The NXR Podcast - September 03, 2022


QUESTIONS - Why Did God Almost Kill Moses In Exodus 4_24-26？


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Summary

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Why did the Lord kill Moses? Why did He send him back to Egypt? What was the reason for the decision to kill him? And why did He kill his son? Is it because he was a hindrance to his ministry?

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00:00:00.000 reading from exodus chapter 4 verse 19 through 26 are we given any indication as to why god
00:00:09.660 decides he wants to kill moses after he sends him back to egypt from i guess jess uh jeff um yeah
00:00:17.620 so i i've looked up some stuff to answer this question jeff you've asked it several times it's
00:00:21.820 a great question sorry i haven't been able to get to it sooner let's go ahead and look at the text
00:00:25.880 Let's start with verse 21, Exodus chapter four, verse 21.
00:00:29.760 And the Lord said to Moses, when you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all
00:00:35.760 the miracles that I have put in your power, but I will harden his heart, Pharaoh's heart,
00:00:41.000 so that he will not let the people go.
00:00:43.380 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son.
00:00:48.240 And I say to you, let my son go that he might serve me. 0.99
00:00:51.920 If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn. 1.00
00:00:55.880 son. Then verse 24, this is what you're getting at. At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met 1.00
00:01:01.580 Moses and sought, it says met him, but I believe it's Moses, met him and sought to put him to death. 0.84
00:01:10.080 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, 0.86
00:01:16.920 surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me. So he let him alone. It was then that she said, 0.94
00:01:26.320 Zipporah, a bridegroom of blood because of the circumcision. Okay. Yeah. It's a good question 0.91
00:01:33.400 because it is a confusing passage. Let me read a little bit of commentary that I've got from John
00:01:37.320 Gill. So I was looking it up. John Gill, he was the Reformed Baptist pastor in the same church
00:01:43.420 that Charles Spurgeon was the pastor of,
00:01:45.300 and Charles Spurgeon was 100 years later.
00:01:47.840 John Gill is arguably, I think,
00:01:49.540 one of the greatest Reformed Baptist theologians
00:01:52.280 that we have in church history.
00:01:55.480 So here's some of his commentary
00:01:57.180 on this very difficult text.
00:01:59.780 He says, so it was that the Lord met him
00:02:02.660 and sought to kill him,
00:02:04.860 not the uncircumcised son of Moses.
00:02:07.860 So first we have to determine who is him, right? 0.62
00:02:10.340 The Lord met him and sought to kill him.
00:02:12.080 him could be Moses' son. And some theologians and biblical commentators have come to that
00:02:17.920 conclusion. But John Gill is saying, and I agree with him, that the him is not Moses' son, but
00:02:22.640 Moses himself. So the Lord met him, being Moses, and sought to kill him. Not the uncircumcised son
00:02:29.780 of Moses, as some have thought, but Moses himself, who had neglected the circumcision of his son.
00:02:35.980 that from the context and the fact that zipporah after related seems to be the reason of the divine
00:02:42.540 displeasure why was god angry and seeking to put moses to death apparently from the text because
00:02:48.000 moses had neglected to circumcise his son and not hit and not so the divine displeasure being in
00:02:55.760 relation to moses neglecting to circumcise his son rather than god being displeased because of
00:03:01.580 Moses' choice to bring his family with him, supposed to be a hindrance of him in his work,
00:03:07.680 right? There are a lot of commentators. The reason why John Gill is dismantling that as an option is
00:03:12.340 because there were a lot of commentators that that was their conclusion, that the Lord was
00:03:16.180 displeased with Moses because God had called him to go to Egypt, to preach to Pharaoh, to perform
00:03:20.900 all these miracles and signs and wonders, and to tell Pharaoh that Israel is God's firstborn son,
00:03:26.860 and to let his son go that he might serve him.
00:03:30.060 And God was displeased with Moses
00:03:31.580 because God had called him to ministry,
00:03:33.640 but Moses was trying to bring his family
00:03:35.360 along with him into ministry.
00:03:37.480 And his family would slow him down and be a hindrance. 0.90
00:03:39.780 And that's why God sought to put him to death.
00:03:41.780 Some commentators have concluded that.
00:03:43.580 I would say that that is not correct.
00:03:45.600 John Gill would also say that is not correct.
00:03:47.700 God was not displeased with Moses
00:03:49.200 because he was bringing his family with him in his ministry.
