Henry Blackaby’s outline of how Moses experienced God is as follows.
(1) God is at work in the world, bringing loving redemption to humans.
(2) God forms personal relationships with humans.
(3) God invites humans to join him in his redemptive activity.
(4) God’s activity is God-sized and produces a crisis of faith in those who are called into his plans.
At this point in the story, Moses has gone through each of the above steps. He now begins to put into action God’s plan.
This involves leaving his father-in-law Jethro with whom he has lived for 40 years.
Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me go back to my own people in Egypt and see whether they are still living.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace” (Exodus 4.18).
In Exodus 18 we learn of the value of Jethro’s counsel to Moses. He was a wise mentor to the younger man, Moses.
Throughout my ministry, I was blessed to have mentors and guides.
A retired pastor walked me through my first funeral and another one showed me how to baptize.
An old, wise African American pastor gave me advice that I have used for years.
Pause with me for a moment to remember and thank God for the mentors and spiritual guides in our lives.
Moses’ Family
Moses’ journey back to Egypt required courage, faith, and a willingness to leave his comfort zone. Imagine how true that was for his wife and children.
The Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who were seeking your life are dead.”
So Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt, and Moses carried the staff of God in his hand (Exodus 4.19-20).
Moses’ wife and children are not frequently mentioned in the Exodus account. We don’t know how much they suffered, because of the call upon Moses’ life.
Exodus 18 informs us that at some point in the Exodus events, Zipporah returned home to Midian to live with Jethro.
Prayer and support for a leader’s family are always beneficial and greatly appreciated.
Earlier in the narrative, God asked Moses about his staff and said, “What’s in your hand?”
That’s a good question for us. What power and authority has God entrusted to us?
What “tools” are in our hands, as we fulfill God’s plan for our lives?
It Won’t Be Easy
Even though God would be with Moses, he warned Moses on the front end that his task wouldn’t be easy.
And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your power, but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: Israel is my firstborn son.
I said to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” But you refused to let him go; now I will kill your firstborn son’” (Exodus 4.21-23).
One aspect of God’s activity has puzzled Bible readers for years.
Why did God say, “I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go”?
There are 10 places in the Exodus account where the “hardening” of Pharaoh is ascribed to God. In 10 other places, it is said that Pharaoh hardened his heart.
During the first 5 plagues that we will read about in the coming chapters, Pharaoh hardened his own heart. After that, God moved in and hardened Pharaoh’s heart.
God used Pharaoh’s obstinate heart to reveal the reality of his person and might.
Another insight about Pharaoh is that he alone believed he was the “son of the gods.” In contrast, God called Hebrew slaves his “son.”
For Israel to be God’s “firstborn” means they are first in rank with all the rights and privileges of a firstborn. Israel is to be set free, for they are sons of God.
The Lord who graciously adopted them as a special inheritance and set them apart from Egyptian slavery chose them to be the instrument of bringing blessings to the nations.
The passage describes a consequence that awaits Pharaoh for refusing to let Israel go.
How does this account challenge us to reflect on the consequences of our actions and decisions in relation to our relationship with God?
What lessons can we draw from this story in terms of accountability and the importance of aligning ourselves with God’s will?
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross and I discuss this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 