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| Exodus 4:24-26 |
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Lesson # Exodus 4:24-26 Study Material - Exodus 4:24-26 You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth. Ex. 4:24-26 24 Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and threw it at Moses' feet, and she said, 'You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me.' 26 So He let him alone. At that time she said, 'You are a bridegroom of blood'-- because of the circumcision. Point of doctrine. He who loves the world more, he who loves his wife, children, assets, whatever, more than the he loves God, is out of line, and not worthy, 1 Sam. 2:29 also Matt. 10:37. So what does that mean? Do we forget our family to serve God. No. Only fools would make a ridiculous conclusion like that. Here we have a situation where Moses has been taking instruction from God. Moses and his family have been traveling toward Egypt, and along the way they stopped for the night. Moses became deathly sick. A sickness not from the normal means, but a special sickness direct from God. How do we know? Because verse 26 states that He, God, then left him alone. Why did He leave Moses alone? Because Moses corrected a sin which he had been carrying around with him for years. That sin was the circumcision of his son. Does that mean that if we have sinned in some way in years past that those sins will haunt us until we correct them? No. So do not go out and decide that your life is the pits because you have sinned in some fashion in the past and now God is getting even, or perpetually getting even. Alcoholics think in this fashion. Drug users think in this fashion. Negative people in general think in this fashion. Not only do they think like this they go even further and find fault with others because something in their life stinks. They assail either verbally or physically others in order to get some kind of satisfaction for themselves. Haunting others never solves their own problem, but it gives them temporary relief until they find another bottle or syringe. Here we have that classic encounter. Moses loves his wife, a Midianite woman. She is most likely knowledgeable in doctrine (her daddy was a priest) but did not circumcise her son at the age of 8 days as commanded by God. So whatever her knowledge, she rejected or simply ignored Gods command. Moses loves his wife and allows her to have her way. He is indulgent with her. She is in turn indulgent with her son. The boy is an adult, not an infant. Remember that the child was born to Moses many years earlier. Moses has lived in the land for 40 years now. He married his present wife and had a son. They are now leaving the only home that the wife and son had known (a bit of resentment there), and going to a foreign land where the ways are totally different from what they have known. What awaits them? Slavery, danger? They do not really know. Moses probably did not tell them of his conversation with God, but it is not likely that he could keep his ongoing conversations while traveling, from them. Again, how do we know? Because she will comply with the command (with great resentment). She throws the foreskin, the cutoff piece, at Moses feet. This is a total 'ticked off' reaction to the command that Moses asked her to do. She did the cutting. The son did not do it himself. Moses did not do it. The mother circumcised her own adult son. So the boy was somewhat coddled. What was the big deal now. The boy was born many years earlier, son, 'ben', in this text stands for an adult son. Can't he simply believe in the savior and get on with life? No. This is an age of ritual. In these past few days, God would have requested Moses to have his son circumcised. Moses would have discussed it with his wife. An argument ensued. Moses was made deathly sick. The wife reluctantly agreed and then circumcised the son and then threw it at Moses. Moses behavior was weak. He could have taken the situation into his own hands and commanded the boy to submit to the procedure and did the surgery himself, but he put it off onto his wife. Thus Moses was in violation, not his wife. Zipporah was not the one who was made sick. The son was not the one who was made sick. Moses was the one who failed to follow through with Gods command. We have already seen Moses reluctance at the 'bush' meeting. Zipporah was wrong as well. She should have listened and complied with the command. She should have been more interested in Bible doctrine as well. She got angry at Moses probably for a lot of reasons. She has been taken away from her home. Now there are these nightly meetings with God. She is not happy with being where she is nor going to where they are going. She has had Moses attention for 40 years (working for daddy) and now his priorities are directed elsewhere (God, Egypt, the freeing of the slaves). Eventually this redirected attention of Moses will result in their permanent separation. Why is Zipporah angry with Moses? She blames him for her misery. She does not like the situation and so Moses is to blame. She probably had a few choice words regarding God too. Negative people think nothing about blaming anyone and everyone when things do not go their way. Especially when pressures in life seem to overwhelm them, at least in their own mind. This is a very brief account. Only three verses and it seems to be out of place in the overall context of the story. So why do we even have it? To demonstrate that even Moses, Gods chosen representative, has his flaws. Moses is not perfect. None of us are perfect. Does this excuse our imperfections? No. But it also teaches us (assuming that we want to learn), that no matter what our failures in life, that God has a plan for our life and He is able to overcome, through doctrine, any deficiency we might have. Moses was weak and somewhat wimpy when it came to his wife. This will change. You have your weaknesses, we all do. We can overcome them all and advance to spiritual greatness, if we just stick to our Bible study and stop looking to blame others for our problems. Moses blamed his own speech abilities. Zipporah blames her situation (away from family, home). Does God hold our former sins against us? No. As long as we confess them and change our life. Confession wipes out any and all sin in the life, 1 Jn. 1:9, God forgives and forgets. This brings into fellowship. Most people have problems in falling out of fellowship because they do not change their pattern of life. They continue sinning without changing or trying to change their own life style. They sin and confess as though this is some form of magic genie. The it is business as usual, another bottle, another pill, another phone call with gossip, another of whatever it is you do that is out of sync with Gods will. Did I make these rules? No. Did Moses make these rules? No. Zipporah blamed Moses just the same. She was out of line. Did Moses promise her to love her and drive the sheep for her father for all of eternity? Probably. But so what. Life changes. If Zipporah wanted to remain home she could have, but she did not. At least she remained with her husband (for the time being). Later it will become too much for her. We can spend our life blaming others for everything, or we can grow up and get with the program and learn what God wants us to learn. All scripture is God breathed. Moses will write the words, but he will not be their source. I may write these words, but I am not their source. Each one of us can either accept them or reject them as we see fit. Zipporah rejected them. As we will see soon, Aaron will accept them. Moses is the common link, but God is always the source. If your life goes down the tubes, then look in the mirror. That is the one you should blame and no one else. 
Now is the time to post a prayer. End Of Lesson Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth. |
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