7040. Verses 24-26 And he was on the way in the lodging-place, and Jehovah came to meet him and sought to kill him. And Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and caused it to touch his feet, and said, Surely a bridegroom of blood^a are you to me! And He ceased from him'. Then she said, A bridegroom of blood^a in regard to circumcisions. 'And he was on the way in the lodging-place' means that the attention of the descendants of Jacob was focused on outward forms without their inner meaning. 'And Jehovah came to meet him^b means opposition. 'And sought to kill him' means that a representative Church could not be established among those descendants. 'And Zipporah took a flint' means that the representative Church used truth to demonstrate the actual nature. 'And cut off the foreskin of her son' means the removal of filthy kinds of love, as a result of which the internal is laid bare. 'And caused it to touch his feet' means a demonstration of the actual nature of the natural then. 'And said, Surely a bridegroom of blood are you to me!' means that it was full of every kind of violence and hostility towards truth and goodness. 'And He ceased from him' means that they were allowed to be representative. 'Then she said, A bridegroom of blood in regard to circumcisions' means that although the internal was full of violence and hostility towards truth and goodness, circumcision was nevertheless accepted as a sign representative of purification from filthy kinds of love.

Notes