(Exodus) Exodus 4:25-31 — J. Vernon McGee

Zipporah’s Circumcision and the Home Life of Moses

Now, notice this little incident here. "...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.". That's an incident that is very difficult, I grant you, to look at. Now, let's come back and look at the home life of Moses, or I'd like for you to meet now Mr. and Mrs. Moses.

Moses and Zipporah’s Marriage in Midian

We have, first of all, the romance of Moses and this daughter of the priest of Midian. We saw that he had to flee from Egypt, he's a fugitive from Egypt, and he went here to Midian, and the Midianites, remember, were the offspring of Abraham.

You see, when Abraham married Keturah, why, Midian was one of the offspring. That means they were monotheistic in their worship, and I believe that Moses was more at home in Midian than he was in Egypt, because, you see, his mother had trained him in Egypt about their background, and now he meets a people who are monotheistic.

That means they worship one God. They were not idolaters. And it was in Asia where he'd gone out in the Sinaitic Peninsula. It was a desert wasteland. Now this priest of Midian had these seven daughters, and he really had a job on his hands getting rid of them.

And Moses and the priest of Midian became very close friends, as we have learned. And here, notice, he just let him go, let him return back to the land of Egypt. In other words, he didn't attempt to hinder him in any way.

Zipporah’s Name and Moses’ Firstborn Son

Now the one that he had married was Zipporah. That is, the daughter of the priest of Midian that Moses had married, her name was Zipporah. And that sounds like a modern gadget to take the place of buttons, by the way.

Actually, as we've said before, it means sparrow or really birdie, a little bird, birdie. May I say to you that here you have the first lady bird, and this was the wife of Moses. The word, though, means a little birdie, not an old bird or an old crow or something like that.

The same thing's true. You call a little girl, you call her a kitten. When she gets old, you better not call her an old cat, you'll be in trouble. And I think Zipporah must have been her father's favorite with this name.

He called her birdie. It was a pet name. Now God blessed this home of Moses at the beginning. The boy that was born there was Gershon, the firstborn. And that means a stranger. Moses was a stranger in that land.

Moses, Joseph, and the Bride of Christ

And now he has a home there. And Moses gets a bride while rejected by his brethren, and Christ got a bride, or he's getting a bride while being rejected by the world. We saw the same thing was true of Joseph.

You see, these are glorious portraits we have in the Word of God. Now if this were the entire record, well, I'd have to conclude that everything was proceeding nicely in the home of Moses. But now will you notice that I've just read to you the redemption and regeneration of Zipporah.

Circumcision as the Sign of Abraham’s Covenant

God called Moses at the burning bush, and so now he must return to Egypt. Pharaoh's death. Moses starts his journey to Egypt. And then this strange thing, God attempted to kill him. Why? Well, circumcision was the badge and the seal of the covenant with Abraham, and it was the thing that would teach them.

They were to have no confidence in the flesh. The flesh should be cut away. Their confidence is to be in God. And that was the thing that was true of Abraham. Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.

And we find Isaac and Jacob had followed along in the same way, in the same ritual. Circumcision was the badge of it. And so it was an act of faith for them to perform that rite. And we're told today, to as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become sons of God.

That was the evidence that they were sons of Abraham. That's an evidence of their faith. Now apparently, Zipporah had resisted this ordinance. Moses had neglected this rite. Perhaps he forgot it, didn't think it was important, did not want to precipitate a marital rift.

Moses’ Failure to Lead His Family Spiritually

After all, Zipporah didn't want it done. Zipporah's monotheistic, but she thought probably this was a foolish and bloody thing to do. In fact, she says that here. She's not atheistic. She's just resisting the ordinance of God.

And Moses didn't make an issue of it. Moses could stand up against Pharaoh, but he couldn't stand up against his wife. Moses could oppose Israel when they were wrong, but he didn't oppose his wife when she was wrong.

Moses lay hold of God in prayer, but he couldn't persuade his wife. Moses apparently thought that he would get by with it. He'd just slide along, take it easy. And I think Christian workers sometimes get in that position.

Preachers and missionaries and Christian workers sometimes neglect their own home while they're out trying to fix up everybody else's. Well, God intervened here with Moses, and He waylaid him, and He revealed the seriousness of the situation.

Spiritual Unity and the Danger of Mixed Marriage

And friends, there's a real danger when husband and wife do not agree completely in spiritual matters. That's the reason Scripture warns against believers and unbelievers marrying, that at the very beginning we saw the sons of God looked on the daughters of men, and it's not good.

And mixed marriages, they just don't somehow or another work out. And Zipporah was the one who performed the right to save Moses' life. I think God would have slain Moses, and it was, therefore, on her part, an act of faith.

She came under the covenant of Abraham and claimed the promises. This is redemption of blood, no confidence in the flesh. Now, a little later on, we're going to find that Moses' father-in-law brought Zipporah to him, and you have the reconciliation of the two.

Zipporah’s Return and the Reconciliation of Moses’ Family

I'm of the opinion that at this particular point, we know she started out with Moses. And I think when they got to Egypt, that Moses, when he saw the problem and the difficulty, he probably sent her back home to be with her father.

And then her father later on, we'll see that. When we get to the 18th chapter of Exodus, he brings her after they're out on the wilderness march. Now, let me leave that and conclude this chapter at verse 27.

And the Lord said to Aaron, go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went and met him in the Mount of God and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him and all the signs which he'd commanded him.

And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

Israel Believes and Worships the Lord

And the people believed. And when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he'd looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped. And this is a great scene that we have here, a great worship scene of these people now turning in faith to God.

And it will be on this basis now that God's going to lead them out of the land of Egypt.