Jer 9:26 | KingComments | STEP | are a warning against trusting in human abilities. condemn reliance on religious prerogatives. Just as the knowledge of the LORD is more important than wisdom, might and wealth, so faith in the heart is more important than any outward form of religion. Judgment comes both on all who bear only the outward sign that they belong to God’s people and on those who do not have that sign, the nations ( ). They are all equal before God because they all do not reckon with Him ( ). Judah is mentioned in the same breath as the nations ( ) because they behave like the nations. Shaving away the hair at the temples is a heathen custom and forbidden by the LORD for His people ( ). Judah is far more guilty than the nations, for they have the outward sign that they are God’s people, but they behave like the nations. They are ‘uncircumcised circumcised’ people, circumcised in the body, but uncircumcised in heart. What is true of Judah is true of all the house of Israel: they are all physically circumcised, but uncircumcised of heart. The true circumcision before God is that of the heart ( ).

‏ Jeremiah 9:26

Israel Is Uncircumcised of Heart

Jer 9:23-24 are a warning against trusting in human abilities. Jer 9:25-26 condemn reliance on religious prerogatives. Just as the knowledge of the LORD is more important than wisdom, might and wealth, so faith in the heart is more important than any outward form of religion. Judgment comes both on all who bear only the outward sign that they belong to God’s people and on those who do not have that sign, the nations (Jer 9:25). They are all equal before God because they all do not reckon with Him (Rom 2:12).

Judah is mentioned in the same breath as the nations (Jer 9:26) because they behave like the nations. Shaving away the hair at the temples is a heathen custom and forbidden by the LORD for His people (Lev 19:27). Judah is far more guilty than the nations, for they have the outward sign that they are God’s people, but they behave like the nations. They are ‘uncircumcised circumcised’ people, circumcised in the body, but uncircumcised in heart. What is true of Judah is true of all the house of Israel: they are all physically circumcised, but uncircumcised of heart. The true circumcision before God is that of the heart (Rom 2:29).