The journey to Egypt will not be without incident.

Giving the Firstborn (4:22-23)

God gives a snapshot of what will happen in Egypt before it happens.

The giving of the firstborn is an example of how reality works. Egypt has to let God’s firstborn go in order to be made sacred and given up towards God. If he doesn’t do that then God will take his firstborn. There is a death order upon Pharaoh’s son, and he will be given advance warning.

Zipporah and Moses’ Son (4:24-26)

It may be that Moses’ firstborn son is also in danger of a premature death. The story is strange, and the text is ambiguous on what is happening. Who is God trying to kill in the first place? It is not clear. The text before this is about letting Israel, God’s firstborn, go free. Moses is on his way to Israel and his own firstborn is not yet circumcised. God is set to kill either Moses or his son and in order to prevent that Zipporah removes the garments of skin around her son and touches Moses’ feet with it. The fruit of the union is Moses’ son and in order for his son to be given up to God then he has to be purified / cut off from the negative aspects of the stranger by being circumcised. The excess (secular/human knowledge) has to be removed and given up to God. It is almost like Zipporah is putting sandals on Moses’ feet so he can move out and go back into the strange land.

Was Moses neglectful in carrying out a ritual that he knew as a Hebrew he should carry out? Circumcision was a crucial part of the spiritual ritual of following God. Zipporah’s attitude suggests that as a Midianite she was not into the practice of circumcision and Moses had relented. This highlights the important of a father not neglecting taking charge of the family. It was probably at this point that Zipporah and her two sons were sent back to Jethro in Midian, because they did not end up accompanying Moses all the way to Egypt. (Exodus 18).

Categories: Exodus

Tags: bible, Exodus, faith, god, moses