In Genesis 17:12, God commanded Abraham to circumcise baby boys on the eighth day of life. God had both a covenant and a biological reason for His command.

First, God desired that a Jewish newborn boy live a complete week, seven days, to include a Sabbath, before he was circumcised. Seven was a number of completion in God’s economy.

Circumcision was also a sign of a covenant with the child and His people. Removing the baby’s foreskin symbolized the death of the old man born into sin in the insidious prison of the world. The circumcised child was then a covenant child of God’s people. So any child born of the circumcised child would, by birth, be a child of God’s people.

God had a second reason for His command to Abraham.(Herein lies the genius of our Creator God.)

Our bodies lack sufficient levels of Vitamin K at birth. Vitamin K is essential for blood to coagulate. Our bodies ramp up Vitamin K production on days 5 to 7. So the eighth day is the first day the body has enough vitamin K to safely allow for surgery.

WOW! Do we serve an Awesome, Creative God or what?