Chapter 19: The Death of Abraham

Q1 - Read Colossians 2:8–17. Are Christians today to be circumcised? What are we to do instead?

A1 - No, male followers of Christ as not required to be circumcised. God established male circumcision as a sign of the covenant He made with Abraham and his descendants, that they belonged to Him (see Genesis 17:11). (As an aside, women came under the covenant of circumcision by being married to a male who was circumcised.) Even though others who were not descendants of Abraham or of his household could choose to become circumcised, God designed this covenant for Abraham and his descendants.

When Christ came, He lived a life without sin and fulfilled all the requirements of the Law, and in essence nailed the Law to the cross upon His death (see Colossians 2:14). With His resurrection, He ushered in the New Covenant under which we live today. God gave Christ all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). Christians are now circumcised with the spiritual circumcision of cutting sin out of our hearts rather than the physical cutting of the flesh. This occurs upon our baptism, which Paul explains so well:

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:9–12, NIV).

Symbolically, when we are baptized into Christ we die to sin and to self, and we arise a new creature. We also symbolically participate with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. It’s interesting to note that Moses in the Old Testament admonished the Israelites to also be circumcised in their heart. He told them this in Deuteronomy 10:12–13 (NIV):

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?”

Then Moses added: “Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer” (Deuteronomy 10:16, NIV). So we know that even under the Old Law, circumcision was meant to be more than simply cutting the flesh, which evidently other cultures also did at the time. True circumcision also involved the inclination of the heart toward God.

Q2 - Are we to observe the feast days as the Old Law required? How did Jesus’s death change the way we worship?

A2 - Like circumcision, keeping the feast days were requirements of the Old Law. Referring back to the passage in Colossians 2 from the above question, we know that Jesus Christ, who has all authority and power, fulfilled the requirements of the Old Law. With His death serving as the perfect sacrifice for sin, He blotted out “the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:14, KJV). Those ordinances were the Law, and the Law was contrary to us because imperfect humans were unable to keep it without sinning and committing errors.

When the Law was fulfilled, the need for sacrifices ceased, as Christ became the perfect sacrifice, once and for all time. Upon His death, the curtain of the temple was rendered or split apart: “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:50–51, NIV). The significance of the curtain being split apart was that the curtain separated everyone except the high priest from access to the ark of the covenant where the Spirit of God resided in the temple. Jesus is now our high priest forever, and through Him we have direct and unlimited access to the Father. The significance of the split being from the top to the bottom is that the rendering came from above, from God. It was not done by the hand of humans, and it was not done by accident. It was intentional.

So because of Jesus’s sacrifice, we no longer offer animal sacrifices, and we no longer are required to observe the ordinances required by the Law, such as circumcision and the feast days. Paul explained this concept in Colossians 2:16–17 (NIV): “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” The Law was given to the Israelite people and was designed to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah, who was Jesus Christ. Now that Christ has come, the ordinances of the Law are no longer binding on us today, and Christians live under the New Covenant which was ushered in upon the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

Q3 - The writer of Hebrews discusses the importance of Melchizedek and how Jesus is our high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek and not after Levi, the priesthood of Aaron that was established under the Law (see Hebrews 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7). How did the priests under the Law perform their roles? How is Jesus different from those priests back then, and how does He perform His role as high priest today?

A3 - The writer of Hebrews in chapter 7 discusses the priesthood of Melchizedek and notes in verse 11 that if perfection had come through the Levitical priesthood that had been established by the Law, then there would not have been a need for another priesthood. He says in verse 12 that if the priesthood is being changed, then there must also be a change of the law. The Old Law or former regulations have been annulled or set aside because of their weakness (verse 18), and then he states in verse 19 (NIV): “(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.” That better hope is Jesus Christ who has now been made our high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Under the Old Law, there were many priests, because being human, they all died (Hebrews 7:23). While performing their duties, they were required to make daily offerings, first for their own sins because of their imperfections, and then for the sins of the people (Hebrews 7:27). This was an ongoing, never ending process.

Jesus made one sacrifice for all time when He offered up Himself. And because He was the perfect sacrifice, no other sacrifice will ever have to be made. The first part of Hebrews 10 provides a wonderful explanation concerning the Old Law and the sacrifices made under Law and compares those sacrifices with Jesus’s sacrifice and what it means for Christians today. That discussion is wrapped up in verses 15–18 where the writer of Hebrews quotes the prophet Jeremiah who foretold of the New Covenant that would one day come about:

“‘This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.’ Then he adds: ‘Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more’” (Hebrews 10:16–17, NIV, which quotes from Jeremiah 31:33–34). Then he adds in verse 18 (NIV): “And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.”

Jesus offered one sacrifice (Himself) for sins forever, and then He sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:12). He now serves as our High Priest forever (Hebrews 6:20), just as foretold in Psalm 110:4.