this still leaves us wondering why did God choose this of all things to be the sign of the covenant?

Circumcision served as a powerful reminder for humanity not only of God’s promises of covenantal protection, but also of the impact of human sin. It is a mark in the reproductive organ as a sign for generations. Human sin will continue through the ages, but so will God’s redemption. Jason Derouchie says its well:

“Because the rite was performed ‘in the flesh’ of the male covenant member (Gen 17:11, 13–14) and because human failure to observe circumcision would result in being cut off from the community (Gen 17:14), circumcision appears to function as a reminder primarily to Abraham and his offspring rather than to God.”

The act of “being cut off” is the dominant symbol within circumcision. In reference to the promises of God, one could say it is communicating, “cut off this so you are not cut off from that.” And it was a promise that as sin was removed we could be restored again to our position within the peaceful Garden. Nick Batzig explains:

“The act of cutting away the filth of the flesh also represented the dual promissory nature of the covenant. In the covenant God promised blessings and cursing. The removal of the corruption of the sin nature was the blessing promised. The cutting off from the people of God from the presence of God was the promised curse. If the demands of the covenant were not met the circumcised man would be cut off.”

You can see a picture of this in Deuteronomy 28 in the outlining of blessings and curses. To be cursed is to be “cut off” from God, His people, and His promises. Circumcision was a sign that the covenant blessings belonged to you, and not the covenant curses.

Yet, even here in the Torah (first 5 books of the OT) we see that the mere act of physical circumcision did not necessarily mark one as part of the people of God. There was always something to be said for the circumcision of the heart. It would be those who had their hearts circumcised who were truly circumcised. So, what does that mean?

What Would It Mean to Circumcise the Heart?

In Romans 2:29 Paul makes the argument that “a Jew is one inwardly” and that “circumcision is a matter of the heart.” This is really not a new argument, though. The Old Testament is filled with references to circumcision of the heart; it was woven into the covenant language of Deuteronomy. As the Pentateuch nears a close and God reminds the Israelites that they will not be able to keep the covenant, He also promises a day in which heart work will happen. When this happens, God uses the language of circumcising the heart instead of merely the flesh. This tells us that Jeremiah is likely picking up this prophetic imagery from the early history of the Israelites.

The context of Jeremiah 4:4 is important here. This is part of the act of repentance. This particular section is likened to a re-covenanting ceremony. But it is important that they not only go through outward rituals, but that their dedication and devotion to the LORD is one of the heart. The language here will be picked up again in Jeremiah when we are told of the new covenant which God will make with His people. John Thompson explains this well:

“The interior dispositions of the people were more significant than any external practices, and the total commitment of the life (heart) to Yahweh by the removal of every inhibiting element was the only response acceptable to Yahweh. The conversion demanded of Israel was very much more than the restoration of neglected practices. To be sure, Israel must forsake her idols as a prerequisite to true conversion. But the essence of Jeremiah’s demand rested on the concept of a new Israel and a new Covenant."

To circumcise the heart means to remove the cold, dead, calloused, stiff-necked hearts that so often marked the people and to instead turn fully — with the whole self — to the LORD in dedication.

What Would This Look Like in Our Lives Today?

What, then, does this look like for our day? How do we circumcise our hearts? I believe Paul’s argument in Romans and Galatians is informative. Ultimately this call to have circumcised hearts is a call to turn to Jesus Christ in full devotion. It is clear, says Paul, that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. Nobody is faithful to the Old Covenant and thereby nobody is qualified to institute a new covenant. Throughout history no man was able to fulfill the covenant. The curses, the promises of being cut-off, are what we inherit. None of us inherit the blessings of the New Covenant.

Yet Jesus Christ has fulfilled the Law in our place. It is through the work of Christ that believers, through the Spirit, are given these new hearts. To circumcise your heart then is to respond to the work of Christ in repentance and faith. We “cut-off” our old man, our calloused hearts, and we turn in faith and devotion to Jesus Christ.

True repentance as outlined in Jeremiah involves far more than changing a few practices or rituals. It’s more than just casting down idols. True repentance involves a change of heart. True repentance is inward change that leads to outward change. Reversing this is deadly and places us in the same position as those in Jeremiah’s day who seemed to only half-way find their way to repentance, but their hearts remained confused with the besetting sins of their ancestors. It is only in Christ that we can receive this new heart.

Sources

Derouchie, Jason. Circumcision in the Hebrew Bible and Targums: Theology, Rhetoric, and the Handling of Metaphor. Bulletin for Biblical Research 14.2 (2004) 175–203

J. A. Thompson, The Book of Jeremiah, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1980), 216.

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