God is Faithful to Deliver

We are continuing our study in Exodus, so let's turn to Exodus four and go ahead and turn there and prepare your Bibles. How much does God love you? What are the limits of God's love for you? Well, the answer in Scripture is very clear, he loves you to the point of laying down his life for you. The father loves you to send his son to die for you. The son loves you to the point of death, even death on the cross. It's a question we should and often ask ourselves. How much does God love us? What are the limits of his love? And we have to constantly remind ourselves that we do not limit God's love. God's love is limited only by his own power to love, and he has an infinite power to love. God loves sinners. None of us are worthy of love. None of us have ever earned his love. None of us have ever gained his love. He loves us simply because he loves us. This morning, we're going to look at a unique way that God declares his love for us and that God loves us as a father and calls us to be his children. We're going to be looking at the family kind of love that God has for us. We're looking at chapter four of Exodus. So let me back up and just do a little bit of context. Chapter three is where Moses is called to go back to Egypt to free his people. Moses doesn't like that call. He tries to avoid it five different times. He tries to get out of it. And then finally, the last one is saying, God, you've got the wrong man. Take somebody else. Here, we're going to pick up Moses being submitted to the call. I don't want to quite say he has submitted to the call. He has been submitted to the call. And so we're going to be looking at Moses finalizing the call and actually leaving to go back to Egypt. And this unit actually is organized around two words, father and son. We're going to see the father and son relationship four different times. Moses goes to his father-in-law, Jethro. God calls Israel his firstborn son. God gives Moses the message, tell Pharaoh I'm going to kill his firstborn son. And then Moses, well, we'll look at a unique story about him and his sons. As we read the text, as I read the text, listen for this father son language. The focus is on the two God, the father of Israel and Pharaoh, the father of his son. Listen to how God, after calling Moses and giving him every assurance, no Israel will believe they'll trust you. I will send out my mighty hand to deliver him. Then he says here. Oh, by the way, I'm going to harden Pharaoh's heart. Listen to God's word, Exodus four, beginning in verse 18. Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive. And Jethro said to Moses, go in peace. And the Lord said to Moses and 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 right on a donkey and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand. 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. At a lodging place in the way, the Lord met him. and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me. So he let him alone. It was then that she said a bridegroom of blood because of the circumcision. The Lord said to Aaron, go into the wilderness to meet Moses. So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. Aaron spoke all the words the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed. And when they had heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped. This morning, we'll be looking at the the four paragraphs there, there will be easily broken up into four different sections. First, God gives Moses assurance to go back. This is in verses 18 to 20. God gives Moses assurance to go back. The second, God defines his relationship with Israel and Pharaoh, this is verses 21 and 23. He defines his relationship with Israel and Pharaoh, then he defines his relationship with Moses in verses 24 to 26. And then God, as always, fulfills his promise, 27 to 31. First, God gives Moses assurance to go back. Notice we begin with a father and son interaction. Now, this section flows right out of the last section, but this this really does stand separate because it was God's calling. And now we see a man who's who's moving in that direction. He goes to his father-in-law and he says, behold, I want to go see if my brothers are still alive. Now, you're supposed to think about chapter two, verse 11, when Moses declares that you're supposed to think about when he first went out to see his brothers in slavery. And that's when he first went out seeking to deliver them, kills an Egyptian and then has to flee afterwards. There's an illusion there that he's going to see his brothers. He also calls them his brothers. That is significant. He knows the people in Midian are not his people, the people in Egypt. are his brothers. We also see that he's not really forthright with his father-in-law, is he? He doesn't really say, God appeared to me in a burning bush, told me to go tell the most powerful man in the world, I'm going to take his workforce out of his nation. You can kind of see why he doesn't go into all the detail with his father-in-law. First, Moses, as I said before, he hasn't