9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 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. 13 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. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
God establishes circumcision as the sign of his covenant with Abraham and requires all male children to be circumcised on the eighth day. If not, the uncircumcised male would “be cut off from his people” because he has broken the Lord’s covenant.
14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
24 At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. 25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. 26 So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)
Moses has transgressed the covenant by neglecting to circumcise his son. God acts according to his word, attempting to cut Moses’ son off from his people by way of death. Zipporah intervenes by obeying the covenant, and, because of the circumcision, God lets her son live. Zipporah responds faithfully to God’s covenant, even though she is not a biological member of the covenant people. Women continue to be invited into God’s work, even women from unexpected bloodlines.
The Old Testament is peppered with stories about the praiseworthy ministry of unlikely women. Zipporah is one of many Gentile women, like Rahab and Ruth, who act according to the promise and are welcomed into the covenant people. From their stories, we see that God’s providential plan extends outside genetic Israel. He offers women on the outside the opportunity to join the covenant people of God. In the end, through the ministry of the true Israel—Jesus Christ—all nations will be blessed.
Churches today may disagree about the role that women should play in positions of leadership and priesthood. But one thing is crystal clear from the Bible—over and over again, God used and empowered women to carry out his plan to establish his kingdom on earth.
