Circumcision

[Der Alte]

While they went to the synagogue to hear the Torah read every Shabbat.

Nonsense. You have to deliberately ignore the rest of the passage and deliberately twist one verse to get this wrong conclusion.

Acts of the apostles 15:5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
Acts of the apostles 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? ​

Acts of the apostles 15:19-20
19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.​

Acts of the apostles 15:29
24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
...
28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.​

Acts of the apostles 21:24-25
24 Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.
25 As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, [keep the law vs. 25] save ONLY that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.​

 

[Der Alte]

Paul was of the tribe of Benjamin.
(CLV) Php 3:5
in circumcision the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in relation to law, a Pharisee,
Read your Bible!

Have you read your Bible or only the UR list of out-of-context proof texts? The Israelites were called "Jews" 175 times in the NT. Jesus is called the "king of the Jews" 18 times. Was He the king only of the tribe of Judah?
Don't you just hate striking out so much?

 

[HARK!]

Nonsense. You have to deliberately ignore the rest of the passage and deliberately twist one verse to get this wrong conclusion.

Here is your statement:

The ONLY requirement for gentiles was "that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication."

It's not even correct. Clearly there are many other requirements.

Where did James get this anyway?


(CLV) Ac 15:20
but to write an epistle to them to be abstaining from ceremonial pollution with idols, and prostitution, and what is strangled, and blood.



Leviticus 17
7 No longer shall they sacrifice their sacrifices to hairy goat-demons after whom they have been prostituting. An eonian statute shall this become for them throughout their generations. 8 To them you shall say:Any man from the house of Israel or from the sojourners who sojourn in your midst who should offer an ascent offering or a sacrifice 9 and not bring it to the opening of the tent of appointment to offer it to Yahweh, that man will be cut off from his kinsmen. 10 As for any man from the house of Israel and from the sojourners sojourning in your midst who should eat any blood, I will set My face against the soul eating blood, and I will cut him off from among his people, 11 for the soul of the flesh, it is in the blood, and I Myself have assigned it to you to make a propitiatory shelter over your souls on the altar; for the blood, in the soul it makes a propitiatory shelter. 12 Therefore I say to the sons of Israel:No soul at all of you shall eat blood; nor shall the sojourner sojourning in your midst eat blood. 13 Any man from the sons of Israel and from the sojourners sojourning in your midst who hunt a game animal or a flyer which may be eaten will pour out its blood and cover it with soil, 14 for the soul of all flesh is its blood; as its soul is it. So I said to the sons of Israel:The blood of any flesh you shall not eat, for the soul of all flesh, it is its blood. Everyone eating it shall be cut off.

He got it from the Torah!

...and here is the very next thing James said:


(CLV) Ac 15:21
For Moses, (THIS MEANS TORAH) from ancient generations, city by city, has those who are heralding him, being read on every sabbath in the synagogues."

 

[HARK!]

Have you read your Bible or only the UR list of out-of-context proof texts? The Israelites were called "Jews" 175 times in the NT. Jesus is called the "king of the Jews" 18 times. Was He the king only of the tribe of Judah?
Don't you just hate striking out so much?

I just demonstrated that Paul calls himself a Benjaminite, a Pharisee, and a Hebrew. Why do you see the word "we" on relationship to Paul, and assume that it means Jew?

 

[Strong in Him]

It does say that. It doesn't say that Paul was a violent hypocrite and forced circumcision in Timothy.

I never said he was.
I said in the other post that it is likely that Timothy consented rather than having it forced upon him - which I seem to remember was your suggestion.

Timothy was going to begin ministering to the Jews. This was the next step in his walk.

Timothy was going, with Paul, to preach to the Jews - yes.
So that Timothy would be accepted, and the Jews would therefore listen, Paul circumcised him - yes.
You said in the other thread that this was the next step that Timothy took in his walk with the Messiah - no. Maybe you didn't mean to word it like that, but that implied that Timothy was living his Christian life, and his next step; the next important thing in his life, was to be circumcised. No.
A man can become a Christian, be saved, born again and filled with the Spirit and die without ever having been circumcised. He is still a child of God and saved through Jesus.
Circumcision is not necessary.

