The Covenant of Salvation: Understanding Moses' Mission - Saved for the Glory of God | Studies in the book of Exodus

When we looked at the first half of Exodus 4 last week, we saw

the task that God commissioned Moses to undertake.

It turns out God has heard the cry of his people and seen their

misery, as verse seven of chapter three told us.

And now it was time for action.

Moses was to be God's agent of rescue for the people.

But Moses had issues with this.

He didn't exactly agree with what God was saying.

And through the first part of this chapter, he comes up with one

excuse after another of why he wasn't the man for the job, ultimately

coming and telling us then that he simply didn't want to go.

And of course, that led to the moment in the passage where we read

of God's frustration with Moses.

But there was a solution, because God's grace continued towards

Moses and towards his people.

Because Aaron would now step into the picture.

Moses brother.

And he would be the one who would speak to the people.

And so this all seemed to settle the fear of Moses and all

the fears that he had in returning to Egypt and being rejected

by the children of Israel.

And in verse 15, we heard the words of encouragement the Lord gave

to Moses.

You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth.

I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.

See, here's a wonderful promise from the Lord to Moses and

to Aaron that he would be with them, that he wouldn't forsake them

as they quite literally went into the lion's den to the very court

of Pharaoh.

And for Moses, that fear that he would have been rejected by the

children of Israel because of what he had done before leaving,

fleeing Egypt.

So Moses appears to be happy with this plan and returns to his

father in law, Jethro, to make arrangements for their departure.

But it's not as simple as Moses announcing Jethro is not simply

his father in law.

Jethro is his employer.

And so Moses must seek permission to to leave and to return

to Egypt.

And notice what Moses asked in verse 18.

Then Moses went back to Jethro, his father in law, and said

to him, let me go back to my own people in Egypt to see if any

of them are still alive.

Now, Moses doesn't tell Jethro the full story at this point.

Now we're told why this is Moses instead mentions his.

I suppose what would be assumed his natural desire to see

whether his brothers are still living.

Now, brothers here is not simply his own family members, because

we know that he had one brother, but rather he's talking

about his kinfolk, the children of Israel.

And so Jethro agrees to the request without any recorded question

of it.

And after an unspecified amount of time, the Lord commands

Moses to leave Midian and to return to Egypt.

But he assures him that those seeking his life have died.

And so this was and is a key moment for Moses.

It's a key statement that he must hear.

The Lord knew Moses heart.

He also knew his concern for those who knew his past and the murder

of the Egyptian that he had committed.

They also know the reason why he had fled in the first place.

And so, for one final assurance, the Lord says to him in

verse 19, go back to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill

you are dead.

And so, with this assurance, Moses packs everything up.

He takes Zipporah, his wife, and his sons Gershom and Eliezer

with him, and they go back to Egypt.

And in doing this, he's demonstrating that he's not simply

going and then returning.

This is now the level of commitment and trust that Moses has

in God, that he is moving his whole family from the place of security,

the place of his father in law, and he's bringing them with

him to this unknown task of declaring God's message to Pharaoh

of let my people go.

And so he's taking everyone with him as they head back to Egypt.

Now, one of the other items that he is told to bring with him

is his staff.

And we were introduced to that staff last week.

That staff that was just normal for a shepherd or a leader

to have, but was used by God in remarkable ways to demonstrate

God's power.

And notice in verse 20 that it is now redesignated as the staff

of God.

So this staff that Moses would be carrying is now the symbol of

divine authority that Moses has, and so he can undertake the

Lord's work and the Lord's calling.

Now, it's perhaps tempting to think of God's staff as a magic wand.

We've become familiar with, possibly through the Harry Potter

series, of a wooden wand being used as a form of some magic.

But that's not what this is.

What this staff represents, though, is available to all of us.

See, this staff, not being a wand, but is the visible sign of

God's saving power.

And now God's saving power comes to us through another form

of wood, the cross.

The place to find God's power is not in some supernatural wonder,

but in the message of that very cross where Christ was crucified

for sinners.

Because no longer is it this staff that Moses would take for divine

authority.

It is the cross that we look to as God's sign to us.

It is a sign of God's love, the sign that he loves us enough

to die for us.

