Finally Moses agreed to what God
was asking of him and he set out to do the task. But before he
could go he had to tell his family. His father in law seemed
pleased, and the next thing we know Moses, his wife Zipporah and
his two sons were on their way back to Egypt. But then something
very strange happens. In Exodus 4:24-26 we read that the Lord
confronted Moses and was about to kill him. Now what a staggering
thing! Here Moses was on his way to Egypt, honoring God by being
obedient to Him and now God wants to kill him. That doesn't make
sense at all, does it?
But the next part gives us a clue
as to why God was confronting Moses:
"But Zipporah, his wife, took a
flint knife and circumcised her son. She threw the foreskin at
Moses' feet and said "What a blood-smeared bridegroom you are to
me!" Exodus 4:25
From her quick reaction we can
glean that she knew exactly why God was confronting Moses. She knew
what it was all about. And the moment she did it, God left Moses
alone.
And if you look at her unflattering
reaction, we can assume that the circumcision was possibly
something that she and Moses had argued about. She was a Midianite
and they didn't believe in circumcision, while the Hebrews did.
They circumcised their children since God commanded Abraham to do
it and this was a sign of His blessing on them. In those days if
you didn't circumcise your son you in fact publicly removed
yourself from God's blessings. Moses must have known it by
observing the Hebrews in Egypt, plus the Egyptians also had a form
of circumcision. Plus I believe that the Lord also placed it on his
heart to do it. I really believe that, because the God I know
wouldn't just come and kill Moses without warning him first to
listen to Him and circumcise his children.
But the sad part is Moses gave way
to his wife. In order to have peace, he relented and gave in.
Instead of listening to God, he listened to her. And Moses couldn't
go and lead the people of Israel out, if he listened to other
people. He should listen exclusively to God and to Him alone.
Imagine God didn't intervene, now today Zipporah says no
circumcision, tomorrow she says she wants a wooden idol, would
Moses give in to that too? Moses had to learn that there are grave
effects if he didn't follow God's instructions. He had to be
steadfast in leading 2 million Hebrew slaves out of Egypt; he
couldn't allow anyone to influence him.
Today we are the same. We cannot
allow anyone to steer us away from what God wants for us. If we are
married to unbelievers, we cannot allow them to turn our hearts
away from God; if we work with unbelievers we cannot let them
influence us either. Everywhere we turn, there are unbelievers, and
we need to make sure that we influence them and not that they
influence us!
Father, we are part of this world
and surrounded by unbelievers. Please give us the strength to stand
strong in faith and not to give in to any ideas that are not from
You. Help us to influence them for Your Kingdom and not the other
way around. In Jesus Name. Amen