Joel M Bradshaw

24At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. 25Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.–Exodus 4

This is on appearance an odd little section of the Moses story. God had just commissioned Moses to go to Egypt and Moses had argued and protested the calling. He had taken his wife and sons and had been on their way. And then after all that, this happened? What do we do with these verses regarding our understanding? I have three quick points.

1. THE STANDARD OF YAHWEH. God required circumcision for the males and Moses had not done so. He had failed in leading his family in the way God had required. I don’t know if Moses knew the commandment. There wasn’t a written law yet. But God’s standard was still the standard. Ignorance could be remedied. Disobedience could be changed to obedience. God holds even leaders He has personally chosen accountable to His standards and expectations.
2. ACTION ZIPPORAH! Honestly, we don’t know how much she knew or why she knew it. Maybe she had been after Moses for years to circumcise their sons and he had been stubborn. Maybe she suddenly remembered something as a daughter of a priest. But she sprang into action and her efforts not only satisfied God but saved Moses’ life.
3. BRIDEGROOM OF BLOOD. You could read faith here as if Zipporah was fully committing herself to Moses and the commands of his God. You could read a powerful marriage moment here as if Zipporah had just saved his life and that blood now bound them together. Back in chapter 2, Moses sprang into action to defend Zipporah’s flocks from rival shepherds seeking to take advantage. Maybe Zipporah was simply repaying the favor.

There’s a lot we don’t know about this text. What we do know is that God has standards that are deadly serious and that Zipporah’s actions satisfied God’s standards. How serious do you take God and His Word? Do you care about His standards?–JMB