Podcast Introduction Today our reading is Exodus 1-4.  I’m calling the episode “What Are You Waiting For? ”  Comments on Exodus 4 “At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him.” Exodus 4:24 NET Why was God going to kill Moses? We are not told specifically why, but it is always good to look at the surrounding context. So let’s do that now. First, notice that in chapter 3, when God told Moses that He was going to send Moses to Pharaoh to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, Moses questioned God. “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”  Then Moses said, “Suppose (my emphasis) I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” In chapter 4, Moses says, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Then he said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” God tells him that He would help Moses speak and tell him what to say. At which point, Moses says, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” Now we are told that the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well.” So at every turn, Moses questions God. This is not an auspicious beginning. Certainly not the image of Moses we think of. The image of a courageous, strong leader that Charlton Heston delivered in the movie, “The Ten Commandments”. But here is the most serious issue. God had been preparing Moses to be the one to lead Israel out of captivity. Moses was to be the leader of this chosen people. And in doing so, he would also be God’s representative to Pharaoh and to all the nations that would hear of the things that were going to be happening in Egypt to cause Pharaoh to finally let the Jewish people go. Therefore, Moses had to have his own house in order.   It is in verse 24 that we read that God was going to kill Moses. And then, in verses 25 and 26 we read, “But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. 26So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.) So now we know that Moses had not had his son circumcised, as he knew he should have. Every Jewish male had to be circumcised, and it was the responsibility of every Jewish parent to have this carried out. So Moses was sinning by not obeying this very fundamental command. Moses had to learn that when God says something, He means it.  Immediately after we read of this event, we are told that God told Aaron to go into the wilderness to meet Moses. When they met, Moses told Aaron everything that God had told him to say, and about all the signs He had told him to perform. I’m pretty sure Moses had a new respect for and conviction about the mission God had assigned him. Today’s Bible Translation Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 1-2 NET; Ch. 3-4 NIV Today’s Christmas Music