How to Solve a Bible Mystery: When God almost killed Moses

Focal Verse: But it came about at the overnight encampment on the way, that the Lord met Moses, and sought to put him to death. (Exodus 4:24 NASB)

For those wondering where the second part to my series on CALL TO WORSHIP is, it's coming. However, during my quiet time last night, I ran across a verse of Scripture that has perplexed me and many others for a very long time. I've read Exodus 4 dozens, if not hundreds, of times and every single time I get to verse 24, I'm always floored. It's such a shocker. Such a surprise, even though I know it's coming. Even though I know the reason for it all. It just seems to come out of the blue.

Be sure to take a look at the Focal Verse above. I'll wait.

Now I ask you...why on earth would God commission Moses to return to Egypt to deliver His people, only to try to kill the man on his journey? It sounds insane, right?

It doesn't happen often, but every once in a while, the Bible throws out an odd comment here or there with no context or follow-up. Often, many of the heresies or incorrect scriptural interpretations that have developed over the centuries are because of these confusing out-in-left-field statements. There are some that, I'll admit, continue to perplex even the greatest theological minds in history. Others, however, can be solved just like any whodunnit mystery...through logic and deduction. Exodus 4:24 is one such verse. It is very solvable. What's more, the solving of it helps us see a huge aspect of just who God is that is pertinent to the age in which we live.

Well, last night when this verse snuck up on me again, it put a thought in my head. This is a great opportunity to solve a Bible mystery together! As sleuths. Imagine I'm Sherlock Holmes (hey, I'm the teacher here, aren't I? Ha!) and you're Watson. In this experiment, Holmes is trying to teach Watson his methods. In this way, I can show you how to solve this mystery without the need of Google or a Bible commentary or having to ask your pastor about it. It's always better for us to be self-reliant when it comes to understanding Scripture and this passage makes the perfect example to learn (especially given the fact that I'm a mystery author, right?). So, let's get started on this obscure, odd account! The game, my dear Watson, is afoot!

---

"My dear Holmes," I said after watching our guest leave our rooms at 221B Baker Street. "I really have no idea how you will possibly solve this one. There is, after all, no crime scene to investigate. It was thousands of years ago. And there's scarcely any data in which to build a case. I dare say you've bitten off more than you can chew this time."

I took a seat opposite him and glanced over at the roaring fire as he poured a pinch of tobacco from his slipper into the bowl of his pipe and lit it. There was an appreciative twinkle in my friend's eye as he inhaled a rather unhealthy amount of pipe smoke. When he exhaled, it was followed by that exasperatingly smug chuckle he uses when he knows something I obviously do not.

"Watson," he said. "My Boswell. My true friend. You have seen the way my brain works. You know my methods. Are you seriously telling me that the account our client has given to us is such an enigma to you?"

Perplexed by his question, I folded the copy of The Times I'd begun to read and laid it in my lap. I had to admit, I was stymied by the bizarre account. Our visitor's story had been so odd. So outside the bounds of concievable logic. There had been so much information missing from it. Context being most concerning.

No doubt observing my confusion, Holmes winked at me, leaned forward in his seat, and tossed over a copy of the document in which we had been hired to investigate. I glanced down at the title scrawled across the top, Exodus, then skimmed through the account until I arrived at chapter four, pausing just as I approached verse twenty-four.

According to the document, a man named Moses--of Hebraic decent--had been born in Egypt at a time in which the Pharoah had great displeasure with God's chosen people. In fact, he had become so disenfranchised with them that he ordered the death of all recently-born male children in the land. Now, Moses just happened to be born around that time, so his mother, fearing for his life, placed him in a basket covered in pitch and placed him in the river. He floated down the Nile until Pharoah's own daughter happened upon him and adopted him for herself. Fortunately for Moses, the princess requested that Moses's own mother become the child's nursemaid. And so, Moses, while raised in Pharoah's palace in an Egyptian manner, was educated and raised by his own Jewish mother.

The document went onto say that through a strange series of events, Moses, as an adult, had to flee the land as there was a death sentence on his head. He found himself in Midian, where he met his wife, Zipporah. Together, they had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. A bit of time passes after the birth of Moses's second son (but not much) and God appears to him and tells Moses to go back to Egypt to rescue the children of Israel (Jacob), in other words, the Jewish people. The descendents of Abraham, "the father of many." Despite many protests by Moses, he eventually agreed to go and do what God asked.

