June 8, 2025 - The Meaning of the Husband of Blood and the Preparation for the Egypt Conquest (Exodus 4:24-31)

The Meaning of Husband of Blood and the Preparation for the Egypt Conquest (Exodus 4:25-31)

Rev. Myung-Sin Choi

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!” 26 So He let him go. Then she said, “You are a [c]husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision. 27 And the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him on the mountain of God, and kissed him. 28 So Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. 30 And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped. 

Introduction

Today will be the day where we will start the remnant meditation retreat. We have been preparing for this retreat for many weeks and preparing in prayer as well. For this retreat, I have been asking God to help me deliver a message for the remnants. Through this pulpit message, may all of our remnants and church officers hold onto this message. All those participating in the retreat, please hold onto this sermon. Meditation is holding onto the word of God and praying with it. While praying and meditating, there is something that you must confirm. There are three things that you need to confirm. When you hold onto the word of God that God has given to you and pray with it, He is absolutely listening to our prayers. Pray with this experience that God is truly with you. When you experience that God is with you while you pray, then you will gain assurance that God will answer your prayers. This shows that every word that you pray, you have assurance that God is hearing it and none of them will fall to the ground. Without a word, the angels are taking every word that you pray to heaven to God. This is what is recorded in the Bible. Every prayer and every word that you pray is so precious to God. Lastly, you need to hold onto the fact that God will absolutely answer your prayers. Jesus Christ promised to us in John 14:14 “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” - Hang onto this promise and word. 

1. The Meaning of “Husband of Blood"

(1) The Importance of the Covenant

Verses 25-26 - It doesn’t say why God was trying to kill Moses. But when God was about to kill Moses, in verse 25, Zipporah hurriedly took the foreskin of her son and put it on Moses’ feet. Moses had two sons and his first son was circumcised but it seems like the second son was not circumcised so that is why they circumcised the second son. 

After this, God let Moses go in verse 25. Zipporah said that God did not kill Moses because of the circumcision. Why did Moses and Zipporah not circumcise their second son? Moses knew that he had to circumcise his second son but he chose not which shows that there was a problem within the family. There was something missing within this family. 

Exodus 4:24 “And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him.” - 

Moses told his wife about the importance of Zipporah in Genesis 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. ” - Moses told Zipporah that if they don’t circumcise their children then they will face death. This was the covenant that they must follow. But Moses’ wife, Zipporah was from Midian, she didn’t understand the covenant of circumcision. Maybe she saw how much blood and pain was involved in the first circumcision of their first son so she didn’t circumcise their second son. But when Zipporah saw that God was trying to kill Moses, she went to circumcise her second son in a hurry. From this, Zipporah understood the importance of the covenant of circumcision. From here, there is something important. 

The son should have died due to not being circumcised but instead God tried to kill Moses instead. It wasn’t the responsibility of the child but in God’s eyes, it was the responsibility of the parents. This is a very important point in the Bible. A family is one body as seen in the Bible. God wants a family to be one body inside of His covenant. 

Genesis 20:7 “Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” - This showed the story where Abraham met Pharaoh who tried to take Abraham’s wife, Sarah. And he was scared of the Pharaoh so he lied to Pharaoh that his wife was his sister. Pharaoh saw Abraham’s wife and tried to make Abraham’s wife into his wife. But God spoke in this verse. It was Abraham who lied and the one who lied to the pharaoh. When Pharaoh heard that Abraham lied that it was his sister so he tried to make Abraham’s “sister” into his wife. But because of this, God tried to kill the pharaoh even though it was Abraham who lied. From here, we must hold onto something. The covenant that we are holding onto, it will transcend all things. From today’s main Biblical scripture, we can see that Moses was holding onto God’s covenant to save the people of God. But when Moses lost hold of God’s covenant, God tried to kill Moses. We must hold onto God’s covenant once again. God’s covenant is so important to the point where it can transcend all things, even Moses’ life. Hold onto God’s covenant today. Even Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sake of God’s covenant. When you hold onto God’s covenant then He will grant you all answers. 

