Introduction

 

This is “Even the Small Things Matter to God.” This is the 48th Reading of our 3-year Torah Reading Cycle. It is contained in Exodus/Shemot 4:14-6:1. But we will be focusing just on verses 22 to 26.

 Looking Back to STAR-47, entitled “God’s Holy Character, a Messianic Study of Exodus 3:1-4:14,” we discussed Moshe’s commission which included Yah revealing to Moshe a bit about His holy character and sovereignty. Moshe’s commissioning would involve Yah imbuing Moshe with His authority and power for purposes of delivering the Hebrew nation out of the Land of Egypt (aka Mitsrayim) and onto Canaan, the Land of Promise.

 

Much of the conversation that took place between Moshe and Yehovah on the Mountain of Elohim—Mount Sinai—involved Moshe expressing to Yah every excuse he could come up with why he was not the man for the job. But Yah had already—probably before He was even born—established that Moshe was indeed the man for the job. Yah had in fact chosen Moshe for this task prior to this historic meeting. He already knew Moshe’s strengths and deficiencies. And so, Moshe was essentially kicking at the prick, just as Yeshua mentioned to Shaul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:5). And we acknowledged that this incident was just another example of the very thing that most of us who come into this Faith of ours experience: We kick against the true commissioning of Yah to work for His Kingdom.

 

But ultimately, Yah convinces Moshe, as He does us, that His (Yah’s) Way is the only way. And it’s too our detriment to reject the call and commissioning of Yah.

 

So, as the story goes, Moshe goes to his father-in-law Jethro (aka Yitro/Yethro) and receives his blessing to go to Egypt and see to his people.

 

And this is where our reading picks up this week, and I want to focus only on verses 22 to 26 which reads as follows:

 

 

 ²² You must say⁷⁰ to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says⁷¹ the LORD, “Israel is my son, my firstborn,

 

 ²³ and I said to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve⁷³ me,’ but since you have refused to let him go,⁷⁴ I will surely kill⁷⁵ your son, your firstborn!”‘”

 

 ²⁴ Now on the way, at a place where they stopped for the night,⁷⁶ the LORD met Moses and sought to kill him.⁷⁷

 

 ²⁵ But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off the foreskin of her son and touched it to Moses’ feet,⁷⁸ and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood⁷⁹ to me.”

 

 ²⁶ So the LORD⁸⁰ let him alone. (At that time⁸¹ she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” referring to⁸² the circumcision.)

(Exo 4:22-26 NET)

 

Now, I will tell you that this is one of the most difficult and mysterious passages to be found in Torah. For everything that took place leading up to our focus verses makes complete sense. But here in passage, we run into an event that makes little sense:

 

1. Moshe receives some last-minute instructions from Yah regarding the very words he was to say to Pharaoh related to the release of Moshe’s people from Egyptian/Mitsriy bondage: “Thus Says Yehovah, Yisra’el is My son, My firstborn…Let my son Yisra’el go that he may serve me. But because you’ve refused to let my first-born son go, I will kill your son, even your firstborn son” (verses 22-23).

 

2. It would then appear that Moshe, along with his young family, stop along the way to Egypt/Mitsrayim at an “inn;” some rest area. It’s uncertain. I’m surprised that there was such a thing back in that day. But I guess we should never underestimate the power of commerce, even around 1,500 BCE in the middle of a desert.

 

But during Moshe’s family stopping for the night, the text tells us that Yehovah met Moshe and sought to kill him (verse 24).

 

What? Wait a minute. Yah just hires/commissions Moshe to lead the greatest relocation of Yah’s people in all human history, and in the very next minute, He seeks to take Moshe out. Why? Well, maybe the following verses will clear up the mystery.

