October 11, 2022 – Tuesday
Deuteronomy 10:16 ESV
16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.
Deuteronomy 10:16 CJV
16 Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart; and don’t be stiffnecked any longer!
Deuteronomy 10:16 NIV
16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.
Comment
I know I have written on the circumcision of the heart in the past, but that was using the NIV only. While doing some other research for a Sunday morning or Wednesday evening message, I somehow ran across the Complete Jewish Version (CJV) which detailed the circumcision as of the foreskin of your heart as does the ESV. I did not recall ever seeing that before. So, I checked, and most versions have the foreskin of your heart.
Oddly enough, the foreskin is not mentioned in Deuteronomy 30:6, 6 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.
However, in Jeremiah 4:4 we again have foreskin mentioned, 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.”
I could find no explanation for the difference, but a possible one came to mind after reading through them. In Deuteronomy 10:16 and Jeremiah 4:4, the men were directed to do this themselves. All Jewish men were circumcised on the eighth day after birth. That was a symbolic and minor surgery. The real work for all men was the cutting away the symbolic flesh around the heart that keeps one subborn or stiffnecked about whatever they thought was right regardless of what God had to say. Removing the foreskin of the heart was something that would make their hearts tender and more desirous of pleasing God and not their own sinful desires.
But if the LORD does it as in Deuteronomy 30:6, the LORD will simply take your heart and do as He pleases. In this particular case it is a promise of forgiveness and life after repentance. Greater clarity for all of this is given by Paul in Romans 2:28-29, 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. It is a matter of the heart!
Bottom Line: If you find yourself being stubborn about some sin in your life, look to getting rid of the pride in your heart that causes this. Circumcise your heart.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Help us to see all that we need to remove from our hearts whenever we find ourselves opposing You by sinning. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Calvary Chapel of Dayton
in Beavercreek