It is the sign of God's mercy, the sign that our sins are forgiven.

And the Apostle Paul observed that whereas some people demand signs,

we preach Christ crucified because Christ, the power of God.

In First Corinthians 1, verses 22 to 24, you see, that staff was

1 Corinthians 1:22–24

God's sign of love.

It was his sign of mercy.

But now we must look to the cross, not a some fable, not as some

good luck charm, but as God's wondrous gift to us of salvation

in Jesus.

Because it is through the cross of Christ that God has accomplished

the greatest exodus of all, leading sinners out of bondage to

sin and into relationship with him.

And so the divine power represented by God's staff is available

to everyone who trusts in Jesus.

And, you know, maybe you're thinking, well, look, I'm okay.

And I said this last week, and with Reformation Day on 31st October,

on Friday, I had been reading the Bondage of the Will by Martin

Luther, and I got it finished in the week that it's been.

And what that book is saying is you think you're free, but you're

not.

From the moment that we're born, we're bound to sin.

It holds us and we are under its authority.

So if you think you're free under no one's authority, then you

are misled, because by nature we are bound to sin.

And it is only through the cross of Jesus that we can know salvation.

Just as the people will look to this staff as the authority of

God and as the sign of God's rescue for them.

And so we need this assurance today that it is only through the

cross of Christ that we can be free, not bound to sin, but we can

know salvation, truly free.

And Moses also needed to know that too, that God was with him as

he faced the might of Pharaoh.

And that's what this passage is teaching us.

It's for telling us the gospel of what it means to look to Jesus,

to know that cross, to know what was accomplished through it,

so that we can know salvation.

But there is a reality to life.

We know that reality.

That reality is sin, and we need salvation.

And so Moses too knows that reality, and that reality still is

sin for him.

Because God doesn't leave him in the dark about what the situation

is that he's about to face.

He makes it clear that he that is God will harden Pharaoh's heart

towards Moses request.

Because this is the only way that the people will be truly free

from slavery.

And so verses 22 and 23 of chapter 4 tell us, then say to Pharaoh,

this is what the Lord says.

Israel is my firstborn son.

And I told you, let my son go so he may worship me.

But you refuse to let him go, so I will kill your firstborn son.

See, God makes it clear to Moses and to us that Pharaoh's never

going to give in.

It's only going to be through the death of his firstborn son that

he's going to let the children of Israel go.

Here described as the firstborn son of God.

And this is a key theme in the Old Testament sonship.

And we know that through the law, rights are given to the firstborn

in the household.

We also know, as we see here, that the children of Israel are considered

by God to be his firstborn.

But this firstborn son of God's is enslaved in Egypt.

This was not the position a firstborn son should be in.

Because we're told that in Genesis 49, verse 3, that the firstborn

Genesis 49:3

should be excelling in honor and excelling in power.

But this was not the case for the firstborn of God.

But this idea of sonship was also to get us ready for the only

begotten Son who would come to truly save his people.

So that we today might know the position as sons and heirs with

Christ through salvation.

That's why sonship is an important part of the Old Testament.

Because Christ is described as the first fruits.

He is the one, through his resurrection, who has gone ahead

of us to make eternity ready, so that as we trust in him, we will

know the blessing of his Son.

The first fruits over all.

You see what we're getting a picture of here, of a staff and of

sonship, is what is God's covenant promises to his people that

he indeed is the one who will lead them.

And he is the one who is the true authority and sovereign over

all.

But he's also pointing us that we need rescuing, we need salvation

in Christ.

And it can only be Christ alone, because none of us can ever

be good enough.

And we see that now demonstrated in these odd verses.

In 24:26, at a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and

was about to kill him.

But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin

and touched Moses feet with it.

Surely you are a bridegroom of the blood to me, she said.

So the Lord let him alone at this time.

She said, sorry.

At that time, she said bridegroom of blood, referring to

circumcision.

Now these aren't easy to understand.

So if you're waiting patiently for an answer, you could be waiting

a long time.

And there's just moments that we have to accept that the Bible

doesn't make it fully clear what it's all about.

