It’s a new week: Monday, January 22, 2024. Let’s get courageous and tackle a hard-to-understand verse for everyone. Many times, God’s Word will escape our comprehension because not everything can be explained in a few short verses. Yet, His Word is still true. It is far greater than our grasp and cognition. Read on …
Today's Reading:
Exodus 3,4,5; Luke 22
Scripture
"At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So, the LORD let him alone." (Exodus 4:24-26)
Observation
This could be one of the most cryptic verses in the Old Testament. The context isn’t fully unveiled here, so we will need to dig deeper. Initially, Moses was not the most cooperative person. He made mistakes in Egypt, ran away, married a Midianite, and even when God showed up in a burning bush, Moses hesitated. However, God finally got his attention, and Moses was returning to lead the people out of bondage. Along the way, something strange took place.
We're not sure if Moses fell ill and God was about to let him die or if it was something else. Whatever the circumstance, Moses was not going to survive it if he didn't obey an unfulfilled covenant.
In Genesis 17:9-14, God established an everlasting covenant with Abraham to distinguish God’s people from all others. The Egyptians were uncircumcised, but Moses was now blurring the lines of this distinction in his family. Moses allowed his son Gershom to remain uncircumcised, and God held him accountable to an unfulfilled covenant. Moses had kicked the can down the road long enough, and God required an accounting before taking another step.
If Moses was to become the Law-giver, he couldn't fulfill that role as a law-breaker!
Application
Moses had to get his own life in order before God could use him in other people’s lives. Even his wife, Zipporah, knew that! So, she fulfilled the Covenant for her husband and touched his feet with the blood (as if assigning the fulfillment of the act to her husband’s account). Thank God for Zipporahs!
I cannot hold onto unresolved sins in my own life—things I know violate the promise of forgiveness, the Covenant bought with His blood. I must not postpone repentance and replace it with good intentions. How often do I "intend to" but never get around to it?
If I want God’s purposes for me to be fulfilled, I must do my part.
Prayer
Father, thank You for this alarming account in Exodus. It puzzled my mind enough to research, but it has impacted my heart enough to repent—to ensure that I am not harboring anything that makes me a "law-breaker" of Your covenants and promises. You are faithful, and I want to do my part to see Your plans and purposes come to pass.
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