Mensa Otabil - The Price of Disobedience
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We’re still in Exodus chapter 4, and we’re looking at Moses’s response to God’s call. Now, he’s about to go into Egypt to pursue God’s purpose for his life. So, let’s look at Exodus chapter 4: 24 and 25:
«And it came to pass on the way at the encampment that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’s feet and said, 'Surely you are a husband of blood to me.'»
That’s a very dramatic verse, and the verse shows how important it is for us to be right when God calls us. Because Moses has just had a life-changing encounter with God; he’s met God at the burning bush. God has commissioned him, and he’s holding the rod of God in his hand. To all intents and purposes, we would say Moses is in God’s good books. He’s God’s man. God loves him; God is going to use him. But then, the scene changes, and there is a very significant shift in mood. Because just at this point, when Moses thinks everything is going well with him, the passage says that God wanted to kill him, or God sought to kill him. God wants to kill Moses-the same Moses he’s been talking to, the same Moses he has commissioned, the same Moses he’s sending out as a liberator. Why would God do that?
The passage does not tell us what " God sought to kill him» means; it just says that God sought to kill him. But just reading from the passage, there are a few conclusions you can arrive at: Whatever happened to Moses was such that he couldn’t act. Again, he probably was struck by a sickness, or was paralyzed, or was in a state that showed that he was about to die. And in that state, when he felt he was about to die, he probably recognized why he was feeling the way he was feeling, but he couldn’t do anything about it. So, he indicated to his wife Zipporah to do something, and the wife did it. The wife circumcised their son.
So the state of Moses was related to the uncircumcision of his son. Why would that be important to God? Because as a child of Israel, the son had to be circumcised. Moses had to be circumcised. The son has to be circumcised. Moses is being sent by God on a mission that God takes very seriously, but his own righteousness, his own obedience, is limited. I can almost feel that this is not the first time God had indicated for Moses to take this step, but he’s been in disobedience for a very long time. At this momentous time in history, when he’s supposed to be a liberator, he’s just about to die.
Obedience to God is so important, especially when God calls you on a mission. When God tells you He wants to use you, He doesn’t give you a free get-out-of-jail card. God does not have special favors for men of God and women of God. God does not have special favors for popes, bishops, or cardinals, or prophets, or apostles, or pastors, or reverends. Our titles do not grant us immunity before God, because God’s obedience is required from those with high titles and those with low titles. What God demands from all His children is that we obey Him, especially when His hand is upon us and He has called us and He wants to use us. We don’t become high-minded and think we can break the rules of God and go scot-free, and that is just about to happen to Moses.
So, his wife took the step, circumcised the boy, and Moses was okay. But the incident so scared Moses’s wife that she decided not to go any further to Egypt. But the lesson is clear: When God calls us, and He wants to use us, He demands total obedience. You can’t be an instrument of God and disobey Him at the same time. Very sobering thoughts for all of us, and may the Lord help each one of us not to take His calling for granted.
Let us pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, I desire to obey You in all areas of my life. Help me to be always mindful of the demands of Your high calling. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»