clearly submitted to God. He didn't walk the aisle to Israel. He didn't quite say whatever you call God, I will do. He more so just, well, it's put into submission. So we see a man who has an internal battle still going on. It would also be very hard to explain to your father-in-law, I want to take your daughter and your grandchildren, go back to Egypt and go to spiritual battle with Pharaoh. So while he isn't forthright, I think we should be somewhat sensitive about what he doesn't say. Jethro sends him away, very simple, go in peace. God then speaks once more, the men who are seeking to kill you, they're dead. Now, God isn't afraid of these men. God could work through Moses if these men are not dead or if they're still alive. It doesn't matter. But I believe God is trying to give him some assurance. And we've already been told that the Pharaoh that was seeking to kill Moses, he was dead. I wonder if in this group of people that God is referring to, if he's talking about the Israelites who were seeking to kill Moses. Remember, he was betrayed by Israelites. He's more afraid of Israel than he is Pharaoh himself. I wonder if there's some aspect where he's referencing them as well. Regardless, God gives him assurance, those who are seeking your life, they're dead. But you are going to tell Pharaoh that you're going to kill his firstborn son later. But that's it's not as if there's fear removed from this task. He takes the staff of God in his hand. He goes trusting in the power of God. He goes armed with the power that God has given to him. This is his only assurance. This is his only confidence that God will use him. And this staff represents the power of God given him the power to rule Israel as a stand in king or judge, a prince. It represents the power of God. As we Reflect on this, we see that he is trusting God at some level. The only hope he has is in the power that God has invested into him with the signs that he has in the staff. Now, looking back where we could tell Moses, so you go boldly, you've got the power of God, you've got the symbol, you've got the sign of God that he is with you and nothing can stand against you. Do we preach that same message to ourselves? See, Moses is going into battle armed appropriately. We have to realize that we are constantly going into battle. We're not called to go to Pharaoh and demand that he free his slaves. We're not called to go and face the great enemy, a human enemy, necessarily. We're called to go into spiritual battle, always armed with the power of God. The beauty of our position versus Moses Is that he's trusting in a staff which represents the power of God. We trust in a cross that represents the power of God. We trust in the tree that Christ was hung from. Because it destroys the curse, it destroys sin, it destroys death. Our power, our confidence, our assurance is so much greater than what Moses had. That's why we are called to march into spiritual battle, going up even against the gates of hell itself, because Christ is our confidence. Let's move to our second section. God defines his relationship with Israel and Pharaoh. He gives assurance to people who are seeking to kill you, they're dead, but then he gives them the hard news. And the Lord said to Moses, when you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I've put in your power. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then you will say to Pharaoh, thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, let my son go that they that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son. Now, the commentaries have some disagreement as to when this conversation took place. Did it happen after he left Jethro Tull or did this actually happen during the burning bush? And the answer is it doesn't really matter. And I put this out just because. The way Moses and most of our biblical writers were writing history, it wasn't the chronological history that we so much appreciate in our Western world. They're not writing a history to make it chronologically correct. They're writing a theological history. They connect stories. That's why sometimes the New Testament stories are in a different order with the apostles. They're not trying to give you a chronological layout of Christ's life. They're trying to put together stories to make theological points. Here, we really should ask, why does Moses put this here? It's a very strong challenge. It's a climactic call after he leaves the home. Verse 21, when you go back to Egypt, do all the miracles. This is the first time it actually says that Moses will do these same signs and miracles before Pharaoh. The first time he was introduced to them, they were for Israel to prove to Israel that Moses was the deliverer. Now he's going to have to go and do them before Pharaoh himself. They're really a preview of the place, the way they function in chapter 6 through 10. Then God says to Moses. You will go and do these. But I will harden his heart. Now, put yourself in those shoes for a moment. He just tried to get out of this call five times. He's not really excited