(To Coincide with Fasting Prayer Service Session III)
Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Exodus 4:18-31 Moses returns to Egypt to release Israelites.
Moses is one of the Israelites or the firstborn of God and has attitude of a son of God. As a son of God, he must do God’s command that is fixing the relations in his life.
Before we are employed by God, we must fix the relation in our life. There are three kinds of main relation that we must fixas follows:
We are studying the second one.
Exodus 4:24-26
4:24 And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that theLordmet him and sought to kill him.
4:25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and castitatMoses’feet, and said, “Surely youarea husband of blood to me!”
4:26 So He let him go. Then she said, “You area husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.
One that must be fixed in relation with God is about circumcision. Circumcision is the covenant of God and refers to holiness. Thus, one that must be fixed is relation in covenant and holiness.
Genesis 17:4-14 is about covenant of circumcision between God and Abraham.
Genesis 17:4-8
17:4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
17:5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.
17:6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
17:7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.
17:8 Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
From God’s side, through circumcision He gives Abram a new name, namely Abraham, descendant for him and the promise land.
Genesis 17:9-14
17:9 And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
17:10 ThisisMy covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised;
17:11 and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
17:12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant.
17:13 He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
17:14 And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
From Abraham’s side, he and his descendant for every male child must be circumcised.
Thus, ones that has covenant with God through circumstance are as follows:
For Gentiles, this refers to conditions to experience circumcision of Christ or spiritual one as follows:
Romans 2:28-29
2:28 For he is not a Jew whois oneoutwardly, noriscircumcision that whichisoutward in the flesh;
2:29 buthe isa Jew whois oneinwardly; and circumcisionis thatof the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praiseisnot from men but from God.
Galatians 3:7
3:7 Therefore know thatonlythose who are of faith are sons of Abraham.
Thus the relation that we must keep is repentance and being newborn. Entering water baptism is the promise to God that we and our descendants will live in righteousness.
Exodus 4:24-25
4:24 And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that theLordmet him and sought to kill him.
4:25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and castitatMoses’feet, and said, “Surely youarea husband of blood to me!”
Moses is the descendant of Abraham so he must be submissive towards the covenant of circumcision between God and Abraham. But Moses neglects the circumstance. It means his relation with God is not good. Moses forgets His mercy. The punishment is he must die.
It also happens to us as Gentiles. We must not neglect life in righteousness and ministry so we will not wither and die spiritually.
Exodus 4:25
4:25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!”
As a man, Moses forgets the God’s covenant but Zipporah as his wife helps him.
Moreover in ministry, if there is unity in household, we will be able to help and remind each other.
Husband and wife should be united in marriage, ministry, and shepherding.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
4:9 Twoarebetter than one,because they have a good reward for their labor.
4:10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.But woe to himwho isalone when he falls,forhe hasno one to help him up.
4:11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;But how can one be warmalone?
4:12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
To do circumcise, we need stone knife. It refers to teaching Word that is hard and hurtful for flesh but It is able to sanctify and separate us from the sin.
The parts that must be sanctifiedare as follows:
Thus, we fix the relation with God through holiness.
Exodus 4:26
4:26 So He let him go. Then she said, “You area husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.
The result is God gives name.
God gives new name to Abram, namely Abraham.
Moses gets new name, namely ‘husband of blood’which is the Bride of Heaven.
If we are willing to be circumcised spiritually (we repent and live in righteousness), faithful and fervent in ministry, and not deceitful, God will give us Jesus’ name.
The results are as follow:
God blesses us.
Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Exodus 4:18-31 Moses returns to Egypt to release Israelites.
Moses is one of the Israelites or the firstborn of God and has attitude of a son of God. As a son of God, he must do God’s command that is fixing the relations in his life.
Before we are employed by God, we must fix the relation in our life. There are three kinds of main relation that we must fixas follows:
- The relation in marriage [verse 18-23] is in love.
- The relation with God [verse 24-26].
- The relation among servants of God [verse 27-31] is in true teaching Word.
We are studying the second one.
Exodus 4:24-26
4:24 And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that theLordmet him and sought to kill him.
4:25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and castitatMoses’feet, and said, “Surely youarea husband of blood to me!”
4:26 So He let him go. Then she said, “You area husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.
One that must be fixed in relation with God is about circumcision. Circumcision is the covenant of God and refers to holiness. Thus, one that must be fixed is relation in covenant and holiness.
Genesis 17:4-14 is about covenant of circumcision between God and Abraham.
