Moses Returns to Egypt

It is such a blessing for God to allow us as His children to be able to see the process in which He takes a person through in that of HIs Word to allow us to see their maturing, sanctifying process… to allow us to see His work, His ability, His promise keeping, and His steadfast love for those He has chosen.

WE ARE SEING BEFORE OUR EYES THE MATURATION OF GOD’S DELIVERER ever since chapter 2.

Being a justified murderer. 

Being found out

Fleeing the consequences, the land of Egypt and his people to the land of Midian

God in HIs providence has seven daughter of the priest of Midian come to a well in which Moses was sitting at…

By God’s providence we see Jethro take him in, allow him to work under his care. He is given a wife in Zipporah and a first born son in Gershom. 

In the midst of some heavy life circumstances, Moses calls himself a sojourner in a foreign land”… you get this sense that Moses has this hope to get back to his home people some day. 

The King of Egypt dies. 

God hear’s his people’s cry.

Being confronted by “I Am” by way of a burning bush that is not being burned (consumed) and being called to go and bring God’s people out of Egypt

Moses had demonstrated his pride and selfishness by focusing on his own inability rather than on God’s ability and presence. 

And to which God has responded to Moses… “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? now therefore go…”

TO WHICH MOSES STILL GIVES SOME LIP!! Bro, this is the time to shut up and put up. Just go and do… (V. 13)

But God, in HIs grace… still seeks to use a sinner like Moses, and even bestows grace upon him in helping him deal with some of his insecurities by giving him his brother Aaron to help in this task. 

Continue through chapter 4… you still see this maturing aspect to Moses’ walk with the Lord…

God patiently uses sinful children through their sanctification in His grand narrative to show His glory as He orchestrates His will.

Jethro’s Blessing and God’s Reassurance V. 18-23

So, we pick back up with Moses in verse 18 of chapter 4… after Moses has been given the signs to show to the Elders of Israel.

After revealing his heart of pride and lack of faith in the God of the universe to equip him to do His work.

Exodus 4:18 ESV

18 Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law 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.”

Request to Jethro V. 18

We see this courtesy toward the father in law even in the midst of him having this divine calling from YHWH to be this leader of the Israelite people.

Worked for Jethro as a Shepherd (employee).

As Jethro’s son-in-law and would have still like to see a blessing from him to go.

owed decades of hospitality toward this man.

Not that he was getting permission to go, more of a politely informing.

I had thought about here giving Moses a hard time about not revealing to whole of His calling from God… but decided against it.

Because of the brevity of the 7 scenes within this text… after studying it a bit more I do think that Moses intended for this to be more of a brief description of him leaving Jethro and is intended to show the grace and support of his father in law in this departure.

GOD USES THE SUPPORT OF HIS FATHER IN LAW IN HIS PROVIDENCE TO TAKE THE INITIAL STEP IN LEAVING FOR EXODUS.

Final Reassurance V. 19-23

One of the questions when reading through a passage like this… one in which it is seemingly connecting one major scene to the next… especially one where you see so many different scene so quickly… is why did Moses intend to write this to his audience?

Why did the Holy Spirit inspire him to write these things to his audience.

His audience being the second generation out of the land of Egypt… what did Moses through the Holy Spirit want to portray to the people he had been leading through the wilderness for so long?

I think it is because of Moses wanting the people of Israel to know about God’s divine reassurance in the past… to be reassured in the present as they read this narrative.

Exodus 4:19–23 ESV

19 And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 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. 21 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. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 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.’ ”

THREE BIG STATEMENTS

“All the men who were seeking your life are dead.” (V. 19)

As would most often happen during ancient times… when crimes were committed, people would flee that country and flee the current law in which they had done the evil.

Moses is the same after having killed the Egyptian and fleeing in Ex. 2:15 when he decided to flee to 40 YEARS.

When new governments would take over… Criminal would receive a general amnesty for their crimes penalties that criminals would be on the run for.

So… God to says to Moses “all the men who wanted to kill you are dead” would likely represent news that the pharaoh in power when Moses killed an Egyptian (2:15) was now himself dead, along with any others

And so Moses take his wife and his sons… and has them ride on a donkey… notice he takes the whole family meaning that he doesn’t plan on coming back… this is a one way trip.

“I will harden His heart” (V. 21)

We begin to see signs of the Lord’s personal and direct involvement in the affairs of men so that His purpose can be done and revealed

Moses has already been told of Pharaoh’s certain refusal (3:19)

Pharaoh will be warned that his refusal will bring judgement (V. 23)

INTERPLAY: between God hardening the heart of Pharaoh. And Pharaoh hardening his own heart.

We must keep a balance here though from what we will see in this narrative.

10 times scripture specifically tells us that God hardened the kings heart. (4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27: 11:10; 14:4, 8, 17)

This word actually means to grown firm, to strengthen, giving this sense of determination or resolve. Meaning for Pharaoh in the negative sense of this word to that he would become unwilling to change one’s will (obstinate/stubborn)

9 times where we see that the text says Pharaoh hardened his own heart. (7:13, 14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34, 35)

We begin to see through scripture this interplay of God revealing His power and sovereignty for the sake of His will, but also not at the expense of human responsibility.

