Bloody Husband
September 16, 2019
Exodus 4:24 "Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the Lord met him and sought to put him to death."
After Moses argued with the Lord at the burning bush, giving Him all the excuses as to why Moses was not the right man for the job, the Bible says the Lord's anger burned against Moses. Yes, everyone knows that Moses and the Lord ended up having a good relationship, but Moses did not start things off too well. Moses truly argued and talked back to God, even frustrating the Lord and enticing His anger. Moses could have been a little bit more humble, but he was brazen enough to argue with the Lord. Nonetheless, Moses finally agreed, and he took his wife and his son and headed to Egypt to do what the Lord asked of him. But before Moses could reach Egypt, even for the first encounter, the Lord sought to kill him.
Why on earth would the Lord pick Moses and then seek to kill him before he even got to the first part of his destination? In reading Scripture, it is actually unclear as to whom the Lord wanted to kill. The Bible says, "him" but it could have been referring to his son Gershom, who had not been circumcised. The verses before this, the Lord talked about the nation of Israel being a covenant relationship as a first born son, with also Pharaoh having a first born son, who was eventually going to pay with his life. Gershom was Moses' first born son and Moses had not circumcised Gershom; Moses had not brought Gershom into the faith covenant with the family of the Lord by circumcising him. Moses' wife feared for the life of both Moses and Gershom, so she took it upon herself to circumcise her son. Moses was on the Lord's short list already and Gershom would not make it forward in Egypt unless he was part of the circumcision covenant. It was not the mother's job to perform the circumcision either, it was the husband's job to bring the son to be circumcised. Moses was negligent in his responsibilities and jeopardized his own relationship with the Lord and possibly his own life and the life of his son. The one who was not circumcised was not part of the family of God, and Gershom was outside that family protection.
Moses' wife was afraid and she had to help jump in to make up for Moses' shortcomings. It was not a blessing for her to have to circumcise her son, it was a bloody mess because the boy was older, past the correct age to circumcise him and likely Moses had to hold him down. His wife was not happy about having to get blood on her hands; she was not likely raised with these customs and was only coming into her own relationship with the Lord. Nonetheless, she did it and threw the bloody flesh at the feet of Moses because he was not man enough to step up and lead from the start. She called him a husband of blood because of this, not realizing how many first born sons were going to die in Egypt very soon. Just because the Lord sent Moses to bring judgement on Pharaoh and Egypt, did not exempt Moses from the judgement of his own actions or sins.
The Lord wanted Moses to be in right standing before he went in to ministry in Egypt, and this required the fulfillment of the Lord's covenant relationship through being circumcised. Moses did not get a free pass on anything and the Lord held him accountable. But Moses' actions, or lack there of, inflicted pain on his wife and son. They were collateral damage to Moses not following the law. Your life and relationship with the Lord does not effect you alone; it impacts those around you. And if you are moving forward, stepping out in faith to what the Lord asks of you, make sure you have all your affairs in order. What pain are you bringing on your family today because of your unwillingness to do the right thing?
Don't take my word for it; look it up: Gen 17:14, Ex 4:14-26
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