EXODUS LESSON 8

     In the last lesson, Moses was called of God to go back to Egypt,
and seek freedom for his Hebrew brothers and sisters. Now in this
lesson, we will begin with Exodus chapter 4, verse 18.

     Exodus 4:18  "And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in
law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my
brethren which [are] in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And
Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace."

     You see, Moses should have realized that God would go before him,
and make the way clear for him, just as he did with Jethro. Jethro
gave no argument. It was the custom in Midian to ask the priest of the
family permission to leave and go elsewhere, and that is just what
Moses did here. Moses did not mean just his immediate family in the
statement above, but all the Hebrews. God had called him to deliver
all of them. I am sure, however, that Moses was concerned, after 40
years, if his mother, sister, and brother were still alive. Of course,
God told him in the last lesson that his brother, Aaron, was still
alive, and was on his way to meet Moses.

   Exodus 4:19 "And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return
into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life."

     Here the apprehension that Moses had about returning, could have
partly come from fear of reprisal from Egypt's king. God reassured him
that there would be no king waiting to kill him.

     Exodus 4:20 "And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them
upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the
rod of God in his hand."

     Notice, the unusualness of there being no opposition to him
taking Jethro's daughter and grandsons away from Jethro. This, in its
self, shows God's hand in all this, bringing harmony to the outcome. We
know that God had sent Moses on a mission. He had a specific place to
go, and a specific job to do. Notice, also, that this rod was not a
shepherd's staff, but a special rod that God had furnished for His
Hurposes. In the Strong's Concordance, we read this about this word
"rod": A branch figurative of a tribe, also a rod whether for
chastising (figurative for correction), ruling (a scepter), throwing
(a lance), or walking (a staff), figurative of life. (e.g. bread). So
this rod, staff, tribe, were the true meaning of this word "rod" in its
translations. The Scripture, above, goes even further in telling us of
this rod, the rod of God. We know, then, of its godly purpose. God,
Himself, had placed power in Moses' hand.

     Exodus 4:21 "And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to
return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh,
which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he
shall not let the people go. "

     This is an interesting statement that we must note here. God
will harden Pharaoh's heart. We will read later on that Pharaoh
hardens his own heart, and in another place, where Pharaoh's heart was
hardened.  It is difficult to understand why God did not just soften
Pharaoh's heart, and immediately take the Hebrews out. We can quickly
see that the main purpose for the delay was so that God can go through
these (10) worldly gods that Egypt had put so much faith in, and show
one by one that they are no match for the real God. God explained to
Moses ahead of time that he would run into opposition, but Moses was
still to do great wonders to show up these Egyptian's false gods. We
notice that God had placed the power in Moses' hand to do these
wonders.

     Exodus 4:22 "And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the
LORD, Israel [is] my son, [even] my firstborn:"

     We see that God specifically told Moses what to say. You see,
Moses was an oracle of God. It was as if God was speaking, and He was,
through Moses. God wanted Pharaoh to know that this same Israel nation
that Pharaoh had doing forced labor, was actually the covenant people of
God. This was the first family, through which God had chosen to reveal
Himself.

     Exodus 4:23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve
me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son,
[even] thy firstborn.

     You see, God looks on each of us as His son. A Christian is
God's son, one at a time. To me, the Scripture, above, even though it
is speaking of a large group of people, is singular in nature; because
God deals with us one at a time. We see here, prophetically speaking,
of the 10th plague; which truly did take the firstborn of Pharaoh, as
the firstborn of all in Egypt, except the Hebrews. God explained, here,
His reason for wanting them to leave Egypt (the world) was so they could
serve Him. We see here, a type and shadow of how the believer must leave the
world behind, and go and serve God.

     Exodus 4:24  "And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the
LORD met him, and sought to kill him."

     It appears that God's anger at Moses was for a very serious
offense, and the Lord was to bring swift punishment. Probably, God
struck him very sick. It appears from the next few verses, that Moses
had listened to his heathen wife, and had not circumcised his 2nd son
on the 8th day, as Abraham had agreed to do in Genesis. God keeps
covenant with His people, but expects His people to keep covenant with
Him.  This child was, probably, born after God's conversation on the
holy mountain and just before this trip was begun, because this anger
seems to be suddenly kindled against Moses. Moses' wife, as you can
easily see in the following Scriptures, did not approve of this Hebrew
practice. She thought it to be barbarian. Moses should not have
listened to his wife. He was the head of the house, and he knew very
well the importance of keeping the Abrahamic covenant with God. Many a
man's downfall is when he listens to bad advice from his wife, it
is a very sad thing in our society today, that not many men come to
church. They leave the spiritual obligations to their wives. God is
not pleased with this. I am happy, though, that the women are keeping
it going. We see here in verse 25, that Zipporah knows what the
problem was and to save Moses' life, she performed the circumcision
herself. If the man does not fulfill his duty to God, the wife must do
it to save their family.

