CRITICAL NOTES.—
Exodus 4:25. A bloody husband.] An unfortunate rendering, bearing an opprobrious tone foreign to the Hebrew which is more exactly (with Benisch, Keil. Young, and others), “A bridegroom of blood,” or “blood-bridegroom,” “art thou to me.” Coupling the expressive Hebrew plural “bloods” with the circumstances of the case, we might perhaps render the original, “A spouse by bloody rites art thou to me.” As Kurtz well puts it: “Moses had been as good as taken from her by the deadly attack which had been made upon him. She purchased his life by the blood of her son; she received him back, as it were, from the dead, and married him anew; he was, in fact, a bridegroom of blood to her.” And thus the expression, while very naturally showing a mother’s instinctive repugnance to a painful rite, is mainly charged with the warm and tender emotion of revived nuptial love. Moses himself ought to have performed the ceremony before. He had failed—very possibly out of undue regard to the Midianitish aversion of his beloved Zipporah. No longer can such Gentile laxity be allowed: Israel’s leader must die to all neglect of the holy Abrahamic covenant. Hence this arrest on the way—this fiery ordeal. How natural it all seems, and how well it all ends. Moses is purified, and in a manner new born for his mission. His son is consecrated to Jehovah. His Gentile wife is taught a valuable lesson, becomes more fitted for her noble husband than before, is drawn to him with a deeper and purer love, and yet is reconciled to a most prudent return for a time to her father’s house. She shall have her reward: a little while and she shall be honourably brought back to find, in the lone fugitive of her first love, the acknowleged leader of a ransomed nation (Exodus 18). It is not the child that is the “bridegroom.” It may be true, as Aben Ezra says, that “It is customary for women to call a son when he is circumcised, bridegroom”—the custom itself may have sprung from a misunderstanding of this very passage; but surely it is very forced to attribute such an application of these words to Zipporah. That would involve too sudden a rebound on her part from the feeling of repugnance to that of an almost mystical admiration. Besides, the words “to me” are fatal to such an exposition: they decisively determine the exclamation to the winning back of Moses to herself, rather than to the giving up of the child to Jehovah.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Exodus 4:24-26
NEGLECTED DUTY A HINDRANCE TO THE PERFORMANCE OF RELIGIOUS WORK
I. Moses had neglected the duty of circumcising his son. It was divinely required of the Israelite that he should circumcise all his sons, and this Moses had neglected to do up to this time. Probably his wife was averse to a rite so bloody, and while living in her country and at her home, he yields the matter in deference to her wishes. But the claims of duty are not so easily dismissed. They are Divine and therefore imperative. If neglected they will follow a man through life and present themselves to him under every variety of circumstances, often with appalling effect and unhappy result. Service always finds out the weak point of our character and conduct, therefore if we would be ready for the work of God we must see to it that we are not guilty of neglected duty. One duty unperformed may nearly ruin us. We must never allow domestic relationship to hinder the performance of a Divine command; the wife that hinders her husband in the performance of religious duty is endangering his life, and her own comfort and safety. The day of retribution will come, and perhaps when it will be the least welcome. The Divine claims are supreme, and in their performance we find our truest safety and comfort.
II. That this neglect of duty introduced an experience of pain into his life. “And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.” This does not mean that Moses and his family came to a house or building in which they could abide, but simply indicates a favourable place for halting and remaining for the night, perhaps under a tent, or in the open air. But here he was destined to pass through a very painful experience, which would probably make a lasting impression upon him and his wife. Some writers suppose that he was nearly slain by an angel; others that he was smitten with a terrible disease which nearly caused his death. However, all this came upon him as the penalty of neglected duty, and that in the presence of his family, who would see that the anger of God rested upon them. We all know the power of neglected duty to introduce painful experience into our lives, which put out all our lights of hope, and fill our souls with an inpenetrable gloom, indicative of Divine wrath and judgment. The bitterest moments of our history have been caused by a neglect of the commands of God. If we want a happy, peaceful life, we must perform every duty that presents itself gladly and at once A good conscience is a continual joy.
III. That this neglect of duty endangered the performance of his religious work. Many men have endangered the great religious enterprises of the world by their past neglect of an apparently trivial duty. The work of God requires that he who is called to it should be of pure soul, enabled to rebuke sin without rebuking himself. Unless able to do this, his mission will be vain. Many a Christian worker is rendered feeble to-day by the sin of his past life. Let us beware how we imperil the freedom of men and the work of God by our own neglect. Freedom from sin is the great essential to the success of Christian work.
IV. That the neglect of this duty was most foolish, as it had after all to be performed. “And Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son.” God had prepared Moses for his work in Egypt as far as he could. He had given him a vision, had conversed with him about the perplexities of his work, and had empowered him to work miracles: but God will not by a miracle overcome the defect arising from neglected duty. This must be removed by a moral method. As a rule, God does not work miracles to rid men of their sins; yet He does sometimes place man in such a position that a vivid impression of sin is made upon his mind, so that he must either perform the neglected duty, or die. Men will have to face their neglected duties again, if not for performance in this world, yet for judgment in the next.
THE PREPARATORY EXPERIENCES OF SERVICE
I. The experiences preparatory to Service are solemn. This eventful circumstance in the inn is connected with everything that can invest it with solemnity. Moses is prepared for his work. There is only one duty that requires doing. Then he can go to Pharaoh and demand Israel’s freedom. Will he circumcise his son? Will he make amends for the past? His future position, character, work, and relation to mankind, all depend upon the issue of this event, designed to prepare him for the future. The experiences in the inn are solemn.
IV. The experiences preparatory to Service are painful. These experiences are very intense. They penetrate our inmost heart. They reach wherever sin is to be found, that it may be removed, that it may not impede our destined toil. Even we who have to work upon the lower planes of moral service know somewhat of the deep soul-anguish occasioned by the conflict prior to our entrance upon it.
III. The experience preparatory to Service are instructive. This event in the inn would teach Moses the wickedness and folly of neglecting duty, no matter what excuse might appear for so doing. It would show him that God is cognizant of all the moralities of life; and probably he would argue from his own case to that of Pharaoh, and feel that the claim of God would be equally imperative upon him. We have sometimes learned more while waiting anxiously on the threshold of service than we have learned during years before.
IV. The experiences preparatory to Service are varied. The joy of the vision, the inspiration of the miracles, and the arrest in the inn. These experiences relate to man in every department of his life and service.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exodus 4:24. After great encouragements many bitter discoveries are made by God to his servants.
In the way of obedience God’s servants may meet with the sharpest trials.
The place intended for rest by us may be turned into a place of trouble by God.
Jehovah may sometimes meet His dearest servants as an adversary.
It is a sad defect in God’s servants that puts Him to the necessity of calling them to pass through such painful experiences.
Exodus 4:25. When God threatens death to His servants, He sometimes allows means of escape.
It is the duty of the wife to save her husband from perishing at the hand of God.
God bears long with the sinful neglects of His people, but not with approval.
It is dangerous to neglect an initial sacrament ordained by God; it is safe to observe it.
Exodus 4:26. Deliverance is very near at hand to the obedience of God’s servants.
God ceaseth from plaguing when men cease from sinning.