about this, he he's still having a difficult time trusting. God told him, I've heard their cry, I'm going to send you to deliver them. He even says in chapters three, verse 19, I know he will resist. I will send my mighty hand to deliver him. But here, this has got to be just devastating to Moses at some level. When you go and tell Pharaoh what I want you to tell him and you go and perform these signs, guess what? He's not going to listen because I am going to harden his heart. I am going to keep him from listening. We're going to talk about the hardening of heart in a couple of weeks as we're going to look at that theme more in the plagues. But God is saying, I'm going to send you on a mission. And that mission is going to be thwarted because I am going to harden his heart. Now, first, if you go to Exodus 319. God says. But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. Then we have our text here, but I will harden his heart. The same the word for harden and the word for might, they actually come from the same Hebrew root. I think that's actually supposed to point out to you that God is going to be mighty and deliverance and he's going to be mighty in destruction. He is allowing, he's resisting Moses, he's keeping Pharaoh from responding appropriately so that he can demonstrate that he alone is God, that he alone is mighty, and that Pharaoh is not. We see here in the fact that he is mighty to deliver, mighty to destroy, he is sovereign. He's in control. This should give hope to Moses because he's going to say, Pharaoh is my puppet. He's putting my hands. I am able to control him. I am able to have absolute sovereign control of him. And when he rejects you, I am causing that. When he obeys, I am causing that. I am in absolute control of this entire problem and the plan of salvation. We're combining these two things together. He's sovereign over deliverance and destruction. I will bring about deliverance. I will bring about the refusal. I am sovereign over his power. I am sovereign over his heart. There's a comfort here. God's in control. God is in control. Well, this spells all kinds of theological dilemmas, I realize. We'll try to address those in a couple of weeks when we deal with the hardening of heart more explicitly. But the point here is that he's in control. We've already sung about this. In my heart, there's a stirring that did not start with me. God is absolutely sovereign over our hard hearts. He's sovereign to give life to those who are dead in their sin. We are saved by a mighty God and we must always praise him as that mighty God. So Moses is sent with a message. And then he's told, I'm not going to let him respond to that message. Is this just an exercise in futility? Is Moses just playing with Moses? Or is God just playing with Moses and Pharaoh here? I think there's an application for missions. We're called to go and proclaim God's good news. We're supposed to go and tell everybody about the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we're supposed to do it expectantly and hopefully that those whom God is calling, they will hear it and they will believe. But we realize that we're going to be preaching the gospel to a lot of people who are going to reject God. There's a lot of people who will refuse God, it's not our job to argue them and convince them into the kingdom. It's our responsibility to proclaim Christ, to lift him up and let the Spirit call those who Christ calls. Evangelism is hard, difficult work. Let's get into the heavier part of our message. Yes, it's heavier, I believe. Verses 22 and 23. 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. This is the first place where God calls Israel, his firstborn son. An extremely important theological theme that runs throughout scripture, but it's actually not very common in the Old Testament. There's a handful of times that God calls Israel his own son. One was in the call to worship, Jeremiah 31. One we'll see in a moment, Hosea 11. The second thing, this is the first time that God has warned Pharaoh about the consequences of his actions. I will kill your firstborn. Moses is getting a preview of where this is going to go. Moses is getting an idea of where this is going. And we need to follow our literary cues. The Father-Son language defines this passage. Israel is my firstborn son, and I will kill Pharaoh's firstborn son to deliver my firstborn son so they can serve me. There's a parallel here in what the firstborn son is. What is a firstborn son? It's a status. Being the firstborn son is a status and a privileged position. It's a position of honor. Now, I see older siblings looking around at the younger siblings. It's also a responsibility to model humility, to model obedience. But in the culture, the firstborn status was a position of honor. They had the right to inherit the majority of the father's belongings and land. The first one had a right over the other siblings. It was a privilege position to the father as a privileged position among the other children. So we look at the first borns in this passage. Pharaoh's son is