The Revelation of God and Moses's Return to Egypt

God’s Call of Moses

The Priority of the Call

Verses 18 - 19: Moses, having acquiesced to the Lord’s commission, returns the Jethro seeking leave to return to Egypt. He is leaving his employment as shepherd of the flock of Jethro to do as the Lord commands. He wishes to leave on good terms since he is taking his wife and sons. He also needs to return the sheep. Jethro has been incredibly gracious to him and he does not want to sour the relationship. Jethro is also the head of the household and so Moses is showing respect. Notice that Moses’ leaving is open and without strife in contrast to Jacob having to leave secretly. We are not told why He doesn’t tell Jethro the truth, only that Jethro gives his blessings. We are unsure precisely when the Lord told Moses about the death of these men. This could be a summation of Moses’ Sinai experience. It should have been an additional source of confidence to Moses. We know it is true because the death of the Egyptian is not mentioned either by the current Pharaoh or in the rest of Exodus.

Service to the Lord requires giving Christ absolute preeminence. He must be first in our lives (, ). This does not mean we ignore or neglect our families. It does mean to we must be willing to leave even them to obey the will of God.

The Familial Nature of the Call

Verse 20a: His taking of His family is significant as it indicated he intends to stay in Egypt until the Israelites are freed. We must note that it does not appear that Zipporah and sons make it to Egypt (). He is no longer the former Egyptian prince or wandering Shepherd. He is an Israelite and will identify with his people. Moses is leaving his current family and being identified with a new one, his true family. As with his ancestor Abraham, the call of God is transformative at every level of life.

Service to the Lord almost always involves our families. When God calls a man or women to ministry, the whole family is involved. This is especially true for the under shepherd. How can a leader lead a flock if they can’t lead their family. A leader who can’t / won’t care for his family can’t / won’t care for the sheep. (). Ministry begins in the home. Also godly spouses and children are a positive witness for the leader and a source of strength and encouragement to the leader.

The Power of the Call

Verse 20b: Moses does not go alone. He takes the staff of God. The staff had an important role in Biblical times. It was a basic but valued possession. It was a source of identity, a tool, and a weapon for offense and defense. It was a symbol of power and authority. For Moses it was the means by which the miraculous power of God was manifest. The wood itself had no intrinsic power. It was God working. Moses calls his staff the “Staff of God” because it represents that God’s power and might are with Moses. It is by God’s hand the Israelites will be freed. When God calls He equips for it is for His glory and honor that we serve. [1]

God’s Commission of Moses

The Requirement of Obedience

Verse 21a: Moses is instructed to do exactly as the Lord commands before Pharaoh. The signs and wonders are not just for Israel. They are also for Egypt. They will demonstrate God’s power, bring Israel to belief, but condemnation to Pharaoh and Egypt. This is because Pharaoh will not believe. He will not obey. His heart will be hardened and he will refuse so that God’s power may be manifest.

The Requirement to Speak God’s Words

Verse 22 - 23: What was this word from God? ‘Israel is my firstborn son. The For centuries my son has served you in bondage, but now I am freeing him to serve Me. Let him go!’ The firstborn son has a special status in ANE time. He usually, though not always, received the double portion of inheritance. He would become the leader of the clan after the passing of the father. He became the father’s representative as he entered adulthood and was given much responsibility. The Lord would declare later that they shall be set apart to Him.[2] The Lord had called Israel from Abram and set His love upon them. They are not to be like the rest of the nations and peoples. They are to be God’s, raised up to declare His name and glory among the gentiles. Pharaoh won’t care about this and so we are given advanced notice of the tenth and final plague that will ultimately break Egypt. There is a gospel implication here. Israel will not be freed until someone dies. We are freed from the bondage of sin and death because someone else died in our place. Unlikely the Egyptians however, Christ received a punishment He didn’t deserve. We received a salvation we didn’t deserve.

