Last week’s sermon included one of the Bible’s most bizarre passages, where God was about to kill Moses, as Moses was on his way back to Egypt (Ex 4:24-26). What is even more bizarre is God’s motive; that Moses hadn’t circumcised his son.
What this episode shows is how seriously God takes his covenant marker; i.e. the sign that marked out Israelites as God’s chosen people. (As an aside, females were covered by their father or husband’s circumcision. As God says in Gen 17, any male who is not given this covenant marker will be ‘cut off from his people’ (Gen 17:14); which often meant death.
The NT clearly states that Christians are not bound to the old covenant; either the OT Law or its covenant marker (circumcision), as outlined in Gal 3-4. However, Christians do have a covenant marker to demarcate who the NT people of God are; baptism. As passages such as John 4:1 and 1 Cor 1:11-15 indicate, baptism is the sign that one is a follower of Jesus (i.e. a Christian). (As another aside, 1 Cor 7:14 tells us children of believers are considered believers – holy – themselves).
What this means is, Christians should shudder at Ex 4:24-26, as it gives us an insight into how seriously God takes baptism. While baptism is no more a salvation issue than circumcision was (Israelite babies who died before being circumcised were still covered by God’s covenant promises), it IS equally as important as an obedience issue. If a Christian is spurning baptism – i.e. refusing to get baptised – they have every reason to believe God is angry at them. So if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, and are not yet baptised, please discuss getting baptised with me today.
Brendan McLaughlin
