Exodus 4:21-26

21The LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22“Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23“So I said to you, ‘Let My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.”’”

24Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. 25Then 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.” 26So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood”—because of the circumcision.

The question is an awful one to our ears. And the answer is given in the text itself – the circumcision – but somehow we want to hear more.

Some of the “more” is found in Genesis 17 in the story of Abraham and the original command of circumcision:

12“And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants. 13“A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14“But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

Did Moses know this? After all he was raised in Egypt, and was now just a shepherd in the wilderness. What source would he have had for learning the laws of God? That we can answer in one word: Mom. Recall, it was his own Jewish mother who raised him in the Pharaoh’s palace. And if we need further help here, remember that the Midianites/Ishmaelites among whom he now sojourned were also descended from the venerable patriarch, and knew this particular tradition well.

Moses knew.

But for reasons we are not told, he had not followed through. Some speculate that this son at the “encampment” was not firstborn Gershom, but a second-born, who actually entered the world on their way to Egypt. The eighth day came and went, and God here intervenes to put things in order. Perhaps. But it is speculation.

The point of the story is the seriousness of keeping the ordinances of God. The holiness of God. The God Who is no respecter of persons. The God Who can find another leader and values obedience above all.

Most want to isolate this incident (verses 24-26) from the words that precede it (21-23). Perhaps. But the Holy Spirit has seen fit to place the accounts side by side, and I think it is for a reason.

First, Moses’ commission. He is to tell Pharaoh that Israel, the people who have occupied Egyptian territory for these many years, is really God’s. Not just God’s property, but God’s very “son”. An entity precious to the heart of God.

Tell him, Moses, that this “son” of God is not to serve him (Pharaoh) any longer. Tell him I want my son Israel to come and serve Me. Refuse to let him go, and I will kill your son. Your firstborn son, Pharaoh!

The very next thing we know, Moses is on his way. In this, his obedience was exemplary. God spoke, Moses did hesitate awhile, but eventually he packed up wife and son, and off to Egypt. And on the way, God stops him and tries to kill him. Not Pharaoh. Not Pharaoh’s son. But Moses!