Category Archives: Using the Bible

Identifying Some Types, Part 2 of 9

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Some practice with types.

Paul indicates the trials of Israel in Egypt and in the wilderness “were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.” 1Cor 10:6

Israel went in for evil partying.

“… As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.””
1Cor 10:7 WEB

The events in the wilderness are types/ examples for the Christian, that they should not be involved in fornication, as Israel was and twenty-three thousand of the them died in one day, 1Cor 10:8. Now Yahweh tests His people, but His people are NOT to put their Lord to the test. This was explicitly pointed out in Moses Law.

“You shall not tempt Yahweh your God, as you tempted him in Massah.”
Deut 6:16 WEB

Paul notices what can happen if we are not thankful.

It is fine to ask for things, but it is not right
to despise what we are given.

The number of Scriptures, Old Testament and New Testament, along this line are too many to mention.

“Oh give thanks to Yahweh, call on his name;
Make known his doings among the peoples. ”
1Chron 16:8 WEB

“I will give thanks to Yahweh according to his righteousness …”
Psa 7:17 WEB

Or again,

“In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
Phil 4:6 WEB

The opposite of a thankful attitude would be grumbling
and complaining against God.

“10 Neither grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer.”
1Cor 10:10 WEB

Indeed, we need to count our blessings, and not discount all the good with which we are supplied. Israel was not the last nation that through despising what was right, and bitterly complaining about what was thought wrong, neither gained what they wanted, nor kept what they had! The Russians being baited into the Bolshevik Revolution by dissatisfaction with the Tsars is an example. They ended up with a tyranny much worse that they ever imaged under Communism. It was an evil system that has left Russia prostrate and in recovery mode to this very day.

“these things happened to them by way of examples …”
1Cor 10:11 WEB

The Greek word translated as “example” in 1Cor 10:11 is tupikos, a adverbial form of the word tupos or type. Paul statement says in effect that God had these things happen and recorded for us, so that we can learn from their tragically bad examples.

“… and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.”
1Cor 10:11 WEB

All of this indicates God’s fine-grained over-ruling
in history.

And the purpose? What would be the purpose? That men,

“… should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.”
Acts 17:27 WEB

Further, all of this lab work in types should help us deal more intelligently with types in prophecy.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Identifying Some Types, Part 1 of 9

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Some practice with types.

“I don’t want you to be ignorant,” Paul says, 1Cor 10:1

Paul goes on to say that

“1 … that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;”
1Cor 10:1-2 WEB

It has been discussed that Moses was indeed a type, a shadow, symbolic of Jesus the Christ. Here Paul takes the subject further. If we analyze what is said here and in other places, it paints a picture of God as having things happen that are meant to be symbolic of future things. The symbolic people, things or events often come very near in time to the prophecy. The ultimate fulfillment of the prophecy is often in the distant future, sometimes even thousands of years into the future.

So Paul talks about ancient Israel as being
baptized into Moses,

as we are baptized into Christ. As was discussed in the post “Multiple Types of the Christ: Moses,” God announced Moses as being a type, symbolic of the Christ. God will send “a prophet … like you,” that is to say, like Moses. Here Paul continues that analogy and says that the children of Israel passing through the Red Sea with the cloud of God’s presence over them, was like our being submerged in water into Jesus Christ.

Further Paul says that the analogy is not accidental. Jesus said we must feed on him to have life in us.

“Jesus therefore said to them, “Most assuredly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves.””
Jn 6:53

Then astonishingly, Paul tells us that ancient Israel ate of the same spiritual food that Christians eat.

“3 and all ate the same spiritual food; 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.”
1Cor 10:3-4 WEB

Christian eat of the Christ who came before them. Ancient Israel ate of the Christ who followed them! All of us in the Lord our God have all along eaten of the same spiritual food. We are not under Moses Law, but contrary to many false teachers, the Old Testament and the New Testament are a unity.

Paul then points out that Yahweh, the Lord our God, was not pleased with most of them, and they died in their sins. Paul essentially says that the full history in the wilderness was intended to be a parallel to the Christian life.

