⛪ Lesson 2: The Burning Bush
📘 2.5 The Circumcision
✨ Obedience Under the Covenant – The Serious Lesson of Circumcision
………………………………………………………………….
🟦 Introduction
Sometimes we stumble upon passages in the Bible that confuse us, even shake us to the core. Exodus 4:18–31 is one such section. Moses—just called to lead Israel out of Egypt—is suddenly in mortal danger, not from Pharaoh, but from God Himself.
Why?
Because Moses had neglected a duty God considered fundamental: the circumcision of his son—a sign of the covenant.
This dramatic scene leads us to an uncomfortable yet lifesaving truth: obedience is no trivial matter.
………………………………………………………………….
📘 Bible Study:
“God’s Serious Warning on the Way – Moses, the Covenant, and the Forgotten Duty”
(Exodus 4:18–31)
🧱 1. Context: Between Calling and Obedience
🔍 What happened?
Moses had spent forty years in exile in Midian. He left behind his past as an Egyptian prince and adopted a simple shepherd’s life. Then—at the burning bush—God appeared to him (Exodus 3). God called him back to Egypt to free Israel. After long hesitation, Moses obeys at last (4:18). He departs Midian with his family and sets out on the journey.
But on the way, something unexpected occurs:
“At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to kill him.” (v. 24)
⚖️ 2. The Shocking Scene (vv. 24–26)
These few verses are mysterious and dramatic. God—the one who called Moses—now seeks to kill him? Why?
👉 The answer lies in Moses’s failure: he had not circumcised one of his sons, contrary to God’s command (cf. Genesis 17:10–14).
📜 3. The Meaning of Circumcision
➤ What is circumcision?
A sign of the covenant between God and Abraham (Genesis 17). Every male child was to be circumcised on the eighth day. It symbolized separation for God, putting off the flesh, and belonging to God’s people. For an Israelite, remaining uncircumcised was unthinkable. To reject the sign was to place oneself outside the covenant (Genesis 17:14).
⚠️ 4. Why Is Moses Guilty—and in Mortal Danger?
Moses knew better. He was a Hebrew and understood God’s order. As Israel’s future leader, he was to be a model of obedience. Yet here was a glaring gap in his life: his son remained uncircumcised. He knew God’s will but did not act on it. Whatever the reasons (perhaps Zippora’s resistance? cultural differences?), Moses had neglected a holy duty.
🛑 To God, authority is bound up with obedience. A leader who is disobedient in small matters jeopardizes his calling in big ones.
🩸 5. Zippora’s Role – Courage in Crisis (v. 25)
Zippora acts swiftly and decisively:
“Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, ‘Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!’”
🔹 She performs the circumcision—an act Moses himself had neglected.
🔹 She perceives that her husband’s life is at stake.
🔹 She acts not merely with cultural boldness but with spiritual insight.
Her phrase “bridegroom of blood” points to the urgent deliverance by a blood-sign—a foreshadowing of the New Covenant.
🕊️ 6. Spiritual Principles from This Passage
📍 a) God tolerates no deliberate disobedience in His servants
Moses was no ordinary man—he was Israel’s appointed deliverer. Those who lead others in God’s ways must themselves walk in those ways.
👉 Responsibility carries a demand for holiness.
📍 b) Disobedience undermines spiritual authority
Had Moses arrived in Egypt with an uncircumcised son, he would have broken God’s law while calling Pharaoh to repentance.
👉 Spiritual integrity is the foundation of authority.
📍 c) Sin is not only what we do but also what we omit
“Whoever knows what is right and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17). Moses did no evil, but he failed to do what was good—and that was enough.
📍 d) God’s grace does not exempt us from God’s discipline
God loved Moses, but He warned him forcefully—so that Moses would not lose what he had received.
🛠️ 7. Application for Our Lives Today
🧭 a) Where are your “uncut places”?
Are there areas in your life you consciously avoid? A decision you always postpone? A sin you “peacefully coexist” with? A responsibility you delegate to others?
🙌 b) Spiritual calling requires spiritual order
You cannot undertake spiritual leadership if you harbor disorder in your personal life.
🧹 c) Zippora – a model of courageous intercession
She did what was right—even when it was difficult. Sometimes we must stand and act for others where they fail.
💡 d) God often speaks through interruptions
The lodging place was not holy ground. Yet God intervened there. Perhaps the interruption in your daily routine is a sign:
“Look—something is out of order.”
………………………………………………………………….
📖 Answers to the Questions
📌 Question 1: How should we understand this account—and what do we learn from it?
This account is not cruel but solemn. It reveals:
🔹 God regards obedience as extremely important—not arbitrarily, but because disobedience has spiritual consequences for us and for others, especially those in leadership.
🔹 Moses could not be God’s instrument while ignoring a known duty. His neglect would have excluded his son from the covenant blessings—and negatively impacted the whole people.