 

[Strong in Him]

(CLV) Ro 8:3
For what was impossible to the law, in which it was infirm through the flesh, did God, -sending His own Son in the likeness of sin's flesh and concerning sin, He condemns sin in the flesh,

(CLV) Ro 8:4
that the just requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who are not walking in accord with flesh, but in accord with spirit.

Jesus did what the law could not do.
Jesus brought in God's NEW Covenant; sealed with his own blood.
I'm in Christ, not under Jewish law.

No one HAS to be circumcised; Paul said that if you allow yourself to be, it means you are saying that Christ died for nothing.
Women were never circumcised anyway, so circumcision is nothing to do with me.

 

[klutedavid]

(CLV) Ro 2:25
For circumcision, indeed, is benefiting if you should be putting law into practice, yet if you should be a transgressor of law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

(CLV) Gn 26:5
inasmuch as your father Abraham hearkened to My voice and kept My charge, My instructions, My statutes and My laws.

Yes indeed. Abraham kept the law of Noah and God's command to leave Ur and to circumcise. As for any other laws the text is silent.

 

[HARK!]

Yes indeed. Abraham kept the law of Noah and God's command to leave Ur and to circumcise. As for any other laws the text is silent.

It's not silent; if one sincerely listens.

For example, even Heathen Abimelech knew that adultery was wrong. How did he know?

 

[klutedavid]

It's not silent; if one sincerely listens.

For example, even Heathen Abimelech knew that adultery was wrong. How did he know?

Noah's law, that's how.

Have you read the commandments that God gave to Noah?

 

[Thera]

(CLV) Gn 26:5
inasmuch as your father Abraham hearkened to My voice and kept My charge, My instructions, My statutes and My laws.

(CLV) Lk 1:5
There came to be, in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zechariah, of the routine of Abiah, and his wife, of the daughters of Aaron, and her name is Elizabeth.

(CLV) Lk 1:6
Now they were both just in front of God, going in all the precepts and just statutes of the Lord, blameless.

(CLV) Ac 25:8
Paul defending that "Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the sanctuary, nor against Caesar did I any sin."

Abraham, Zechariah, Elizabeth, Paul, and all other Christians...

Gennesis 15:6
And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

1 John 1:5-10
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

2 Corinthians 5:21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

 

[Jan001]

I'm not sure about this. When God said the covenant of circumcision was forever, I don't think He meant just a long time. In my view, it at least meant until the end of the man's Earthly life (as males only need it once).

If "forever" regarding "circumcision" means a "never-ending" law, please explain the following teaching about circumcision:

Galatians 5:2-5
Now I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is bound to keep the whole law (of Moses). 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified (through circumcision) by the law (of Moses); you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith (not by the Law of Moses), we wait for the hope of righteousness.

1 Corinthians 7:18
Was any one at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was any one at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision.

Jesus said the same thing about the Law - that not one jot or tittle would pass away. I think the answer is that the Law, including the covenant of circumcision, is fulfilled in Jesus for those who believe on Him, even unto this day.

On our physical planet earth, the spiritual "heaven and earth" of the Jews was their Temple/Religious life/rituals. This way of life for the Jews indeed passed/vanished away in 70 A.D. with the destruction of their temple and of their great city Jerusalem. Apocalyptic literature is not necessarily meant to be taken in a literal manner and it is definitely not the literal physical heaven and earth that Jesus is talking about here.

Matthew 5:18
For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth (the Jews' temple in Jerusalem) pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Hebrews 8:13
In speaking of a new covenant he treats the first as obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Jesus was prophesying that the Jews' temple and their religious way of life was about to end, and it did end within that very generation just as Jesus prophesied.

Matthew 24:1-2
Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down.”

Matthew 24:34
Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these things take place.