And because we're not of the Jewish culture, we might blush a

little whenever we hear of circumcision because we know what

it involves.

But at the essence of what this is about, it's truth.

The covenant promises were given to the patriarchs in Genesis,

to Abraham and his offspring, of which Moses is.

And the question is, will Moses be a true child of the covenant?

And the answer is no, because it turns out he has not fulfilled

what was obligated by covenantal law, the circumcision

of.

Of his son.

See, Moses is on the road to Egypt, and we would have assumed

that everything was okay and everything was full steam ahead.

But at this place where they camped for the night, it is the Lord

who comes to kill Moses, because the truth and covenantal

commitment is greater than anything else.

See, all of a sudden, God has become Moses adversary.

Now, the Bible doesn't say how God intended to kill him.

Perhaps Moses had to wrestle with the angel of death, or perhaps

he was afflicted with some deadly dise.

Well, whatever way it was, the real question is not how God assaulted

Moses, but why.

What possible reason could God have for attacking him?

After all, is this not the man upon whom the whole plan of Israel's

salvation depended?

Moses was the one who was called to lead God's people out of

Egypt.

Moses was the one who would gather the elders, perform the miracles,

and demand the release of God's firstborn son.

Therefore, to put his life now to mortal danger was to jeopardize

the entire Exodus.

And so we do have to ask, what is going on?

Well, it all revolves around not circumcising his son.

Now, the Bible doesn't say this in so many words, but it's a

reasonable conclusion based on what follows in verses 25 and 26.

And once again in this story, we see a woman coming to the rescue,

acting courageously and decisively, possibly because Moses

himself was too close to death to be able to respond.

Zipporah severed her son's foreskin, touched it to Moses and

said, you are a bridegroom of blood.

Now, we have to be honest, and we do have to say that we don't know

the precise meaning of this technical term, but it doesn't seem

to mean that Zipporah was angry.

Rather, as the comment in verse 26 then tells us, it had something

to do with the rite of circumcision and possibly also with

Zipporah's inclusion in the covenant community.

What saved Moses life was covenantal faithfulness.

It was the circumcision of his son.

But why was his son the one who was circumcised?

If Moses was the guilty party, wouldn't it make more sense for the

prophet himself to be circumcised?

Well, the simplest explanation is that God attacked Moses precisely

because he had failed to circumcise his son, and therefore

God Gershom's circumcision was the only thing that could save his

life.

And this raises a more basic question.

What was so important about circumcision?

Consider the contrast here.

When Moses refused to go to Egypt, God patiently helped him on

his way.

But when he failed to circumcise his son, God threatened

to take his very life.

And there's a commentator, Peter Enns, and he writes, moses

can argue, pout, whine, and hold his breath about going to Egypt.

God will deal patiently with him.

But circumcision is another matter.

Quite literally, it's a matter of life and death.

But why circumcision?

We must know and must remember that it was the distinguishing mark

of God's people.

It was a sign indicating membership in the covenant community.

And thus it served as the proof of sonship in Israel, as the

poor seems to have understood in her action.

But circumcision was also a covenant sign that went all the way

back to Abraham.

And so, if Moses intended to serve the God of Abraham, he had

a covenant obligation to circumcise his sons.

This was also an important part of his preparation for the Exodus,

because later, when the Israelites celebrated the first passover,

every male would be required to be circumcised.

And so Moses had to set the example.

He had to demonstrate his covenantal faithfulness.

If he was going to lead the people out of Egypt, he himself had

to keep the covenant.

And how could he be Israel's prophet if he neglected his spiritual

responsibility to his own family by failing to include them

in God's salvation?

And so, as strange as this experience may sound, it reveals

the one true way of salvation.

Every human being is a sinner who stands under the wrath of God.

Like Moses, we have failed to keep God's law, and so we are subject

to God's curse against our sin.

And the only way to be saved from eternal death is for God's wrath

to be turned aside, which can only be done through an act of blood.

And this is exactly what Jesus provided on the cross.

A perfect sacrifice for sin offered through the shedding of his

own blood.

It's what we celebrate at the Lord's Supper.

That Christ would do this for us by dying in our place.

Jesus turned aside the wrath of God against our sin.