the first born by nature. He was born. By the natural order of things, He has the natural right to be closest to his father, to inherit his father's kingdom, and to have a rule over the other siblings. God's son, Israel, was chosen by God. They are by nature children of wrath. But God has chosen to make them his children. It's by grace and by his mercy that Israel is chosen. There's nothing about them that made God choose them. This is God's mercy. And we're already seeing that God is pointing out to Moses, this is where this is ending up. And we see the parallel. God will kill Pharaoh's son in order to give life to his own son, Israel. God will destroy Pharaoh's son to deliver Israel, his nation, his firstborn. This is difficult. But we want to ask the question, because I assume some of you are asking, how could God say such a thing? How could God do such a thing? How could God threaten to kill a firstborn son? Well, that's a good question, but let me give us two parameters as we think about that question. First, this story is not about God freeing the oppressed. That is a popular interpretation of Exodus. It's a story about God loving those who are oppressed and God seeking to help the oppressed. Yes, Israel's oppressed. The story is not about God helping the oppressed primarily. The story is about God's covenant love. The story is about God saying, this is my precious child. They have been in the incubator. Now they're being abused. I've heard them. I see them. I know them. I love them. I'm going to deliver them because I've said they're my child. It's not about looking around and seeing who's oppressed and God always being for the oppressed. No, God has a special people. And here in this time of redemptive history, it's Israel, it's this nation. God's not just helping them because they're oppressed, God's delivering them because he's already said, that's my child. Secondly, As we ask the question, how could God do such a thing? We need to be careful when we ask questions that judge God. We need to make sure we're reverent. I think God welcomes questions that ask, how can you be the just judge? Paul goes long into much detail, as Phil pointed out last week. God is just and he is the justifier. We can ask questions, but we need to make sure we're reverent. And the way we ask these questions, because we ask them in a way that we expect God to demonstrate that he is just and holy and righteous. So here's the question we should ask, why is God just in his threat to kill Pharaoh's son? Why is God just? I'm assuming he is. How can I reason back in already assuming that he is just? Well, the simple answer is that Pharaoh's son is a sinner. And God is a holy and righteous judge. Pharaoh's son is just like all of us. We are worthy of wrath. We deserve damnation. We are not worthy of God's love. We receive it by his own grace and by his own free choice and by his own mercy. But Pharaoh's son is just like all of us. Worthy of wrath. worthy of being killed. It's by God's grace alone that he's alive up to this point. It's by grace alone that any of us are alive. Because he would be righteous. He would have been righteous to kill Adam as soon as he sent. He would have been righteous to wipe off, wipe all humankind off the face of the earth. Not just save Noah. He would be righteous at any point in history in destroying everyone. But by his grace and his patience and his love, he is chosen not to. So why is God just in his threat to kill Pharaoh's firstborn son? The son's a sinner and God is holy and he has a right to kill sinners. Secondly, I think this is really what I want us to focus on. God will kill his own son. God's going to kill his own son to deliver his chosen son. See, deliverance comes by death. This proclamation is just a foretaste of the power of the gospel that's going to come later. Life comes through death because we all are worthy of death. In order to really see this, we're going to have to kind of expand our horizon in Scripture. We're in Exodus 4, we're going to expand All right, and let's first assess what is the overarching truth of the Old Testament? When you read the Old Testament, if you were to sit down today and read from Genesis to Malachi, if you read the beginning to end of the Old Testament, there's a basic truth you should walk away with. Israel failed in God's face. That's the overarching truth of the Old Testament. Israel failed. over and over again. They fail. They fail. They fail. God is faithful. That's what we should see in the old Testament. That's, that's what Paul tells us in first Corinthians 10. That's why it all happened to teach us about failure so that we are warned against it. So let's get back to the firstborn. Israel is the freely chosen firstborn son of God. Israel is They received a special status by grace alone. They didn't earn it. It's not their inheritance. It's by God's own grace. And there's one other thing that we need to talk about the firstborn son supposed to do. The firstborn son is supposed to reflect the father. In the ancient world, the son did what the father