All the men of his household — those born in his house and those bought from a foreigner — are circumcised with him. The comprehensive inclusion of the whole household — family, servants, foreign workers — in the covenant sign on the same day as Abraham is the enacted version of the principle stated in verses 12–13. No one in Abraham's household is excluded from the covenant sign. The covenant community is as wide as the household. Galatians 3:28 will later state the gospel version: all are one in Christ Jesus. The application: the covenant community Abraham establishes includes everyone in his household, regardless of origin. The impulse toward exclusion — toward a narrower covenant community that includes only those who look like us — runs against the grain of what Abraham enacted on the day of his circumcision.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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