Day Nine: Exodus 1:1 - 5:21 I know I'm a day Behind :)
Why is it that since the beginning of organized government, Dictators have always picked on a helpless minority? The poor Israelites.
Its very similar to Hitler and the Jews, or Hussein and the Kurds.
The King of Egypt told the Hebrew midwives that if a boy was born to the Israelites, they were to throw him into the Nile river. This was supposed to stop the the reproduction of the Israelites. A Levite (Israelite) woman became pregnant, and hid her son for three months. When she could not hide him any more, she put him in a basket and sent him down the Nile river. When the Pharaohs daughter found him she named him Moses. When Moses was grown up he saw an Egyptian man beating up a Hebrew man, and Moses killed the Egyptian. Then later he saw two Hebrew men fighting. When Moses confronted the man in the wrong, the man confronted Moses about him killing the Egyptian.
I guess this is to show that Moses was always followed by controversy. As a child he was supposed to have died, and now as an adult, everyone knows who Moses is. Moses is kind of like a modern day Eva Peron. Eva Peron (Evita), was followed by extreme controversy her whole life until she later become the President of Argentina. Moses reminds me Eva. Not sure why.
The Burning Bush
When Moses talks to God in the burning bush, God tells him that he is to go and get the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses had a very "who me?" reaction to all of this (but wouldn't you?).
Moses had big doubts about his ability to lead. He resisted God, bringing up his "unworthiness".
God assured him that the elders of the Israelites would believe him and follow. Moses asked God what he should do if nobody believed him. God gave him a staff, he told Moses to throw the staff to the ground. When Moses threw the staff to the ground it turned into a snake, God told Moses to grab the tail of the snake. When Moses grabbed the tail of the snake, it once again became a staff.
As if this wasn't enough...
God also told Moses to put his hand into his pocket, when Moses pulled his hand out of his pocket, Moses' hand was "leprous" like snow. When Moses put his hand back into his pocket, it returned to normal.
Just to be on the safe side...
God also told him that he was too poor water from the Nile river onto the floor, and it would turn into blood.
So, pretty confident now, Moses and his family set out for Egypt.
QUESTION:
4:24 Confused me, It says that at a lodging place on the way, God almost killed Moses...but when Zipporah took a knife and cut off her sons foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it, the Lord let him alone.
Highly confused...Why was God going to kill Moses...was it because his son was about to enter Egypt and he was not circumcised? Please help me with that one.
Its funny that God chooses the people he does to be leaders. Why Abraham, Why Joseph, Why Moses? I guess it just goes to show you that no matter how small you think you are. God knows your there...always. :)
Next Time.
Kale
Kale,
ReplyDeleteIn reading your question, my immediate response was that Moses had broken the covenant that God had made with Abraham by not circumcising his son. However, I was not 100% sure. So I loked it up... Google is a wonderful thing!
http://www.learnthebible.org/why-did-god-seek-to-kill-moses.html
Why Did God Seek to Kill Moses?
Can you explain Exodus 4:24? Why was God seeking to kill Moses?
In Exodus 4:24-26 we find a strange story inserted in the record of the journey of Moses from the wilderness to Egypt in order to free the Israelites from bondage.
Sometimes, with a passage like this, it is best to start with what we do know and can safely conclude. Here are the facts:
1.From the time of Abraham, all the boys of the tribes of Israel were to be circumcised (Genesis 17:7-14). This was not an option. The uncircumcised male was to be cut off from the people (Genesis 17:14), a phrase that probably meant to put them to death.
2.We know from this passage that the son of Moses had not been circumcised before Moses headed for Egypt. At this time, Moses was 80 years old, though we do not know the age of his son.
3.We can also safely conclude that Zipporah opposed the circumcision of her son. She called Moses a "bloody husband" because of the circumcision. Zipporah was not a Hebrew woman, but a Midianite (Exodus 2:16-22). The first son of Moses and Zipporah was called Gershom, which means stranger. This name was given to him as a testimony by Moses that he was "a stranger in a strange land" (Exodus 2:22).
4.I think we can also safely assume that God was demanding that Moses immediately obey the covenant God had made to Abraham. Moses' son had not been circumcised on the eighth day after his birth as commanded. But now, Moses was taking his place as the man that God had chosen to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. He must have his own house in order. His son must be circumcised.
The facts and conclusions give us a solid framework in which to understand the rest of the story. Only a little assumption shows us that Geshom had not been circumcised because of the opposition of his Midianite mother. Moses had avoided pressing the issue until God pressured him. However, even at this point, Moses was more prone to give in to his wife's opposition than to God's command. When Zipporah saw that God was ready to take her husband's life because of this disobedience, she circumcised Gershom herself, but not without a last attack on the character of her husband. God, having been obeyed (though unwillingly) allowed Moses to go on his way.
There are many lessons to be drawn from this story, but I will leave them for you to dip from God's living water for yourself.
Reagan, David
I agree with the response above. The conclusion drawn... Moses was being disobedience to the command of God, would very well be the reason why God reacted with such harshness. The command was made clear to currcumcise all the sons of Isrelites, and I think God was being gracious with Moses in the way that he responded to his lack of obediance. This is a good picture of how serious God is with His commands. The Lord is also full of grace and understaning as we see with the way this situation.
ReplyDeleteAnna