| A case going to the Oregon Supreme Court next | | | | understand the newly converted Jewish father's |
| week concerns a a mother who is asking for a | | | | concern as he is simply trying to fulfill the Judaic |
| review of an Appeals Court ruling that allows her | | | | law. However he needs to come to a revelation |
| ex-husband (who is the custodial parent) to have | | | | that God is a Spirit (John 4:24) and Old |
| his 12-year-old son circumcised. The father had | | | | Testament law according to the flesh will never |
| recently converted to Judaism and wanted his son | | | | make a man spiritual nor perfect. Only by the |
| to be circumcised. | | | | Spirit of God can, as the Jewish prophet Ezekiel |
| My thoughts regarding this case and what the | | | | declared, our hearts and lives be renewed (Ezekiel |
| Bible has to say are as follows. | | | | 36:26-27). This is what Jesus meant when he said |
| It seems to me as a minister that if the father | | | | a man "must be born again" to enter God's |
| wants to influence the son toward Judaism he | | | | kingdom (John 3:5). |
| does not need to have him circumcised to do it. | | | | Does the father want his son to know God |
| "The true Jew is inwardly" (Romans 2:29). The | | | | according to the flesh or spirit? His answer will |
| Jewish prophet Jeremiah told God's people to first | | | | determine the extent of his son's spirituality or |
| circumcise their hearts in the spiritual sense | | | | religiosity. For surely there is a vast difference |
| (Jeremiah 4:4). | | | | between the two. Prefer the sword of the Spirit |
| That being said if the father and mother are not | | | | over the knife of the flesh (Ephesians 6:17). |
| in agreement, the boy than should be allowed | | | | The potential precedent this kind of legal decision |
| himself to decide. If God is really moving, He can | | | | could set would be Taliban-like allowing religious |
| move upon the young man's heart to decide for | | | | zealots to decide what their tweens and teens |
| himself. Jesus (also a Jew) proved himself to be | | | | should wear, the length and color of their hair, and |
| very spiritual at the age of twelve, as an adult He | | | | bodily care. God entrusts parents with the right to |
| spoke and questioned the doctors and theologians | | | | influence and discipline their children, not to |
| of His day (Luke 2:42-49). | | | | dominate them. The best way to spiritually impact |
| God told Abraham to circumcise newborn boys | | | | children is through parental example not |
| on the 8th day of their life (Genesis 17:9-13). I | | | | domination. |