did. The father is a farmer. The son's a farmer. The son learns everything he knows from the father, so the son is supposed to be a reflection of the father. If we look at the Old Testament, Israel constantly fails to reflect the father. Remember, this is the nature of the Abrahamic Covenant. I will bless you so you can bless others. They're called to be a light to the world. They're called to be declaring and spreading the fame and name of God. But they always fail. Sons are supposed to be a reflection of their fathers. Israel fails. Now Israel, and there's a couple layers here, so Israel is the freely chosen son. Jesus is the eternal proper son. See, we're looking at Exodus and we're seeing that God said, I am as a father to you. I am choosing to be your father. But what we learn in the New Testament is that that one God, he is a father and a son and a spirit. Israel is the freely chosen son. Jesus Christ is the proper son. He's the true son. And we know this because Jesus came when he said, whatever I hear the father say, I say. Whatever I see the father do, I do. When you see me, you see the father, he perfectly represents God Almighty, the father. So how is how does the freely chosen son, Israel, relate to the proper son, Jesus? There's two sons. Well, let me just say this very clearly, Jesus is not plan B. Israel was supposed to be a foreshadowing, a looking forward to the true son that comes. He was always the plan of salvation. Israel was simply supposed to be foreshadowing it. And we see this in 2 Samuel 7, where it's not just the nation of Israel that's going to be the son. God begins in his promise to David. There's going to be an individual. There's going to be one of your heirs, a future king. He will be my real son. Matthew makes it very clear that Jesus replaces Israel. That's one of the relationships between Israel, the chosen son, and Jesus, the proper son. Jesus replaces them, not as a plan B, but as the way it was always supposed to be. And we see this in Matthew at his baptism, the father declares, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. That is contrary, in contrast to Israel. This is my son who is constantly fighting against me. More so, Matthew declares in Matthew 2. Now, when they had departed, this is speaking of the young couple, Mary and Joseph. Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Rise, take the child and his mother. and flee to Egypt and remain there until you, I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him. And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, out of Egypt, I call my son. Now, if we go back to Hosea 11, that passage is talking about the nation. But Jesus or Matthew is saying Jesus fulfills this passage. Yes, that happened to Israel the nation, but all that is just happening to show that Jesus is the true son who was called out of Egypt. He is replacing Israel. We see that there is one God, he is the father and the son, and that this God has sent his son to replace Israel. There's also another relationship. That proper son who was sent to replace the chosen son. He also came to redeem that chosen son. Jesus Christ is the son of God proper who the father sent to die. For God's people who reject him and have failed him, he is the perfect son and he symbolizes all that the Israel was supposed to be and he fulfills what they could not do. Now, this is important for us because now we are the sons of God. This is important for us because we now understand that family language, because the New Testament has really unfolded for us. We are now sons of God chosen if we believe in the proper son, Jesus Christ. This is clear in a couple of passages. Let me let me read Galatians 4. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because we were sons, God had sent his spirit, the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba, father, so you are no longer a slave. But a son, if a son, then an heir through God. 1 John 3, 1, see what kind of love the father has given to us that we should be called the children of God. And so we are. There's a special status here for Israel. But it's not theirs properly, it's theirs by grace, and we receive that status by grace if we place our faith in the son. He shares his inheritance with us. He shares his eternal life with us. That's what he's saying. Arise, my soul, arise. My God is reconciled. His pardoning voice I hear. He owns me for his child. I can no longer fear. With confidence I draw nigh. With confidence I draw nigh. And Father, Abba, Father, cry. That is only what Christians can cry on. That is a unique relationship that only those who believe in Jesus Christ, the son who died for us, can truly cry out. For this is the love of God. The father sent his son to die for us who are sinners. As we look back to the Old Testament, we should identify with the nation of Israel. We fail. We fail to acknowledge God as God. We fail to obey him as God. We fail to acknowledge him as the right ruler and king. And God would be just to kill us. But. Instead of killing us, he sent his son. To become