Exodus 4:18-31 Study Guide: The Return to Egypt

Community Group Study Guide — The Return to Egypt
Exodus 4:18-31

Study Information:
Moses took a step of faith to follow God back to Egypt. After his dramatic encounter with God at Mount Horeb, the Mountain of God, Moses went to his Father in Law Jethro for his blessing to go back to Egypt. We learn that this journey would be dangerous, not only because Moses entered hostile territory in Egypt but also because God demonstrated to Moses the seriousness of following him fully. To follow God would require Moses to be fully faithful to the covenant that God had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and it would require faith as Moses embraced the danger ahead. Yet, the blessing on the other side for Moses was the promise of community and freedom. 

Return
Exodus 4:18-23
God called Moses out of his exile and back to Egypt to be with his people and yet Egypt was not really home to Moses. Much of Moses life was defined by being “placeless.” He grew up in Pharaoh’s household, later identified with the Israelites who were oppressed and yet he was rejected by them and finally he lived in exile in Midian. This was not really a home coming for Moses rather it was an uneasy journey that required faith. Jethro gave his blessing for Moses, his daughter and grandchildren to go into his dangerous place. Next, God comforted Moses by reminding him that those who sought his life were dead (Exodus 4:19). Finally,  God warned Moses of the road ahead with Pharaoh and how it would not be solved with a single easy conversation (Exodus 4:21-23). 

Pharaoh resisted Moses and the miracles that God demonstrated through Moses. God promised in this passage that he would actually harden Pharaoh’s heart so that the miraculous power of God would be magnified for all to see. Later on in Exodus we learn that Pharaoh began by hardening his own heart, and then God furthered the process, likely giving Pharaoh over to his pride and callousness. We will explore what the hardening of the heart means in future study guides, but just know for now that it was an increasing resistance to submit to God.  

Notice that God used Father-Son language with Israel here and foreshadows the passover event where God would exercise judgement on the firstborn sons not covered by the blood of the passover lamb. God was jealous and protective of his people and would enact justice for the hardship they experienced. For Israel, this Father-Son language was a reminder that they were not identified as slaves in the eyes of God, they were God’s promised child. 

This return would not be easy or comfortable for Moses, the Israelites or the Egyptians. For everyone things would get exceedingly difficult before they got better.  

Renewed
Exodus 4:24-26
These verses are among the more confusing and shocking in Exodus. God called Moses back to Egypt and then we’re told that God “sought to put him to death.” What’s going on here? Why would God become Moses’s enemy all of a sudden? Somewhere along the journey, at a rest stop, it became evident that Moses was near death, we do not know what exactly happened but the threat of death was abated only when Zipporah circumcised their sons in obedience to God’s covenant with Abraham and the people of Israel. Apparently Moses had not followed God’s covenant completely while in exile. 

This demonstrates two things for Moses and the reader. First, God promised to be with Moses but God would not be treated casually. Second, Moses would have to be “all in” and would need follow God’s covenant promise with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The sign of circumcision was given to Israel as a way to mark them out as distinct and separate from the nations and Moses appeared neglect that sign with his own family. This is an important feature of the story and something the Israelites needed to know about God because they struggled with compromise. Later on in the wilderness the Israelites expressed a desire to go back to slavery in Egypt, they got caught up worshipping false from other nations and gave into unholy practices. God would have none of that, and for them to have freedom and a relationship with God they would need to follow his covenant.

We should also notice that this is the sixth woman to save Moses life in just four chapters of Exodus! We had the two Hebrew midwives, Moses’s mom and sister, Pharaoh’s daughter and now Moses’s wife Zipporah. 

Reunited
Exodus 4:27-31
Often we can struggle to see how God supplies for our needs with the gift of others to be with us as we follow Christ. God had been working to call Moses back to Egypt, and at the same time he had been working to call Aaron out of Egypt to the wilderness to meet Moses. God’s sovereign power is displayed in how he works all these details together. Moses began in Exodus 4:18 back with Jethro and then retraced his steps to Mount Horeb (the Mountain of God) on his way back into Egypt and that is where Aaron and Moses reunited. Aaron was Moses’s older brother, and remember they did not grow up under the same roof. Presumably Aaron was born before Pharaoh’s command to kill the Hebrew baby boys which set off the chain of events that led Moses to being raised in Pharaoh’s house. So they likely did not know each other well and even if they did they had been apart for 40 years. All along God had been working to call Aaron to this mission and likewise God was at work to soften the hearts of the elders of Israel so that they believed Moses and worshipped God for God’s response to their suffering and promise of freedom. 

God called Moses to return, reminded Moses of the need to renew covenant and to follow him fully, finally he gave Moses the gift of others to be part of this mission with him. Many things in our text point to the gospel and the good news we have in Jesus. That God calls us out of obscurity and invites us to return to him. Next, we have salvation through the blood of another, from the sacrifice of God’s own son. Finally, that God calls his people into a family of faith so that they do not have to obey him or follow him alone, but rather get to do that with others who care deeply for the Lord and desire to help us along the way. Take confidence in God’s power and his call on your life as you follow Christ. 

At your community group:
Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.

How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week? 

Discussion Questions:
Read Exodus 4:18-31

How did God prepare Moses for the difficult road ahead? 

Why would God harden Pharaoh’s heart instead of softening it so that he just let the Israelites go free after one conversation? 

What are we to learn about God from the passage where he sought to put Moses to death? How do those themes about God show up again in the Exodus story?

Has there been a time when God has brought the right person into your life to help with a difficult task? What was that like for your faith?