3115.-Neglect of Duty. Ex. 4:24-26 by John Norton Loughborough

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · May 3, 1910

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 37, No. 17.

3115.—Neglect of Duty. Ex. 4:24-26

By John Norton Loughborough

Who was it the Lord sought to kill? And why was Moses called a bloody husband? W. P. M. L.

The record in Ex. 4:24-26 is certainly obscure. There is a difference between students as to whether the "him" refers to Moses or to Moses' son; yet all things considered it seems to refer to Moses. As Moses was going back to deliver the covenant people, it certainly was his duty to observe all the various ordinances of God, and among these was the circumcision of the first-born. This he seems to have neglected, perhaps through the solicitation of his wife; but when she learned how solemn and important was God's command, she herself took the matter into her own hand, and seemingly acknowledged to Moses her own wrong. Boothroyd translates, And she "cast herself at his feet and said, Surely a blood-bought husband art thou to me." The Revised Version renders, "A bridegroom of blood art thou." That is the covenant of which the circumcision was a token, and which stood for a complete cutting off from the world, and carried with it the idea of the shedding of blood. The principal thought that we can get out of the incident is that we should know that in all undertakings for God no duty should be neglected on our part.