But Zipporah . . .
Exodus 4:24-25 "At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met {Moses} and was
about to kill him. But Zipporah ..."
"But Zipporah ..."
Before Moses and Zipporah could reach the land of Goshen, where his ministry
as a leader was to begin, they, not just he, had to first pass through the
wilderness of Paran and Shur. Zipporah, it appears, intervened. This
suggests to me that the wives of the men, who are to be used mightily of the
Lord, will also have their day in the wilderness; because of their husbands
calling.
Because God had called Moses to do a job and because Moses had accepted that
call, both Moses' wife and son would have to suffer and make sacrifices.
The cutting away of Moses' son's foreskin symbolizes the removal of a part
of his life.
There was going to be a part of his son's life that would be taken away from
him, that would not have been taken away had Moses remained in Midian.
However, Midian means "contention" or "judgment" and, if Moses had remained
in Midian, he would have always been torn; and would have struggled within
himself to realize that he had resisted the call of God.
Notice that Zipporah touched Moses' feet with the foreskin. It was Moses'
walk with God that was the reason this sacrifice had to be made.
Note, too, that it was Zipporah who had to do the cutting. Perhaps this is
an indication of the many things that Moses would normally be responsible
for, within his household, that would now be left in the hands of his wife;
because Moses would not always be around to do them anymore. Notice, too,
that she called him a bridegroom of blood.
When Zipporah first married Moses, she probably thought of him as a
bridegroom of joy. But now, in light of his calling, commission, and
acceptance of it, he is a bridegroom of blood to her: blood, here, denoting
suffering and sacrifice, and the life of the wife of a leader always
involves suffering and sacrifice.
"But Zipporah ..."
© by Dot McGinnis