Then, the strangest of things happened on their journey to Egypt. The document states that while Moses's family was staying in some lodgings enroute to Egypt, God came intent on killing his own chosen deliverer! For the life of me, I cannot fathom the logic in this. Why send this man to Egypt only to kill him in cold blood before he's even at his destination? Yes, the document does state that God became angry with Moses back in Midian when he kept making excuse after excuse not to go (But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses... (Exodus 3: 13-14a NIV)). But that makes no sense? Why wait so long? Why not kill him right then and there? Why wait until Moses has uprooted his family and is halfway to Egypt before doing this? It seems...well, it seems rather random to me, if I'm perfectly honest.

As I pondered these things, Holmes unleashed a full-throated guffaw. I glanced up from the document to see that infuriating twinkle in his eye once more.

"I perceive that you are quite baffled by the account even still, are you not, Watson?"

Flushing with embarrassment and no little irritation, I could only shrug. "For the life of me, Holmes, I cannot understand any of it. It comes so out of the blue. It seems so unnecessary and, dare I say, arbitrary and vindictive of the Almighty."

Holmes' delighted countenance disappeared instantly, His face grew long and stern, as was its wont. And he nodded with understanding. "Of course," he said. "Yes, I can understand why it might seem so perplexing for many, my dear friend. But the answer, upon closer scrutiny of the text itself, is really quite elementary. Allow me to break it down for you. The vexing verse is twenty-four, correct?"

I nodded before quoting it out loud, "But it came about at the overnight encampment on the way, that the Lord met Moses, and sought to put him to death (NASB)." I threw up my hands. "That's it! That's all it says. While sleeping during their trip, God approached Moses seeking to 'put him to death'. But why?"

My friend's smile once more returned, but this time there was not the usual pomp so often displayed when he demonstrated his extraordinary powers. "You're asking the wrong question, Watson. The question isn't 'why did God seek Moses's death?', but rather 'why did God spare Moses' life?'"

I gasped at this revelation. I hadn't even considered it.

"You see, Watson, you've fallen into the same trap that so many fall prey to." He took another puff of his pipe, then leaned forward in his chair to catch my gaze with his bright, brilliant eyes. "You've read the verse, but not the passage in which the verse is contained. Consider the following verses. Read verses 25 and 26 and see if things might make more sense."

With a nod, I complied: But Zipporah [Moses's wife] took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

I looked up at the text and blinked. His smile broadened, perceiving that I still didn't quite understand. "Circumcision? Why on earth would the circumcision of Moses's son prevent such a tragedy as his death? I simply do not understand."

"Do you not?" Holmes said. "Think about it. Think about Moses's ancestor, Abraham. Think about Moses's upbringing by his own Jewish mother."

I pondered his words for a moment and reflected on the things he mentioned. Generations earlier, God had come to Abraham--God has a way of always approaching humanity...we never have to go to him as He's always coming to us--and made the man a promise. A covenant. Abraham would be the father of a great nation that would eventually bless the entire world. And in this promise, God gave Abraham a sign to the whole world that Abraham's descendents would be the people of God's covenant. All males in Abraham's lines were to be circumcised on their eighth day of life (Genesis 17: 9-14). Moses's mother would have understood this. She would have seen to it that Moses understood as well.

Before I could speak, Holmes continued with his lesson of deduction. "Now that you've pondered that, consider the text itself once more.

I nodded. "It's obvious. God came to kill Moses because he hadn't circumcised his children..."

Holmes held up a finger. "Tsk tsk tsk...Watson. Be specific. How many children weren't circumcised?"

The answer hit me immediately. "According to the passage, Zipporah only had to circumcise one child. That means, one of them was most likely already circumcised according to the custom."

Holmes nodded. "Logic would say it was the oldest, Gorsham. It's purely speculative, but it's likely that Moses didn't feel quite comfortable with the act with his second son...given that his wife was not Hebrew and most likely didn't understand the rite. Who knows? She might have insisted their youngest child not go through the ritual itself."

"But why? Why kill Moses over such a silly thing as that? It still doesn't make much sense."

My friend scratched at his chin as his eyes drifted over to the bullet hole pattern that spelled 'VR'...Victoria Regina...in the wall across from him. "Think about it," he finally said. "The sign of the covenant was just that. A sign. A tradition. Moses, however, was destined to be God's law-giver, when circumcision would move from tradition to condified rule of law. What sort of example would he be setting to his own people if he demanded their children go through such a rigorous surgical procedure at eight days old and his own child didn't? No, before Moses could deliver God's chosen people, he would have to put his own house in order, as it were. An overseer or pastor or leader need first ensure his own family is right with God before they can possibly take the reins of an entire people."

