The matter of the Lord's calling on Moses has been settled. Moses has agreed to go to Egypt now that the Lord is sending his brother Aaron along with him. But before he leaves he has to speak to his father-in-law.
"Then Moses went back to his father-in-law and said to him, 'Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.'" (Exodus 4:18a) It doesn't appear as if Moses reveals his calling from the Lord to his father-in-law. I don't think we should conclude he's trying to deceive him by not sharing with him the Lord's plans. Scholars disagree on the reason for Moses keeping so much to himself. Some think he is too modest to describe himself as the man chosen to deliver the people. Others think he's afraid his father-in-law will have trouble believing the story of Moses' encounter with the Lord in the wilderness. Other scholars say he's afraid word will travel to Egypt that he's on his way to rescue the Israelites and that this would put the Egyptians on guard against him. I can't say whether any of these reasons were his motive for not telling the whole story to Jethro. It could have even been a combination of all these reasons and more.
Moses isn't lying to Jethro. He's just not sharing everything he knows with him. My dad used to say to me, "You don't have to tell everything you know." As a kid I was much too free about sharing private family information with others. I wasn't old enough to understand that some occurrences and conversations are not meant to be discussed outside of the home. In the same way, not everything that happens between us and the Lord is meant to be shared with others. There are some conversations the Lord and I have had that are far too private to ever tell anyone about. Describing those holy moments to others feels like a betrayal of something sacred. I do occasionally share what He's said to me or describe something special He's done for me, but a lot of what goes on between us is private family business. Moses isn't lying to Jethro when he doesn't tell him what the Lord has called him to do. He's simply chosen, at this time, not to share the private conversation that took place between himself and the Lord.
"Jethro said, 'Go, and I wish you well.'" (Exodus 4:18b) Moses' father-in-law understands his concerns for the Israelites and sends him off with his blessing. Having Moses away for a time means the manager of his flocks is not available, but by now no doubt Jethro has other sons-in-law besides Moses who can pick up the slack. Jethro likely has grown grandsons by his other daughters by now too. When Moses first arrived in Midian forty years ago, the Bible told us that Jethro had seven daughters. Moses married the oldest of them, but since forty years have passed I am sure the other six ladies long ago married and had children. The departure of Moses at this time doesn't present the hardship to Jethro that it once would have.
"Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, 'Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.' So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand." (Exodus 4:19-20) The Pharaoh who ordered the arrest and execution of Moses has died during Moses' forty years in exile. It may be that there was an Egyptian law of the time that stated any warrants executed by a king became null and void upon the king's death.
Previously we were told that Moses had one son, but since then he has fathered a second son. We will learn more about these sons later on in our study.
The staff that was once a simple shepherd's staff is now called "the staff of God". It will be used by the Lord, through Moses, and therefore it's now a consecrated object in the eyes of the Lord. This shows us that God can take a simple thing or a humble, ordinary person and use them to do something great and unexpected. Moses doesn't look like a mighty deliverer. The staff in his hand has never been used for anything but herding and protecting sheep. But as the saying goes, "Little is much when God is in it."
"The Lord said, 'When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.'" (Exodus 4:21) In some Bible verses we find the Lord hardening Pharaoh's heart, in other verses we find Pharaoh hardening his own heart, and in other places the Bible merely says that Pharaoh's heart is hard. I don't believe the Lord forced Pharaoh to be the kind of man he was. For example, I don't think Pharaoh had a desire to do what was right and that the Lord refused to allow him to be soft-hearted toward the Israelites. What we're seeing here is an example of what is known as God's "permissive will". The Lord has a perfect will for all of us, but we aren't always obedient to Him. We get out of His will for various reasons. Because the Lord created us with the ability to think for ourselves, it can also be said that He has a permissive will for our lives too. He doesn't make us serve and obey Him; that choice is ours. Pharaoh is naturally a hard-hearted man. He feels no compassion for the Israelites. To him anyone who is not a native-born Egyptian is a lesser form of human being. He doesn't think they have any more intelligence or civil rights than the oxen that plow his fields. Pharaoh is already lacking in pity. The more he resists doing what's right, the harder his heart grows. The Lord lets this hardening happen. God doesn't step in and force Pharaoh to do the right thing; He also doesn't force Pharaoh to do the wrong thing. He just lets Pharaoh be who Pharaoh wants to be. Because the Lord knows Pharaoh is going to resist doing what's right, He warns Moses ahead of time that the king won't agree to let the people go.
The Lord will have to take drastic action against Pharaoh before he will let Moses take the people out of Egypt. "Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the Lord says: Israel is My firstborn son, and I told you, 'Let My son go, so he may worship Me.' But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'" (Exodus 4:22) God will say to Pharaoh, "Since you have refused to give My son to Me, I will take yours." We are not going to get into a discussion at this time about the Lord's right to take the life of the king's son. We may take a further look into this theological matter when we arrive at the section of Scripture in which we see the death of the firstborn. I will just say at this time it may have been a mercy of the Lord to take Pharaoh's son (presumed to be young) out of this world before he grew old enough to become a wicked man and a pagan idolater like his father.
Speaking of sons, join us tomorrow as we look at an incident that involves the sons of Moses. What takes place in tomorrow's passage seems sudden and shocking and even bizarre, but we hope to break it down in a way that helps us all to understand what happens.
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