Circumcision was the mark, or token, of the covenants the LORD made with
Abraham (Genesis 17) concerning his posterity. These covenants were
reiterated with Isaac and Jacob, along with the token of that covenant.
These covenants we reiterated to the Children of Israel as part of the
Law of Moses, hence the token of the covenant was also continued. It is
significant that since the covenant being made concerns posterity, the
mark, or token, of that covenant is placed upon the loins from whence
that posterity would come.
It also represented the turning over of one's heart to
the whole Law and Will of the LORD. It represented that you and your
posterity would serve Him and Him alone.
There are scholars, however, who believe that there
has been a change from the circumcision introduced to Abraham as the
mark of the covenant. They claim that the token introduced to Abraham,
called Milah, consisted only of removing enough of the foreskin
that only the tip of the glan penis (or as more crudely referred
to, the 'head') showed. The ceremony remained
unchanged until the Hellenic Period in the Holy Land (300 BC - AD 1) -
During this time the Greeks made a strong push to convert Jews to their
lifestyle and the gods. Hellenistic Jews would blister the ends of their
foreskin so as to appear uncircumcised. During the Maccabean Revolt the
circumcision we know today - Periah; the complete removal of the
foreskin - was instituted upon all all male Jews upon pain of death. I
have had some rabbis tell me this is true; I have had others tell me no;
circumcision as we know it today is what was instituted by the LORD with
Abraham... So I do not know what to think.
Christians believe that since the "new
covenant" - the Gospel of Christ - was not established as a nationalistic
covenant, but an opening of God's word and will to all the world -
inviting all people in the world to join the House of Israel, this
token of the Abraham covenant was done away with by Christ. In a council
of church leaders concerning what would be required of gentile
converts, it was not included in the list of things that would be
required. (See Acts 15.) For those Christians who uphold the Book of
Mormon as scripture, the conclusion is even plainer: the Resurrected
Christ instructed that: "...ye shall offer up unto me no more the
shedding of blood... ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken
heart and a contrite spirit." (3 Nephi 9:19-20) Also: "...the law of circumcision is done away in me."
(Moroni 8:8) The only reason Christians would circumcise is for national
or social reasons; the alleged health benefits have been proven wrong
over and over again in the past fifty years.