The desert wind whipped around Moses, carrying the scent of dry earth and ancient dust. Forty years he had spent tending sheep in Midian, a lifetime away from the grand palaces of Egypt. Yet, the memory of that burning bush, of the voice that called him by name, still vibrated in his very bones. God had commanded him to return to Egypt, to demand the release of His people from Pharaoh’s iron grip. But fear, a cold, creeping thing, had begun to coil in Moses’ gut.
He stood before his father-in-law, Jethro, his heart heavy with a mixture of dread and a faint, burgeoning hope. "Please let me go back to my people in Egypt to see if they are still alive," he said, the words feeling almost inadequate for the monumental task ahead. Jethro, wise and kind, simply replied, "Go in peace."
And so, Moses gathered his wife Zipporah and his sons, placed them on a donkey, and began the long journey back to the land he had fled. In his hand, he clutched the staff, no longer just a shepherd's tool, but the "staff of God" (Exodus 4:20). He knew, deep down, that this simple piece of wood now held a power beyond his comprehension.
As they traveled, a sense of foreboding settled over him. Had he truly understood the magnitude of what God was asking? Doubt, an old enemy, began to whisper in his ear. "What if they don't believe me?" he had asked God at the burning bush. "What if they say, 'The Lord has not appeared to you'?"
God, in His infinite patience, had given Moses signs. First, his staff turned into a snake and back again. "Then the Lord said to him, 'Put out your hand and grasp it by its tail' – so he put out his hand and grasped it, and it became a staff in his hand – 'that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you'" (Exodus 4:4-5).
Then, his hand, made leprous white, was restored. "Again, the Lord said to him, 'Put your hand into your cloak.' So he put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow. Then he said, 'Put your hand back into your cloak.' So he put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh" (Exodus 4:6-7). And a third sign, the water of the Nile turning to blood, was promised if these were not enough.
Yet, Moses still hesitated. "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue" (Exodus 4:10). The weight of his perceived inadequacy pressed down on him. How could he, a man who stumbled over his words, speak before the mighty Pharaoh?
But God’s response was firm, yet reassuring. "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak" (Exodus 4:11-12).
Still, Moses, in his humanity, pleaded, "Oh, my Lord, please send someone else" (Exodus 4:13). A flash of divine anger, quick and righteous, ignited. "Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, 'