Israel...Jews...Islam?

Genesis 17:10-11,13 - This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. ...and My covenant  shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

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Circumcision is a cutting; cut off, cut down. It was required by God for Abraham to show his commitment to God (above) and all his descendants, Israel. 

From Abraham's son Isaac came the people of Israel and eventually Jesus. Oh, first Abraham fathered the son, Ishmael, who became the precursor to Islam but this union was not ordered by God. It was an action not of faith but of doubt and acting out without trusting God.  He definitely gave Abraham the promise that his descendants, an eventual great nation, would come from his loins with his wife, not her maidservant.  [God said] "...for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.” ‭‭(Genesis‬ ‭21:12b-13‬)

So Israel is a very small but great nation in the eyes of God, which seems to be hated by some. Yet others tend to be sympathetic to the Islamic cause. A little more on this later...

Circumcision also means setting oneself apart from others, to be cut off. Abraham was to do this too, as we as believers are...division and covenant between God and those who walk with Him. Abraham was told to leave the country where he lived and settle in a land to which God directed him, which he did. He was to separate himself and his family from those in the land.

In Abraham's day circumcision was a physical sign of devotion to God. Proof that they agreed with His covenant. Today that circumcision, through Jesus, the descendant of Abraham and Isaac, is of the heart. We allow this circumcision of our heart to prove our devotion to God the Father. The heart being circumcised is of a spiritual nature. And we are also told that God's Word cuts deep: For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. ‭‭(Hebrews‬ ‭4:12‬)

Circumcision and cutting. Important in a desire to know this God.

And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. ‭‭(Deuteronomy‬ ‭30:6‬)

(Old Testament)

For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh--(Philippians‬ ‭3:3‬ ‭ESV‬‬) (New Testament)

That you may live and not be confident of the flesh. We are to trust in God, not man. Set apart. Faith in what is unseen vs. what is seen, God vs. man. If we allow our hearts this circumcision, God's covenant, will be with us. That same covenant as with Abraham. 

So if we have allowed this circumcision of our hearts, we are counted as part of the very people God calls His own, Israel. This same covenant God referred to with Abraham becomes ours. It also means realizing the importance of this tiny nation and its people. If we do not support His people, His nation, we really are not part of His covenant. There is 
blessing and cursing that comes with that. 

There are some who hate Israel. If you look closely, some might be of the line of Ishmael and a jealousy and hatred of a people God chose as His own over another who believes they should have received God's blessing way back when. If you know the whole story you can see His words are specific regarding inheritance and covenant.

The Jewish people, as hard as some might find it to hear, are God's chosen. Jesus was in the line of Isaac, not Ishmael. Yet any descendant of Ishmael may also become part of the covenant if they choose to believe in Christ. That being said, anyone would be welcome into the kingdom. It's our choice to make. 

John‬ ‭4:22-24‬ ‭-You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

An Example

Jeremiah 17:5,7 -Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD."

       

Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. He had a very big heart for Israel and could see the destruction they were headed for. They had turned their backs on God. They worshiped wooded idols which could not hear their prayers. Their hearts had hardened to the things of God. When we abandon God we lose proper guidance. Without that guidance, one seeks their own way.

Like God wanting His people Israel to return to Him, Jesus wants us, another form of wandering Israel, to seek Him. He had a big heart for people. He knew the destruction people were headed for. His heart so broke out of love for us all that He chose to die for us. He wanted then as He wants now, to be the Shepherd to the lost sheep. He set an example. 

We are like Israel when we seek our own ways in life: whatever makes me happy, whatever satisfies me. Me, me, me...not God. As difficult as it may be to hear, these are the people who God refers to as wicked people. He spits them out because they are distasteful. They do not take seriously the things of God. The LORD spoke to Jeremiah and He told him He will give man what he deserves, according to what he believes is right. 

If a person desires God, desires Jesus, and desires what He has to give, He will bless him. God does search hearts. Don't think He doesn't know whose hearts are focused on Him and on what He says. He also knows which people believe in their hearts that what the Bible says was for some ancient civilization, for that land and people called Israel, but today's culture is different...and who or what is Israel today anyway? 

Jesus came to be our example. He lived, He died and He rose again, a popular worship song states. It goes on to say, Hallelujah, for all He's done. As our example He taught the choices we make are important, as difficult as some might be. He taught how we need to give up some of the things in our lives that we so dearly cling to. He is to be our all in all. I believe He blesses us more when we give up what we think we need in this world.

He also showed us by example how we are to be set apart. He was not so well liked by those who knew Him growing up. His claims of being the Savior of the world was a hard word to swallow, even for His family. Mark 3:21 - But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.”  There is division among families today for this very reason. There are scoffers.

The religious leaders were threatened by His claims and His different views. If He was who He said He was, He needed to be taken out! And so the people, all people, did just that. Hebrew priests and Roman authorities, Jews and Gentiles...people in general. Who was this Man? How could He make such claims? Even today there is division among churches because of doctrinal differences.

He set an example. He may have been crucified. He may have died but He rose again. What is that example for us? It's that phrase that Jesus used...Jesus...about being born again. This is one of those doctrines that sets churches apart. It separates by placing relationship (in Jesus Himself) over religion (man made rules). It's an issue among family and friends. But...it's an example Jesus set. It's what caused some people to scoff and others to want to kill Him. 

He is the example. He died so we might live. But in order to live we have to receive Him...by faith. And what is faith? That which cannot be seen...not our works...but what we believe in our hearts...not religion but relationship...with our Example.

It's believing what He tells us in His Word. If He tells us we must be born again, we must be born again. And if He describes what that is, it's what we must do. We cannot pick and choose what we want to believe from what He says.

He wants us to be blessed, not cursed. We cannot trust in the things of this world; we cannot live apart from God, which is living in our own way, doing only what we want to. We will have to give up some of our own things, our own ways, to follow Him. It's not about being like the others, keeping up with the Jones', but it's about separating ourselves, not always fitting in with the others. 

Jesus set Himself apart and He taught His disciples to do the same. We can't call ourselves Christians and not adhere to His beliefs and examples. Either we believe what He tells us or we believe what man tells us. Do we believe this as Jeremiah did:

Jeremiah 15:16-17 - Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. I did not sit in the assembly of the mockers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone because of Your hand, for You have filled me with indignation.