00:03:53.080 God was displeased with Moses from what we can tell
00:03:55.620 because he was not functioning properly as the federal head of his family in circumcising his
00:04:03.560 son, okay? Nor of his staying too long at the end. Some have said Moses was staying in the end too
00:04:09.780 long. He was delaying out of cowardice, right? Because this is the same Moses who just a little
00:04:14.260 bit earlier said, well, God, I can't go. I can't be your mouthpiece because I'm slow of speech.
00:04:20.780 And the Lord says, is it not I, the Lord who makes man mute?
00:04:25.000 God's saying, I make the healthy.
00:04:26.540 I also make the disabled. 1.00
00:04:27.820 I make the sick. 1.00
00:04:28.900 I've called you to go and I'm going to be with you and you're going to obey.
00:04:32.660 Stop hesitating.
00:04:33.680 Stop making excuses.
00:04:35.420 Obey me.
00:04:36.320 Okay.
00:04:36.820 And so some have said, well, Moses was staying in this inn on his way to Egypt too long.
00:04:41.220 He was again, still cowardly and hesitating. 0.82
00:04:44.040 And that's why the Lord sought to put him to death. 0.97
00:04:46.000 I don't think that's it either.
00:04:47.500 Okay.
00:04:47.740 Let me read a little bit more.
00:04:48.620 and not hastening his journey,
00:04:50.820 which are some of the reasons given by some.
00:04:52.740 Okay, so that's one thing that John Gill says is,
00:04:55.000 who is the him that the Lord is seeking to put to death?
00:04:57.240 It's not Moses' son, who's uncircumcised,
00:04:59.760 but rather Moses himself.
00:05:01.660 And why is the Lord displeased with him,
00:05:03.560 seeking to put him to death?
00:05:04.940 Because he is slowing his journey, 0.84
00:05:08.360 because he is exercising delayed obedience,
00:05:11.460 which would be disobedience by staying at the inn too long
00:05:14.280 or hindering his ministry by bringing along his family.
00:05:17.260 no no the lord is displeased because he has not circumcised his son and i think that's clear from
00:05:22.860 the context because the lord uh the lord leaves moses alone so to speak uh the lord uh lifts
00:05:30.880 this whatever it was that was was going to kill moses the thing that the thing that where moses
00:05:37.500 and his wife zipporah were able to conclude that the lord is seeking to put him to death
00:05:41.200 the Lord stopped seeking to put Moses to death. When what happened? When Zipporah circumcised
00:05:47.760 their son and threw the bloody foreskin at the feet of Moses and touched his feet with it and 0.95
00:05:54.780 said, a bloody bridegroom, behold. So Zipporah, she took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin 0.96
00:06:02.080 of her son, perceiving that it was the neglect of, again, reading from John Gill, the neglect
00:06:07.360 of circumcision of her son that was the cause of the divine displeasure against her husband
00:06:13.020 and he being either so ill through the disease upon him that was that was threatening to take
00:06:20.840 his life or here's another option um so ill because um so ill through the disease upon him
00:06:28.120 or so terrified with the appearance of the lord or the angel of the lord to him in the manner that
00:06:34.840 it was that he could not perform this right himself. So Zipporah undertook it. So even in
00:06:41.280 that, again, John Gill, and I would agree with him, this is not meant to say that Moses didn't
00:06:46.860 circumcise his son and Moses is still refusing to circumcise his son. And so Zipporah is now
00:06:52.880 choosing to go against her husband's will, Moses' will being not to circumcise their son, 0.57
00:07:00.180 but Zipporah going against her husband's will in order to submit to God's will to circumcise
00:07:04.880 their son. That's not what's being said. It seems implicit in the text that Moses,
00:07:10.980 because that wouldn't have spared Moses' life. If God is displeased with Moses to the point
00:07:16.280 of seeking to take his life, that the Lord sought to put him to death because of Moses' sin of
00:07:21.260 neglecting to circumcise his son, and Moses still doesn't want to circumcise his son,
00:07:25.680 and Zipporah is doing it against Moses' will, that would not save Moses' life.
00:07:30.180 so what's implicit is that the reason why the lord spares moses spares his life is because moses was
00:07:37.100 in disobedience but now is in obedience so it's very likely that moses actually told zipporah to
00:07:43.420 go and circumcise their son which then brings up the question why can't moses do it himself
00:07:48.920 because ordinarily the father would do this well implicitly what john gill's getting at is moses
00:07:54.300 probably did not have the physical ability to do it because the lord was seeking his life seeking
00:07:59.920 to take Moses' life, meaning that the Lord was either doing it directly from an angel
00:08:06.140 in a supernatural sense, or the Lord was doing it providentially through illness or some
00:08:11.640 kind of sickness.