like us in every way, but without sin. So that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, he dies in the place of sinners. He takes the wrath of God that God must pour out upon sinners upon himself so that God is just in punishing sin and he justifies those who are sinners and believe in Jesus Christ. He declares us innocent. He declares us forgiven. Being a son of God is a sweet, place that a sweet status that we receive. From God. And now that we are sons, we're supposed to reflect him. So we don't become sons because we reflect him now that he has called us to be sons because he has saved us to be his sons, we're supposed to be a blessing to all the nations, we're supposed to go out and reflect him. To show the world and declare to the world, God's great love. Let's look at our third section. God defines his relationship with Moses. God defines his relationship with Moses. I'm going to go ahead and tell you this is an unusual story. At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me. So he let him alone. It was then that she said, A bridegroom of blood because of the circumcision. What's fascinating about the story is that Moses includes it in Exodus. The hymn, a logical place in the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death, that has to be Moses. God is seeking to put Moses to death. Now this is, again, what's happening here? God has called this man out. He's wrestled with him, said, you've got to go. You're the deliverer. Go back to Egypt. But now he's seeking to put him to death. And the reason being, it's about the circumcision of his sons. Apparently, Moses has failed to circumcise his sons. Circumcision is a sign of the covenant. Circumcision is going to be extremely important in the Passover. Circumcision is a sign of who is God's faithful and Moses by faith that God had made promises that God was going to keep those promises was supposed to circumcise his child, his children. See, Moses is being called on a mission and has not yet kept the most basic obedience. It's like someone coming up and saying, I think I'm called to be the pastor of a church. And then it comes out they've never been baptized before. How can you want to be obedient in the difficult calling if you can't even be obedient in the first calling to obey Christ to be baptized? What Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4, 2, Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. Moses has not yet declared that he trusts God in making promises and keeping them by circumcising his child. If he has a faith, it's dead because there's no work behind it. He has not demonstrated the most basic faith by circumcising his child, saying, I believe God made these promises to Abraham and I believe he will. Keep them. The first thing we see is that. We're supposed to have marks of faithfulness. If we trust God, there's supposed to be a mark about us, there's supposed to be the fruit of faith, the spiritual fruit. Those who are wanting to be leaders in the church, they must be faithful in the small things. It just so happens we have a pastor candidate here this morning, so I asked Sam. Are there sins lurking that God has revealed to you that you are not yet repenting of? So that you can be a faithful steward in the pastoral care of a church. We can broaden that out, future elders, those who aspire to be elders, Lord willing, if we receive elders at this church. Are you being faithful? Are you asking God constantly to reveal sin, to bring you to repentance of that sin so that you can serve the body with a clean conscience, with a purified heart? And really, this applies to all of us. We're all called to be ministers, we're all called to love one another with the gospel, and we are keeping ourselves from being a blessing to others if we are clinging to sin. and not proclaiming the gospel to one another. We all have the same gift. Yes, we all have many different giftings, but there's all one gift if we're all believers in Christ, and that is the gospel and that is the ability to comfort and care and confront one another. With the gospel. To look back, Moses fails to lead his family by faith. And so, once again, he has to be saved by a woman. If we go back to the early parts of Exodus, women were being proclaimed as the deliverers of the deliverer. You had the midwives. Moses had already been saved by his mom, his sister, and Pharaoh's own daughter. Now he's saved again by a woman, Zipporah. She's not an Israelite. She's a Midianite. Makes you wonder, how did she know circumcision was the problem? Had Moses been talking about circumcision but just never really got around to it? How does she know to do this? A woman is used again to deliver the deliverer. She's his wife, she's not an Israelite, but yet she does exactly what she's supposed to do. She cuts off the child's foreskin, she circumcises the child, and then she touches Moses' foot with it. Now, God is seeking to put him to death. We don't know what this looks like. Maybe it's a seizure. Maybe he's just unconscious. We don't know what it looks like. But as