 

3. Zipporah realizing the existential threat to Moshe’s life, she takes a piece of flint and circumcises her son, or one of her sons (verse 25). Some translations assert that Moshe and Zipporah had just the one son, Gershom, while other translations and Jewish tradition assert that the couple had two-sons, Gershom, and Eliezer, with Eliezer being the youngest. Interestingly, it is held in some Jewish teachings that the couple did in fact have a second son on the way to Egypt/Mitsrayim by the name of Eliezer and that it was Eliezer who had not be circumcised by Moshe because circumcision of infants in the wilderness and on journeys was believed to present an existential threat to the life of the infant (b. Ned 32a; Mid. Rab. Exodus 5.8). And thus, in that case, Moshe put off circumcising Eliezer.

 

But other Jewish thinkers such as Ramban (aka Maimonides) and Saadi Ben Yosef Gaon (a 10th c. BCE Arabic Rabbi) remain steadfast in their belief that it was Gershom that Moshe had neglected to circumcise, which again, assuming this was the central issue that led to Moshe being nearly killed, it would be consistent with the content of verses 22 and 23 of our reading where Yah talks to Moshe about Yisra’el being His firstborn and Pharaoh’s firstborn son being killed because Pharaoh would not let Yah’s firstborn son go. Firstborn seems to be an important consideration here. And this issue of Moshe possibly neglecting to circumcise his own firstborn after being Commission by Yah to lead the great nation Yisra’el whom Yah called His firstborn son, out of Egyptian/Mitsriy bondage and to bring Yisra’el into a covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe, all the while he (Moshe) had for whatever reason decided not to circumcise his firstborn son in violation of the Avrahamic Covenant. It would have been scandalous and disrespectful to not only to Yah, the giver of the Avrahamic Covenant, but also to the very Hebrews he (Moshe) was commissioned to lead out of Egypt and on to the Promised Land. Imagine the questions and conflict that would erupt against Moshe once the people discovered that He’d not circumcised his own first-born son, he being the chosen leader of the nation. It could have erupted into a problematic situation and maybe Yah set about to make sure that Moshe would not put himself and the nation into such a precarious situation.

 

I personally believe that Yah instructed Moshe to circumcise his son prior to the start of the family’s journey to Egypt/Mitsrayim, but Moshe, for whatever reason failed to obey Yah’s command.

 

But again, this is Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections. We are still thinking and reflecting on these amazing things and allowing Yah’s Ruach/Spirit to speak to us as Yah sees fit.

 

Regardless, Zipporah circumcises one of her sons, and throws the circumcised foreskin, some translations such as the NET here say, touched Moshe’s feet with his son’s circumcised foreskin. Other translations leave out entirely that the foreskin was put in the vicinity of Moshe’s feet at all.

 

As an aside, the Hebrew word that is normally used to describe the act of circumcision—” muwl”—is not used to describe that which Zipporah did to her son. But rather, the Hebrew term used is “karath,” which means “to cut.”

 

Messianic teacher and author Tim Hegg, in his commentary on this passage, suggests there exists some parallels with Zipporah’s act of using a flint stone to circumcise her son—to cut off her son’s foreskin—with the Hebrew expression for making a covenant, which in Hebrew is “karat brit,” or “to cut a covenant.” And add to this thinking, the thinking that the blood that was spilled from the circumcision had the same effect as the blood that would be smeared over the Hebrews’ doorpost in Egypt/Mitsrayim for purposes of staving off the “death angel” that would go throughout the Land of Egypt and take the life of Egypt’s firstborn. The blood of the firstborn staving off the death angel (presuming it was indeed a death angel) and saving Moshe from certain death. And Hegg suggests that Zipporah’s statement of “surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me” to either Moshe or her circumcised son or Yehovah could have implied that it was the blood of their son’s circumcision that brought about Moshe’s salvation.

 

Her statement here is one of those great mysteries that we can only speculate about. But it certainly gives us material to think and reflect upon.

 

4. That which Zipporah did to one of her sons clearly stopped the execution death of her husband Moshe. For the text states that Yehovah let him, Moshe, alone” (verse 26). But the text once more records Zipporah’s statement that “You are a bridegroom of blood.”

