Why did God try to kill him?

Question

Exodus 4:24

First question: Why did God try to do such a thing?

(If you are not familiar with this, it tells of a situation where God met him passing in the hallway at the hotel, and suddenly tried to kill him.)

Second question: Why did God not succeed in killing him? We know God didn't succeed, because later the guy is still alive.

You needn't tell me who it was God tried to kill, I already know.

What? Oh, you want me to quote the passage verbatim?

"And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him."

What? Yes, the word 'Lord' means God.
I'm collecting all Bible passages where he tried to do something, but couldn't.

Replies from church folks appreciated.
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Not too many church folks want to tackle this one?

Church folks: straight answers anybody?

Answer 1

Another one of those inconsistencies, right? You're right. Why would God try to kill a man whom he'd chosen to pass the 10 commandments to.

Answer 2

For your edification.

Moses had neglected to circumcise his son. He was "unequally yoked" with a Midianite woman. His wife found the practice objectionable.

Even good men are apt to cool in their zeal for God and duty when they have long been deprived of the society of the faithful: solitude has its advantages, but they seldom counterbalance the loss of Christian communion.

He met him, and, probably by a sword in an angel’s hand, sought to kill him.

In any case his wife performs the duty, while expressing her displeasure in doing so. The distemper went off, the destroying angel withdrew, and all was well: only Zipporah cannot forget the fright she was in, but will unreasonably call Moses a bloody husband, because he obliged her to circumcise the child; and, upon this occasion (it is probable), he sent them back to his father-in-law, that they might not create him any further uneasiness.

Answer 3

This is a passage about obedience. But, an accurate response isn't what people like you require. You already had an answer to this question sprung from the figments of your own willful imagination, did you not?

Your true intention is to humor yourself by way of your own ignorance and hateful rejection of the truth, which I'm sure you can well accomplish without the help of any "church folks ".

Answer 4

Because they were not following God's commandment, they immediately followed it and God no longer had to kill them. You need to read the verses around it to gain context of what is going on in the scripture instead of pulling one verse and saying it does not make sense.

Answer 5

I have come to some similar conclusions as below on my own, but I thought you might find it helpful coming from someone actually trained in Old Testament hermaneutics....

In Exodus 4:24-26 we find a strange story inserted in the record of the journey of Moses from the wilderness to Egypt in order to free the Israelites from bondage.

Sometimes, with a passage like this, it is best to start with what we do know and can safely conclude. Here are the facts:

From the time of Abraham, all the boys of the tribes of Israel were to be circumcised (Genesis 17:7-14). This was not an option. The uncircumcised male was to be cut off from the people (Genesis 17:14), a phrase that probably meant to put them to death.

We know from this passage that the son of Moses had not been circumcised before Moses headed for Egypt. At this time, Moses was 80 years old, though we do not know the age of his son.

We can also safely conclude that Zipporah opposed the circumcision of her son. She called Moses a "bloody husband" because of the circumcision. Zipporah was not a Hebrew woman, but a Midianite (Exodus 2:16-22). The first son of Moses and Zipporah was called Gershom, which means stranger. This name was given to him as a testimony by Moses that he was "a stranger in a strange land" (Exodus 2:22).

I think we can also safely assume that God was demanding that Moses immediately obey the covenant God had made to Abraham. Moses' son had not been circumcised on the eighth day after his birth as commanded. But now, Moses was taking his place as the man that God had chosen to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. He must have his own house in order. His son must be circumcised.

The facts and conclusions give us a solid framework in which to understand the rest of the story. Only a little assumption shows us that Geshom had not been circumcised because of the opposition of his Midianite mother. Moses had avoided pressing the issue until God pressured him. However, even at this point, Moses was more prone to give in to his wife's opposition than to God's command. When Zipporah saw that God was ready to take her husband's life because of this disobedience, she circumcised Gershom herself, but not without a last attack on the character of her husband. God, having been obeyed (though unwillingly) allowed Moses to go on his way.

Answer 6

I don't really think that you want the truth or you would have seen it yourself. Moses had disobeyed Father God and not circumcised his son because his wife objected. Father God needed to make the wife understand the importance of Moses' obedience. You have offered a grain of truth in a sea of deceit. Many men have started denominations of 1 verse of scripture.

Answer 7

There is a similar situation in the story of Balaam, his donkey easily avoided a angel of death three times. Either it was a very nimble donkey or a really inept angel.

I'll check the story you're referring to and get back (maybe).

Continuation:
This is a weird passage, we have an extended conversation between God and Moses, in which Moses is reluctantly persuaded to go to speak with Pharaoh, even with a number of miracles in his arsenal. God appears not to mention anything about Mose's failure to have his son circumsized and then gets mad about it while Moses is on his way to do God's bidding. I'd say this raises many questions that most of the explanations do not address, like how did Moses' wife know that God was trying to kill Moses and how could she do the operation in time to prevent an all powerful God from succeeding?

Answer 8

Disclaimer: I'm a Christian. I believe the Bible to be the true and inspired Word of God.

From your question, I'm guessing you don't, so I'm going to not discuss that...and instead I'm going to answer your question from the literary perspective.

If you've ever read Joseph Campbell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces," you'll notice that part of every "hero" story (and the story of Moses is, indeed, a hero story) is the "Call to Adventure." It begins with the Burning Bush in the previous chapter, but this event further signified the covenant between God and Moses, and solidified Moses' "call to adventure," to free the captive Israelites from Egyptian slavery.

Those who believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God may also see the parallels between this event and the passover, which marked the end of the Israelite's time of slavery, and may also see some parallels between the passover, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Answer 9

There may be a translation problem here. My Bible (which attempts to give more accurate translations than traditional Bibles) says "The Lord sought to kill him." But then Zipporah circumcized him, so the Lord changed his mind.

There is a big difference between trying to do something and being unable to do it and wanting to do something and then changing your mind because someone took an action.

Answer 10

Fairy tales cannot be explained rationally.

Answer 11

Apparently, the writers of the bible know that their Lord is NOT all powerful. The believers of the bible, well, they don't have the same understanding that the writers had.