Exodus 4:18a Then Moses went back to Jethro 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.” …
After all the ups and downs of the last few verses, the burning bush, Moses’s hemming and hawing, God’s burning anger, I’m kind of surprised that it ends like this…. Moses just moseys on back to his father-in-law to say, casually, that he wants to leave.
Exodus 4:18b …Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.”
And Jethro, the father-in-law whose sheep he was tending that put him in the path of the burning bush in the first place, father of his wife, ostensibly friend of Moses….I wonder what was going through his mind? Was he angry that he was losing his sheepherder? Was he sad that his daughter and her family would be leaving? Did he have any idea that God had orchestrated the events leading up to that moment?
Exodus 4:19 Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.”
Lord, I try to live the philosophy that “We don’t know what we don’t know.” Thank You for reminding me that when it comes to scripture, I often take a lot for granted. Thank You for helping me to read these verses with the curiosity of Moses. Thank You for drawing me closer to You through that curiosity. Help me to always seek You through my curiosity. Amen.
Exodus 4:20 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.
Have a blessed day.