00:08:12.660 But in both cases, either by Moses being physically paralyzed by fear, if it was a supernatural
00:08:18.940 route of an angel threatening to take Moses' life, like the angel that appears to Joshua,
00:08:24.740 remember later on and holding a sword and joshua falls on his face in fear prostrate and and ask
00:08:31.300 are you for us or against us neither i am for the lord um it could be that it could be that
00:08:36.500 moses could not circumcise his son but his heart he was willing his will was there to obey the lord
00:08:42.040 he recognized i i was in disobedience neglecting to do something god had commanded me to do
00:08:46.780 and i want to put it right but i'm just physically not able to do it so my wife is going to do it for
00:08:51.480 me. I'm physically unable because I'm either paralyzed by fear because of the supernatural
00:08:55.500 threat on my life from an angel or paralyzed physically from illness because of God's,
00:09:02.420 again, a divine threat on my life, but providentially through sickness. Okay.
00:09:08.060 Last thing from John Gill. Then Zipporah gave praise and said, how amiable, this is John Gill's
00:09:14.460 interpretation of the bloody bridegroom. What does that mean? How amiable, how likable, how pleasant
00:09:20.780 is the blood of circumcision, which hath delivered my husband from the hand of the destroying 0.78
00:09:27.460 angel. I have a bloody bridegroom, a bridegroom of blood, meaning I have a bridegroom, my husband, 0.78
00:09:35.540 the bridegroom, I have a husband who has been atoned for by blood. That's what Zipporah is 0.97
00:09:42.440 saying. So she says, surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me. Meaning surely you are a bridegroom 0.92
00:09:48.580 God, it's basically what Zipporah is getting at is stop with, you know, for a second, put aside 0.78
00:09:55.440 the blood factor and just a bridegroom for me or to me. Well, he was already her groom. Moses was 0.86
00:10:02.980 already her husband. Surely you are a husband to me. Well, of course, like why is that revelation
00:10:08.080 novel? Why is that new after this experience? Well, I think the reason why it's novel, why
00:10:12.760 Zipporah is saying this is she's saying, surely you're a bridegroom to me, meaning I've got
00:10:18.540 my husband back. You've been returned to me, which again implies that Moses was on his deathbed.
00:10:25.180 He was an inch from the grave. Again, whether it be supernatural fear from the angel of the Lord
00:10:30.100 holding a sword before him, threatening to chop him down, or whether it be some kind of
00:10:36.460 terrible sickness that was threatening his life, some kind of terminal sickness that he was an inch
00:10:42.680 away from death. In both cases, Zipporah, the reason why she's saying, surely you're a bridegroom 0.64
00:10:47.200 to me. What she's saying is, not surely you're my husband. Like she just recognized that Moses was
00:10:52.120 her husband. She already knew that. But what she's saying is, surely my husband, praise God,
00:10:57.240 I get to keep my husband. Surely my husband has been restored to me. My husband who was,
00:11:04.780 for all intents and purposes, every sign was pointing to the fact that he was going to die,
00:11:09.040 that I was going to lose my husband. He is now returned to me. Okay, so that's what she's saying.
00:11:13.780 She's saying, surely you are a restored bridegroom, a restored husband to me.
00:11:19.140 I've gotten my husband back from the jaws of death.
00:11:22.200 But she doesn't just say that.
00:11:23.420 Now we're ready for the blood component.
00:11:25.140 Surely you are a restored, revived husband of blood to me.
00:11:31.220 So what is she saying?
00:11:32.820 I think in simple, what she's saying is she's saying, surely my husband who was about to
00:11:38.020 die has been revived and given back to me.
00:11:41.100 and he has been given back to me because of blood,
00:11:45.920 because his sins have been atoned by blood.
00:11:50.520 And so all that being said,
00:11:52.000 why did the Lord seek to put him to death, right? 0.86
00:11:53.940 The Lord just called Moses to be his mouthpiece to Pharaoh
00:11:57.300 and to do signs and wonders.
00:11:58.680 And so you're right, it seems random.
00:11:59.800 It's like God just set up Moses to be this hero in Israel,
00:12:03.200 to be the deliverer.
00:12:04.460 And then all of a sudden in the very next breath,
00:12:07.080 and the Lord sought to kill Moses.
00:12:09.560 The Lord calls Moses, and then the Lord seeks to kill Moses, and it does seem random.