“Now these things were our examples,”
1Cor 10:6

The word that is here translated “examples” is the Greek word tupos or type. The Greek word means a blow or impression, an example, an image of something, a model, a pattern, a type. Or as I say, a prototype of something.

The dark failures of Israel in the wilderness
are warnings to the Christian.

We should not lust after evil things, as they did, or be idolaters, 1Cor 10:6-7.

Understanding types is essential for understanding prophecy. This is some practice.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Multiple Types of the Christ: The Passover Lamb

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Often there will be multiple types/ shadows/ symbols in Scripture of what will be. Such is the subject of the Christ and it makes an ideal platform for seeing how symbolism works in Scripture.

Moses was leading Israel
out of bondage to the
promise land.

Their stay in Egypt had started as a rescue from famine, and had ended as slavery for the people of Israel. God had heard the pleas of His people for rescue and sent Moses. However, the Pharaoh of the Egyptians proved stubborn and harsh in his resistance to their release.

Then signs were given to convince Pharaoh
to release Israel.

These signs increased in focus and severity on Egypt and its Pharaoh. First there was turning a staff into a snake (which also the magicians of Egypt also did). Then there was turning the river and waters of Egypt into blood (which again the Egyptian magicians also did). Then there was a plague of frogs. (Likewise the magicians also did). Then there was a plague of lice/gnats, to which the magicians responded to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” Ex 8:19. Still Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to release the people. Next came swarms of flies, then the death of Egyptian cattle, then painful boils on the Egyptians, then terrible hail large enough to kill both men and animals. Then came locusts, and then thick darkness even in the daytime. Then came the very last plague.

God would strike all the firstborn of Egypt.

From the firstborn of Pharaoh, to firstborn of every man, whether slave or free, to the firstborn of every animal.

But there was a way out. A Passover lamb.

The ultimate passover lamb was Jesus. When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Jn 1:29 WEB. Then in 1Cor 5:7 Paul said, “For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place.”

The original was a literal lamb.

Everyone was to take a lamb, and kill it. A male lamb without blemish, Ex 25:5. The blood of the lamb was painted on the side posts of the doors, and the lintels over the doors. Then when God went through the land to kill all the firstborn of Egypt, he would see the blood of the sacrifice and “passover” that house.

They were also to eat of the lamb. We must eat of Jesus.

“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Jn 6:54 WEB

They were not boil it or eat it raw. They were to roast it in a fire. So Jesus went to the heart of the earth for us, Mtt 12:41; to the abyss (Greek abusos in Rom 10:7). Peter says,

“in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, …”
1Pe 3:19 WEB

Jesus is that sinless suffering lamb of God of Isaiah 53, the ultimate way we can be “passed over” for our sins.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Which Jerusalem? Part III of III

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I think it is fair to say that most of the references in Scripture to Jerusalem are about Jerusalem of this present earth. That is to say,

“Jerusalem that exists now,” Gal 4:25 WEB

But when you read prophecy you must ask,
“Of which Jerusalem does
the prophet speak?”

Some are obvious, while others are not as clear.

It is true that there are some incredible things yet to happen with Jerusalem that now exists. Zechariah prophesied during the first return from exile (around 520 BC, Zech 1:1), in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. Seemingly speaking of what Paul calls “Jerusalem that now exists,” Zechariah sees a day when,

““… ‘Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: “My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and Yahweh will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem.”’””
Zech 1:17 WEB

In context he seems to speak of present Jerusalem. He speaks of it as an abundantly prosperous city, Zech 2:4, and a city faithful to God,

“I will strengthen them in Yahweh;
And they will walk up and down in his name,” says Yahweh.”
Zech 10:12 WEB

That clearly has not happened YET! Zechariah clearly pictures ALL the families of Israel (Zech 12:14) being converted to “ to me whom they have pierced;” Zech 12:10 WEB, and in Zechariah 13. This is spoken in Scripture as bringing a world revolution of righteousness (something Mystery Babylon deeply dreads). Paul says of those times.

“Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness? ”
Rom 11:12 WEB

So some incredible good things are yet to happen with present Jerusalem.

But Peter says this present universe will vanish.

“… the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth … will be burned up.”
2Pe 3:10

He goes on to say “we look for new heavens and a new earth in which dwells righteousness.” 2Pe 3:13 WEB.

