The Story of Circumcision

Genesis 17:1-27

A good friend of Beth's mother came over one day with a little newborn baby boy. Beth was so fascinated by the cooing baby that she even watched while the baby's mother changed its diaper. While the diaper was being changed, she noticed something interesting, but to be polite she saved her question for later.
After the friend and her baby left, Beth went to her mother and asked her question. "Mother," said Beth, "why did that baby's penis look so different from Daddy's penis?"
"Come sit with me and I'll tell you a story about that, Dear One," her mother answered. And this is the story she told:

One day, when Abram was ninety-nine years old, God appeared and said, "I am God. Let's make a promise between us that will be in your favor."
This surprised Abram so much that he fell down on his face.
God continued talking, "I promise that your descendants will start great nations. Also, people will call you Abraham from now on. Also, I will make sure that you have lots of children, and many of your children's children will be kings. Also, I will give you and your children and your children's children a lot of land for keeps forever. All you have to do is take every boy in your family and cut off the end of his penis to show me that you will keep your part of the promise.
"This includes every child who has been out of his mother's tummy more than eight days," God continued, "and everyone born in your house and any slaves that you might buy. But if there is anyone with you who has not had the end of his penis cut off, then his soul will be lost because he broke our promise.
"As for your wife, she should change her name from Sarai to Sarah. I will bless her and make a baby boy grow in her tummy."
Abraham fell on his face again and laughed and said to himself, "How can a baby grow in Sarah's tummy when I am a hundred years old and she is ninety?" Then he said to God, "Are you sure about all this?"
And God said, "Yes. Sarah will have a son and you will name him Isaac. As for your other son Ishmael, he will have twelve sons and they will all become princes. But Isaac will be the one that my promise will be with." Then God stopped talking to Abraham.
Abraham was so excited that he took his son Ishmael and all the males in his household and he cut off the end of their penises just like God told him to. Then he cut off the end of his own penis. He cut the ends off the penises of all of his slaves, too, so that God's promise would be kept.

"That is why a newborn baby's penis does not look the same as the penis of an older boy or man," Beth's mother told her.
Beth thought about this for a moment. Thinking back, there seemed to have been more differences than just the end of her Father's penis being cut off, but she might have been mistaken. Then Beth smiled and hugged her mother. All her questions had been answered.