 

Possibilities

 

This portion of Moshe’s journey to lead his people to freedom is indeed mysterious and because so much of the story is left out—there are so many holes that need to be filled in—it virtually impossible to sort out exactly what was happening here. What would cause Yehovah, who just a few hours or days ago commissioned Moshe for the task of leading the Hebrew nation out of Egyptian bondage and on to freedom in Canaan, now seeks to execute His chosen one?

 

To be honest, there aren’t too many possibilities to consider here. (A) Yah or one of His Mal’ak/Angels intercepted Moshe at the inn that is on the path towards Egypt and intended to kill him for an unspecified reason. (B) A divine creature, possibly an agent of the enemy (hasatan), knowing the mission Moshe was one, intercepted Moshe with the intent of killing him in anticipation of halting the exodus of the Hebrew nation out of Egypt/Mitsrayim (Jubilees/Yovelim 48).

 

 

The most widely accepted theory in both Judaism and denominationalism is that Yah, or perhaps the Angel of the LORD/Mal’ak Yehovah, intercepted Moshe at the inn on the way to Egypt. And that it was Yah’s intent to kill Moshe. Interestingly, verse 24 of the Onkelos (rabbinic interpretations of Torah written in the first century C.E.) reads as follows:

 

“And it was in the way, at the place of lodging, that the Angel of the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.”

 

The Septuagint or LXX reads:

 

“And it came to pass that the Angel of the LORD met him by the way in the inn and sought to slay him.”

 

Rashi (aka Shlomo Yitzchaki, a medieval French rabbi and contributor to the Talmud) takes what I believe to be an extreme flight of fantasy here, writing that this supposed angel turned into a serpent and swallowed Moshe whole, and it fell to Zipporah to circumcise their son Eliezer (the youngest of the two sons) to halt Moshe’s death.

 

Beloved, I call that a bit of pure rabbinic gibberish.

 

But some believe that the reason Yah or the Angel of Yehovah intended to kill Moshe was that Moshe was dragging his feet and had not carried out a commandment that had been given to him. And that it was this dragging of his feet—his procrastination in not accomplishing the given commandment or task that incited the ire of Yah.

 

What could that assignment, task, or commandment have been?

 

It’s possible that verses 22 and 23 provide us an important clue to this mystery.

 

In these verses, Yah instructs Moshe to tell Pharaoh that because he had refused to release Yah’s first son, Yisra’el from Egyptian/Mitsriy bondage, then Pharaoh’s firstborn son would die. And then we immediately get into the mysterious circumcision situation in the very next verse.

 

Could that which Moshe had neglect or put off doing related to something Yah had tasked him to do to or for his son(s), Gershom and or Eliezer? Could it have been something that Moshe had put off doing until he decided to get around to doing it?

 

Could that assignment or task or commandment have been to circumcise his son(s)?

 

J.H. Hertz, author of “Torah and Haftarah” suggests that Moshe, because he’d failed, or outright refused to circumcise his son, even his firstborn son Gershom, was the thing that resulted in Moshe falling into a dire illness. And why would a failure on Moshe’s part lead to him being killed by Yehovah?

 

We know from previous Torah studies that circumcision was a critical element of the Avrahamic Covenant:

 

⁹ And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

 

 ¹⁰ This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

 

 ¹¹ And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.

 

 ¹² And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

 

 ¹³ He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

 

 ¹⁴ And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant. (Gen 17:9-14 KJV)

 

Clearly, any Hebrew that broke this element of the covenant would be subject to being cut off from the House of Yisra’el. And being cut off can be manifested in the community of Yisra’el physically ejects the violator of the covenant—in this case, the violator of the covenant would have to be the father of the uncircumcised child. Or the cutting off may be manifested in Yah Himself cutting off that soul: I.e., ending that soul’s life. In this case, the responsible soul would be Moshe, assuming this was a case of Moshe not circumcising His son, and thus, violating the terms of the covenant, making him subject to being cut off from his people.

 

 

Traditional Reasons Why Moshe Broke Covenant

 

Unnamed rabbinic sources suggests that Midian/Bedouin ritual circumcision practices involved their sons being circumcised in their 13th year, which is an extreme contradiction to Torah’s circumcision instructions which had sons of Yisra’el circumcised on the 8th day of their lives.

