In case you haven't noticed, there are parts of the Bible that leave you scratching your head as to why it is in there. Some of them are just plain disturbing stories like most of Judges while others seem random and completely unrelated to anything. Exodus 4:18-31 are among the latter.
They are a series of seemingly random anecdotes that Moses (the author of Exodus) stuck in there as fillers and transitions. But they are part of the word of God, so they have to have some message, right? Taken individually, they really don't. But if we look at them as a whole, maybe something will appear.
First is sort of a conclusion to the argument Moses had been having with Yahveh that we discussed in in the last three entries. Exodus says that Moses "went back to Jethro" and requested that he be allowed to return to Egypt to see his people. Jethro sends him off with a blessing.
Yahveh tells Moses that the people who wanted to kill him are dead and so it is safe to return to Egypt (that will quickly change). Moses then took his wife and sons and the "staff of God" and headed back to Egypt. Along the way, Yahveh gives Moses another message, essentially saying that Pharaoh's going to be stupid and stubborn and resist Yahveh's commands until basically Egypt is burned to the ground and Pharaoh's firstborn is dead. It is a rather chilling statement by Yahveh, especially the "I will harden Pharaoh's heart" bit which we will discuss in greater detail later.
Now is where things get really weird. Moses and company stop at what amounts to a Late Bronze Age version of a Motel 6 and suddenly Yahveh shows up about to kill Moses. No explanation is given but Zipporah (Moses's wife) seems to understand something that everyone else has missed. She takes a knife and cuts of her son's foreskins and then presents them to Moses with a sort of sarcastic remark. Apparently Moses hadn't circumcised his boys and Yahveh would not accept that. But thanks to Zipporah's remarkably quick thinking, the day was saved.
Suddenly we shift scenes from Moses to Aaron, who is presumably in Egypt. Moses's brother is told to go meet Moses in the desert, which how that worked given that Aaron was a slave is never really explained but he does hook up with Moses interestingly enough at the mountain of God, where the whole burning bush thing happened and where a lot more was going to happen.
Finally to the troop get back to Egypt where they meet with the elders of Israel. Moses and Aaron tell them what has Yahveh has told them and that they will soon be free and leave Egypt behind for good. At first it seems that the elders are hesitant about this, which is understandable considering that Moses and Aaron are proposing what amounts to a slave revolt. If it doesn't work, the consequences are decidedly not pleasant. But once Moses performs the signs Yahveh has given him (the snake, the hand, and the blood), they're convinced that Yahveh truly has come to rescue them. The chapter ends with them worshipping Yahveh together.
As I said earlier, taken separately, these stories seem to have not point other than to fill the gap between the burning bush and Pharaoh's court. But if you look closely, you will see that these individual anecdotes are part of the same story and have a single, common thread running through them: we are not alone.
At the beginning, Jethro gives Moses his support and blessing. Then Moses takes his wife and sons with him. Even in Yahveh's soliloquy in which he tells Moses of all the hardships he will face in Egypt, Yahveh talks about what he is going to do, the subtle message being that Yahveh is going to be fighting right beside Moss the whole way. Moses has Yahveh as his ally.
Then there is the circumcision story, which is just plain weird. But notice something interesting: it was Zipporah, not Moses who saved the day. What if she hadn't been there? The story of Israel might have gone very differently.
Finally, there is Aaron and the elders of Israel. Aaron meets his brother in the wilderness with joy and excitement while the elders of Israel, once convinced, are equally stoked. They throw their support and weight behind Moses 100% (at least for the moment). Moses is not alone.
At the burning bush and even in this section, Yahveh doesn't hide from Moses exactly how hard his task is going to be. It seems almost strange that Yahveh would tell Moses about how difficult it is going to be convincing Pharaoh to let the Israelites go given how hard it was to convince Moses to try. But that is something else about Yahveh: he is upfront with you. When he gives you a hard task, he tells you exactly how hard it is going to be so that you know what you're getting into.
But that brings us back to the story. Yes, Yahveh has given Moses a hard task, something he makes no bones about, but he has also given Moses the help he needs to do it. Moses is not alone.
And that is the common thread, the point of all of this. We are not alone. As Christians we have been given the task of setting the world free from sin (see the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20), which in and of itself is a daunting prospect. Individually we are given specific works to do on Yahveh's behalf to accomplish this great goal. And often they aren't easy.
When we see the enormity of our mission looming before us, it is easy to quail and feel overwhelmed. But we don't stand alone. Yahveh has given us help to do whatever it is we are sent to do. Moses had Zipporah and Aaron and the elders of Israel. We have our support team too.
That is one of the beauties of Christianity. We are already part of a community that will give us support and assistance we need. If we are willing to see, we have people like Zipporah who have our back, who see our mistakes when we don't and fix them. We're human after all and make all kinds of mistakes. We need those who have our backs. Yahveh has given them to us.
We also are surrounded by Aarons, people who are strong where we are weak. We can't do everything, try as we might. There are things, probably lots of things that we're just not good at. But there are lots of people who are and Yahveh will give us those we need.
Then there are the elders and Jethro. While the Bible doesn't specifically record it, I'm certain that there were naysayers among the Israelites. But there were more than a few among the influential that backed Moses. The same is true with Jethro, who sent his daughter and grandsons with Moses to Egypt. There will be those who say that you're wrong and that what you're doing is foolish and impossible, but there will also be those who believe in the same mission you do. You will have support from them.
The point is we are not alone. Yahveh will give us the pieces we need to do his work. Yes, it is hard. Yes, it is overwhelming but Yahveh knows this. He understand we need help and he will give it, just like he gave Moses. We are not alone.
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