Why God tried to kill Moses?

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Exodus 4:24 (NIV)

“At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.”

Meaning in its immediate setting

What has just happened (4:18-23):
  • Moses has finally accepted God’s call at the burning bush (chapters 3-4) and is on his way back to Egypt with his wife Zipporah and their sons.
  • God has told him what to say to Pharaoh and has warned that judgment will fall on Egypt’s firstborn if Pharaoh refuses to let Israel (God’s “firstborn son”) go.

The crisis (4:24-26):
  • Suddenly the LORD confronts Moses and intends to kill him.
  • Zipporah “took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. ‘Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,’ she said. So the LORD let him alone.”

What the text itself explains:
  • Verse 26 concludes, “(At that time she said ‘bridegroom of blood,’ referring to circumcision.)”
  • The LORD’s lethal anger is therefore linked to the boy’s lack of circumcision.

Why uncircumcision was so serious:
  1. Genesis 17:9-14 (NIV) records God’s covenant with Abraham: – “Every male among you shall be circumcised.” – “Any uncircumcised male … will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
  2. Moses, the covenant-mediator who will tell Pharaoh “Israel is my firstborn son,” has himself neglected the covenant sign in his own firstborn. That disobedience places him under the very judgment he is about to announce to Egypt.

What Zipporah’s action shows:

  • She performs the circumcision, touches (probably) Moses’ feet with the blood, and the LORD spares him.
  • Blood placed on a representative person averts death—an early echo of the Passover blood that will protect Israel’s households in chapter 12.

How Exodus, the surrounding chapters, and the earlier books tie together:

  • Genesis provides the covenant requirement (circumcision).
  • Exodus 3-4 describes Moses’ commission. The incident at 4:24-26 demonstrates that deliverance of God’s people must proceed on covenant terms, even the deliverer is not exempt.
  • Later in Exodus the pattern recurs: judgment threatens, blood intervenes, God passes over.
  • Throughout the Pentateuch the principle stands: leadership, membership in God’s people, and safety from judgment all demand obedient response to God’s covenant.

Key ideas Exodus 4:24 highlights:
  1. God’s holiness and impartiality: divine mission does not shield a person who defies known commands.
  2. Covenant obedience: circumcision marks belonging, neglect invites cutting off.
  3. Substitutionary blood: the shedding of covenant blood turns away judgment, foreshadowing Passover and, for Christians, the cross.
  4. Leadership accountability: before Moses can confront Pharaoh about Israel, he must put his own household in order.

In short, Exodus 4:24 shows that the God who sends Moses is the same covenant God who will not tolerate disobedience, even in His chosen servant. The sudden threat of death—and its removal through circumcision-blood—underscores that deliverance comes only on God’s terms of covenant faithfulness.

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