There are several levels of Bible study beginning with simply reading it.
I’ve asked most of the churches I’ve served to read through the Bible at least once. A man in one of the first churches I served read through the Bible one year, gave up during the second year, and has read through the Bible every year since that time 40-plus years ago.
The next level would be meditating on the Word — or in “country boy language” — i.e. thinking about it.
The third level would be studying the Bible, reading it slowly while gathering background information, definitions, and historical sources as you read it.
If there is a fourth level, it would be responding to what you’ve read in the Bible. What does it say? What does it mean? And what will I do about it?
So, Zechariah meaning “God remembers” and Elizabeth meaning “God is my oath” or “God keeps his promise” have a son named John or “Yochanan” meaning “God blesses” or “God’s blessing.”
“The time came for Elizabeth to have her baby, and she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard how wonderfully good the Lord had been to her, and they all rejoiced with her. When the baby was a week old, they came to circumcise him, and they were going to name him Zechariah, after his father. But his mother said, ‘No! His name is to be John.’” — Luke 1: 57-60
As a medical chemist, I became fascinated by this reference to circumcision and found a website that was called the “circumcisiondebate. com” created by a group opposed to routine circumcision.
They quote from a 2012 report from the American Academy of Pediatrics including both of the two conflicting and contradictory sides of this unsettled debate: “The benefits are not great enough to recommend circumcision for all baby boys” and “the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks.”
There are two benefits, hygiene and cultural identity, and two risks, a delayed loss of physical sensation and the possibility of emotional and/or physical harm. It’s also important to note that 17 of 20 circumcisions take place in America and 50% of American parents now choose not to circumcise their babies.
The Jews adopted circumcision from the Egyptians and were the first to perform it on newborns when they were eight days old as directed by God in Genesis 17.
It is not required in the New Testament because we celebrate our relationship with God through Holy Communion and the symbols of bread and wine!
Charles “Buddy” Whatley is a retired United Methodist pastor serving Dawson Street Methodist Church in Thomasville, Ga. With wife, Mary Ella, they are missionaries to the Navajo Reservation.
