The Holy Scriptures have much to say about a subject that no one wants to talk about or do. However, the Lord stresses the subject at length both anciently and currently, for what He says about it applies to His people today as it did to our spiritual ancestors–the twelve tribes of Israel. I will again emphasize the fact that THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN TO, FOR AND ABOUT THE NATION OF ISRAEL AND THOSE GENTILES WHO WOULD BECOME PART OF THAT NATION THROUGH OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S TEN COMMANDMENT LAW. Now back to the subject. The subject is CIRCUMCISION. Circumcision on the biological level is simply the removal of a part of the male anatomy that has no practical use. It was used as a “sign” of God’s ownership of and Lordship over the Israelite males beginning with the biological father of God’s chosen people–Abraham. However, as the Scriptures make clear, the future descendants of Abraham would include much more than his biological offspring. Rather, his children would eventually consist of people from every nation under the sun who would be identified as His people by another “sign”–obedience to God’s eternal and unchangeable Law which He proclaimed audibly from Mount Sinai, wrote in stone then placed in a golden ark that was guarded by two mighty angels who protected it from human contact. The only human to touch the ark died instantly (1 Chron. 13:9,10).

The Law of God was condensed into Ten Commandments which became a covenant between Him and the recently freed Israelites and a “mixed multitude” of Gentiles who came out of Egypt with them (Exo. 12:38). Together they agreed to abide by God’s Law, thereby making themselves God’s people (Exo. 19:4-8). A covenant is an agreement on the part of two or more parties that must be adhered to by both parties in order for the contract to remain in effect. If either party fails to abide by its part of the agreement, the covenant is nullified. For the purpose of this series, we will return to Exodus 19 and see exactly what Israel (including the spiritual Israelites–biological Gentiles) agreed to do. In verse three we find God calling Moses to the top of Mount Sinai where He told him to tell the Israelites: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on Eagles’ wings and BROUGHT YOU TO MYSELF. Now therefore, IF YOU WILL INDEED OBEY MY VOICE AND KEEP MY COVENANT, THEN YOU WILL BE A SPECIAL TREASURE TO ME ABOVE ALL PEOPLE for all of the earth is mine. And you will be to Me a KINGDOM OF PRIESTS and a HOLY NATION ….” Notice the all-important word that would determine God’s attitude toward and treatment of the people. That word was IF. IT IS STILL IN EFFECT. Notice that IF involved much more that believing Him and believing in Him. IT STILL DOES.

Moses returned to the people and, having gathered the tribal leaders together, told them what God had said. The tribal leaders then relayed the Lord’s Words to them. In verse eight we find the people replying to Moses: “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” Within days the people had broken the covenant. In His anger He decided to kill all of them, then raise up another people through Moses. Moses pleaded their case and God allowed the people to live, only under a much different law, one which forced them to sacrifice animals, observe various rituals, etc. Obedience to “the law that was added” to the Ten Commandments because of their sins (Gal. 3:19) consisted of “handwriting of ordinances which was against them” (Col. 2:14). Obedience to the added law would enable the nation to survive until the God on Mount Sinai would come to earth as Jesus of Nazareth and die for the sins of the entire world. With His death the “law that was added” was, like Him, “nailed to the cross” (Col. 2:14). From the time of His death until His return to earth to establish the Kingdom of God, people of all nations could become God’s people by obeying the Ten Commandment Law that would be written in their hearts by the Holy Spirit (Jer. 31:31-34/Heb.8:8-12). Which brings us to the subject of this series–TRIMMING THE WICKS.

The people of ancient Israel, which included the Gentiles who had become spiritual Israelites by obeying the Ten Commandments, all had to “trim their wicks” by getting rid of everything in their lives that did not honor God, which was the spiritual “sign” that they were God’s people. With the death of Jesus, the “sign” changed from physical circumcision to spiritual circumcision which consisted of RIDDING THEMSELVES OF THE “THINGS OF THE WORLD” IN WHICH THEY LIVED.

Nothing has changed–God’s people must continually “trim their wicks” in order to keep the things of the world out of their lives (Rom. 12:2/ 1 Cor. 1:28; 2:6; 7:33). With the death of Christ those who would join Him in this life by obeying His Law would be under the “sign” (Exo. 31:12-18–the 7th day Sabbath) which identified them as His people, Christ’s death having freed them from the sins of the PAST (Rom. 3:25). This gracious act on the part of the Lord is discussed in depth in the series titled “It Is Finished,” key word–Finished. If you read nothing else I write, read that series for it tells you what you have never and will never hear in church. In that series you will learn that JESUS DID NOT DIE FOR OUR SALVATION; HE DIED FOR OUR JUSTIFICATION WHICH, IF EMBRACED AND MAINTINED, WILL LEAD TO OUR SALVATION UPON HIS RETURN TO EARTH.

Once justification has been received, the question then becomes, how do we maintain our justification for the remainder of our lives (Mat. 10:22)? We do this by KEEPING OUR WICKS TRIMMED AND OUR LAMPS FILLED WITH OIL. We “endure to the end” with our righteousness intact through the power of the Holy Spirit. For those who reject the Old Testament (the vast majority of churchites), turn with me to First Peter 1:13-6; 2:5,9. Do his church-identifying Words look familiar? They should, for they are the same Words the God of the Old Testament said to the Israelites from Mt. Sinai. Notice that what the Lord said to Israel through Moses, He (as Jesus of Nazareth) says through the Apostle Peter to the church today. Like the true saints at Mt. Sinai, God’s true saints in this world are minutely few in number. Notice that the Lord, through Peter, calls those in His church “obedient children, holy as He (God) is holy, living stones, a spiritual house, a holy, royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special, peculiar people who have been called out of the world’s darkness and into His glorious light.” In other words: GOD’S TRUE SAINTS TODAY ARE EXACTLY WHAT HE COMMANDED HIS TRUE SAINTS TO BE ANCIENTLY. HE DOES NOT CHANGE; NEITHER DO HIS REQUIREMENTS FOR RECEIVING ETERNAL LIFE–WE MUST KEEP OUR WICKS TRIMMED THROUGHT SPIRITUAL CIRCUMCISION AND OUR LAMPS FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. This is what is referred to as circumcision of the heart (mind)–Romans 2:29.

Though God’s true saints are IN the world, they are not OF the world. What we do, say and think is different from those around us, including friends and relatives. God’s people are viewed as PECULIAR by the other 99.99% of the world. God’s people are totally different from everyone else because they “keep their wicks trimmed” of everything that would unite them spiritually with the world around them through the power of the Holy Spirit with which we fill our “lamps” (hearts). Thought we are PART OF the world, we must keep ourselves SEPARATED FROM the world during our “walk” THROUGH the world. WE MUST BE LED BY GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT IN ORDER TO BE SONS OF GOD (Rom. 8:14). L.J.