(Exodus 4:18-31) Then Moses departed and returned to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please, let me go, that I may return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 So Moses took his wife and his sons and mounted them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the staff of God in his hand.
21 The Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I said to you, ‘Let My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.”’”
24 Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at Moses’ feet, and she said, “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me.” 26 So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood”—because of the circumcision.
27 Now the Lord said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28 Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel; 30 and Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed the signs in the sight of the people. 31 So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, then they bowed low and worshiped.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Clearly, Moses had been disobedient to God by not circumcising his son (a commandment for the Israelites before Jesus' work on the cross, Romans 2:25-29). It is one thing to doubt God, but it is quite another thing to be disobedient to His will. In the same way, temptation is not a sin, but giving in to temptation is sin.
As believers, we will not lose our salvation if and when we sin, but we could very well be disciplined and reap the consequences of our actions. This could even include dying. Now, we can only know our own hearts as to whether or not we are living in disobedience, so we should refrain from judging anyone. If anything, we should always encourage other believers to continue seeking after God.
If we do know that another believer is struggling with sin, and it is our place to do so, we should encourage them to get right before God. But we must be careful not to assume that someone is suffering because they have sinned. Sometimes we suffer because of someone else's sin. Sometimes we suffer because God is allowing us to be tested. And sometimes we suffer in order to be used by God in a mighty way.
The Israelites had found themselves in Egypt, unfairly put into slavery. As far as we know, it wasn't anything they had done or not done. God allowed this to happen. And in this, God was going to demonstrate His sovereignty and mighty power to Egypt and the rest of the world, including Israel... including us today. The Israelites did not go through that time of suffering in vain!
We can all learn a lot about God from this event. In the same way, when we go through times of tests and trials, while remaining steadfast and seeking after the Lord, we will see how faithful God is in our lives!
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