Exodus 4:24-28 "And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision. And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him."
Moses wife, Zipporah, was from the land of Midian. Midian, for whom the land was named, was a son of Abraham, and Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law was a priest in the land. Circumcision as a token of God’s covenant with Abraham would likely be known to them. The Israelites certainly still practiced it since we find in the Book of Joshua that all the people that came out of Egypt were circumcised (Johsua 5:5).
Moses had failed to keep this token with his own son. Just because God had called him did not give Moses a pass on keeping the requirement of the covenant himself. Perhaps it was Zipporah who was opposed to having her son circumcised, but the responsibility for it was still on Moses (just as Adam was held responsible for breaking the first law). Whatever the circumstance, God was appeased by the keeping of the circumcision.
While this must have been a fearful experience for Moses, it was soon followed by an event that must have been filled with great joy. For the first time in at least forty years, Moses was reunited with his older brother, Aaron. The LORD sent Aaron to Moses, and they met “in the mount of God.”
Here Moses and Aaron began to fulfill the LORD’s calling of them. Moses told Aaron all that God had said to him. He showed Aaron the signs that God had given him. From the mount of God, Moses and Aaron began the journey of being God’s instruments of deliverance for the children of Israel.
Dear ones, God calling us to a specific service will never excuse us from keeping His basic commandments. We are not excused from the expectations that God has for obedience to all He has said. We will always find encouragement and comfort in the mount of God. It is here that we will find our brothers and sisters who will walk this journey with us to the glory of God. May we be obedient and faithful in all His ways!