 

[Jan001]

While they went to the synagogue to hear the Torah read every Shabbat.

Better translation:

Acts 15:21 Mounce version
For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, because he is read aloud in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

Yes, it is true that in every generation including the one the apostles live in, there have been Jews who proclaim Moses's words in their own synagogues every Sabbath. These Jews are not proclaiming Moses to the Gentiles.

Uncircumcised gentiles and circumcised gentiles who were not joining the Jewish faith were not allowed in the Jews' Synagogues. Jews and uncircumcised Gentiles had no dealings with each other.

Genesis 43:32
They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.

John 4:9
The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

 

[Thera]

If "forever" regarding "circumcision" means a "never-ending" law, please explain the following teaching about circumcision:

I think we come to the same conclusion. However, I don't think the law was ever done away with. It was and is still is impossible to keep, that's why Jesus came. He fulfilled the law. Remember Jesus said in Matthew 5:18, "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." As Heaven and Earth have not passed away, I don't think one jot or tittle have been passed from the law. Instead, it is fulfilled in Christ.

There is no reason to circumcise males now in order to obey the law, as the law is already fulfilled through Christ. And by circumcising males to obey the law, we actually fall short, (Paul says come under a curse), because no one can keep all of the law - it is as though such a one is actually uncircumcised. The only way we can obey the law is by believing in Jesus Christ, who fulfils the law for us. Note that Paul did circumcise Timothy, but to enable him to witness to Jews, not to obey the law. So I'm not saying that circumcising males is wrong (e.g. health or cultural reasons, to witness to Jews etc.), just that it is (ironically) actually breaking the law if circumcision is done to obey the law.

I think the passages you quoted are consistent with the above.

Below is the passage requiring males to be circumcised, and the reference to the covenant being everlasting.
Genesis 17:7-14
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. 9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. 12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. 13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

Below is the passage about what happens (i.e. the death penalty) when a man fails to circumcise, even a prophet as important as Moses. Fortunately, God provided Moses a wife to fulfil Moses' part of the covenant.
Exodus 4:24 - 25
24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. 26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

On our physical planet earth, the spiritual "heaven and earth" of the Jews was their Temple/Religious life/rituals. This way of life for the Jews indeed passed/vanished away in 70 A.D. with the destruction of their temple and of their great city Jerusalem. Apocalyptic literature is not necessarily meant to be taken in a literal manner and it is definitely not the literal physical heaven and earth that Jesus is talking about here.

Why do you not think Jesus is referring to a literal physical Heaven and Earth? Isn't that the plainest reading of the text?

 

[HARK!]

Yes, it is true that in every generation including the one the apostles live in, there have been Jews who proclaim Moses's words in their own synagogues every Sabbath. These Jews are not proclaiming Moses to the Gentiles.

James qualified his orders for the gentiles with that statement. Who do you suppose it was directed toward, if not the gentiles?

 

[HARK!]

Genesis 43:32
They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.

What does Egyptian custom have to do with Torah?

 

[HARK!]

John 4:9
The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Whats does the Talmud have to do with the Torah?

 

[Jan001]

I think we come to the same conclusion. However, I don't think the law was ever done away with. It was and is still is impossible to keep, that's why Jesus came. He fulfilled the law. Remember Jesus said in Matthew 5:18, "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." As Heaven and Earth have not passed away, I don't think one jot or tittle have been passed from the law. Instead, it is fulfilled in Christ.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply.

According to my understanding, "to fulfill" means "to do" or "to complete/finish" as promised. So if two people contract a deal and both people fulfill/complete their obligations per the contract, the contract "is finished". The contract is no longer needed. The contract is now obsolete.

If two people vow to remain married until death parts them, and then one person dies, their vow to each other before God has been finished/completed and so it is no longer needed. The vow has been made obsolete by the death of one of the spouses. The remaining spouse may then freely marry again. Romans 7:3

Jesus stated that He came to fulfill (to do the things) that the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms prophesied He would do. He did do/fulfill all these things that were prophesied about Him. Therefore these things have been fulfilled/finished/completed and there is no more obligation for Him to do them again. His fulfillment/completion of them makes the obligation for Him to do them obsolete.