(2) The meaning of "husband of blood"

Verse 25 - Zipporah said that because of the blood of her son, Moses lived. She was pointing this out to Moses. Because of their son’s blood, Moses lived. Why was circumcision so important? It is imprinting the blood of God’s covenant in your body. The blood covenant was departing us from sin. We are starting a new life as a person of God through this blood covenant. Moses was at the edge of death but Zipporah made a resolution and performed a blood sacrifice. Through her son’s circumcision, she was repenting before God. Through her son’s circumcision, blood sacrifice, she was showing before God that she made a decision of faith before God. We can see why circumcision was so important to God. Their son lived, Zipporah lived, and Moses lived. Their entire family lived because of this blood covenant performed. Moses was able to start anew. After the circumcision of their son, God sent Moses and Zipporah back to Midian. Circumcision is so important. 

Joshua 5:9 “Then the Lord said to Joshua, 'This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.' Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.” - God commanded Joshua for all men to be circumcised. This was the day where the Israelites came out of Egypt. 

It appears again regarding circumcision in Colossians 2:11 “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.” - Circumcision by hand represents baptism. Baptism is a covenant between God and man. It is a covenant of the blood covenant of Jesus Christ. 

Romans 4:8 “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin. ” - We are able to gain new life through the blood covenant. 

2. The Preparation for the Egypt Conquest

(1) The preparation of co-workers

Verses 27-30 - After Moses’ son was circumcised, God went to Aaron who was a fellow worker of Moses. Aaron who was called as a fellow worker of Moses, Moses told everything to Aaron that God had done for him and all of the word of God. 

Exodus 7:7 “And Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.” - We saw last time but God wanted Aaron to be a helper for Moses. Aaron was three years older than Moses. God was telling Aaron to be a disciple of Moses. 

Verse 29 - Aaron held onto God’s word and obeyed God’s command. With a humble heart, Aaron served Moses and served as a disciple of Moses. 

Verse 30 - All of the words that Aaron received from Moses, Aaron relayed to all of the Israelites. What is important was that Aaron performed miracles to the people. It wasn’t Moses who performed a miracle but it was Aaron. Aaron just relayed the word that was directly from God and Moses to the people of God, and God allowed great miracles to arise in his life. Aaron received the same blessings that Moses received. A fellow worker relays the word directly that is received from your mentor and God. If we just relay God’s word, the same works will arise in our lives. 

(2) The preparation for the people of Israel

Verse 31 - The Israelites held onto the words of Aaron and Moses that were relayed to them and they gained faith. They were able to see and experience that God was truly alive. At that moment, the Israelites bowed their heads and worshiped God. This is because God is alive and working. We must hold onto that before God sent Moses to Egypt, he prepared everything perfectly. Before Moses faced Pharaoh, God showed the importance of the blood covenant. Through the word of God, Aaron held onto God’s mission to be a fellow worker to Moses. The Israelites held onto God’s word and gained faith by hearing the word from Aaron and Moses. When God sends us to the field, He prepares everything perfectly. We must have faith in this. 

3. Answers to Receive First

(1) The one-time opportunity

Verse 25 - Through Zipporah’s resolution of faith, it saved her entire family and Moses. She didn’t just save her entire family but it saved the entire nation of Israel. We must receive the same answers in our lives. 

(2) The opportunity of the field

Verse 29 - This shows the resolution of Aaron. He resolved to live as a fellow worker of Moses. God was pleased with Aaron and gave him the blessing of being a fellow worker and performing miracles. 

(3) The eternal opportunity

Verse 30 - The dedication of Aaron allowed him to receive great blessings. We can see that among the siblings of Moses, Aaron was the most blessed. Aaron’s family line was blessed greatly because of Aaron. We know that God allowed the blessings of the priest to be within the family line of Aaron. Because of Aaron’s dedication, he resolved to live as a fellow worker of Moses that God blessed the entire family line of Aaron. Even though God used Moses greatly and Zipporah made a great resolution of faith, God blessed Aaron tremendously as well. 

Conclusion

Verse 31 - This is talking about the blessings of church officers and workers. May you experience God’s blessings in your life.