“And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!” So He let him go. Then she said, “You are a husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.”
Exodus 4:24-26 NKJV
Let’s face it, there are a lot of folks out there who want rights without the responsibilities that come with them. But, a system where people demand rights, without doing what is right, will collapse under its own weight.
Unfortunately, this tendency to want all the goodies without fulfilling the requirements for the same, does not stop outside the realm of human government.
We know that God is a God of Covenant. We should also know that God never made Covenant with any person or group without putting conditions on receiving the blessings of the Covenant. Indeed, the very nature of a covenantal relationship is that of reciprocity.
As a matter fact, God pointed out that people should not presume to take the word of His promise in their mouths if they are not obeying that same word:
“Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth, Seeing you hate instruction And cast My words behind you?”
Psalms 50:14-17 NKJV
Sadly, many pastors and teachers preach an unconditional Gospel (the good news of the work done through Jesus Christ: our New Covenant).
Now certainly, salvation is a gift of God, having no limits set in terms of race, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic level, etc. However, to access that free gift, there must be acceptance of the One Who purchased it.
As well, to walk in the blessings of the New Covenant, there certainly are conditions. Without listing a hosts of scriptures from the New Testament, allow me to offer just a few—from the mouth of Jesus—that should set to rest any notion that the New Covenant has no conditions:
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
John 14:15-17 NKJV
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.”
John 15:13-14 NKJV
“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 10:32-33 NKJV
Today we find Moses in quite a predicament. Apparently, he has somehow transgressed the Covenant of God and is about to be taken out by the Lord. Now, this is a very enigmatic couple of scriptures, seemingly dropped into the narrative about Moses returning to Egypt. Many people—in trying to make sense of it—have come up with some farfetched notions as to what is being referenced here. I would say that a better approach to understand it is working backwards.
If the circumcision of the son of Moses took away the anger of the Lord, then the anger was over the fact that the son was not circumcised. It seems to be that simple. (Additionally, some think that the life being threatened was of the son of Moses and not Moses himself; but we need not try to make that distinction here.) You see, the Abrahamic Covenant had a very clear condition concerning circumcision:
“He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
Genesis 17:13-14 NKJV
Bear in mind, God is sending Moses to represent him to the court of Pharaoh and also to the Hebrews in Egypt. Before he arrived there, God wanted all the “loose ends” to be taken care of. Moses needed to truly exemplify the Covenant of God. Indeed, it was because of God’s Covenant with His people that He was about to bring them out of the bondage of Egypt!
What happened to Moses here is definitely a cautionary tale for those inclined to take God’s Covenants lightly.
For today let us discover what Moses discovered:
There are conditions attached to the blessings of covenant.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
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