Zipporah, Metallest of Mothers, or, "Doing the Right Thing"

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     Hello, and welcome back to Women of the Bible. Today, we'll be talking about Zipporah. Zipporah, like many women in the Bible, is only included because of who she was married to. In this case, Moses. However, unlike other women (*cough, cough, Sarah*), Zipporah distinguishes herself in her own way. She does something important--the right thing.
     For starters, Zipporah is a little unique in the "wives of the Bible" sense. First off, she's a foreigner. Her family is from Midian, and her father is the high priest there (Exodus 2:15-16). While this sounds like a Romeo and Juliet type scenario, "chosen one of Israel falls for pagan priest's daughter", it's anything but. Midian, the people, were descended from Abraham, just like the Israelites. Midian was Abraham's  son by his second wife, Keturah, after Sarah died (Gen 25:1-4). As such, the Midians were close in religion to the Israelites. She is a foreigner, but she's not so much a foreigner that Moses shouldn't marry her.

Pictured: early eHarmony

     Zipporah met Moses at a well (a rather common meeting place for future spouses in ancient Israel....). He was taking a rest from his flight from Egypt and stepped in when he saw some shepherds giving Zipporah and her sisters hassle. He chases the shepherds away and helps Zipporah and co. water their sheep. Jethro, Zipporah's dad, invites Moses to stay for awhile, and Zipporah and Moses marry and have a son, Gershom. (Exodus 2:15-22). After this, Moses sets out to win son-in-law of the year award by working with Jethro's family until he gets his calling to go back to Egypt.
     Zipporah's part comes when she, Moses, and their sons are on their way back to Egypt to free the Israelites from the Egyptians (Exodus 4). It all goes a bit sideways in verse 24; the family is staying at an inn somewhere, and God shows up and attempts to murder one of the males in the party; "And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him."
     This bit is confusing due to a couple reasons. 1) It's never explicitly stated why God is on the warpath. 2) It's not explicitly stated which male he wants to kill. 3) There is no explicit solution, though the seeming solution is a bit odd. It could be interpreted that God wished to kill Moses, but it could also be said God wanted to kill one of his sons.

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     In any case, the seeming solution is this; without missing a beat, Zipporah picked up a rock and circumcised their son, threw the foreskin at Moses' feet and scolded him. After that, God left them alone. (4:25-26). The implication of this solution is that, because of Moses' neglect of getting his son circumcised, God was going to punish him either with his own death, or with the death of his son. But why is circumcision such a big deal? It is part of the law, but the law was not given until after Moses and the Israelites were out of Egypt. The importance comes from Abraham. As covered by Genesis 17, God made a covenant--a promise--with Abraham. The upsides for Abraham were many. He would be the father of many nations, he would receive a new, meaningful name, the land of Canaan would forever be the possession of Abraham and his descendants. This is also when Sarah was given her new name and the promise of bearing a line of kings. The promise, in which YHWH promises the be the God of Abraham's descendants forever, has only one requirement, (Gen 17:9-14):

"As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

     To sum up, the promise only applies if Abraham and his descendants keep their side of the bargain; all males must be circumcised when they are 8 days old, included adopted kids. No circumcision equals no promise. No protection. No birthright. Suffice to say, it's a big deal. For whatever reason, Moses did not circumcise his son. He doomed his son to a life cut off from the people and covenant of God. Perhaps it was because he was raised as an Egyptian and did not think it was important. Maybe it slipped his mind. His reasons don't matter, because, ultimately, the result is the same--a death sentence. Notice who the covenant was made about and concerning; Abraham concerning his male descendants. Circumcision is a male responsibility. It is a matter of fatherhood and heritage. Moses shirked his duty. 

     However, thanks to Zipporah, his foreigner wife, the day was saved. Zipporah knew enough to solve the problem; immediately, she circumcised her son. She says to Moses, "Surely a bloody husband art thou to me" after throwing the foreskin at his feet. The implication here is that Moses was unwilling to do what should have been done; a life was on the line, and still, he would not act. Zipporah knew what should be done and did it. Perhaps, being descended from Abraham and daughter of a priest, she saw the importance of circumcision when her Egyptian-raised husband did not. 

     Regardless, as a mom, she's pretty metal; she performed a successful surgery on her son under immense pressure with a stinkin' rock. 

Pictured, Zipporah and son (link)

The lesson to be learned from her story is this: anyone can act to save a life. If you know something is wrong, fix it before it becomes a big deal. Another lesson is this; a woman is just as responsible for doing the right thing as her husband is. As long as the right thing gets done, it doesn't matter by whom.