It's he who is our substitute, the one whom God put forward as a

propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.

As Paul writes in Romans 3 and verse 25, everyone who believes in

Jesus Christ will be saved from God's wrath through the sacrifice

he offered on the cross.

And there's no other way to be saved.

And I wonder, do you know this?

Do you know that salvation in Christ is the only way to know that

we are God's forever and that we will receive the inheritance of

eternal life.

Now, this is not something to be ignored or thought of as something

that we can wait for in the future.

The time is now to come unto Jesus for the forgiveness of sins

and for the salvation of your souls.

Covenant faithfulness through the blood of Jesus Christ.

God's way of rescue.

God's way of salvation is open to each and every one of us.

And as we come to Christ, so we live for him to remain in that

faithfulness as we serve him and seek him, knowing what he has

done for us that we may delight in him.

And what happens?

Well, we see it here as this chapter closes, because the chapter

concludes with a reunion between the two brothers, Moses and

Aaron.

Verse 27 tells us that Moses isn't the only one that God has been

speaking to, because he's instructed Aaron to go out to meet

Moses.

And there's a happy embrace with the two and a kiss of brotherly

affection.

Moses goes on to tell Aaron everything that the Lord had told

him.

And Aaron receives it and submits to the plan demonstrated

in verse 29 with his return to Egypt with Moses.

But Aaron isn't the only one to believe what Moses says, because

the elders of Israel believed in it too.

And we're told this in verse 31.

And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and

had seen their misery, they bowed down, worship him.

And so, as Exodus 4 ends, it ends with a doxology, a great glory

of God, because they bowed down and worshiped him.

And this is the right response.

Even while they were still waiting for their liberation, the

Israelites began to give God the glory because they trusted in

Him.

And so, moved by divine compassion, they knelt in the sands

of Egypt that had been their home of enslavery but would soon

be left behind.

As they walked in freedom and and they give praise to God.

They understood that the God of Moses is a God to be worshiped

and a God to be adored.

He is a God who rules every heart by a sovereign will.

He is a God who loves us the way a good father loves an only son.

He is a God who gives what his justice demands, a perfect sacrifice

of sin.

He's a wonder working God, a God who keeps every last promise

of salvation.

He is also our God who has seen our misery and is concerned

about our suffering.

Like the children of Israel.

Will you bow down and worship Him?

Will you know his salvation?

For the children of Israel, their salvation comes through the

mighty waters of the Red Sea as they flee Egypt.

For us, our salvation can only be in Christ and through his blood.

An obscure passage in Exodus 4 that maybe too many of us haven't

read or come across before, with even more obscure little verses

in the middle.

Teach us something of what we celebrate at this table.

That there is assurance of salvation in Jesus Christ and Him

alone.

Only in him can we know that.

And so I want to finish by asking you this question.

Will you be assured of salvation today in Jesus Christ?

Will you trust him and know him alone as the One who saves, the

One who keeps, and the One who will lead you home to heaven?

Will you declare, as Isaiah does in Isaiah 12 and verse 2, surely

God is my salvation.

I will trust and not be afraid.

The Lord, the Lord is my strength and my song.

He has become my salvation.

The arms of the Lord Jesus are open wide to each and every one of

us to come onto him, to have this wonderful assurance of salvation

today that we may know his love and his goodness and live in

it now and forevermore.

Will you know this assurance today?

Don't walk out that door and just leave it and thinking you have

time.

Today is the day by which we come to Jesus to know him more, to

live for him, so that we too can stand and come into full communicant

membership of the Church and partake of this feast around this

table as a public declaration of whose we are, of Christ's and

His alone.

Let me pray.

Our Father God, we thank you for your Word that challenges us,

that leads us.

But Father, that draws us onto Jesus for salvation.

So help us to know that we are saved for the glory of God.

May we understand this salvation and be assured of it as

we place our trust in Christ and him alone.

So, Father, help us to respond well.

Some will respond by thinking more deeply of Jesus.

Others will respond by coming around this table and enjoying its

bread and its wine as that reminder of the sacrifice of Christ.

Father, help us all to respond this day to what your word teaches

as we look ever to you.

In Jesus name, amen.