Matthew 5:17
Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.

Jesus does not "abolish" these things, He "finishes" them by fulfilling/completing the prophecies and therefore there is no more obligation on His part. He finishes all these prophecies/obligations by His death on the tree/cross and His subsequent resurrection from the dead on the third day. He finishes the Israelites' obligation to obey the Law of Moses by His death on the cross and He begins the Kingdom of God/Law of Christ/Grace by His death on the cross.

When Jesus fulfills/finishes/completes the Law of Moses by His death on the cross, He makes it obsolete/no longer needed. The obligation to keep the Law of Moses ends in order for the kingdom of God (Law of Christ) to begin.

Luke 22:18
for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God (Law of Christ) comes.”

When Jesus is on the cross, He drinks the sour wine immediately before His death. So His death ushered in the kingdom of God/Law of Christ/New Covenant.

John 19:28-30
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Shortly before Jesus' ascension to His Father, Jesus reminded them that He had told them earlier in His ministry that He had come to fulfill the law and the prophets and the psalms, which He did do and so now it was time for Him to return to His Father.

Luke 24:44
Then he said to them, “These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.”


The Law of Moses was wholly fulfilled by Jesus Christ and therefore the Law of Moses is completed/finished and so it was made obsolete/no longer needed.

Hebrews 8:13
In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Christ ended the Israelites' obligation to keep the Law of Moses by His fulfillment of it by His death on the cross and He also instituted/began His new covenant/law of grace by His death on the cross.

The yoke of slavery of the Law of Moses was put upon the Israelites because of their transgressions/worship of the golden calf in the desert. The Law of Moses was also put upon the Israelites to train them to obey God. However, the Israelites continually failed in their obligation to obey/fulfill the Law of Moses.

Galatians 3:23-26
Now before faith came, we were confined under the law (of Moses), kept under restraint until faith (Law of Christ) should be revealed. 24 So that the law (of Moses) was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith (law of Christ). 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian (law of Moses); 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith (law of Christ).


One of the main reasons Jesus came to earth was to redeem the Israelites/Jews from their yoke of slavery which was the Law of Moses and also the Law of Moses' curses because of their neglect in fulfilling all the Law of Moses.

By perfectly fulfilling all the Law of Moses and dying on the cross to take away the curses of the Law of Moses, Jesus redeemed/ransomed the Israelites so that the Law of Moses could no longer obligate them to keep all its commandments and statutes concerning diet, circumcision, festivals, sabbaths, etc. Colossians 2:16

Deuteronomy 27:26
“‘Cursed be he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Jesus Christ freed them from their yoke of slavery to the Law of Moses. Since there is now no obligation to keep the Law of Moses any more, there is also no punishment for not keeping it.

Romans 4:15
For the law (of Moses) brings wrath, but where there is no law (of Moses) there is no transgression.

Acts 15:10
Why, then, are you now putting God to the test by placing on the shoulders of the disciples a yoke (Law of Moses) that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?

Galatians 5:1
The Importance of Faith. For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery (Law of Moses).

Galatians 3:13
Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law (of Moses) by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree,”

Christ's death ended the Israelites' obligation to obey the Law of Moses.

Romans 10:4
For Christ is the end of the law (of Moses), so now there is righteousness (Law of Christ) for everyone who believes.

Hebrews 9:15-17
For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant: since a death has taken place for deliverance from transgressions under the first covenant, those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance. Now where there is a will, the death of the testator must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death; it has no force while the testator is alive.

The Law of Moses is no longer needed. Jesus paid the debt of the Israelites by His death. Jesus also instituted the Law Christ by His death.

The yoke of Christ (law of Christ) is now what is needed for all the people of God.

Matthew 11:30
For my yoke (Law of Christ) is easy, and my burden light.”



More in the next post....