Paul explains that we as His children must not think of any injustice in this act of God either pointing to the Exodus as an example…

Romans 9:14–17 ESV

14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

So, much like Moses upon hearing this from YHWH, must take this as it stands… and find our refuge from our inability to fully comprehend this in the all knowing, all powerful God of the universe who planned out and brought about the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt.

God is assuring Moses in this that He has total control over what is going to transpire.

God is allowing Moses to see at least in part… that this process is going to be for God to show His sovereignty and bring Himself glory.

“Israel is my firstborn son” (V. 22)

We also get to see how God’s instructs Moses to tell Pharaoh that Israel is His firstborn son, to let him go… and if you don’t, then I will kill your firstborn son…

So… why is this such a big deal that Israel is God’s firstborn son?

This is a theme that runs throughout scripture… From Adam to Abraham to David to Jesus…

Again… something that will be dealt with more deeply later…

But something that Pharaoh would not have enjoyed hearing…

To the ancient Egyptians… the first born son was special and sacred… So much so that Pharaoh considered himself to be the first born of the gods.

First born sons would be treated as first rank in society, all the rights, all the privileges, all the responsibilities in which he would represent the Father, all the inheritance.

Instead of Pharaoh being firstborn… Moses is going to announce here that ISRAEL is FIRSTBORN of YHWH.

He refers to Israel as singular…… and reveals in this way what God would do as their Father… is protection, and in leading them to be set apart.

God will reveal to his people… Israel that they are His firstborn… they are His people, His treasured possession kingdom priest, and a holy nation….

God was not only promising to protect his son over against Pharaoh’s son and to use his awesome power to do so, but he was announcing that the one must die so that the other may be liberated from bondage.

Although this is certainly not explicitly a reference to Christ’s sacrifice of his life on the cross, it is an early biblical instance of the concept of substitutionary death in the human sphere.

Application

Moses does a good job here at least… not asking the question of WHY… or… I NEED MORE INFO FROM YOU GOD…

He’s not thinking about the over all providence of those seeking his life now being dead.

This information is important to Moses in this story… not because God wants to begin unpacking with him the theological framework of God’s sovereignty, omnipotence and omniscience… the give and take between human responsibility, God’s wrath against sin and His working everything out for His glory…

No… Moses has no idea that there will one day be this huge debate amongst believers one day… he cares nothing about that…

He’s not thinking about the implications of Israel’s history to be played out in the narrative of salvation that God is bringing those who will be His through this nation who IS HIS FIRSTBORN SON… What that means for them as a nation… what that means for who will one day come from them…

All he knows… is that by God’s grace… and patience… God is giving him divine reassurance through

what has transpired since leaving…

what He’s about to do through the words of Moses and Aaron…

and reminding him of who Israel, their identity given by the Father.

Do not fear

Not to lose heart. Not to allow your own heart to become stubborn and hardened.

To have the confidence of a son knowing that your Father is about to carry out diving judgement for your well being.

Praise God for the reassurance that God gives through His Word… He doesn’t just call us to do something… He calls us… equips us… and gives us assurance of His presence and protection as we obey…

Self Compromising Sin V. 24-26

GOD IS ALSO FORBEARING… GOD IS PATIENT…

Exodus 4:24–26 ESV

24 At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

Something that has been left out up until this point after Gershom’s birth… is that of circumcision or the lack thereof.

This is a big deal after having been called by God to be his messenger and the leader of his people.

GOD… up until this point has been very patient with Moses… in his lack of understanding… in his heart problems he has been dealing with… with pride and worship of self…

And to this point… the patience of God has now run out…

On their way to Egypt… at a lodging place… the patience and forbearance of God has run out for Moses as the head of the household…

He has not followed through with the covenant that God made with Abraham in circumcising his son.

Granted… he has been a sojourner in a foreign land… but even still… as God has called him to this task of taking his people out of Egypt… he still has not yet gone through with the covenant sealing act.

So… quickly… why is this surgery so important? Why does scripture say that God sought to kill Moses because of Moses being irresponsible in circumcising his son?

The importance of the surgery for God’s people. (Jer. 4:4, Gen. 17:10-14)

• “The surgery (Gen 17:10-14 was to cut away flesh that could hold disease could pass the disease on to wives. It was important for the preservation of God's people physically.

It’s a sign of the covenant between Abraham’s numerous descendants and God.

Genesis 17:10–14 ESV

10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised.

For Moses, He should be committed to the covenant that lies at the very heart of what God is going to do for the descendants of Abraham… if he does not, he himself is due the wrath of God.

GOD IS REMEMBERING HIS COVENANT WITH HIS PEOPLE… NOT THAT HE FORGOT>>> BUT THAT THIS IS A FIRM REMINDER.

It would also become a sign of God setting his people apart within their hearts and what they worship with their hearts….

Calling his people to do away with fleshly desires, inclinations… the disease of our hearts… Jerimiah would later explain this… (Jer. 4:4; 31:31-34, Deut. 10:16; 30:6; Rom. 2:29)

It’s said that God selected this reproductive organ as the location of the symbol for man’s need of cleansing their sin, because it is the instrument most indicative of man’s depravity, since by it he reproduces generations of sinners.

