ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 Falaite Ma’asi 3, 2023

A Bridegroomen of Blood

Husepaniti Fakatoto

EXODUS 4:24-26

AT A LODGING PLACE ON THE WAY THE LORD MET HIM AND SOUGHT TO PUT HIM TO DEATH. THEN ZIPPORAH TOOK A FLINT AND CUT OFF HER SON'S FORESKIN AND TOUCHED MOSES' FEET WITH IT AND SAID, "SURELY YOU ARE A BRIDEGROOM OF BLOOD TO ME!" SO HE LET HIM ALONE. IT WAS THEN THAT SHE SAID, "A BRIDEGROOM OF BLOOD," BECAUSE OF THE CIRCUMCISION.

EXODUS 4:24-26

Pea lolotonga ‘ene fononga na‘e fakafetaulaki kiate ia ‘e Sihova ‘i he mālōlō‘anga, ‘o ne fai ke tāmate‘i ia. 25 Pea to‘o ‘e Sīpola ha hele maka, ‘o ne kamu ‘ene tama, ‘o ne sī atu ia ki hono va‘e, ‘o ne pehē, He ko e husepāniti fakatoto koe kiate au. 26 Pea ne tukuange ia, pea toki pehē ‘e he fefine, Ko e husepāniti fakatoto!–ko ‘ene lau ki he kamu.

Hardly had Moses begun the trek to Egypt, at God's behest, before God tried to kill him. This might seem bizarre to us-and it is-but Moses had failed the duty of every Israelite father: he hadn't circumcised his son. Zipporah jumps into action and touches the bloody foreskin to the feet of Moses. He was therefore saved by blood. Thus, already married to Zipporah, he becomes not only a husband but chatan damim, a "bridegroom of blood." Significantly, the same verb, naga, used here for Zipporah "touching" the blood to Moses, is used to describe how the blood of the Passover lamb was to "touch" the lintel and doorposts (12:22).

This nocturnal rescue from divine destruction by blood foreshadows Israel's rescue from the angel of death in Egypt by the blood of the Passover lamb. And it points us to our far greater rescue by a circumcised Son, who becomes the Passover Lamb of God, and the Bridegroom of the church that is saved by blood.

Christ, Bridegroom of the church, protect and cover us with your sacred blood.