We come now to the record regarding Moses and Zipporah (4:24-26). Verse 24 says, “And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.” By the time of verse 23, it seemed that the calling of Moses was complete. Therefore, Moses took his wife and his two sons and began to make his way from the land of Midian to Egypt. But as they were staying in an inn, the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him. Moses must have been shocked, and Zipporah must have been terrified. Zipporah may have asked Moses why God, who had called and sent him, was now seeking to kill him. She may have questioned what was wrong. I believe that Moses immediately realized the problem: his younger son had not been circumcised. As a Gentile wife, Zipporah may have been unhappy when Moses circumcised the first son, and this may have caused her to oppose the circumcision of the second son. Due to Moses’ weakness and negligence plus Zipporah’s opposition, the Lord’s requirement had not been fulfilled; therefore, the Lord sought to kill Moses. It was not easy for Zipporah, a Gentile woman, to enforce this requirement. Zipporah was compelled to comply, although she was not happy about it.
Verse 25 says, “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.” In cutting the foreskin of her son, Zipporah did not use a knife; she used a sharp stone, a flint, an unusual cutting instrument. Perhaps she used such an instrument because the circumcision was performed during a state of emergency. The use of a sharp stone also seems to indicate that the circumcision was carried out in an atmosphere of unpleasantness. This is also indicated by the fact that Zipporah cast the foreskin at Moses’ feet and said, “Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.” Although the atmosphere was not pleasant, God let Moses go after the circumcision had been completed. Had there been a pleasant atmosphere, no doubt Zipporah would have expressed her repentance and fellowshipped with Moses. She would have asked Moses to do the circumcising, with a proper knife to do the proper cutting. Then the cutting would not have been so painful. Nevertheless, in our experience it is only the Lord Himself who uses a proper knife to do the cutting work. The cutting is here represented by the female life, because the cutting is subjective. But all of us, old and young, brothers and sisters, are those doing the cutting. In the church life we either cut or are being cut. In almost every case this cutting is done with crude, uncultured instruments.
For many years I was troubled by this portion of the Word. I began to understand it only after I had a certain amount of experience. Through experience I realized that the called ones need not only the male help, the help from Aaron, but also the female help, the help from Zipporah. The male help is matching, but the female help is cutting. Everyone called of God needs both the male help and the female help, both the matching and the cutting.
As every married brother realizes, wives are very adept at cutting. There are times when even Christian wives are “Gentiles” to their husbands. If the husband does not love the Lord or desire to go on with the Lord, the wife may not be a “Gentile.” But as soon as he begins to love the Lord, to go the Lord’s way, and to live for the Lord, the wife is exposed as being a “Gentile,” a “heathen.” This means that a wife who has been a Christian for years may suddenly behave like one who is not separated unto God and who does not live for God. Many of today’s Christians are still heathen in their daily living: they do not love the Lord, they are not separated unto the Lord, and they do not take the Lord’s way. They are Christians in that they have been regenerated and have received the divine life, but they are not Christians in their daily walk.
When a certain brother is in the world, with no concern for the Lord’s interests, his wife may not give him any trouble as far as the Lord is concerned. But as soon as he begins to live for the Lord, his wife behaves like a heathen Zipporah, a woman not wholly separated unto the Lord. To some extent, his wife will go along with him, just as Zipporah went along with Moses. But in his situation there is something that is not circumcised, something that is common, unholy, and not separated, sanctified, to the Lord. If the Lord does not come into this brother’s situation, the wife’s Gentile nature may not be exposed. But as soon as the Lord intervenes, perhaps as the brother is about to fulfill God’s commission, the wife’s attitude toward the circumcision of the flesh is exposed. Forced to agree to the cutting of the foreskin, the wife may actually carry it out, but she does not do so with a positive and pleasant attitude. Because she must accept her husband’s separation unto the Lord, she looks upon him as a “bloody husband.”
To be a “bloody husband” is to be one under death. In the eyes of Zipporah, circumcision meant that her husband Moses was under the sentence of death. If we brothers are absolute with the Lord, we also shall become a “bloody husband” in the eyes of our wives.
Examine carefully the picture of Moses and Zipporah in Exodus 4. As they were on the way to fulfill God’s commission, Zipporah was somewhat agreeable with what Moses was doing. Moses, however, was more for the Lord than Zipporah was. He was willing for his son to be circumcised, but Zipporah was not willing. Although there is no indication that Moses and Zipporah were fighting with each other over the question of circumcision, there was nevertheless something between them that was not smooth. There had to be a circumcision, but Zipporah opposed it. She disagreed with the cutting of the flesh as a sign of separation unto God. But it is against the divine principle for God to use one who is still living in the flesh or in the natural life. The flesh and the natural life must be cut off. God can only use one who has been separated unto Him.
The matter of circumcision involves a crucial principle in God’s economy. Without circumcision, it is impossible to participate in the covenant God made with Abraham regarding the inheritance of the good land. Furthermore, an uncircumcised person can have no part in God’s ministry. The meaning of God coming in to kill Moses was that an uncircumcised situation would cause him to be finished in the ministry of God. But the meaning of circumcision is to be ushered into His ministry.
Therefore, as Moses was on the way to carry out God’s commission, God could not tolerate Moses’ negligence in the matter of circumcision. Thus, He came in to deal with Moses. No doubt Moses had been weak in yielding, at least somewhat, to his wife’s opposition to circumcision. Because this weakness was an offense to the Lord, He sought to kill Moses. When the Lord met Moses, the whole situation was brought to the light. Moses knew that he was wrong, and Zipporah realized what her responsibility was. Because the responsibility rested mainly upon her due to her opposition to the circumcision, she was forced to take action. She cut the foreskin with an unusual instrument, a sharp stone. But we need to point out that Zipporah nevertheless did the cutting in love. She loved Moses and wanted to save his life.
As we make the spiritual application of this incident, we see that often wives cut their husbands in an unusual way. If the sisters bring this matter to the Lord in prayer, He will show them the unusual ways in which they cut their husbands. It is not always the wives, however, who do the cutting. The Apostle Paul was never married, but he was surely cut by others.
Aaron’s help, the matching, was objective, whereas Zipporah’s help, the cutting, was subjective. Sometimes the Lord places us in an environment where we are cut by others, perhaps by our dear brothers in the Lord. At such a time, these brothers do not match us; they cut us. They may not fight against us, but even as they apparently agree with us, they function as cutters. We all need to be ready to receive this cutting.
God has prepared not only an Aaron for us, but, in His sovereignty, He also has prepared a Zipporah. There is no need for us to make any choices. God has the Aarons and the Zipporahs ready and waiting. Especially in the church life today there are both matching ones and cutting ones. To handle the matching ones is difficult, but to manage the cutting ones is more difficult because it makes us a “bloody husband.”
After the matching with Aaron and the cutting by Zipporah, the calling of Moses was complete. He was ready to go to Egypt to carry out God’s commission. Thank the Lord for the full picture of God’s calling of His called ones! If we bring this word to the Lord, He will enlighten us. Then we shall say, “Lord, how I thank You that with me there are some Aarons and some Zipporahs. I praise You, Lord, for the matching and for the cutting.”