Bible Discussion Thread

To speak further on Ch. 4, in verse 24 God is said to seek to kill Moses due to is son not being circumcised. Moses must have known to do this because His parents had circumcised him. But perhaps the customs of Midian had delayed circumcision to a later time in life. But just like Ishmael and Esau, the sons of Keturah (who with Abraham produced the Midianites) would have been circumcised. Did this practice continue in the ensuing generations or had it fell out of practice among these other descendants of Abraham? Obviously, Moses probably didn't know much about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. His mother nursed him for 2-3 years and then when weaned, he went to live with the Egyptian princess. He may not have had a lot of contact with is family after that time. In Midian, under Jethro's instruction Moses may have learned some about God, but because the Midianites were not descendants of the promise from Abraham, they may have fallen away from relationship from Him. Jethro may have been one exception, and even then, he may not have known much about the life and times of Jacob and family. They lived a ways from the land of Canaan and Midian was isolated with the sea and mountains surrounding their land. Apparently, Zipporah knew why God rose up to kill Moses. She knew that her son's privates looked different from her husbands and perhaps Jethro had taught her about circumcision, but Moses refused to do it. So, Zipporah was a Godsend, along with Jethro, as we will later learn.

Moses took his family to Egypt. He must have known that there would be danger for them, but he must not have wanted to be separated from them or else God had instructed Him to take them. We know these children were under 40 years old, but we do not know if they were very young or young men. Imagine your mom taking a sharp stone and using it to circumcise you! Yikes.

Moses and Aaron learn obedience to God is very important in this event. I wonder how close God came to killing Moses?