"But how did Zipporah know? How did she know how to save her husband's life?"

"Within the context of the text itself, we have some hints," Holmes said. "It wasn't Moses himself that circumcised Eliezer. It was Zipporah. After she is done, she touches the foreskin to Moses's feet. While we have no way of knowing for sure, I surmise this shows us that Moses might have been incapable of performing the ritual himself. There's a good chance, given the fact that God had come to put him to death, that Moses was bed-ridden. Perhaps he'd contracted some illness during their journey...the method in which God intended to kill him. The fact that Zipporah touched Moses' feet seems to indicate he was lying down. Point is, it seems Moses was either incapable of or unwilling to do the task himself. If it was because of Zipporah that Eliezer had not been circumcised, maybe she felt responsible to fix it herself while her husband slept. Who knows? The point is, we now know precisely why God had wanted Moses dead."

I nodded at this. "But my original question was how did she know to begin with? How did she know this would save her husband?"

"Perhaps God appeared to her in similar fashion as He had to Moses," Holmes said. "But most likely not. This is where a general knowledge of the culture of the people of the text comes in handy. During this time period and in middle eastern culture, things like medicine and illness were still quite a mystery to most people. Most sicknesses were attributed to the ancient gods. If someone became ill, the first question that would spring to mind was 'what has been done to anger the gods?' Given that Zipporah was of a people outside of Abraham's line, her own culture would dictate such questions. There's more than a good chance she wondered what sin had been done against Moses's God and took corrective action as best she could."

I smiled. "Why Holmes," I said. "It really does make sense. Strange that only moments ago, the passage was such a strange mystery. But after hearing you explain things, it really is quite a simple matter, isn't it? I can't believe I had such difficulty with it before."

Sherlock Holmes rolled his eyes at this comment, bit down on the stem of his pipe in obvious irritation, and leaned back in his chair, I'm sure, to ponder his next great mystery.

---

I approached this discussion of biblical hermeneutics in a novel way. I hope it was entertaining, but I hope it was even more instructive. You see, most of the time, passages in the Bible that seem so unclear can often be solved with a little thought, observation, and deduction. Many times, it might require seeking out other passages in the Bible for appropriate context (an examination of the Abrahamic covenantal sign of circumcision). But with a little mental elbow grease, we can often figure things out on our own.

Not always mind you. There are some verses and passages that I believe are meant to be mysteries until the Holy Spirit is ready to reveal them to the hearts of believers.

But for a quick, no-nonsense guide to Bible interpretation, here's a primer for you. You should always read a Bible verse or passage within:

• It's historical context.

• It's cultural context (who was the writer of the passage speaking to and how would they understand it?

• The context of the specific chapter.

• The context of the specific book the passage is found in.

• The context of the entire Bible as a whole theological unit.

I know. That's a lot to remember when you're trying to understand God's word, but it really is the best way to approach a proper study of the Bible. These points are what's referred to literary criticism and pretty much works for all ancient texts.

One final hint though...if it's only one verse within the entire Bible (ie there are no other verses that support it), it's best to avoid coming up with an entire theological point on it. I'm not saying discount the verse entirely. Just don't choose that one verse as the hill you want to die on when it comes to a theological debate. One-verse theological adherence is generally the best way to sink one's hooks into heresy.

Before we end, I mentioned at the beginning of this blog that it reveals one big characteristic of God we should take heed of. Well, actually, while writing this post, I've thought of two. Pay attention.

1. God takes sin seriously. I know we want to think of God as loving and understanding, kind and forgiving. And he's all those things and more! But sin He cannot abide. Why? Because it prevents us from being in His presence. Because of that, God takes sin seriously and so should we.

2. God doesn't NEED us. We always think of Moses as being the next best thing to God on earth. They're like best friends, right? Through Moses, God delivered His people out of Egypt. Through Moses, God parted the Red Sea. Through Moses, God gave the Law to us. And yet, could He have done any of this without Moses? Absolutely. That's why He was willing to put Moses to death for his sin of omission. He could just as easily used Moses's brother, Aaron, or some random schmoe off the streets. Or no one at all. He could have rescued His people all by Himself. So let's be sure to keep ourselves humble when God chooses to use us for His service. He doesn't need us. He offers to let us be part of His redemptive work on earth. A great honor indeed!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. Hope you learned from it. And stay tuned next week when we return to my series on A Call to Worship (how to approach God in worship).