So when it says in Isaiah 65,

“17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 18 But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.”
Isa 65:17-18 WEB

… in context, the “Jerusalem” in Isa 65:17 is part of that “Jerusalem that is above” of Gal 4:26, and part of the new universe, the “new heavens and a new earth” of 2Pe 3:13.

The “never again”/ “no more” / “neither … any more,” and
all the “forever” sort of passages

are all about “Jerusalem” above, and what we call “heaven.”

So when the prophet David says of Jerusalem, “I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they … be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as at the first,”
2Sam 7:10 WEB

The prophet really speaks of heaven here. Only heaven is “forever.”

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Which Earth is This About? Part III of III

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Some passages of course will not allow us to be dogmatic, or they may allow for a double meaning in the passage. When one person, place, thing, or event in a passage is symbolic of another person, place, thing, or event; then the text may go back and forth between the two subjects will no clear line of division.

A good example is 2Sam 7:12-16, a clear double
meaning in prophecy.

This passages speaks of both Solomon according to 2Kgs 8:17-20, and also it speaks of Jesus according Heb 1:5. Parts of this passage apply only to Solomon, and parts apply only to Jesus, and much of the prophecy applies to both, but in different ways. Similarly, Matthew 24 talks about both the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and the end of the world, and Jesus goes back and forth talking about both subjects! See a fuller discussion of both subjects in Prophecy Principles.

Sometimes it is harder to be dogmatic.

Prophecy Principles deals in detail with both 1Sam 7:12-16 and Matthew 24.

So lets just take part of Psalm 21 as an exercise in interpretation. It is a short psalm of only 13 verses. According to the preamble it is by David and is about “The King” verse 1. I take it be about the Great King, Jesus the Christ. It talks about some who hate “the King.”

“Your hand will find out all of your enemies.
Your right hand will find out those who hate you.”
Psa 21:8 WEB

Let us note particularly “the earth” in verse 10.

“You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
Their posterity from among the children of men.”
Psa 21:10 WEB

It easily could be taken to be speaking of this present earth. Many nations have completely disappeared from this present earth, and I am not just talking about Sodom and Gomorrah. Thus it could be talking about those things where God raises up nations and then because of their sins, puts them down.

But look at the context.

The previous verse talks about how he will destroy their descendants

“You will make them as a fiery furnace in the time of your anger.
Yahweh will swallow them up in his wrath.
The fire shall devour them.”
Psa 21:9 WEB

What does that sound like? You might try to call this a great deal of hyperbole (as many liberals might), or it seems to describe final judgement when Jesus comes in flaming fire (2Thes 2:9-11)!

So what is the “earth” from which their
descendants are destroyed?

On a basis of what we have examined I think it would easy to make the case for their descendants never to live in “the new earth” to come. That would fit the context as we have examined it, especially if we apply this psalm to the Messiah, the Great King.

And some prophecies talk of good things yet
to come in this world,

and in the world to come. Misunderstandings here have caused some to take prophecies of heaven (“the new heavens and the new earth”), and apply them to this present earth, and so come up with a heaven on earth which will never be!

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Which Earth is This About? Part II of III

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In a passage in which we might not even suspect what the intention of the author really is, the author of Hebrews, says,

“For he didn’t subject the world to come, whereof we speak, to angels.”
Heb 2:5 WEB

The word world here is a word for the inhabited world (oikomen?). Of course most of the references to “earth” are of this present earth, with absolutely no doubt as to its meaning.

“God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, …”
Gen 1:24 WEB

Or many other passages.

On others usages we might have to think a while.

Jesus says,

“You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? …”
Mtt 5:13 WEB

It does seem to speak of this present earth. Also in the very next verse He says,
“You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden.”
Mtt 5:14 WEB

Again it seems to speak of our present world. But then let’s look at an earlier verse.

