One of the rather strange episodes of the Bible features God on the verge of killing His great leader Moses, who was to rescue the Israelites and bring them out of slavery and into the promised land of Canaan. Exodus 4:24 states, "And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him." Why would God want to do that?
Some background information will prove to be useful. In the 17th chapter of Genesis we have the meeting between God and Abraham. Verse one and two state, "When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless, and I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.'"
In Genesis 17:10-14: "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, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."
As you can see, each male shall be circumcised in order to keep God's covenant. Any male not circumcised will be cut off from his people. So we see that in the Old Testament that circumcision is crucial to staying in covenant with God.
Now back to our story. God had given Moses instructions to go to Pharaoh and warn him that he must let the Israelites go or God will kill his first born son. God had groomed Moses for eighty years for this mission. How strange it is after all of this planning that God has decided to kill Moses and abort the mission.
Let's continue the story in the fourth chapter of Exodus, verse 25: "Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses' feet, and said, 'Surely you are a husband of blood to me!'"
Moses had two sons. What we now see is that his youngest son, for whatever reason, was not circumcised. We can speculate that his wife was against circumcision and that somehow she had convinced Moses not to do that. Moses was the leader and was required to set the highest example; however, it is clear that Moses was breaking the covenant with God, that God had begun with His other leader, Abraham. God has basically declared Moses as spiritually unfit to lead. Moses is breaking God's law and the penalty is death. Zipporah knew what God was about to do and saved Moses by doing the circumcision herself. Her anger was apparent as she threw her son's foreskin at Moses feet and called him a "husband of blood to me!" God accepts this action and does not kill Moses. Verse 26 tells us: "So He let him go . . ."
Not much is heard of from Zipporah after this episode. The implications today, for all Christians, is keeping in covenant with God. Being and staying in covenant with God involves the new covenant which was ushered in by Jesus Christ. There is basically only one message in the Bible. God loves you and Christ died to forgive you of your sins and give you a place in heaven if you will accept it as a free gift. That is the only real message there is. We will be in heaven for one reason and one reason only. Not because we were good, bad, or indifferent but because we put our trust in Jesus Christ and Him alone for salvation. We celebrate this new covenant whenever we take communion as we remember the words of Christ in the Upper Room on the night in which He was betrayed. "In the same manner He took the cup and said, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you."
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