CHARACTERISTICS OF ZIPPORAH

Exodus 2:21 'Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.'

We see Moses leaves the land of Egypt and goes to the land of Midian. The priest of Midian had seven daughters and Zipporah being one of them was given to marry Moses. Zipporah who becomes the wife of Moses. their life symbolises grace and freedom. The meaning of the word 'Zipporah' means a bird or a sparrow. The characteristics of a bird represents, nobility. faith, grace and freedom. These qualities that are both meaningful and beautiful. The life of Zipporah is seen as an example of a virtuous woman. A woman's life before marriage is a life of devotion and
submissiveness in her parents' home. She prepares herself for the situation when her husband’s home. It is very difficult but God will give the respective graces at the appropriate time. Our prayerful life with dedication will lead us to the right path. When we are in the house of the Lord, we need to analyse how we are conducting ourselves. Let us meditate on the characteristics of the Zipporah.

Wisdom in Critical Moments

Exodus 4:24-25 'And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the LORD met him and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!'

Over here we see Moses and his family are on their way to the land of Egypt. The Lord has assigned a lot of responsilities to Moses and the Lord met him at the encampment to kill him. However Zipporah knew why the Lord is attempting to kill him and so she took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at the feet of Moses. When we read from Genesis 17:10-14 we can understand the covenant of the Lord with Abraham. The Lord was about to kill Moses because he had not circumcised his son by violating the covenant with Abraham. The Lord promised Abraham a blessing of generation and advised him to follow a covenant where all the male child should be circumcised. Zipporah acted swiftly and decisively to circumcise her son, saving the life of Moses. In this critical situation, the wisdom of the Lord is revealed through Zipporah. When we take the life of Moses, he was saved by two women. Firstly, his mother saved him when he was a child by hiding him for 3 months and sending him in an ark of bulrushes. Secondly, Zipporah saves Moses by circumcising her son. Today, we need to be the protectors like Zipporah. She had deep knowledge of God's commandments and spiritual teachings. She realized that this was the reason why God wanted to kill Moses and took immediate action. Wisdom is demonstrated in critical moments. By reading the words of the Lord in the Holy Bible, we will be empowered with the wisdom of Lord. We need to be well-versed in the words of the Lord. During tough situations, the Lord will open new way in the same situation. Zipporah’s quick thinking reminds us to stay spiritually alert and sensitive to God’s covenant.

Courage in Obedience

Exodus 4:25 'Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!.'

Here we see a courage in obedience. She obeyed absolutely to God. We need to know partial obedience is counted as disobedience. If the Lord is giving us a promise or a blessings, we need to fulfil the conditions that is levied. Only if we obey to the commandments and conditions we can witness the blessings. Performing the circumcision requires a lot of courage, as it was both painful and symbolic. Those days the circumcision were done only be men. In this situation, we see Zipporah is boldly performing the activity. She boldly fulfilled God's covenant among those who feared the sight of blood, and perhaps Moses had often spoken of circumcision. Zipporah displayed her faith by prioritizing obedience to God over personal comfort or fear. Even in our lives, wives will usually do the things which was missed out by the husband. Sometimes, obeying to the word of the Lord might look challenging. We require boldness and courage to obey to the commandment of the Lord. Just like Zipporah we need to courageously obey to the word of the Lord to protect our family.

Supportive Partner in God’s Mission

Exodus 18:5 'Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ sons and wife, came to him in the wilderness, where he was camped near the mountain of God.'

We must really appreciate Zipporah for understanding the will of God. When Moses send her to stay in her father's place, she did not create any problem. She understood the calling of the Lord and submitted herself. We see Zipporah accompanied Moses during a critical period of his calling. After having two children and living in her father’s house for some time, Zipporah joined her husband when the challenging wilderness journey of ministry began. We can see that Zipporah supported Moses at several key moments as he fulfilled God’s plan. A husband and the wife should be a support system to each other. When we see the life of Job, his wife never abandons him at any given point. She was there when he was wealthy and was down with sickness. We should not be a supportive partner only during wealth. A couple should take care of each others through sickness. Zipporah played a vital but behind-the-scenes role in fulfilling God’s plan. While her role may have seemed secondary, her actions had a direct impact on God’s plan for Moses and Israel. Moses had a lot of difficult situations in his life. The Israelites troubled him, his own brother and sister troubled him. Zipporah pacified and acted as a support system to Moses during tough situations. Even behind-the-scenes roles in God’s Kingdom are significant and can have eternal consequences. When we call the Lord Almighty during prayer, he will strengthen us. The Lord is watching over his children and he knows our wants. Let us all change like Zipporah to be supportive. Even when we have barriers set by Satan or may be we pass through the path of loneliness. We need to remember the Lord who shut the mouth of lions is with us. The Lord who parted the red seas is there with us. The Lord will strengthen us when we reach out to him. Let us experience the hands of the Lord during critical situations. He is able to do anything and he will strengthen us. Amen.