00:12:14.560 It's hard to understand, but I think the reason why is because the Lord just called Moses, 0.98
00:12:18.780 but Moses better obey.
00:12:21.460 The Lord, yes, the Lord just appointed Moses to be a deliverer of Israel, his mouthpiece
00:12:25.720 to Pharaoh, to perform mighty works and signs and wonders.
00:12:29.500 All this is true, but the Lord just ordained Moses, we could say, but an ordained man who
00:12:37.920 has been ordained by the Lord to ministry, he better live in accordance with that.
00:12:42.920 He better meet those qualifications.
00:12:45.100 He better, if he's been called by God to talk the talk, to preach, to be a mouthpiece, he
00:12:50.020 better also walk the walk.
00:12:51.820 And I think that's what the Lord is doing with Moses.
00:12:53.700 He's saying, I just called you, but lest you get presumptuous, do not think that because
00:13:00.040 I've supernaturally called you and equipped you to perform signs and wonders, do not think
00:13:04.840 that that means that you're a free agent.
00:13:06.940 You work for me, and you abide by my law. 0.83
00:13:10.140 And I told you to circumcise that boy.
00:13:12.020 You know that. 0.95
00:13:13.080 That's what I told to Abraham and your fathers. 0.95
00:13:16.400 And you were to circumcise him on the eighth day. 0.71
00:13:19.580 And I don't want to hear your excuses. 0.94
00:13:21.560 On the eighth day, you were to circumcise an Israelite boy, and you neglected to do it. 0.77
00:13:26.540 And I take holiness seriously. 0.99
00:13:28.760 Yes, you're going to be my mouthpiece.
00:13:30.540 But if you're going to be my mouthpiece, you're going to be a holy mouthpiece. 0.73
00:13:33.420 because in the same way I will not spare Pharaoh in Egypt, 0.61
00:13:37.180 I also will not spare you. 0.69
00:13:38.660 I will not tolerate an enemy, a threat of holiness.
00:13:44.680 I will not tolerate sin.
00:13:47.020 And so whether by illness
00:13:49.120 or whether by supernatural and angel,
00:13:51.380 Moses was, it's not just that he was threatened to be killed,
00:13:54.680 but he was on his way to death.
00:13:57.580 He was an inch away from losing his life
00:13:59.820 to the point where he, obviously,
00:14:03.040 the way that his life was spared
00:14:04.300 is his heart realigns through that threat,
00:14:06.820 through the Lord's discipline of Moses,
00:14:08.380 his heart realigns with obedience.
00:14:10.420 So Zipporah is not acting against her husband's will, 0.59
00:14:12.920 but Moses wants the boy to be circumcised,
00:14:15.200 but he's so heavily under God's discipline
00:14:18.080 that the physical results of that
00:14:22.160 is that he can't even physically
00:14:23.620 perform the circumcision himself. 0.96
00:14:25.640 But Zipporah does, 0.97
00:14:26.420 and then she throws the bloody foreskin 0.99
00:14:29.060 at Moses' feet, on his feet
00:14:30.980 and it's as though the angel of the Lord,
00:14:33.960 whether it be sickness or a literal angel,
00:14:35.900 this angel of death, the angel of the Lord
00:14:37.640 passes over Moses and his life is spared
00:14:40.400 because it's atoned for, his sin is atoned for by blood.
00:14:44.060 And in this, really what we see is the gospel.
00:14:47.060 That's what we see. 0.90
00:14:47.940 Hebrews says that there is no forgiveness of sin 0.93
00:14:51.000 apart from blood.
00:14:52.800 There is no forgiveness of sin apart from blood.
00:14:54.540 And Moses' son, it's his blood, it's his blood in this circumcision that is used ultimately 0.56
00:15:02.800 to atone for Moses' sin.
00:15:05.100 And is it not the blood of God's own son?
00:15:08.460 Better than Moses' son and his blood in circumcision, we have God's own son, Jesus, and his blood
00:15:14.940 in crucifixion.
00:15:16.260 Not just his foreskin, but bleeding out and dying.
00:15:19.340 And it's the blood of Christ, and only the blood of Christ, that causes death to pass
00:15:24.820 over, the angel of death to pass over, that brings us back, that revives us, that brings
00:15:30.360 us to spiritual life.
00:15:32.000 The wages of sin is death, and there is no forgiveness of sin, but by blood.
00:15:37.820 And that's what we see right here.
00:15:39.760 Hopefully that answers your question.
00:15:41.460 Big news, really big news.
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