Nougat 16

Hello dear

Today’s Holy Nougat makes for an uncommon; but good murder mystery. Enjoy

“It happened along the way, at a lodging place, that ADONAI met him and sought to kill him!” Exodus‬ ‭4:24‬ ‭TLV‬‬

No matter how often I read this; it is jarring! The ‘him’ referred to is Moses. It just doesn’t add up. God calls Moses, almost forces him to return to Egypt; and then was gonna get rid of him just like that before Moses even completed the assignment given. Sorry. That’s hard for me to process.

Reading around the text reveals that the death threat (penalty) was ascribed to Moses because he failed to circumcise his son. And, although this ‘solves’ the mystery in one sense; foreshadowing the First commandment to reverence God above all else; it doesn’t fit. Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son – as a test of faith (and even that takes some swallowing); but God stopped him before it was a done deal.

So why threaten Moses’s life?

My one theory is actually connected to my understanding of God’s character AND human nature. We confess God to be All-Knowing and Ever-Present (ie Omniscient and Omnipresent); to be in our future while with us in the here and now. Thus, the God Who Knows all and Who transcends time would definitely have known the outcome of the circumcision encounter. The boy was circumcised and Moses did not die.

Further, there’s the aspect of human nature evident in the storytelling. A good storyteller knows how to build tension and where to place the emphasis for the benefit of their audience. And if Moses was the recorder of the story as some claim; his goal may have been to help the Hebrews grasp the holiness of God. He may also have sought to underscore the importance of circumcision. Can’t you hear him explaining to some unwilling Hebrew parent; ‘take it from me; it is easier to circumcise than face God’s wrath. I almost Died!’?

Or maybe it was his wife Zopporah, the real hero of the story, who first narrated this episode (see verse 25-26). We’re told that she nicknamed him ‘husband of blood’ as his near death experience forced her to do the circumcision to the boy herself. (I confess that I also ponder current practices of circumcision at each reading).

Most interesting for me in this whole saga, is the apparent Silence of God. It is a very Loud Silence. God speaks in verse 23; advising Moses that pharaoh’s (read Egypt’s) firstborn son would be slain if pharaoh refused to comply. Then there is the circumcision saga in three verses and God speaks again. And life ‘returned’ to normal.

So many questions left unanswered. Had Moses been instructed to circumcise but, disobeyed because of his Egyptian heritage (upbringing)? Was the circumcision a sign of the Passover? Could it be that Lord was revealing to Moses what the fate was for any uncircumcised firstborn son in Egypt? And how did Zipporah know what to do?

Many are the mysteries of our Faith my dears; and some might not be solved in this lifetime.

In Christ’s love and grace . . .