“Blessed are the gentle,
For they shall inherit the earth.”
Mtt 5:5 WEB

Now of which earth is Jesus speaking? In one sense it seems to apply to this present world, and passages like,

“For such as are blessed by him shall inherit the land. Those who are cursed by him shall be cut off.”
Psa 37:22 WEB

This indicates the wicked have a tendency to die off, and those God favors end up living on. All of which is true in a general sense, however there are many senses in this world when the gentle do NOT seem to inherit everything. And Jesus clearly asserts that this present universe will pass away.

“For most assuredly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished.”
Mtt 5:18 WEB

So when you have prophecies of the “earth”
you may have questions to ask.

Often times the context will clearly give the answer. We clearly know, if we are attuned to Scripture at all, that this present earth will NOT last forever.

“10 And,
“You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth.
The heavens are the works of your hands.
11 They will perish, but you continue.
They all will grow old like a garment does.
12 As a mantle you will roll them up,
And they will be changed;
But you are the same.
Your years will not fail.””
Heb 1:10-12 WEB

So when we have a long passage like Isaiah 24 which talks of the earth being laid waste Isa 24:1, and being polluted Isa 24:5, and then it says,

“The earth shall stagger like a drunken man, and … shall fall, and not rise again.”
Isa 24:20 WEB

Well then we can be pretty sure is speaking the final end of this present earth.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Which Earth is This About? Part I of III

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For the law, having a shadow of the good to come, not the very image of the things, … Heb. 10:1 WEB

Learning to sort out types is a necessary skill for understanding prophecy.

Multiple words are used for this earth.

Perhaps the broadest of these is the Hebrew word eretz. Eretz is of course used for what we would call the earth, and is used unambiguously for the whole thing from the first. For instance.

“God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called Seas. God saw that it was good.”
Gen 1:10 WEB

And that is the word eretz, and it talks about this being formed before the sun was lit (which is not until Genesis 1 verses 14 to 16). Even so there is often more to eretz, for it can be used to describe a “land” in the sense of a nation (much as we might sing, “This land is my land, this land is your land …). Also it can be used to describe land in the sense of, “This my land where my house sits.” Lastly, eretz can be used for land in the sense of earth or ground, as in “This land/ground/dirt is no good. It won’t raise anything.” There are of course other Hebrew words, but eretz is the widest of all that are used.

There are two main words in the New Testament.

Perhaps the broadest of these is the Greek word g?. You might say it is a true Greek equivalent to the Hebrew word eretz. G? can translated as earth, world, land, nation, dirt, etc., much as eretz. But there is another common word used, and that is the word kosmos. Kosmos has the sense of this world in the English sense, but also has the sense of the things and the systems of this world. And there are words in both Hebrew and Greek for what we might call “the inhabited world.”

Of course Peter and others speak of the
destruction of this present world.

Peter says,

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”
2Pe 3:10 WEB

Then Peter speaks of an entirely new creation.

“But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which dwells righteousness.”
2Pe 3:13 WEB

Which opens the possibility of speaking of more than one “earth.”

Now sometimes this may be very simple.

For instance Isaiah says,

“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. ”
Isa 65:17 WEB

That seems to be clearly one of the “promises” of a “new heavens and a new earth.” So eretz here seems clearly to be speaking of the new earth.

Other passages may not be near so clear.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

The Real and the Type of Circumcision, Part III of III

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The real circumcision is of the heart. That is what really counts, that is what will make it so you can live, as it says in Deut 30:6.

God will one day punish ALL those uncircumcised
in in heart.

“Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will punish ALL those who are circumcised in their uncircumcision: 26 Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners of their hair cut off, who dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart. ”
Jer 9:25 WEB emphasis added.

Jeremiah warned the people, and told them it was circumcision of the heart which counted.

“Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.”
Jer 4:4 WEB

These prophets speaking by the Holy Spirit of God should have been enough.

But some later wanted physical circumcision for all.

There was a big fight in the early church, as described in Acts 15, but physical circumcision was never required. The real circumcision was always of the heart.

So what is a real Jew, if not about physical circumcision?

“28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.”
Rom 2:28-29 WEB

And how would this work out with the Gentiles?

Paul says they were,

“11 in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,”
Col 2:11-13 WEB

It is the inner man of the heart that counts.

That is true even of our initial test of faith, baptism.

“Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 2:38 WEB

But it is not just about a bath. Peter compares it to the waters that floated Noah’s ark.

