Exodus 4:22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.
25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.
26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.
27 And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.
28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.
29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:
30 And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.
31 And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.
God continued to instruct Moses as to what he was to say to Pharaoh. One of the many blessings we see in God is that He does not beat around the bush. He speaks in plain language that all can understand. Pharaoh was not kept guessing as to what Moses would say to him. Moses was not being training by God to be a spin doctor.
God reminded Moses that Israel was His firstborn son. God had a special relationship with the nation of Israel. That relationship was enacted by God. God made man and He can choose to work through a particular group of people for His purposes. God’s choosing of Israel as His firstborn does not exclude others from knowing God’s blessings. The use of the word “firstborn” suggests there will be others born as well. We know that God divided the world into two groups of people: Jews and Gentiles.
In verse 23 God continued to instruct Moses with the words he needed to speak before Pharaoh. We see here that God reminded Moses that human government does not supersede God’s authority. Many people have wrongly turned to Romans 13 to try to hide behind their unwillingness to stand on the side of God. God does not expect, nor does He command people to blindly follow human government. Human government is designed to protect the good and punish the evil.
Pharaoh was attacking the nation of Israel and seeking to limit their ability to expand numerically. He was also seeking to restrict Israel from worshipping the true God. He was a wicked king. We have the same thing in Canada. Some people have tried to compare our current P.M. to Hitler. Some have taken great offence to that comparison. We can look at Pharaoh and we can see that our P.M. is acting very much like Pharaoh did. It should be clear to saved people that our government is anti-God.
God warned Pharaoh that if he would not let Israel go and serve the true God, then God would kill Pharaoh’s firstborn. God gave this warning before any plagues were unleashed upon Egypt. Pharaoh was well aware of God’s plan. What he failed to understand, is that God does not make idle threats. It is foolish for us to make idle threats. God is well capable to act upon what He says He will do.
In verse 24 we see that Moses had been careless on something that God had initiated with the nation of Israel in the days of Abraham. Moses had failed to obey God’s command in circumcising his sons. God took this disobedience very seriously and was about to kill him. Keep in mind that God had chosen Moses as His man to lead the nation of Israel out of bondage and into the new land that was promised to Abraham. This choosing did not mean that it did not matter how Moses lived his life.
Moses needed to understand the importance of obedience in all things. In verse 25 we see that Zipporah took a sharp knife and circumcised their son. Zipporah was not trained as a Jew. She was the daughter of a priest. That priest was not a priest of the most high God. She would have received instruction on what was wrong at this particular time. There is bleeding involved in circumcision. There is also pain involved when it is left longer than God designed it.
Circumcision is not a means of salvation. Circumcision was a command that God gave to the nation of Israel. Gentiles are not commanded by God to circumcise their sons. God made it clear that circumcision was not God’s way of salvation. It was God’s way of identifying His firstborn son. Moses needed to uphold God’s law. Circumcision is not a public matter. However, God knows about it. Circumcision was a covenant between God and the people of Israel. It is not something for public knowledge.
In verse 26 we see that Zipporah discovered the importance of obeying God even though she did not understand the purpose of it. Moses had failed to instruct his wife on God’s laws to the Jews. She again reminded Moses that he was a bloody husband. He kept important information from her. That disobedience was something that God was judging here.
In verse 27 we read that God spoke to Aaron now. Earlier in this chapter, God spoke as though Aaron was already on his way. The fact is that God often looks at things as though they are already done. That is because God’s plans cannot be stopped. People can miss out on God’s blessings, but God’s plans will go forward.
Aaron was more obedient to God than Moses at this point. He went at God’s command. He went to meet Moses and he expressed his care for him when he met him. The kiss spoken of here was a friendly family kiss, not a lustful immoral act. Most likely the kiss was on the cheek.
Aaron’s actions here were a normal method of signifying his care for Moses. It is not our custom to give a kiss as a form of greeting. It is our custom to give a hand shake. Our government has brainwashed many into thinking that a hand shake is a dangerous thing. It is important to keep our hands clean where possible. A hand shake is still a good thing.
In verse 28 Moses instructed Aaron with regard to what the LORD had been telling him. Aaron needed to know this because he was going to be Moses’ mouthpiece for a time. Moses also showed Aaron the signs that he was given.
In verse 29 we see that Aaron did not hesitate to go with Moses after hearing what the LORD had told Moses. Moses and Aaron gathered the elders of Israel together to instruct them in what the LORD was doing. It was important for the elders to understand that the LORD had heard them and He was going to act in a forceful manner to deliver them from the bondage they were under. He was going to take them out of Egypt and guide them to the land promised to Abraham.
In verse 31 we see that the elders believed the words spoken by Aaron as directed by Moses. They also were convinced that this was of the LORD because they saw the signs that God gave Moses. We are told that they bowed their heads and worshipped. It is easy to worship the LORD when there are no adverse affects to that. We know their attitudes would change soon. They wanted an immediate release. They were not prepared to face the hatred of the ungodly king. They had already faced some of that hatred and they wanted to be set free from that.
We have seen the facade of religion change over the past two years. Many have been quite content to stay home and live stream rather than go to church. After all, the government has stated at times it is dangerous to go to church. Many people have replaced the true God with the god of humanism. We are witnessing the disastrous results of this. Sadly most are not willing to admit the folly of humanism. Those that are truly saved need to see the importance of worshipping God according to His design regardless of what the government says. We have the privilege of reminding others that there is a God in Heaven Who is in charge. We can know Him and we can be blessed by knowing Him.
Pastor Bartel
