Exodus 4:14-6:1

[alon]

This Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Exodus 4:14-6:1
Haftara- Isaiah 55:12-56:7

D’rash: In the original Hebrew, God gets fed up with Moshe’s excuses and flares His nostrils. Hebrew is a very earthy language, so the picture given here is when one becomes angry or frustrated the nostrils flare. You can see it on their face. Perhaps the bush burned brighter as the Almighty breathed harder, or maybe he just heard it in the tone of Abishters’ voice; but I think Moshe knew his run of excuses was about done.

Exodus 4:14-16 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him.
anger- אַף ‘aph- properly the nose or nostril; hence the face, and occasionally a person; also (from the rapid breathing in passion) ire: - anger/angry, before, countenance, face, forbearing, forehead, long-suffering, nose, nostril, snout, wrath.
God- אֱלֹהִים ‘ĕlôhı̂ym- Plural, gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative: - angels, exceeding, God, gods, very great, judges, mighty.

Exodus 4:17,19-20 And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.” …  And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

El Ha’Ne’eman, The Faithful God (Deu 7:9) had already shown Moshe how He would use this simple shepherd’s staff to confront Pharaoh  (Ex 4:2-5). Moshe will carry this staff the rest of his life, thus linking his training as a shepherd to the shepherding of a new people as they are being forged into a nation.

Exodus 4:21-23 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’”

Again Ozer Li, My Helper (Ps. 30:10) does not leave His servant in the dark, instead telling him of what is about to happen.

One quick note: we’ve discussed this before, but God does not harden our hearts then punish us for it. He does however know our hearts, so He knew what would happen when Pharaoh was confronted. Pharaoh hardened his own heart in response to Moshe’s request on behalf of his God and his people.

Next we come to a vey cryptic part of our text- HaShem, after charging Moshe with freeing His people now comes to kill him!

Exodus 4:24-26 At a lodging place on the way [on the way to the lodging place] the Lord met him [Moses] and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet (וַתַּגַּע לְרַגְלָיו- the root words here are נָגַע nâga‛ and רֶגֶל regel) with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” (חֲתַן-דָּמִים אַתָּה לִי châthân dâmim atah li) So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision (מוּלָה mûlâh).
נָגַע nâga‛- properly to touch, that is, lay the hand upon (for any purpose; euphemistically, to lie with); by implication to reach (figuratively to arrive, acquire); come nigh, draw near, happen, join, reach (up), smite, strike, touch.
רֶגֶל regel- a foot; by implication a step; by euphemism the genetalia: leg, piss.
תָן châthân- a relative by marriage (especially through the bride); figuratively a circumcised child (as a species of religious espousal): - bridegroom, husband, son in law.
דָּמִים damim- blood of man or an animal; figuratively (especially in the plural) bloodshed (that is, drops of blood): bloody
אַתָּה לִי atah li- you (are)(to) me.
 
It is likely both Moshe and his sons would have undergone a type of Egyptian circumcision where the entire foreskin was not removed. This was not the sign of the brit (covenant) with El Elohe Yisroel; rather it was a pagan sign. Moshe as leader of the exodus was to set the standard (later, before entering ha’eretz the nation would undergo proper circumcision themselves, Josh 5:2-3). Tziporah, seeing what was about to happen took decisive action to turn away God’s wrath. She could do this because brit milah was not just a sign of the Abrahamic Covenant; it was a sign to a bride that her groom was indeed one who worshiped El Elyon, The Most High God (Heb 7:1). Looking at our definitions (above) we can see the term “feet” is a euphemism for what lies between the feet, namely the genitalia. And she actually touched the bloody foreskin of her son at least to the area of Moshe’s genitals.

When a male is circumcised blood is shed, which symbolically satisfies the covenant conditions. Then when a virgin female is penetrated her blood coats his member, thus joining them as one in the covenant. Therefore she had authority to act; to intervene on behalf of Moshe. The key to understanding this passage lies in knowing these customs and why Tziporah could say “חֲתַן-דָּמִים אַתָּה לִי châthân dâmim atah li Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” Surely Moshe was a husband of the Abrahamic Covenant with her. He just needed to complete the process, but she needed to act quickly and with strong symbolism to turn away God’s judgement.

Exodus 5:1-2 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.”

When the Lord appeared to Moshe in the burning bush, Moshe asked “Who am I?” He was, as Num 12:3b later tells us “very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.” By way of contrast, here the arrogance of a man who believes himself a god is made evident. This will be reflected in the attitude of the nation of Mitzrayim, one of the most powerful and wealthy nations of the day, as well. It is this our Shofet, Judge (Ps 75:7) wants to subdue.

Exodus 5:7-8, 20-21 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ … They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; and they said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Pharaoh was trying to create antagonism and rancor between the people and Moshe. Instead of killing Moshe (as he easily could) and making a martyr to stir them to insurrection, he wanted to make Moshe an enemy. And it worked initially. It even made Moshe doubt his God:

Exodus 5:22-23 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

But God’s not done yet:

Exodus 6:1 But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

And what God has said, He will do! (Num 23:19)

Mekorot: All scripture from the ESV unless otherwise specified; Drs. Eli & Schaser of the IBC: Pastor Ed Cole; my father and others

Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Ex 6:2-7:18
Haftara- Ezek 28:25-29:21

* Apostolic references will be given in the darashot