 

[Jan001]

There is no reason to circumcise males now in order to obey the law, as the law is already fulfilled through Christ. And by circumcising males to obey the law, we actually fall short, (Paul says come under a curse), because no one can keep all of the law - it is as though such a one is actually uncircumcised. The only way we can obey the law is by believing in Jesus Christ, who fulfils the law for us. Note that Paul did circumcise Timothy, but to enable him to witness to Jews, not to obey the law. So I'm not saying that circumcising males is wrong (e.g. health or cultural reasons, to witness to Jews etc.), just that it is (ironically) actually breaking the law if circumcision is done to obey the law.

I think the passages you quoted are consistent with the above.

Below is the passage requiring males to be circumcised, and the reference to the covenant being everlasting.
Genesis 17:7-14
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. 9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. 12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. 13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

Below is the passage about what happens (i.e. the death penalty) when a man fails to circumcise, even a prophet as important as Moses. Fortunately, God provided Moses a wife to fulfil Moses' part of the covenant.
Exodus 4:24 - 25
24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. 26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

"Circumcision in the flesh" is not necessary under the new covenant but "circumcision of the heart" is necessary for all people under the new covenant. It seems to me that the land covenant is now for all people who are circumcised in their hearts. Since circumcision of the flesh is not needed under the new covenant, this "everlasting" circumcision of the flesh covenant with Abraham has been set aside. Circumcision of the flesh was mandated for Abraham and his descendants to differentiate between "God's people" and those people who were not God's people.

However, under Jesus Christ's new covenant, all people (both Jew and non-Jew) who believe in Him and obey Him are God's people and so now all of God's people (both Jew and non-Jew) have the right to live in all the land of Canaan/Holy Land.

Romans 9:26
"And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

Romans 10:12
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him.

Romans 2:29
He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal. His praise is not from men but from God.

1 Corinthians 7:19
For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.

Galatians 5:6
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love.

Galatians 6:15
For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

Philippians 3:3
For we are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit, and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh.

I do feel sorry for Moses' wife!

 

[Jan001]

Why do you not think Jesus is referring to a literal physical Heaven and Earth? Isn't that the plainest reading of the text?

RE:
Matthew 5:18
For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.


Your interpretation is the "plainest" reading of the text, but Jesus was actually referring to the passing away (destruction) of the temple in Jerusalem.

The Jews' temple in Jerusalem was God's sanctuary on earth and so this temple was the Jews' "heaven and earth".

Psalm 78:69
He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded for ever.

Matthew 24:34-35
Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.


Jesus prophesies that the generation to whom He is speaking will not pass away before "heaven and earth" aka "the temple" pass away. Jesus is prophesying about the destruction of their temple in Jerusalem which was indeed destroyed by the Roman armies in 70 A.D. According to the Jews, one generation is about 40 years' time and so Jesus' prophecy did come true within that generation of Jews.

Luke 16:17
But it is easier for heaven and earth (the temple) to pass away, than for one dot of the law to become void.

The Law of Moses is fulfilled in/by Jesus Christ and so the law is finished/completed. The Law of Moses is not abolished/made void. The Law is fulfilled/completed/finished by Jesus Christ and therefore the law is no longer needed.

Hebrews 8:13
In speaking of a new covenant he treats the first as obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.


The law of Moses, along with its mandated temple, passed/vanished away with the destruction of the temple (the heaven and earth) of the Jews.

God's own people are now God's temple on earth and so therefore God needs no other earthly temple/sanctuary.

1 Corinthians 3:16
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

 

[Der Alte]

I'm not sure about this. When God said the covenant of circumcision was forever, I don't think He meant just a long time. In my view, it at least meant until the end of the man's Earthly life (as males only need it once).
Jesus said the same thing about the Law - that not one jot or tittle would pass away. I think the answer is that the Law, including the covenant of circumcision, is fulfilled in Jesus for those who believe on Him, even unto this day.

Genesis 17:9-13
9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.​

This covenant was only between Abraham, his descendants and God.