10/14/2025
*Chag Sameach!*
Thursday, March 23, 2017, my son was born in a Vietnamese hospital. We named him Thiên Ân, a Christian name meaning heaven's grace. We also gave him the English name Gabriel, which is derived from the Hebrew Gavriel, meaning God is my strength.
In most hospitals in the U.S., infants are circumcised the same day they are born, but this is not the case in most other countries around the world. Prior to his birthday, I tried to find a hospital to perform his circumcision. We were still a family in transition to a Hebrew Roots faith, so the primary reason for wanting the circumcision was for Gabriel to avoid complications that arise in adulthood.
I was unsuccessful finding a doctor for his circumcision the day he was born. Several days after his birth, I continued to call doctors and visit international clinics, but I was losing hope. Columbia Asia International Hospital had an American doctor on staff, so on Friday, March 31, I went there in person to request his services. His staff said he was out of the country on vacation. I gave up and started home.
While I was on the way home, the doctor called me, stating he was leaving the country that day, but he could perform the circumcision at the clinic before heading to the airport. On the eighth day from his birth, Gabriel was circumcised by Doctor Jeremy Ostrander at Columbia Asia International Hospital. Was an eighth day circumcision for this infant boy a happenstance or was God continuing to show us that there is something to this Hebrew Roots type of faith?
Yeshua was also circumcised on the eighth day from his birth:
And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Yeshua, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb (Luke 2:21).
This was to follow the instruction given to Abraham:
And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised (Genesis 17:9-12a).
The eighth day from Yeshua's birth - the day Yeshua was circumcised - was likely also the Eighth Day (Shemini Atzeret) after the seven holy days of Tabernacles (Sukkot). Yeshua was likely born on the first day of Tabernacles.
Keep reading:
The Eighth Day (Shemini Atzeret) is a holy day and sabbath distinct from Tabernacles (Sukkot). It is shadow picture of the final day at the end of time.
