Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“In the same day both Abraham and Ishmael, his son, were circumcised. All the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.”
(Genesis 17:26-27)

Abraham did it. Ishmael did it. And then every other male in Abraham’s house did it. He gathered them. He performed the circumcision. Each and every one of them participated. Each and every one of them entered into this sign of the covenant with God. Abraham totally obeyed the Lord and he did it immediately.

What trust and relationship there must have been with Abraham. There were MANY servants – possibly a thousand. They could have refused. They could have rebelled. But Abraham had taught about the Lord. He had shared his trust. He had made sure his household knew God and knew the truth and trusted Him. They were willing to enter into this because of what they knew about Abraham the man and what they knew about the God he served.

Abraham and all his sons received circumcision. But not all his sons continued to serve the Lord. Ishmael ended up turning away. Isaac ended up staying with the Lord. Circumcision doesn’t provide salvation or righteousness. It never did. It can’t. It is merely the outward sign of an inward trust in God. It is meaningless in and of itself. Medically beneficial, but that’s it if there isn’t something in your heart backing it up. Circumcision is nothing without heart-felt trust in God.

The sage Ibn Ezra writes: ‘IN THE SELFSAME DAY. Abraham did not hesitate to carry out the commandment of circumcision. Behold, Abraham’s household consisted of three hundred eighteen males born in his house aside from those bought with his money. After circumcising them, Abraham circumcised himself on that very day. Now Ishmael his son plus all those born in his house and bought with his money were voluntarily circumcised with him (Abraham) (v. 27). For the meaning of “with him” (v. 27) is that Abraham did not have to force his household to comply with God’s commandment. They all voluntarily hurried to do and fulfill God’s will.’

The sage Ramban writes: ‘IN THE SELFSAME DAY WAS ABRAHAM CIRCUMCISED. Rashi wrote: “In the selfsame day when Abraham completed his ninety-ninth year and Ishmael his thirteenth, they were circumcised.”
But what reason is there to mention this? Moreover, there is already general agreement with the words of Rabbi Eliezer who said that in the month of Tishri the world was created, and in Tishri the patriarchs were born, with the exception of Isaac who was born on Passover. Now Scripture says that the birth of Isaac will be at this time in the next year, and Rashi himself wrote further on in Seder Vayeira that the tidings were given on Passover. Consequently, Isaac was born on the next Passover! Instead, the expression, In the selfsame day, means that on the very day he was charged with this commandment, he and the men of his house — three hundred and eighteen — and all those purchased with his money were circumcised. Scripture thus tells of Abraham’s distinction with respect to the fear of G-d, as well as that of all the men of his house, i.e., that they were all zealous, fulfilling their religious duty as promptly as possible. Now the meaning of the phrase, was Abraham circumcised and Ishmael his son, is not that Abraham was circumcised first. Instead, it was Ishmael who was circumcised first, and then all the men of Abraham’s house, for it is so written: And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and after that it says, And Abraham was ninety years and nine when he was circumcised. The reason for this was that Abraham was zealous concerning the commandment to circumcise them first, either doing it himself or perhaps inviting many circumcisers whom he supervised, and then he circumcised himself. Had he performed his circumcision first, he would have been sick or in danger on account of his advanced age, and he would then not have been in a position to concern himself with their circumcision.’

The sage Chizkuni writes: ‘נמול אברהם, the day which later on would correspond in our calendar to the Day of Atonement was the day when Avraham performed the circumcision on himself. (Compare Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer chapter 29). If Avraham had divinedthe laws of the Torah through use of his intelligence, why had he not performed such an important commandment much earlier? It may have been in order not to discourage potential proselytes in the future. If people contemplating conversion to Judaism would have thought that the very first step in such a conversion was to be the painful rite of circumcision, they might have developed second thoughts. As to the question of why G-d had delayed the commandment until after He had concluded the covenant between the pieces with him, the reason was so that when he would sire Yitzchok, this son would have been the son of a fully fledged Jew already before developing in Sarah’s womb. וכל אנשי ביתו, “and all the males of his household;” where the previous verse had spoken only of Avraham, this one speaks of all the members of his household. This included slaves purchased by him, not born to members of his household, as well as anyone belonging to Yishmael. נמולו אתו, it does not say: מלו אתו, which would have implied that they were circumcised against their will, but they were all willing participants in this procedure.’