     Exodus 4:25 "Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the
foreskin of her son, and cast [it] at his feet, and said, Surely a
bloody husband [art] thou to me."

     Here ,we see Zipporah performing the actual circumcision to save
Moses' life, while all the time. she was angry with him for this blood
covenant with God. She actually threw the cut off skin at Moses' feet
in contempt. It was as if she disapproved of Moses as a husband, because
of his belief in God. This knife blade was made of stone, instead of
metal, to keep down infection.

     Exodus 4:26 "So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband
[thou art], because of the circumcision."

     At first, here, she was speaking to God, asking him to let Moses
go. She expressed her dislike, again, for the practice of circumcision.

     Exodus 4:27  "And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness
to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and
kissed him."

     God sent Moses help through his brother, Aaron. the Scripture,
here, does not explain why Moses went back to the mountain of God.
Perhaps, it was because of his sin in neglecting to circumcise his
son. He might have wanted to make sure that God would still be with
him. The whole mountain range there could have been, also, known as the
mount of God. This was, probably, Horeb. The custom of men in greeting in
that part of the world was to kiss, instead of handshake. By the way,
this kiss was on the cheek and not on the mouth. It certainly was not
the type of kiss between a man and woman.

     Exodus 4:28 "And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who
had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him."

     Aaron knew that God sent him to Moses, so he was very receptive
to the words of Moses. I am sure that Moses demonstrated the miracles
 with the rod to further assure Aaron, as he had been assured by God.
 We are not told anything about the trip to Egypt. The next verse picks
 up in Egypt.

     Exodus 4:29  "And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all
the elders of the children of Israel:"

     Aaron knew these elders, and it was not difficult for him to get
them together.

     Exodus 4:30 'And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had
spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

     This did not mean that Aaron did the signs. The miracles were in
Moses' hand. It just means that Aaron, as the mouthpiece, spoke; and
Moses demonstrated the signs, building the confidence of the people, so
they would believe enough to follow Moses and Aaron.  Aaron's only 
contact with God was through Moses, just as our only contact with
God the Father is through Jesus . In verse 31 we see that this
demonstration caused them to believe.

     Exodus 4:31 "And the people believed: and when they heard that
the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked
upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped."

     Here, we see these Israelites doing the very thing that pleases
God. They humbled themselves (bowed their heads) and worshipped God.
This worship had to do with praising Him for hearing their cry.

                                 Notes


































                          Exodus 8 Questions

1.  When Moses returned to Jethro, what did Moses ask of him?
2.  What reason did Moses give Jethro for wanting to go?
3.  What was Jethro's reply?
4.  Who was it a custom to get permission from to leave a tribe?
5.  What family was Moses really speaking of?
6.  What member of Moses' physical family did God tell Moses was still
    living?
7.  When God told Moses it was time to go to Egypt, what did He
    reassure Moses of?
8.  Who went with Moses?
9.  What did Moses have in his hand?
10. What shows God's hand at work in Moses' departure?
11. How does the Concordance describe this rod?
12. What does the rod of God indicate?
13. What was Moses to do in front of Pharaoh?
14. Why would Pharaoh not believe?
15. What were 3 different hardenings of the heart we will run into in
    this study?
16. What was the main purpose in the delay?
17. How many plagues will there be?
18. What did God tell Moses to call these Israelites?
19. What was God telling Pharaoh in this?
20. Where was the first mention of the slaying of the firstborn of
    Egypt?
21. Why was a singular noun used in meaning many?
22. Why did God want them to leave Egypt?
23. What is this a type and shadow of?
24. Suddenly in verse 24, God tried to do what to Moses?
25. Why? What was the sin?
26. Moses knew the importance of keeping what covenant?
27. Who performed the rite?
28. Was she pleased with the covenant sign?
29. Explain.
30. Why was the knife blade made of stone?
31. What did Zipporah ask of God, after she had circumcised their
    second son?
32. What kind of husband did she call Moses?
33. What did the Lord tell Aaron to do?
34. Where did Moses meet him?
35. What affection did the brothers show each other?
36. What did Moses tell Aaron?
37. Where did Moses and Aaron go first?
38. Why did the people believe them?
39. What similarity do we see in the relationship of Aaron to God and
    Christians' relationship to the Father God?
40. When the people heard that God had heard their cry, what 2 things
    did they do?