Exodus 4 Footnotes

4:24 Why did the Lord try to kill Moses? To answer this question, it is necessary to examine how Moses’s life was spared; the situation was reversed only when Moses’s wife circumcised his son. Since the days of Abraham God had required his people to circumcise their sons as a sign of their relationship with him (Gn 17:10-14). As a leader of God’s people, Moses was expected to set the proper example before the Israelites. When he failed to have his son circumcised before returning to Egypt, he incurred the Lord’s displeasure. Failure to meet God’s requirement had imperiled both his life and ministry.