 

What does Midian/Bedouin religious or ritual practices have to do with Moshe? Well, Moshe’s father-in-law Jethro/Yitro was the Cohen/Priest of Midian/Midyan (Exodus/Shemot 2:16). Moshe married Jethro’s/Yitro’s daughter Zipporah.

 

It’s likely that Moshe, being a man without a country, had decided to live as a Midianite, which would mean that he gave into and followed his wife Zipporah’s way of life, which meant that he raised his son(s) in the Midianite ways. So, it seems quite reasonable to surmise that maybe Moshe’s reasoning for not circumcising his son in accordance with Yah’s covenant instruction had to do with this conflict in cultures: Hebrew versus Midianite. It’s unclear, given the severe lack of clarifying information in the text. And I would submit that maybe Yah intended it to be this way. To force us, the readers of Torah, to think these things through. Not so much that we attempt to fill in the missing elements to the various stories and teachings that Torah provides, but rather, that we contemplate the meaning, importance, and the multitudinous facets that make up Yah’s Torah and the original covenants.

 

The Book of Jasher/Yashar supports the thinking that Moshe failed to circumcise his son, in particular Gershom, because Jethro/Yitro convince Moshe that he shouldn’t, for an unspecified reason (chapter 78).

 

 

The other thing to consider in thinking about and reflecting on the possibilities of Moshe not circumcising his son(s) in accordance with the provisions of the covenant is the instructions that Yah gave to Moshe regarding Pharaoh:

 

“You tell Pharaoh that because you refuse to let My son Yisra’el go, there will be dire consequences involving your son” (paraphrasing mine).

 

Other reasons offered as to why Moshe may have broken covenant has to do with the dangers associated with circumcising an infant while on a journey in ancient times. Apparently, subjecting an infant to circumcision while on a journey back in the day could result in the infant’s death. Thus, some thoughtful rabbis introduced such a practical theory to explain why such a man as Moshe would have neglected to circumcise Gershom or Eliezer. Again, if a failure to circumcise his sons was the reason Moshe almost lost his life.

 

Interesting, it was Zipporah who circumcised the couple’s son. Not Moshe. This is certainly an eyebrow raiser, as it always fell to the father to see to it that his 8-day old son was circumcised by the appropriate leader of the tribe, in accordance with the stipulated provisions of the covenant.

 

Bridegroom of Blood

 

So, what did Zipporah mean by her statement, either directed towards Moshe, Yehovah, or her newly circumcised son that that individual was a bridegroom of blood to her?

 

I’ll tell you right now: Zipporah’s statement regarding someone being a bridegroom of blood to her is not supported by any other scriptural mention in the whole of scripture. And for any of to say what that statement meant would be pure speculation on our part.

 

But the phrase “bridegroom of blood” in the Hebrew is “chathan damim.”

 

Now, one rabbinic way of explaining this phrase/statement is to attach it to the ritual of circumcision, which is a sign of the covenant between the son, Yisra’el, and his Father, Yehovah. That being the case, the son may be considered the bridegroom of the covenant.

 

I’ve thought long and hard on this explanation, but I cannot make heads nor tails on this one, and I personally doubt that this is a plausible explanation for the phrase.

 

We have Ibn Ezra (aka Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra, a middle-age Jewish biblical commentator and philosopher) who proposed that Zipporah’s statement was directed towards her newly circumcised son. In other words, according to Ibn Ezra, in Zipporah making such a statement, she was casting dispersion or anger toward her son. In other words, it was her son and his uncircumcised state that almost led to Zipporah’s husband, Moshe, being killed by Yehovah.

 

Okay. Well, I will say that Ezra’s explanation contradicts the conventional understanding of this passage, that the statement was directed to Moshe by an exasperated Zipporah who had to see her husband almost killed and to save his life, being forced to circumcise their son. I don’t know. Again, there isn’t enough background information to say either way I’m afraid.

