"Why God Wanted to Kill Moses" (Conclusion)

Last week I mentioned that the sacred Text of Scripture I have been led to elaborate on in the form of a sermon is admittedly one of the most difficult texts I have attempted to preach from. My subject is a pretty serious accusation against God, but it is truebecause it comes directly out of one of our verses we have read; “And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him” (v. 24). These words seemingly come from nowhere. Something has God upset and it is something Moses has either done or is thinking about doing, all while he is embarking on a divine mission in God’s name.

You know, God does not have to wait until we do something wrong before God chastises us because the Lord knows the content and intent of our hearts. Yes, so God knows what I am up to and what you are up to also.

In our previous chapter three, the Lord very clearly calls Moses out as the chosen leader of the people of Israel and wants Moses to go and be God’s spokesperson to the Pharaoh of Egypt - “Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt” (3.10).

Upon hearing the Lord’s plans for him, Moses immediately begins to make excuses as to why he is the wrong man for the job. Chapters three and four provides us the five excuses Moses’ gives the Lord in response to his call to service. Then in chapter four the Lord responds to Moses’ pitiful excuses for not wanting to go to Pharaoh and in so doing, God reassures Moses that the sovereign Lord will indeed be with Moses - “I will certainly be with you” (3.12). Then the Lord proved Himself to be serious when He performs three miracles for Moses, and in the miracles, God reminds Moses that with God all things are possible. Moses was told to throw his staff or rod on the ground, and it became a serpent; when Moses picked it up as God instructed, the serpent became a rod or staff once again. Then the Lord told Moses to put his hand inside of his clothing and when he did, Moses’ hand became leprous; he puts his hand back into his clothing the hand became like his other skin, free of leprosy. Finally, the Lord tells Moses to take some water from the Nile River and spill it on the ground, and when the water hits the ground, it immediately turns to blood! After the Lord addresses the lame excuse Moses gives the Lord, telling the Lord he can’t speak good in public, the Lord said, ‘that's why I’m sending your articulate brother, Aaron with you. I will speak to you; you will speak to Aaron and Aaron will speak for you but be sure to take this rod in your hand!” The power or the anointing for this task is with you, Moses!

Question: Do you see how we cannot just give our responsibilities to someone else, even if they appear to be qualified? We need the Lord’s permission first because no matter how well Aaron speaks, if he doesn’t have the rod, he would just be a well-spoken slave again!

So, Moses goes to his father-in-law Jethro, asks him permission to take leave from his work responsibilities so he can go take care of some business in Egypt, and Jethro says, ‘yes,’ “Go in peace” 4.18).

The Text, Telling the Story.

4. 21; “And the Lord said to Moses, When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.”

When the Lord gives us an assignment with instructions, do not take any shortcuts, but do exactly what the Lord tells you to do!

Vv. 22-23; Then, after the Lord tells Moses ‘what to do’, the Lord tells Moses ‘What to say’ in verses 22 & 23 -

“Then you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I say to you, Let my son go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.”

v. 24; But then there is that odd verse 24 - “At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death.”

What? Where did this come from? Moses has accepted the Lord’s response to all the excuses and has accepted the role as liberator of Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, when the Lord meets Moses “on the way” and Scripture says the Lord now wants to kill Moses! Sometimes our feet are moving, but our hearts haven’t changed! God knows something.

Preaching Point #1.

What God knows is that Moses has not been completely honest with Him. Moses is trying to get his family out of town, get them out of Midian, before taking care of some important business he hasn’t taken care of with his family in Midian! Moses, the great spiritual leader of the people of Israel, has ignored the Lord’s command as given to the great patriarch and father of the nation, Abraham in Genesis 17. 9-14 - “And God said to Abraham, As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Preaching Point #2.

So, I have commanded that no one, that is, no male can enter the land of Canaan except they first were circumcised, or else they would die, but you, the leader of the nation, are trying to sneak your son out of Midian, into Egypt temporarily, with hopes he will join the rest of God’s family and enter into the land of Canaan, right? So, you don’t care if your son, your firstborn son with Zipporah, dies at the hands of the Lord? So, now we know why God wanted to kill Moses! Moses was walking in disobedience to the Lord because Moses, the great spiritual leader of God’s people, knew the well-rehearsed covenant God made with his forefather, Abraham.

Is Moses by his disobedience trying to insinuate there are exclusions to God’s establish covenant law? Or is Moses on the verge of establishing a new religion’, one that professes to give you all the rights and privileges of a right standing, a friendly relationship, with eternal God without having followed God’s Word?

Preaching Point #3.

This text in my opinion, is strongly implying that there is no ‘right standing’ or friendly relationship between God and human beings without accepting God’s Word and actively joining into God’s gracious covenant unless it is through the shedding of blood!Here we see the truth that anyone who wants to enter God’s land of promise must submit to the circumcision of the flesh which in Scripture clearly points us to the willful spilling of blood by our Lord Jesus Christ. Your and my participation in Christ’s sacrifice is to simply believe that Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient for the Lord to forgive us of all our unholy infractions. This then that makes it possible for you and me to be a part of the family of God and like Israel, we wait to enter our promised land, the New Heavens and the New Earth!

Why has Moses neglected to circumcise him and Zipporah’s firstborn son? We do not know. Bu another truth here is this - it doesn’t matter who you are or who I am; it doesn’t matter who your daddy is, to whom he was born of, where he was born or where he is going, no one, that is no male Israelite, a potential head of the household, can enter a covenant relationship with eternal God except through the observance of the blood-covenant of circumcision!

And once the male is circumcised and becomes the head of the household, his entire family is covered by that same blood! There is security in the blood.

v. 25; “Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!”

Preaching Point #4.

What a good woman! She covered her husband and saved Moses from the wrath of God. Secondly, will you notice with me that in Zipporah temporarily taking the lead in this instance, we learn something else; God gives to His leaders the help they need, and that is the person or persons who will help fulfill that leader’s purpose. Moses would not have lead Israel out of Egypt if it had not been for Zipporah!

Men, if you are not married, this is the kind of woman you want; one who lives to please God and who will help her husband fulfill his purpose.

Zipporah did not want to lose her firstborn son! And she knew the consequences of neglecting God’s Covenant Law.

The Covenant signed by circumcision was more than just a ritual. Circumcision had power to bring one into the family of God or exclude one who disobeyed by death. The seriousness of God’s Covenant of circumcision with Israel can be seen in the fact that God threatened to kill Moses; yes, Moses, Israel’s great emancipator. God is serious, there is no other way!

The Proposition or Sermon in a Sentence.

There is no entrance into the kingdom with the blood-sacrifice It is the only way to enter God’s peace; the only way to enjoy God’s eternal promises and God’s real protection, and that is through the blood!

It is the blood through sacrifice that signed my name! The blood sealed my inheritance and spared me from destruction!

Take care of your business at home before you try to take care of someone else’s business, men!

The Close.

Now, if you want to remain dead spiritually speaking, you, like Moses, simply refuse to act upon God’s Covenant of blood, and as God pledged to Moses, you will die, barred from entering God’s promised land.

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