Exodus 4:18-20 Back to Egypt

"Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law
and said to him,

'Let me go back to my own people in Egypt

to see if any of them are still alive.'

Jethro said, 'Go, and I wish you well.'

Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian,

'Go back to Egypt,
for all the men 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 4:18-20 (NIV)

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Some observations:

1. Jethro was surprisingly willing to let Moses (not to mention his daughter Zipporah and his grandsons) leave for Egypt.  I don't think that Moses had revealed all of his mission to Jethro at this point, but Jethro (as a Midianite priest and the patriarch of the family) probably could have made Moses' departure much more troublesome if he had wanted to do so.
2. God assures Moses that the men who wanted to kill him are dead.  This means that the man who was Pharaoh at the time of Moses' departure from Egypt must be among those who have died, for that Pharaoh wanted to kill Moses because he had sided with the Hebrews by killing an Egyptian (Exodus 2:11-15).  This fact will be one more clue when we try to determine who the Pharaohs of the oppression and of the exodus were at that time.  [Yes, I will eventually get to that subject.  I'm still sorting out the information.]  See, when we try to determine who that Pharaoh was who reigned when Moses was born, it would have to be someone who ruled for a long period of time (the forty years before Moses left Egypt plus the forty years while Moses was in the desert of Midian).  That will help to narrow down some of the possible candidates.  The guy would have had a long life as well, for forty years plus forty years plus the likelihood that he would probably have been at least ten years old when he began to rule gives that Pharaoh a lifespan of at least ninety years.
3. By now, Moses has two sons, Gershom --who we met in Exodus 2:22 and Eliezer (whose name is revealed in Exodus 18:4).  Both accompany Moses and Zipporah on their trip to Egypt.
4.  Did you notice that Moses' staff is now called 'the staff of God'?(4:20)  It is not that the staff has acquired some miraculous power of its own.  Rather, it is in regard to Moses' relationship to the Almighty that it can be used by Moses in performing miracles.  By itself it is only a staff.

Exodus 4:14-17 A Shepherd and His Sheep

"Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said,

'What about your brother, Aaron the Levite?

I know he can speak well.

He is already on his way to meet you,

and his heart will be glad when he sees you.

You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth;

I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.

He will speak to the people for you,

and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.

But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.' "

Exodus 4:14-17 (NIV)

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The LORD was angry at Moses, with good reason.  After all, God had appeared to Moses at the burning bush.  He had assured Moses that He was God and had the power to deal with any situation which might arise.  He also promised to help Moses speak and to teach him exactly what to say when he went back to Egypt to speak with the elders of Israel and the Pharaoh.  Yet Moses was still reluctant to take on the mission which God had assigned to him.

Next, God offers to let Moses' brother Aaron assist him.  God would speak to Moses, Moses would tell Aaron and Aaron would convey the message to the people.  God would help both of them speak and would teach them what to do.

Apparently this was enough to reassure Moses.  After forty years, he would see his brother Aaron again.  Moses began to make plans to go back to Egypt.

                      
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What would his wife Zipporah say about this new direction for their lives?  Would she believe that God had spoken to him?  The couple also had two sons by now, and they would journey with them back to Egypt.  He wondered about what kind of reception they would find there.  Would his family be safe?

Moses looked at the staff in his hand.  Such an ordinary tool until today.  Yet now God had instructed Moses to be sure to bring it with him so that he could perform miraculous signs in front of the elders of Israel and the Pharaoh of Egypt.

Moses signaled to his sheep and began the journey back toward his father-in-law's camp.  He wondered -- What would Jethro have to say about him taking Jethro's daughter and grandchildren away with him?

Moses called out to a few straggling sheep.  He guided and prodded them until they had rejoined the rest of the flock.  Why did some of those sheep always seem to resist his leading?  Then Moses felt his face flush with embarrassment.  The sheep weren't the only ones who had been resisting their shepherd.

Moses picked up a good-sized lamb which had been uncertainly wandering near the edge of the flock.  "Come on," he whispered, "Don't delay any longer.  What are you waiting for?  It is time for us to be on our way."

