And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. 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.  

Seeing God’s Ownership

Moses returns the flock to Jethro, tells his father-in-law what has happened and that he must go. Jethro gives his blessing. Moses gathers his wife and children and sets off for the Mount of God to meeting Aaron. So far so good. It seems like the end of this chapter of Moses’ calling. But now things take an interesting, even bizarre turn.

As Moses is traveling back to Egypt via Mt. Sinai the Bible says that God meets Moses where he and his family are lodging and He seeks to kill him. Now if you were writing this story would you have written this. It seems out of place. It seems contradictory. God has just taken all this time, sent all these signs to convince and assure Moses and no He is going to kill him.

Whoa, what turn of a plotline. Have you ever heard anyone preach on this? Well, maybe I shouldn’t either. But you can’t help but wonder. Why would God take such an unyielding stance against the man he had just commissioned to save His people?

I think the key is in verse 22, Where the Lord says, “Israel is my son, even my firstborn.”

Foremost in God’s priority was his relationship with the nation of Israel. He viewed them as his son. To mark that relationship, He had instituted the rite of circumcision upon all the males of Israel. The removal of the foreskin was the mark of a people trusting God and identifying with Him.

Now God has called Moses who is destined to be the greatest leader of God’s people until the Messiah and that is not an overstatement. Yet, Moses, this greatest leader of the Hebrews, has neglected his own son’s circumcision.

We are not given details but it seems that Zipphorah did not want the rite performed upon her son.

 The Midianites were descendants of Abraham through his wife, Kittorah and so probably practiced the rite of circumcision though perhaps not at the same time. It may have been at 13 years old according to the example of Ishmael. The Muslims who are descendants of Ishmael, still circumcise at 13.

 Perhaps Zipporah just didn’t want it done and Moses let it go, but God would not let it go. When they stopped to rest, God sought to kill Moses. This may have been through sickness, or perhaps as dramatic an event as the Angel of the Lord with a sword in his hands as Joshua was confronted.

 However, it happened Moses was incapacitated, and Zipporah had to circumcise her son with a stone knife, a sharper than a razor flint knife,  to save her husband’s life.

 She then threw the foreskin at Moses feet and said, “You are a bloody husband to me.”  She complied but did so in anger, having to do so in order to save her husband’s life.  Moses probably sent her back at this time to Jethro to wait until he returned from Egypt as we do not hear about her again until Moses and Aaron leave Egypt and meet Jethro once they are out.

Accepting God’s Calling Even For My Family

This is a passage I don’t readily preach on. Its not one I would quickly pull out when I get asked to preach at a conference. It is difficult in its interpretation and difficult in its application, but I believe it is a very important aspect of God’s calling to service.

God in this passage is making it very clear that when he calls a man into leadership, he calls his family as well. It also applies to the head of every Christian home. When God saves, he calls and when He calls, that calling involves much more than just the person called.

There is no getting around it, no way of ignoring it, as Moses found out. When God calls a man to serve him, He is also laying claim to that man’s family.

This is what God’s word says.

1 Timothy 3:1-13  This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.  A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;  Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;  One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;  (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)  Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.  Moreover, he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.  Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.  And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.  Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.  Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.  For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Many of God’s leaders have been called to serve only to find that their families will not follow. The conflict and hurt we see in this incident with Moses and Zipporah is a small reminder of the conflict and pain that is seen in a leader of God whose wife or family will not follow their husband as he tries to follow the Lord.

 Pastors have left the ministry; missionaries have left the field, deacons have left their office, and husbands have left the church because the conflicts that sometime come when the wife or family will not allow God’s man to be God’s man.

 Worse still those men who God called but they did not serve because their wives told them “I will not go with you!” Oh, to stand one day before God and have to explain why they refused God’s call.

Listen, a pastor is only as faithful as his family enables him to be. A deacon is only as faithful as his family enables him to be. All men of God are only as faithful as their family enables them to be. You may rightly say, “That isn’t fair” and you would be exactly right. I’m sure that is exactly how Zipporah felt and she was also right. Its not fair. God called Moses, not her, not her children. It’s not fair, its just faith and its just a fact of serving the Lord.

I thank God every day for LeeOra and my kid, who the Lord has used over and over and over again to bless me by honoring me as both their father and their pastor. I never had to choose between my love for God, my love for His church and my love for my family. What a terrible choice that would have been to make.

The man of God, whatever office or service he holds, must also have a family of God. God knows that the family is vital, without the family it is near impossible to fully serve the Lord. This is why God claims the man and the family for Himself. I also that He abundantly blesses and will one day greatly reward that family according to their sacrifice and service. It may not be fair but it is worth it. Truly worth it.