Ever heard the old saying, “Behind every great man, there is a great woman”?
Let me introduce you to the great woman behind Moses, the man who let the Israelites out of Egypt. Her name was Zipporah.
After Moses fled from Egypt because he killed an Egyptian, he went to work for Jethro, Zipporah’s father. When Moses decided to live among Jethro’s people, Jethro gave Moses Zipporah to marry.
But Moses’ brother and sister didn’t agree with Moses’ choice in wives. In fact, Numbers 12:1 explains, “And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.”
Were they upset because she was Ethiopian? Because she was of another religion? Another culture? Because she was darker skinned than they were? Only God and those who were there know for sure.
God rebuked Aaron and Miriam in verse 8b, saying, “How dare you speak against my servant Moses?”
God didn’t have a problem with Zipporah, but Aaron and Miriam did. They probably thought they were criticizing Moses and Zipporah on God’s behalf. Boy, how shocked they must have been when they found out that God didn’t support their cause.
I believe Zipporah’s favor with God stemmed from an incident back in Exodus 4.
“At a camping place on the way to Egypt, the Lord met Moses and tried to kill him. Then Zipporah, his wife, took a sharp stone, cut off the foreskin of her son, and touched Moses’ feet with it. Because of the rite of circumcision she said to Moses, ‘You are a husband of blood to me.’ And so the Lord spared Moses’ life” (Exodus 4:24-26 TEV).
Apparently, Moses didn’t have one of his sons circumcised. God commanded Abraham to have all of his male descendants circumcised as a sign of God’s covenant with them. When Moses didn’t obey, God became angry. The Lord knew how much potential Moses had, and the purposes He had for Moses’ life, but as long as Moses was in disobedience, God’s hands were tied from bringing those purposes to pass.
But Zipporah knew right away what the problem was and took it upon herself to obey God for the good of her family. Perhaps she knew that God had a great plan for Moses’ life.
I believe that in that moment, Zipporah chose God and His ways rather than the ways of her people. And that pleased God.
We need to be like Zipporah and stand up for the principles and commands that God has set forth. He doesn’t outline what we should and should not do so that we can’t have fun. He does it so we can avoid trouble, so that we can avoid disaster.
Remember what Psalm 57:2 (AMP) promises, “I will cry to God Most High, who performs on my behalf and rewards me [who brings to pass His purposes for me and surely completes them]!”
He can not bring His purposes to pass in your life as long as you are living contrary to His ways. When you sow disobedience, you will not reap blessings. You must sow obedience to reap God’s blessings.
Be like Zipporah and stand up for God and His ways! Then you will be giving God the green light to bless you.