soon as she touches the foreskin to Moses' foot, connecting him to the circumcision, he's made well again because he's the one who's supposed to do it. So Zipporah, being a faithful wife, she does it to save her husband's life, touches his foot to connect him to the circumcision. Now, the King James Version says that he she calls him a bloody bridegroom. And I'm not sure how helpful that is because it makes it sound like a slur, like she's angry. You bridegroom of blood. I don't necessarily think that's the best translation, the best interpretation. I believe she's saying God has kept you as my bridegroom by the blood. It's the blood that kept you from dying. It's the blood that kept God from taking you from me. So now you are a bridegroom of blood. You have been saved by the blood. If anyone's read the rest of Exodus, you hear the illusion already. God is going to go into Egypt and he's going to seek to kill every sinner. And it's only the blood. That allows God to pass over killing the first born in every home. The blood is what the spirit answers to the blood, keeps the father's wrath away. It is the blood of Christ that keeps us from time because of our sin. It's not an outward action. The circumcision didn't save him. It was the faith of Zipporah. It was him finally being faithful as he connects him to circumcision. Faith must be demonstrated. The question I have for you this morning, are you claiming to be a believer of Christ, yet deny one of his clear commands? This is what Moses is doing. He's saying, I'm going to go out, I'll be your proclaimer, but I'm going I'm denying the most basic command circumcision. We so easily pretend that sin is acceptable. When really, if we're living in what we think is acceptable sin, you might be pretending to be a Christian. If you're pretending that your sin is acceptable, you might be pretending to be a Christian. We must be believing Christ. We must believe in his love and we must submit to his lordship. If we confess our sin, he is quick to forgive. Let us all pray and ask God for repentance and belief in his love. As we wrap up very quickly, let me read our last section. And the Lord said to Aaron, go to the wilderness to meet Moses. So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord, which he had sent him to speak and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. Aaron spoke all the words of the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs on the side of the people and the people believed. And when they heard the Lord visited the people of Israel and they have seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worship. After Moses continues to fight God. And he finally says, you got the wrong guy. God said, all right, well, I'll send out Moses. That's chapter four, verse fourteen here. Here you see God fulfilling that promise. He tells Aaron, go into the wilderness to meet Moses. They meet at Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. And just as God predicted, just as God promised, you will be like God to Moses. You will tell him what to say. You will tell him what to do and he will do it. And the people will believe. God has delivered on his promise. They bowed their heads and worshiped. They believe. But if we fast forward, as we'll look at next week, as soon as things get tough, they begin to reject. We talked about a true believer. A true believer repents of sin. A true believer doesn't pretend sin is acceptable. We have to realize that a true believer perseveres. Or better said, a true believer is preserved by God. Life is going to be difficult. Life is going to bring trials. We must seek to put our affection on Christ and not our circumstances in order to persevere through these trials. We always have to remember something. We're completely undeserving. We're undeserving of all the things we think we have the right to. On the way here, my seatbelt would attach, and so that annoying beeping happened the whole way here. I have the right to a quiet ride to the church. No, that's a silly illustration, but so little things frustrate us. We think we have so many rights to so many things, but really, we have to recognize The status that we receive in Christ is not our right, it's a privilege and it must be the primary identity that we put upon ourselves. That we're always meditating upon, that we're always thinking about, because then all of life's troubles, well they dissipate, they become dim. Because the brightness of Christ, the one we see who gives us confidence, shines bright. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. God, help our unbelief. Correct us. Comfort us. Let us know that it is not our sin that keeps us from you. Let us know that you love us even while we are sinners, even though we are sinners. Help us, Lord, to truly grasp the height and the depth of your love that is not limited by our sin. Help us to know. The great privilege it is to be your son. To know that you keep us. Help us, Lord, to believe you, to trust you, to bow our heads and worship you. In the holy name of Jesus Christ, we pray, amen.