24 At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. 25 But 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. 26 So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.) Exodus 4:24-26

Most scholars agree that this passage seems contradictory of what preceded it. But we are looking at it sequentially. It may have been weeks after Moses’ encounter with the Lord that this incident took place.

Moses neglected his duties to circumcise his second son so Zipporah did it instead. God instituted this rite in Genesis 17:9-14 as the sign of the Abrahamic covenant, and that every “seed” of Abraham was to be circumcised. The penalty for not circumcising was death. Genesis 17:14 . Obviously it was a serious offense and Moses knew it to be so. Circumcision was a way of setting himself and his people apart from others. Moses probably didn’t take the command seriously enough.

Before Moses would lead his people out of Egypt, he had to lead his own family.

The application is fairly straigh forward. Before going out and “saving the world,” it’s important for children of God to tend to home fires first. The mission fields in the past were full of people who cared more about “them” out there than the ones closest to them. Many pastors’ families feel the same way even today.

So, while God has blessed great works without familial collaboration, it’s significantly more important and harmonious to work together to advance the kingdom.