There is a brief startling story near the end of Exodus 4. The story raises questions and provides important answers.
This is the way Moses, the author of Exodus, recounts what happened when he returned his family from Midian to Egypt.
On the way, at a place where they spent the night, the Lord met him and tried to kill him.
But Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin, touched his feet with it, and said, “Truly you are a bridegroom of blood to me!”
So he let him alone. It was then that she said “a bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision (Exodus 4.24-26).
One obvious note in the story is that not only did God prepare Moses, but he also prepared his family.
Our children will readily tell you that being a “preacher’s kid” is not easy. It is difficult for preachers’ kids to live up to the expectations that the congregation places upon them.
Finding their own authentic identity is another struggle since they are expected to model the same beliefs as their parents.
A pastor’s family can rightfully accuse the church leader of being everyone’s pastor but theirs.
Without a doubt, a minister’s family also needs to be prepared for the ministry.
Two Puzzling Questions
This little note about the family’s return to Egypt has two puzzling questions.
(1) What motivated God to attempt to kill Moses (verse 24)?
I asked this question of Rudy Ross when we recorded videos today. It is Rudy’s belief that it is better to understand this event as something like the dark night of the soul.
Imagine a time of profound solemnity and deep concern and you have what I understood Rudy to be describing in the video.
An analogy may help our understanding of this terrifying experience. The foundation of a house must be exact. If the foundation is wrong, the whole house will reflect the error in greater proportions as it is built.
The foundation of God’s people needed to be exact. God was strict with Moses concerning the circumcision of his sons because this sign of the covenant was to be a distinctive aspect of Israel’s covenant with him.
God established his covenant with Abraham and there were no exceptions to the rule.
“This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
“You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you” (Genesis 17:10-11).
(2) The second question is why was circumcision performed by Moses’ wife, Zipporah?
I wish I had thought to ask Rudy today when we were producing the video if he knew of any instances where circumcision was performed by a woman.
I checked the Internet and the only reference to a woman performing circumcision was that of Zipporah.
The recent news among Southern Baptists (of whom I have been a member since 1967) is the removal of Saddleback Church because of the ordination of three female pastors in the congregation.
The retired pastor of the church, Rick Warren, appealed to the representatives to “act like Southern Baptists who have historically ‘agreed to disagree’ on dozens of doctrines in order to share a common mission.”
His appeal was rejected by a vote of 9,437 to 1,212 and the church was removed from the convention.
I wonder how Southern Baptist leaders explain Zipporah’s actions or those of female leaders who dot the pages of the Book of Acts.
I agree with Rick Warren who said to the convention at another time, “Let’s keep the main thing the main thing.” Following God’s mission should be the priority of all of God’s children, male and female.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross and I discuss this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
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