UNDERSTANDING CIRCUMCISION
                                                         by
                                                  Eddie Chumney
                                    Hebraic Heritage Ministries Int'l

                                                   (Part 2 of 2)


                FULFILLMENT OF THE NEW COVENANT

       The FULLNESS of the NEW COVENANT will be during the Messianic
Era.  At that time, YHVH will require His people to be circumcised in
spirit and in flesh.

KJV Ezekiel 44:9 Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised
in HEART, nor uncircumcised in FLESH, shall enter into my sanctuary,
of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.

During the Messianic Era, we will still be in the New Covenant.


                 SUMMARY OF THE CIRCUMCISION LESSON

       Many Christians often read the book of Galatians and come to
the conclusion that Paul taught against circumcision for believers in
the Messiah which they associate with "keeping the law".

       The reason why they come to this conclusion is that:

#1) They don't read a verse in context

#2) They don't know Torah and therefore can't discern that Paul is
      actually using Torah teachings and principles to make his arguments

#3) They have been taught to believe that the writings of Paul
      contradicts what is written in the Torah, prophets and the teachings
      of the Messiah and they resolve this apparent conflict to them
      by coming to the conclusion that Paul's writing have a "greater revelation"

     In our study, we saw that the word "circumcision" has a WIDE
VARIETY of meanings and application in the Torah and the prophets.
Many of these meanings and applications are used in the New Testament.
Because we are not knowledgable of many of these meanings and
applications, we have a distorted and narrow perspective in our minds
that circumcision only means physical circumcision and physical
circumcision means "keeping the law". Because we have faulty
definitions for circumcision in our minds (rather than having
Biblical definitions) we try to discern the meaning of a text in the
writings of Paul while having an invalid premise (definition) so our
conclusions of the meaning of the text becomes erroneous. Because our premise
(definition of what we are reading) is faulty, our conclusions become
faulty.

     Hopefully from this study, you have become more familiar with
the vast variety of meanings and applications that "circumcision"
has in the Scriptures so that when you come across the word
"circumcision" in your Bible reading that you will ask the question
regarding the particular circumcision text, "what meaning or
application of circumcision from the Torah and prophets is being used
in the text"?

    By doing an extensive study on the term "circumcision" from the
Torah and the prophets and by reading the book of Galatians in
context, we can come to the conclusion that Paul was NOT teaching
AGAINST CIRCUMCISION or FOLLOWING TORAH but was making the argument
that physical circumcision without faith in the Messiah has no
eternal value. The Torah, Prophets and the NT teach us that the ideal
is having faith in Messiah, have circumcised hearts and seek to
follow Torah which includes physical circumcision. YHVH REQUIRES
physical circumcision when you enter the land of Israel. If you have
faith in Messiah and are circumcised in your heart, YHVH is more
lenient toward you if you have been born in the wilderness (nations of the
world) because the lands outside of the land of Israel have less
sanctity than the land of Israel. However during the Messianic Era,
those who live in the land of Israel and who desire to fellowship in
the Temple will be REQUIRED to be circumcised in the HEART AND THE
FLESH.

    I pray that this study has been a rich blessing to you.

    May YHVH continue to bless you in your studies.

Eddie Chumney
Hebraic Heritage Ministries Int'l

                                          (End Part TWO of 2)