Exodus 2:16-22 Deliverer

After Moses fled from Egypt, he went to Midian, where he sat by a well.  I  think that this would be a place where he figured he could encounter some of the people and begin to establish himself.  Or, maybe he was just thirsty, and was waiting for someone to come along who could allow him to borrow their vessel so that he could get a drink.

At any rate, it was not long before someone came along.  Seven 'someones', to be exact, along with their father's flock of sheep:

"Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters,

and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father's flock.

Some shepherds came along and drove them away,

but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.

When the girls returned to Reuel their father,

he asked them, 'Why have you returned so early today?'

They answered, 'An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds.

He even drew water for us and watered the flock.'

'And where is he?' he asked his daughters.

'Why did you leave him?  Invite him to have something to eat.'

Moses agreed to stay with the man,

who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.

Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom,

saying, 'I have become an alien in a foreign land."

Exodus 2:16-22 (NIV)

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Moses rescues Reuel's daughters from the shepherds.  Apparently some other shepherds had become accustomed to waiting until the women had done all the hard work of filling the troughs for their flock, before moving in to take all of the water for themselves.  Reuel's surprise at his daughters' early arrival home that day shows us that this injustice probably took place fairly regularly.

Reuel may have been unable to put an end to this practice, but Moses was not going to put up with the bullying shepherds for one second.  He rescued the women from the shepherds and even watered the flock himself.

When the girls related the reason for their early arrival to their father, he insisted on having them ask Moses to join them in a meal.  Aside from it being the hospitable thing to do, Reuel had seven daughters.  It would be a wonderful thing to have a man of fine character such as Moses for a son-in-law.  Reuel could be sure that his daughter would be treated well, for Moses had even stepped in to rescue the women when they were strangers to each other.  It would also be good to have another man around to help look after his interests.

Of course, these verses condense all of the events which led to Moses marrying Zipporah.  Probably Moses served as a shepherd for Reuel's flock for a while before he was given Zipporah as a wife.  Also, the woman marries Moses in verse 21 and gives birth to his son Gershom in verse 22, so we realize that there are at least nine months or so between these two events.

All in all, we are left with the impression that Moses is facing a new life in Midian.  He has become a shepherd in a desert land, which must have been a rather shocking contrast to the life of royal privilege he had led for most of his life, surrounded by the beauty of the Nile region in Egypt. 

Gershom's name sound like the Hebrew for 'an alien there'.  Moses probably meant this to reflect the fact of his new life in Midian.  No longer was Moses even a possible candidate for future Pharaoh-hood.  Instead, he was a stranger in a strange land.  Perhaps Moses was also troubled by the knowledge that God had promised to eventually bring His people out of Egypt and back to the land of Canaan, the promised land.  Despite Moses having identified himself with the people of God, he probably felt somewhat out of the loop as the years rolled by and he remained in Midian.

However, as many writers have observed, being a shepherd was wonderful training for leading people.  Sheep are known for being wayward and obstinate and fearful and seemingly inclined to seek out their own destruction.  Sadly, people who are led by their own sinful natures are not much different.  Being a shepherd was the perfect training for leading the people of God.  In fact, I believe that in the future, Moses would lead the Israelites through some of the same areas where he once led Reuel's flock of sheep.

Of course, Moses had no idea of God's preparations at the time that he was going through them.

How wonderfully God was preparing Moses for His own use.  Dare we think the same when we find ourselves in a similarly 'desert' place in our lives, and there seems to be no reason behind our difficulties?  Is our concept of God big enough to really believe that He knows exactly what He is doing and that He will do what is best for our good and His glory?

Moses was about forty years old when he fled Egypt (Acts 7:23), and he remained in Midian for the next forty years.(Acts 7:30)  Think about all of the hard work involved in forty years of shepherding.  During that time, [as He had done throughout all of Moses' life] God was continuing to prepare Moses for the most important job of his life:  leading the people of God out of slavery in Egypt.