Genesis 17:4-8
17:4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
17:5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.
17:6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
17:7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.
17:8 Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
From God’s side, through circumcision He gives Abram a new name, namely Abraham, descendant for him and the promise land.
Genesis 17:9-14
17:9 And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
17:10 ThisisMy covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised;
17:11 and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
17:12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant.
17:13 He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
17:14 And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
From Abraham’s side, he and his descendant for every male child must be circumcised.
Thus, ones that has covenant with God through circumstance are as follows:
- Abraham and his physical descendant that is Israelites.
- Gentiles whose condition is being bought or redeemed and born in Abraham’s house.
For Gentiles, this refers to conditions to experience circumcision of Christ or spiritual one as follows:
- Being bought or redeemed by Jesus’ blood. It is repenting or confessing sin to God and fellows. After being forgiven, do not sin anymore. We stop sinning and return to God.
- Being born again through water baptism.
Colossians 2:11-12
2:11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sinsof the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
2:12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised withHimthrough faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
Spiritual circumcision or circumcision of Christ (water baptism) is one who dies to sin or repents is buried in water together with Jesus and rises in newness of life or lives in righteousness, lives in faith. It means we become the son of Abraham in spiritual meaning.
Romans 2:28-29
2:28 For he is not a Jew whois oneoutwardly, noriscircumcision that whichisoutward in the flesh;
2:29 buthe isa Jew whois oneinwardly; and circumcisionis thatof the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praiseisnot from men but from God.
Galatians 3:7
3:7 Therefore know thatonlythose who are of faith are sons of Abraham.
Thus the relation that we must keep is repentance and being newborn. Entering water baptism is the promise to God that we and our descendants will live in righteousness.
Exodus 4:24-25
4:24 And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that theLordmet him and sought to kill him.
4:25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and castitatMoses’feet, and said, “Surely youarea husband of blood to me!”
Moses is the descendant of Abraham so he must be submissive towards the covenant of circumcision between God and Abraham. But Moses neglects the circumstance. It means his relation with God is not good. Moses forgets His mercy. The punishment is he must die.
It also happens to us as Gentiles. We must not neglect life in righteousness and ministry so we will not wither and die spiritually.
Exodus 4:25
4:25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!”
As a man, Moses forgets the God’s covenant but Zipporah as his wife helps him.
Moreover in ministry, if there is unity in household, we will be able to help and remind each other.
Husband and wife should be united in marriage, ministry, and shepherding.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
4:9 Twoarebetter than one,because they have a good reward for their labor.
4:10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.But woe to himwho isalone when he falls,forhe hasno one to help him up.
4:11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;But how can one be warmalone?
4:12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
To do circumcise, we need stone knife. It refers to teaching Word that is hard and hurtful for flesh but It is able to sanctify and separate us from the sin.
The parts that must be sanctifiedare as follows:
- Heart.
- Unclean thought or prejudice.
- Wicked and unclean deed up to the sin of eating-drinking and marrying-being given in marriage.
- Worthless word or lying.
Thus, we fix the relation with God through holiness.
Exodus 4:26
4:26 So He let him go. Then she said, “You area husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.
The result is God gives name.
God gives new name to Abram, namely Abraham.
Moses gets new name, namely ‘husband of blood’which is the Bride of Heaven.
If we are willing to be circumcised spiritually (we repent and live in righteousness), faithful and fervent in ministry, and not deceitful, God will give us Jesus’ name.
The results are as follow:
- The power of Jesus’ name is able to care our life physically in the midst of difficult world until the age of Antichrist.
Isaiah 4:1
4:1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying,“we will eat our own food and wear our own apparel;only let us be called by your name,to take away our reproach.” - The power of Jesus’ name gives victory over Satan the trinity.
Philippians 2:9-10
2:9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
Satan the trinity is source of problems, tears, failures, and sins. If Satan is defeated, it means all problems are solved by God. He will wipe our tears, everything becomes successful, and we can live in righteousness and holiness. - The power of Jesus’ name promises everything to become beautiful in time. There is beautiful future.
Hebrews 1:4
1:4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. - The power of Jesus’ name is able to sanctify us until we are as perfect as Jesus.
Isaiah 4:1
4:1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying,“we will eat our own food and wear our own apparel;only let us be called by your name,to take away our reproach.”
God’s name is put on us and we become the Bride of Heaven that is ready to welcome His second coming.
God blesses us.