The LORD'S WEAPONS AND WAYS

THE LORD DELIVERS HIS PEOPLE TO DWELL WITH HIM THROUGH UNUSUAL WEAPONS AND UNIQUE WAYS.

HE USES A STAFF AND THE SPOKEN WORD AS HIS WEAPONS OF CHOICE.

HIS STAFF POSSESSED GOD’S PRESENCES AND HIS WORDS GOD’S POWER.

TODAY WE POSSESS GOD’S PRESENCES NOT IN A STAFF BUT IN A SWORD AND HIS POWER NOT IN OUR WORD’S BUT HIS WORD.

John 1:14 ESV

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Colossians 3:16 ESV

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Hebrews 4:12 ESV

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

1 Peter 1:23 ESV

since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

1 Thessalonians 2:13 ESV

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

Romans 10:8–17 ESV

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

WE SEE HERE BOTH A PICTURE OF SALVATION AND SANCTIFICATION.

HE USES THE SACRIFICE OF AN INNOCENT TO COVER THE SINS OF INSUBORDINATE.

God was giving his prophet firsthand experience of salvation.

God showed Moses the wages of sin by placing him under his divine wrath. But then God’s deadly wrath was turned aside—or “propitiated,” to use the proper term for it—by the blood of circumcision. Blood is mentioned specifically because in order to be delivered from death, Moses had to be touched by the blood of a sacrifice and thereby identified with it. It was not a full sacrifice, of course; nevertheless, that small portion of circumcised skin represented Gershom’s entire person, offered in Moses’ place. Moses was saved from God’s wrath by the shed blood of a substitute.

As strange as this experience may sound, it reveals the one true way of salvation. Every human being is a sinner who stands under the wrath of God. Like Moses, we have failed to keep God’s law and thus are subject to God’s curse against our sin. The only way to be saved from eternal death is for God’s wrath to be turned aside, which can only be done through an act of blood. This is exactly what Jesus provided on the cross: a perfect sacrifice for sin, offered through the shedding of his own blood. By dying in our place, Jesus turned aside the wrath of God against our sin. He is our substitute, the one

Romans 3:25 ESV

whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Everyone who believes in Jesus Christ will be saved from God’s wrath through the vicarious sacrifice he offered on the cross. There is no other way to be saved.

He gave Moses life through the circumcision of His Son. He has given us the way of eternal life through the crucifixion of His Son.

HIS RESPONSE TO MOSES DISOBEDIENCE SHOWS THAT OUR LORD VALUES OBEDIENCE OVER SACRIFICE.

1 Samuel 15:22–23 ESV

And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.”

The smallest sin is an act of Cosmic Treason against a Holy God. - Jonathan Edwards

The LORD’S intent was not death but discipline.

This raises a more basic question: What was so important about circumcision? Consider this contrast: When Moses refused to go to Egypt, God patiently helped him on his way; but when he failed to circumcise his son, God threatened to take his very life. Peter Enns writes, “Moses can argue, pout, whine, and hold his breath about going to Egypt and God will deal patiently with him—but circumcision is another matter. Quite literally, it was a matter of life and death. But why?

For one thing, circumcision was the distinguishing mark of God’s people, a sign indicating membership in the covenant community, and thus it served as the proof of sonship in Israel, as Zipporah seems to have understood. Furthermore, circumcision was a covenant sign that went all the way back to the patriarchs (see Gen. 17). Therefore, if Moses intended to serve the God of Abraham, he had a covenant obligation to circumcise his sons. This was also an important part of his preparation for the exodus. Later, when the Israelites celebrated their first Passover, every male would be required to be circumcised (Exod. 12:43–49). Moses had to set the example. If he was going to lead the people out of Egypt, he himself had to keep the covenant. How could he be Israel’s prophet if he neglected his spiritual responsibility to his own family by failing to include them in God’s salvation?

Moses’ failure to keep the covenant of circumcision nearly cost him his life. His near-death experience teaches us at least a significant lesson about salvation in Christ. We see the spiritual importance of receiving the sign of the covenant, which for the Christian is baptism. There is a connection between the Old Testament sign of circumcision and the New Testament sacrament of baptism. As Paul wrote to the Colossians,

Colossians 2:11–12 ESV

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

The example of Moses teaches us to regard baptism with the utmost seriousness. Although the sacrament itself does not save anyone, nevertheless believers are to be baptized.

Hebrews 12:3–11 ESV

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Psalm 94:12 ESV

Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law,

Psalm 119:67 ESV

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.

Psalm 119:75 ESV

I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

Revelation 3:19 ESV

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.