skip to Main Content

May 20, 2017

Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.

Reading along with us in Exodus? Here’s today’s reading:

Exodus 4 (ESV)

Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” 2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6 Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. 7 Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 9 If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”… Continue Reading

*If you click “Continue Reading”, you will leave this page and navigate to “bible.com” where you can read the rest of the chapter. Be sure to come back to this page to share what God has revealed to you by commenting below. 

Already registered? Click here to log in.

Not registered? Click here (LHCC members only)

This Post Has 5 Comments
  1. Multiple signs given for Moses to display
    doubt prevails due to his eloquence, anger burned but God provided another’s mouth.
    I am confused why God was going to kill Moses in verse 24 but his wife’s intervention of ” bridegroom of blood” saved him.
    Moses and Aaron reveal to their people God’s concern for them.

  2. Although confusing, Melanie, the issue God had with moses was the fact he hadn’t circumcised his son before this. As he was to represent God and the Jews before Pharaoh, it is clear God wanted his household in line with the covenant. You wonder if zipporah may have been the one halting it and thus the one prompted to address it.
    It is also interesting how God gives all these things to Moses to reassure him, but Moses persists in doubt. How much of our hesitation to follow and trust God is reflected in that? I hope God doesn’t have to resort to calling someone else for a call that He intended for me!

  3. Thank you, Pastor Peter, for your thoughts on God’s seeking to put Moses to death. I was wondering the same thing, Melanie! “Wait…what?”

    Based on my own experience as a wife and mother who has often resisted what God has asked of me in those areas, I believe Zipporah’s faith and obedience is being tested here. This is the beginning of a special calling on Moses, one that is going to require “all hands on deck,” so to speak, with God’s plan. God unfortunately has to go to drastic measures to get Zipporah’s head and heart in the game, because much faith will be expected of her as the wife of Moses. Perhaps her foot dragging on the circumcision of their son was evidence of doubt about how seriously God sees disobedience.

    Just a theory. Been there! Now I welcome those deeper calls to submission, but it’s taken a long time to get here.

    The great news is God has always blessed my “letting go.” There’s a story I heard years ago that has proved to be the perfect allegory (parable?) for this journey of faith God calls us to:

    It wouldn’t surprise me if Zipporah was the one dragging her feet, maybe even causing Moses to stumble. Perhaps she believed circumcision was cruel, or “silly.” Maybe it didn’t make sense to her, and she didn’t think it was any big deal. God wanted to get her priorities straight. Now. Because it’s “go time.” I wonder what her attitude was when she threw the foreskin at Moses’ feet?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back To Top