Moses Returns to Egypt

Story: Moses Returns to Egypt

Passage: Exodus 4:18-31

Characters:  Moses, Zipporah, God, Aaron, Israel’s elders

Summary: Moses asked Jethro to let him return to Egypt and Jethro agreed.  God warned Moses that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart, but He still wanted Moses to do the signs in front of him. On their way to Egypt, God tried to kill Moses, but his wife circumcised their son and God let him live.  God told Aaron to meet Moses and Moses told Aaron what had happened.  They went before the elders of Israel and Aaron spoke the words God had given Moses and did the signs and the Israelites worshipped God for remembering them in their trouble.

Notes:  At this point, Moses had more than one son.  Moses remembered to take his staff with him to Egypt.  It is called the staff of God because it would be used to do the signs God had given Moses to do.  God’s warning to Moses is interesting.  God knew that His signs and words would be ineffective but He still wanted Moses to obey Him.  Moses was given a task that would not accomplish anything and he was told such up front.  This is the first time God predicts His killing the firstborn children of Egypt.  The reason given here is that Israel is God’s firstborn and since Pharaoh wouldn’t let them go, He would kill all of Egypt’s firstborn.  This implies that there were going to be others born to God.  Even here in Exodus, we can see hints of God’s plan to redeem the entire world.  Israel was not to be the only nation of God, but the firstborn.  I am not really sure why god wanted to put Moses to death, but I imagine it had to do with not circumcising his son.  It is interesting that Zipporah did this.  Moses was apparently incapable of circumcising his son and it was left to his wife, who was not even Hebrew, to keep their covenant of separation with God.  Zipporah seems to have been bitter towards Moses as a result of this incident.  Maybe she was just now realizing the seriousness of God’s call on their family.  Aaron met Moses, just as God had told him he would.  Moses filled Aaron in and they both gathered the leaders of Israel.  Aaron seems to have accepted Moses’ story with no problems.  The people listened and believed Moses and worshipped God.  As God had promised, the people believed Moses. 

Questions:  Why did God want to kill Moses?  Why did his wife have to perform the circumcision?  How old was his son at this point? Why was his wife bitter towards him?  Did Moses’ father-in-law know why Moses was returning to Egypt?  Did the people reject Moses at first?  What was Aaron’s reaction to his brother’s story?

Lessons:  In this passage we see God keeping his promises to Moses.  We also see his justice as he tries to kill Moses for not obeying Him.  He had big plans for Moses and Moses could not afford to stray from God’s plan.  We need to remember that God is Holy and Just.  In the presence of a Holy God, we deserve to die instantly.  We need to keep this in mind constantly rather than take it for granted.  If we keep an accurate perspective of God, it is much easier to walk with Him.