Sermon Guide: Exodus 4:18-26 "Wrath & Blood"

Key Passage

Exodus 4:18–26 ESV

Moses went back to Jethro his relation and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”

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 his feet with it and said, “Surely you are a relation of blood to me!” So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A relation of blood,” because of the circumcision.

Sermon Overview

In one of the strangest and most debated stories in Scripture, God meets Moses on the road to Egypt—not to bless him, but to kill him. In Exodus 4:18–26, we see both the terrifying wrath and the steadfast love of God collide in one moment of blood and mercy. Moses, the chosen deliverer, had neglected the covenant sign; and yet through the blood of his son, the wrath of God was turned away. This strange encounter is not a detour from the gospel—it reveals it. In the blood that spared Moses, we glimpse the blood that would one day save us all: the Son cut off, so that we might live.

Sermon Structure

#1 Why was God’s wrath revealed?

• Disobedience

• Misrepresenting God

#2 How was God’s wrath turned away?

• Circumcision points forward

• The blood of the son

#3 What does that mean for us?

• Baptism points backward

• Every covenant sign must be attended to by faith

Questions for Discussion & Reflection

1. How do God’s love & wrath coexist in the Exodus story so far, and what does that tell us about his character?

   
   

2. Why do you think it’s important that Jesus is both fully God AND fully human? Where in Scripture can we go to learn about that?

   
   

3. Do you ever remember your baptism as a source of encouragement and grace? How can looking back on our baptism be helpful to us today?