🔹 Zippora acted with courage and decisiveness. Though she may have had cultural reservations about circumcision, she acted in love and saved her husband.
Lesson: Whoever desires to be used by God must be ready to do the unpleasant right thing—immediately. God tolerates no half-hearted obedience.
📌 Question 2: What does it mean for you if you neglect something you ought to do?
This story speaks directly to us:
What is the “uncut place” in your life? What do you already know but keep putting off?
🛑 Perhaps an unreconciled relationship.
🛑 Perhaps a call of God you’ve ignored.
🛑 Or a truth you suppress.
God’s patience is great—but there are moments when He stops us—not to destroy us, but to save us.
💡 What must you—perhaps today—set right?
………………………………………………………………….
✨ Spiritual Principles
🔷 God takes the covenant seriously. What may seem “minor neglect” to us can be weighty in light of eternity.
🔷 Disobedience endangers calling—not because God despises us, but because our attitude hinders His presence.
🔷 God uses courageous people. Zippora was no prophet, but her action preserved a prophetic story.
🔷 Grace comes through obedience. Grace is shown not in bypassing obedience but in the saving intervention when we repent.
………………………………………………………………….
🧩 Application for Daily Life
Examine your heart. Are there things you know but do not do?
Give the Holy Spirit room. He reveals the points God wants to address now.
Act immediately. Delay is often disguised disobedience.
Honor God even in “small things.” True devotion shows itself in the details.
………………………………………………………………….
✅ Conclusion
Exodus 4:18–31 is not merely a historical account. It is an urgent warning: obedience is life. And: God does not seek perfect people but determined hearts ready to correct their faults—at once.
………………………………………………………………….
💭 Thought of the Day
“It is not what you know that changes your life—but what you do despite what you know.”
………………………………………………………………….
✍️ Illustration – “The Forgotten Letter – When God Stopped Him”
📖 Story:
Place: Hamburg, Germany
Time: Spring 2024
Main Characters:
-
Jonathan Berger, 43, pastor, married, two children
-
Leonie Berger, his wife
-
Jonas, their ten-year-old son
-
God, who speaks—quietly yet piercingly
🌌 The Story
Jonathan stood at the pulpit preaching about calling, about Moses and the burning bush. His voice was calm, his sentences clear. Yet inside he felt a chill he could not name—only feel: something was wrong.
After the service people patted him on the back, praising the depth of his exposition. But Jonathan felt empty, as if he had spoken words without life.
📦 The Letter
On Monday he took time to tidy up. Among papers, drafts of the church newsletter, and old notes, he found a yellowed envelope with no return address—only his name in handwriting he recognized at once. His father’s.
He had received it years ago and never opened it. His father had left when Jonathan was eight. Since then, no contact—only this one letter, unread. He picked up the envelope, felt his fingers tremble, and tore it open.
“Dear Jonathan,
I don’t know if you’ll ever read this, but I’m writing because I know I hurt you. I can’t undo the past. But I wish to see you once more.
Your father,
Martin”
He read the lines three times, then laid the letter on the table and sat down. Tears came—not dramatic ones, just quiet drops that found their way over the years.
🌑 The Night
That night Jonathan couldn’t sleep. He tossed, rose, wandered to the kitchen, sat in the dark hallway. His heart pounded—not with fear but with realization. God did not speak loudly, but clearly. He remembered Exodus 4—how Moses almost died for neglecting a direct command. Jonathan had preached, taught, counseled—but not forgiven his father, not truly.
God would not let him pass by.
📞 The Call
At 3:17 a.m. he picked up his phone, scrolled to his father’s number—still there, always there, always swiped past. He hesitated, then took a deep breath and tapped “Call.” Twice. Three times. Silence. Then a click.
“Hello?” The voice was older, shaky—but unmistakable.
Jonathan swallowed. “It’s… Jonathan.”
Silence, then: “You really called? I kept hoping…”
The next minutes were no polished exchange but honest, real—an unending beginning.
🕊️ The Quiet Reconciliation
By morning Jonathan sat on the living room floor, Bible open before him. He hadn’t slept much but was wide awake inside. Leonie entered quietly, saw him, asked nothing but understood from his eyes.
“You called him?” she whispered.
He nodded. Tears came again—not of pain but of a gentle, quiet redemption. Leonie sat beside him, said nothing, laid her hand on his shoulder. In that moment there was no music, no heavenly light—only peace, deep peace. Jonathan knew he had not remained stuck. God had stopped him—but only so he could start anew.
💡 Spiritual Meaning
This story stands for many who know God’s will but close parts of their hearts—not out of rebellion but out of pain. Yet disobedience can be silence, suppression can be rebellion. God does not stop us to hold us back but to heal us.
✨ Conclusion
God seeks not perfect people but honest, open, obedient hearts. Jonathan had not failed because he hesitated—he would have failed if he had not responded.