 

Remember Rashi’s contribution to this discussion just a few ago? Well, he suggested that Zipporah’s statement to her newly circumcised son was one of her stating to her son that it was him that caused HER bridegroom to almost be killed: “You (Gershom or Eliezer) are the slayer of MY bridegroom.” (Ned. 32a, Exodus Rabbah 5:5)

 

Interesting huh? In this case, this makes the most sense out of any other explanations of the phrase that I’ve run across, or that I can come up with.

 

We don’t know what we don’t know beloved. Was Zipporah’s statement brought on by issues beyond the near-death incident? Were they having marital strife? Was Zipporah and Moshe in disagreement over Moshe’s commission? Did Moshe even tell Zipporah what his mission was? What unrecorded conversations did Moshe have with Yehovah prior to this incident? Did Yehovah maybe instruct Moshe to circumcise his son before embarking on the mission, and Moshe putting off the task. Which I personally think is what happened. That Moshe was given the instructions offline to abide by the provision and instructions of the covenant. And when Moshe chose, for whatever reason not to comply with Yah’s instructions, then Yah sought to hold Moshe responsible for the violation. Yah was, in effect, cutting Moshe off from his people through this incident.

 

Practical Messianic Halachah

 

There is so much to draw from this Torah Reading, especially from the brief passage we’ve examined and discussed here today.

 

If we are correct in our assessment that Moshe failed to circumcise one of his sons and it took Zipporah’s circumcising her son to save her husband’s life, then I would say that “obedience” is central to the lesson we’re to take from this reading. Obedience. Obedience to Yah’s instructions and obedience to the provisions of the covenant, despite how irrelevant those instructions and provisions may seem at any given time.

 

Clearly, even the seeming small things of our covenant relationship matters to Yah. And to not have that sense of urgency and meticulousness within us to walk out and carry out those instructions and provisions can cause problems in our covenant relationship with Yah. For Yah expects us to pay close attention to His instructions and the provisions of the covenant and walk out those provisions and instructions to the very best of our ability. To refuse or neglect to do so can have unsavory consequences as we’ve seen illustrated in our reading today.

 

That’s why it behooves us to petition Abba often in our prayers, that He show us the areas in our lives and in our walk that are lacking so that we may, through the assistance of His Ruach HaKodesh (aka His Holy Spirit) make the appropriate corrections; effectively and properly fulfill the provisions of the covenant; and walk before Yah blamelessly. Nothing as it relates to Yah’s instructions and covenant provisions is small or nebulous to Abba, and neither should they be to us.

 

I would imagine, assuming that the issue at hand in our reading was Moshe’s failure to circumcise his son, that Moshe viewed the circumcising of his son was a small thing. That it was a task or something that could be put off to a more convenient time, especially given the enormity of the task and commission facing him. But in Yah’s eyes, breakage of the covenant provisions such as circumcision of all sons of Yisra’el on the 8th day was as important as Moshe’s commission to go down to Egypt and lead Yah’s people out of Egyptian bondage and on to the Promised Land.

 

And so, as it applies to us, regardless the major and not-so-major things we face each day in our lives, we must always be cognizant of our responsibilities as it relates to our covenant relationship with Yehovah and not neglect those provisions and instructions such as steadfast prayer; tithing; loving the brethren; keeping Yah’s set-apart days to the best of our understanding and abilities; loving our spouses and not neglecting them; keeping our hearts circumcised; trusting Yah; taking care of our health and treating our bodies as sacred temples in which Yah dwells; to always image Yah in our day-to-day lives; to be a blessing to others who are in need. I’m sure you can make your own list and we all should constantly seek Yah’s Spirit to conduct a frequent and thorough search of our hearts to ensure we follow the provisions of our covenant relationship with Yah.

 

We can always expect Yah’s best for our lives and the lives we will have in His coming Kingdom. And so, in return, Yah expects the very best from each of us always.

 

And yes, even the small things matter to Yah. Let us keep our eyes on the prize and always look upwards as our redemption draws ever so closer each passing day.