“This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you – not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,”
1Pe 3:20 WEB

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

The Real and the Type of Circumcision, Part II of III

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So we know that circumcision is symbolic of being clean even in your private parts, even to the extent of cutting off parts of yourself, if they are opposed to holiness and sanctification in the Lord.

If a “type” is involved, often there will be indicators.

I cannot say it is always that way, but it is often that way. If one thing in history is a type, a shadow, a pattern of something else; the clues that symbolism is involved will often come soon in history. Sometimes the tip-off will be little inconsistencies between the text and the example. In the present case, one tip off is in the clear statement made in Deut 10:16.

Israel was early very hard-hearted and stubborn.

She was not even open to what God Himself might command. She wanted to do everything her own way. She trusted not in God, but in herself, and in her ability to do and to perform. Moses commented on these things.

“For I know your rebellion, and your stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against Yahweh; and how much more after my death?”
Deut 31:27 WEB

Moses of course was right, and this true even to this day. Moses commented on their character.

“ They have dealt corruptly with him, they are not his children, it is their blemish;
They are a perverse and crooked generation.”
Deut 32:5 WEB

What can you say but “Ouch!” This is a judgment of Israel that we hear repeated by both the prophets and the Christ Himself in passages like Mtt 17:7, and many others.

And an important prophecy was given about Israel.

One day God Himself will purify the hearts of Israel after the flesh.

“Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.”
Deut 30:6 WEB

There are many conditional promises in God’s Word.

“and he said, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, … I will …”
Ex 15:26 WEB

And so on. However, Deut 30:6 is NOT a conditional promise. It is rather a statement of what God WILL DO. God WILL perform heart surgery on the Jews.

“and he said, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.””
Ezek 36:26 WEB

And this is for the purpose “that you may live,” Deut 30:6.

Now the Jews have practiced physical
circumcision all along.

But that is not the circumcision that is necessary for life. Circumcision of the heart is the real essential, even in Moses Law. Circumcision was from the first symbolic of cleansing the most private parts of our being: our hearts.

But this circumcision of the hearts of the Jews is yet to happen. But it will. Both Jew and Gentile should look forward to those days.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

The Real and the Type of Circumcision, Part I of III

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A missing dimension is much Bible study is an understanding of types or shadows, and how they work. The sign of circumcision as given to Abraham can be a useful study.

“This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised.”
Gen 17:10 WEB

Abraham, then 99 years old, and all his house, were immediately circumcised, Gen 17:22-24. Also was the command that if any were not circumcised, they were to be “cut off,” Gen 17:14. And “cut off” meant to be put to death, as in Gen 9:11 and many other passages.

So Circumcision became central to
God’s covenants.

So when Moses was called by the Lord the lead Israel out of Egyptian bondage, it was natural that circumcision was an issue. It is unclear what all was going on in the latter part of Exodus 4. If I were guessing, I would say that Moses knew that his sons should be circumcised, but that his wife Zipporah had prevented that from happening! Perhaps she just felt that was nothing that should be done to child: cruel, hurtful, although commanded. So it says,

“24 It happened on the way at a lodging place, that Yahweh met him and wanted to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” 26 So he let him alone. Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.”
Ex 4:24-26 WEB

A strange passage no doubt. And how did Yahweh appear to Moses? John, like others, tells us,

“No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.”
Jn 1:18 WEB

So was this an angel called the “angel of Yahweh” as in Gen 16:7? Or is it like Exodus 3 where it says,

“The angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. …”
Gen 3:2 WEB

And then Yahweh spoke from the burning bush, and it says,

“Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people …”
Ex 3:7 WEB

And when Moses answered it says,

“Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, …”
Ex 3:11 WEB

Many mysteries (in the modern sense) are here. Still it is clear that circumcision was required. Holiness was to be to the extent of cutting off some parts of yourself, even of your private parts, if that was necessary to cleanse yourself before God! So circumcision became a requirement in Moses law, Lev 12:1-3.

But some other things were there.

So Moses said,

“Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked.”
Deut 10:16 WEB

Thus indicating physical circumcision was symbolic of something even more important. Inner cleansing!

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901