Moses...a bloody husband

Well, seeing how I'm the person who mentioned this in the other thread, I'd suggest that you reread the scriptures that you just posted. God threatened to kill Pharaoh's firstborn and not Moses' firstborn. IOW, if Pharaoh refused to let the children of Israel go, then God was going to kill Pharaoh's firstborn son and, of course, we all know that that's exactly what eventually happened.

Be believing and all things work out to Salvation.

The OP is right that the angel sought to kill Moses' son Gershom because he hadn't been circumcised per the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel).

Perhaps Moses' wife didn't agree originally with the rite because of her upbringing with Jethro in Midian (different religion).

Opinions vary on what she did with the foreskin and what it means, but it seems to me the contextual understanding is the translation, this blood (of the circumcision, of the promise to Abraham) will save you.

Moses then goes to Egypt. Does his thing. Learns about the Pascha lamb (the promise again to Abrahame that the LORD will provide the Son), tells the people, applies the blood, in belief of those promises.

So, while we may fret and wonder about "messing up", in this case about not circumcising on the 8th day, it turned out to be an object lesson about believing God, about the promise, about the saving blood of the covenant.

Time and again in the Bible, we are presented with Moses as a very flawed character, who did not display the faith in God's vision. Here there also appears to be an infidelity to his adopted family in the desert, for he neglects to do the one procedure on his son that would make that family a part of the Covenant.

It is probably this flaw which God saw as a strength to his own purposes, for what Moses was being called to do was to turn against the family that adopted him, the Egyptians.
Zipporah here is shown as demonstrating the necessary faith by taking a proactive, one might even say priestly stance, and performing the sacrifice herself. She is perhaps a foreshadowing of Miriam, and the faith of Miriam showed in the desert when it came to the water miracles. There is that same lack in Moses here too, which a woman takes it upon herself to fill.

There is a recurring theme here, with Zipporah, with Miriam, with the Samaritan woman at the well, even with Mary and the wedding at Cazna, where it is a woman that brings those considered outside of the official heritage of Isaac into the the Covenant through their own faith. Samaritans, Caananites, the sons and grandsons of Ham cursed by Noah, are being restored here, if not through the actions of Abraham and his direct descendants, then through their own desire and their own faith to be restored to the family of God.

Moses, in his neglect of his son here, is consistent with Jacob the heel-grabber, and of Joseph and the clan that strives to maintain the blessing of first born for themselves. God fully appreciates this and rewards this by ultimately making Israel his first born out of Egypt. Here though, God is demonstrating that his plan is not exclusive to his chosen, but the restoration of all who bond themselves to him.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
14 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses


Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”
12 But Moses said to the Lord, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips


These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath and Merari
The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel
Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses.
Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab

Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel (From an unused root probably meaning to disparage)
It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.” 27 They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron.

Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, 29 he said to him, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”
30 But Moses said to the Lord, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials. 22 But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road. 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards, with walls on both sides. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat the donkey again.
26 Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. 28 Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”
29 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”
30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”
“No,” he said.
31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

lol

9 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”
30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”
“No,” he said.


I know its not a laughing matter yet it sounds amusing

YeShallTread said:

In another thread someone mentioned the incident concerning Moses, his wife Zipporah and the circumcision of their son. It caused me to look deeper:

When it was time for Moses to return "unto my brethren which are in Egypt," his father-in-law told him to "go in peace." [Ex.4:18]

Exodus 4:20-21 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

4:22-23 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is My son, even My firstborn: And I say unto thee, Let My son go, that he may serve Me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

4:24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.

Who did the Lord seek to kill?
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4:25-26 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So He let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

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I always thought it was Moses that the Lord sought to kill but...it was the firstborn of Moses! Zipporah saved the life of her firstborn by performing the circumcision but...she didn't want to. Why was she opposed to the rite of circumcision?

Is there more to this event than meets the eye?

Click to expand...

Why do you say she did not want to? Or how do you know she was opposed?

annier said:

Why do you say she did not want to? Or how do you know she was opposed?

Click to expand...

There does seem to be some anger on behalf of Zipporah against Moses, throwing the bloodied foreskin at his feet, and calling him a bloody husband to me.
It does not seem to me that she was opposed to the circumcision. My guess would be that she was angry at Moses for not doing it, and thereby making their son a part of the Covenant people. There is a casting out implied here by Moses inaction, much like Hagar and Ishmael were driven out of Sarah's house. Zipporah refuses to accept this and cast the foreskin back in at Moses.

God certainly displayed wrath in this verse, presenting himself as a destroying spirit, ready to work his wrath against either Moses or the son, depending on who "he" refers to.