seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Exodus 4:24 At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses(b) and was about to kill him. 25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it.[c] “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. 26 So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)
b. Exodus 4:24 Hebrew him
c, Exodus 4:25 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
This is one part of the Bible that always makes me say "what?". I've read it over and over again. I've even read the commentaries and they are no help. The only thing I can think of is "this has to be a nightmare".
Moses was raised by his mother for the first few months so surely he was circumcised right after birth. Jethro believed in God as well so there should have been no problem with the circumcision of Moses's sons or Jethro's grandsons..... MAYBE the verses are to say "don't worry.... even tho Moses was raised as an Egyptian prince, he was still circumcised as were his two sons". After all, how could an uncircumcised man lead the Nation of Israel out of Egypt. Maybe these verses are a case of dotting I's and crossing T's. Maybe this is a nightmare that happened along the way.... when Moses realized that he's glad he got the boys circumcised. That would make sense, right?
Apparently the commentaries don't agree with my logic. I didn't understand the majority of them. Here's the blueletterbible.org commentary.
The LORD met him and sought to kill him: This is a mysterious event; but it seems that God is confronting Moses - in the strongest possible way - because Moses had not circumcised his son. God demands that this be set right before Moses enter Egypt and begin to fulfill the call of God.
Surely you are a husband of blood to me! Perhaps Zipporah objected to the rite of circumcision. She was not an Israelite and may have thought it a barbaric custom. Perhaps this was why God held Moses accountable (for not doing what was right, even though his wife didn't like it), but disabled Moses so that Zipporah had to perform the circumcision itself.
There is often a point of confrontation in the life of the leader where God demands that they lay aside some area of compromise, and will not allow them to progress further until they do.
Surely you are a husband of blood to me! Perhaps Zipporah objected to the rite of circumcision. She was not an Israelite and may have thought it a barbaric custom. Perhaps this was why God held Moses accountable (for not doing what was right, even though his wife didn't like it), but disabled Moses so that Zipporah had to perform the circumcision itself.
Some wonder why Moses' wife seems so bitter here. Perhaps for the first time she recognizes the serious nature of her husband's call and how important it is for their whole family to walk in the ways of the LORD.
Well at least now I know the name of Moses's wife.... Zipporah.
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