A Covenant Renewed — Ken Winter

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Does it seem like God is directing you to do something at a time which you believe is most inopportune? Has that still, small voice (the Holy Spirit within you) directed you to do something now that is contrary to what your conventional wisdom is telling you to do?

For thirty-eight of the forty years the Israelites spent in the wilderness, no Israelite male was circumcised.And yet, 470 years earlier, God had entered into a covenant with Abraham and his descendants saying, “I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. And I will give the entire land of Canaan … to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God…. Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised.”(1) God had given a promise to that first generation of Israelites and had entered into a covenant with them. Their part of the covenant was to obey the terms and seal it through the circumcision of every Israelite male.

But something had occurred the second year after the Israelites embarked on their exodus from Egypt. The people broke covenant with their God and rebelled against Him.(2) As a result, a generation died in the wilderness, never experiencing, due to their faithlessness, the promise God had given them. And God permitted a generation of Israelite males to be raised up in the wilderness without bearing the seal of that covenant. Their wandering in the wilderness was God’s reproach for their faithlessness; now, having just crossed over the Jordan River into the Promised Land, they were reminded of God’s faithfulness.

As they entered into the land, God’s judgement for their disobedience was now over. He was fulfilling His promise to this second generation.(3) And now God would have the men and boys circumcised as a seal of His continuing covenant with them and the generations that would follow – and theirs with Him. With the first generation, it had been a promise that was given; with this generation, it was a promise that was now being granted. Given, granted and sealed.

But … was now a good time to renew the covenant? Was now a good time to place every Israelite male – age thirty-eight and younger – out of commission for a few days, while their circumcision healed? They had just arrived in Canaan the day before. The eyes of their enemies were watching closely from the hilltops and from behind the trees. The imposing walls of Jericho were only a short march away.

The Israelites knew what had happened over 300 years earlier when two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, came against the Shechemites right after every male in their town was circumcised.(4) The Shechemites did not live to tell about it! Surely it would be best now to heed the outcome of that experience and wait for a “more opportune” time to do this. Why not delay until their enemies had been overcome and the people were settled in the land?

Because God said – NOW was the time!(5)

i should tell you that it was VERY timely for me to be writing the chapter from which this post is excerpted. At the time, i was able to relate with the Israelite men on a VERY minor level. i was preparing to have a minor medical procedure that would most likely result in extreme discomfort. It wasn’t going to be a circumcision – but still it would be a significant interruption! And i was working on a deadline to finish the book which contains this chapter. So i would have preferred not to have the interruption or distraction of my medical procedure. Though it was certainly not on the magnitude of renewing a covenant with God, i knew He had ordered my steps both in having the procedure done – and in writing the book. Therefore, i knew I needed to trust His sovereignty in the timing – and in the intersection of the timing – of both.

Back on point – why would God choose the very day after He led the people into Canaan to renew this covenant through circumcision? Because God in His wisdom knew that this was the very BEST time!

First, He would establish that His people were not governed by ordinary rules of conventional wisdom; rather, they were to function under His direction. Allowing the people to be exposed to a dangerous moment magnified the reality that they were under the protection of His power and His might. The fact of the matter was that the kings of the Amorites and Canaanites were far more fearful of the God of Israel than they would ever be of the men of Israel. And the inability of the people to protect themselves while they healed, magnified His divine care. It was a clear signal and message to their enemies that their security was in God, not in their own strength!

Second, God knew the battles they were facing. He knew the road ahead. He knew that confirming the covenant with them now would provide them the assurance of victory and success that they would need for the days ahead.

Third, unquestionably, it was a teaching moment, that in every aspect of their life – in everything they would do – they must first look to their Lord. Jesus said it – “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”(6) It was a matter of doing first things first!

Lastly, it was a picture of offering themselves, as what the apostle Paul would later describe, as a living sacrifice. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”(7) They knew that even their bodies were not their own. And like their ancestor Isaac, they knew they must be willing to lay down their lives on the altar and walk in holiness and complete obedience to their Lord.(8)

So what about you and i? Are we at a moment in our journey that God is calling us to renew our covenant with Him? More than likely, nothing as severe as a circumcision will be required – but perhaps, He is calling you to do something just as meaningful. Bear in mind, the people didn’t choose the timing, God did. If a renewal needs to take place, it won’t be at your initiation, it will be at His. Remember the lesson of the covenant renewed – if He says now is the time – do not delay! Now is the very BEST time. Allow Him to draw you closer – and make the adjustment to draw closer to Him.(9)

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You can read about the covenant renewed in the fifth chapter of the Book of Joshua.

This post is taken from chapter 11 of my book, Possessing the Promise. For more information about the book, click here.

(1) Genesis 17:7-10 (NLT)

(2) Numbers 14

(3) Numbers 14:31

(4) Genesis 34:24-26

(5) Joshua 5:2-9 (NLT)

At that time the LORD told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise this second generation of Israelites.”

(6) Matthew 6:33 (NKJ)

(7) Romans 12:1-2 (NKJ)

(8) Genesis 22:1-19