Stuart, D. K. (2006). Exodus (Vol. 2, p. 146). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers. The Lord has called them from Abram and set His love upon them. They are to be unlike to rest of the nations and peoples. They are to be God’s, raised up to declare His name upon the gentiles. Pharaoh won’t care about this and so we are given advanced notice of the ten and final plague to will ultimately break Egypt. There is a gospel implication here. Israel will not be freed until someone dies. We are freed from the bondage of sin and death by someone else did in our place. Unlikely the Egyptians however, Christ received an punishment He didn’t deserve to give us what we didn’t deserve.

The Necessity to Endure Opposition

Verse 21b: Moses is told beforehand there will be opposition. He is to expect it. Pharaoh will not surrender easily. This will not be a quick turnaround. Moses is to be prepared for push-back. The most powerful monarch of the time is not going give up without a fight. This was true for every prophet in the Old Testament as well as every NT saint whom stood for the truth. Christ and Paul both declared this will be the case (, ). Moses was not to worry, and neither are we since then, as now, we are assured victory. We are we to make of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. There are twenty references to the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. Ten of these references declare God has hardening Pharaoh’s heart (; ; ; , , ; ; , , ). The other ten declare that Pharaoh hardening his own heart or merely his heart being hardened (, , ; , , ; , , ; )[3]. What are we to make of this? How can Pharaoh be judged if God hardened his heart? Once again, we must deal the twin themes of Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility. We will come back to this issue throughout Exodus but a quick word is appropriate here. First we must understand that God is not taking someone seeking after Him and reversing that desire so they oppose Him. Pharaoh is not an innocent bystander or even a neutral ruler mistreated by a tyrannical deity. Pharaoh has set himself in opposition to the will of God. We were already told he will refuse to submit to the word of the Lord. As with the Pharisees of the NT, Pharaoh will respond to the signs of God through Moses in rebellion. As such the hardening of his heart is God’s just judgment upon him. Because he refuses to honor God (), he is given over to his rebellion. He adds to his own rebellion by willfully choosing to continually disobey. What we are seeing is the just action of God upon Pharaoh and later Egypt. The Lord is sovereign even over the human heart.

God Chastisement of Moses

The Seriousness of God’s commands

Verse 24: A curious incident is recorded here, given the great call and promise that Moses had just been given. It has to do with the Abrahamic covenant as recorded in . There Abraham was given the sign of the covenant for him and all his descendants, the sign of circumcision. The Lord made it clear that those whom are not circumcised will be cut off. This was a serious matter but one which Moses had taken lightly. We know that because he did not circumcise his first born son Gershom. The Lord’s standard applied to all. He was not going to turn aside for anyone. It certainly could not be the case that the mediator had failed to keep the covenant. In the Lord makes it clear that no one can partake of the passover without circumcision. Moses apparently became very ill.

The Necessity to Urgent Response

Verses 25 - 26: To save his life Zipporah circumcises their son, turning aside the anger of the Lord from Moses. She may or may have been angry but certainly expressed revulsion at the practice of circumcision. Nonetheless she saw the danger and acted quickly to save the life of her husband. This incident has Gospel implications. Without exception right standing with God is based on blood shed and His covenant promise.[4] Christ’s blood shed on the cross, which enables our internal circumcision, is the only means of standing before God.

God’s Fulfillment of His Promise to Moses

Verses 27 - 31: The Lord had mentioned to Moses that Aaron was coming to meet Moses in the wilderness. It is because He sent him. Moses instructs Moses in all that the Lord said and commanded to be done. As commanded, Moses and Aaron go before the elders of Israel and Aaron speaks the words the Lord commanded. They perform the signs the Lord provided and as the Lord promised, the elders and the people believe their word. Their response upon learning God cares for them and will act on their behalf is humility and worship.

Notice that the source of their joy was the God came to them when they were powerless and declared his intention and power to free them. They worship because they are going to be saved. For Christians today we must remember our joy, rejoicing, and worship lies in the reality that God saved us when we couldn’t save ourselves. God saved us when we had no desire to say ourselves. Fitting are the words of the Apostle John: We love Him because He first loved us.

1. Stuart, D. K. (2006). Exodus (Vol. 2, p. 138). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

2. ibid pg. 146

3. , (Chattanooga: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 1996), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "DEEPER STUDIES".

4. Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Exodus, ed. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, Tony Merida, (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2014), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 31.