We can see that this surgery is important on a number of levels…

The importance of obeying as Moses partakes in God’s plan.

In relation to this narrative… we know how important it is for God’s people to take seriously God’s commands and to do what we can to avoid our own sin compromising our usefulness to the God’s plan…

Here’s the thing about God’s plan… He’s going to use you either way… for His good purposes and glory…

It’s our choice as to whether that’s going to be in the positive sense or in the negative sense…

MOSES… here almost allows his sin to compromise his usefulness in the saving act of God.

We have already seen this up to this point…

Adam and Eve’s sin

Cain’s murer

We later on see

Samson with his lust

Saul with his impatience and disobedience.

David lust and murder

Moses would later on be counted among this group and not be allowed to enter into the promise land because of it…

But for here in this narrative… I’m sure Moses was thankful for a wife who took seriously the covenant of their God and His commands. (One of the purposes of Marriage)

Zipporah swiftly circumcises her son.

She understood the danger that her family was in because their son was not bearing the sign of the covenant…

You can even hear the sense of disgust that she may have for her husband at this point because of his lack of obedience by calling him a bridegroom of blood.

We really get a sense here that ZIPPORAH UNDERSTOOD… even as a foreigner who has married into this thing… that blood means life…

She was showing Moses that we are only right with God through blood initiating His covenant promises.

Apart from the shedding of blood, Moses was no different from the Egyptians.

We will see this fleshed out even more in the story of Exodus in many ways through passover, through the sacrificial system to come…

and throughout the entirety of God’s Word leading to the cross where the ultimate price was paid for the lives of those whom God would save… through that of the blood of his Son Jesus.

and the same would go for us… WE EVEN STILL TODAY ARE NO DIFFERENT THAN THE SINNER DOWN THE STREET APART FROM THE COVENANTAL BLOOD PROVIDED BY GOD IN HIS SON JESUS… and so

Let us not allow our own stubborn sin in which we love to hold onto so tightly not hinder us or compromise our usefulness in the Kingdom of God for the Glory of God… Let us not disregard the blood spilt for the atonement of our sins…

After having been supported by his father in law, after being reassured from God, and after his wife helping him in keeping God’s covenant…

Moses then goes on to act in obedience to what God has told him to do…

Obedience & Worship V. 27-31

Exodus 4:27–31 ESV

27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God (Mount Sinai) and kissed him. 28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. 30 Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Just as God had predicted (imagine that)… through the obedience of both Moses and Aaron… God’s word says that the people respond to the signs and the explanation of God’s awareness of their current state of misery.

BOTH MOSES AND AARON LISTEN AND OBEY…

This was a meeting that Moses worried about… tried to talk his way out of… tried to reason his way out of…

He finally gets with the plan…

Aaron from all accounts has been in line with the plan of the Exodus.

God has patiently brought both of them to this point…

THEY SIMPLY NOW LISTEN AND OBEY.

Through their obedience, God reveals to His people that He has visited them…

What a thought!

The Word for visit there means to get involved, pay attention… can even carry with it the same thought in the NT to Shepherd…

GOD REMINDS HIS PEOPLE THAT HE IS A GOD WHO PAYS ATTENTION… WHO HAS COME TO CARE FOR THEM

And in response to this… we see the people of Israel have this conversion experience… they have heard the Word of the Lord and responded rightly to that word.

CONCLUSION…

We have seen this picture of MOSES MOVING FROM MIDIAN MOSES TO EGYPT MOSES…

40 years of training… 40 years of maturation… 40 years of God being patient with a sinful Israelite… allowing him to be sanctified in his relationship with the Lord…ALL TO USE MOSES IN HIS GRAND NARRATIVE TO BRING HIS PEOPLE OUT OF CAPTIVITY AND INTO THE WILDERNESS TO WORSHIP HIM ALL FOR HIS GLORY…

CHURCH MAY WE PLACE OURSELVES INTO THE SAME POSITION TO BE USED BY GOD.

MAY WE BE RE -ASSURED BY HIS WORD

THAT HE KNOWS AND SEES OUR SUFFERING - DO NOT FEAR

THAT HE HAS GONE BEFORE US IN WHAT HE HAS CALLED US TO DO - DON’T LOSE HEART - NOT TO BECOME STUBBORN OURSELVES…

THAT HE WILL PROTECT HIS CHILDREN AND JUDGE THE WICKED ON THEIR BEHALF.

May we also… be careful not to allow our own sin to compromise our usefulness in HIs kingdom… in His mission.

Pride, love of self, bitterness, worry, anger… let us be living a life of constantly seeking to put these off and putting on His ways… His righteousness instead so that we may walk in obedience to His Word.

MAY WE… JUST AS MOSES AND AARON DID… REPEAT WHAT THE LORD HAS TOLD US SO THAT THERE CAN ALSO BE A RIGHT RESPONSE BY THE HEARERS TO BOW THEIR HEADS IN WORSHIP OF YHWH.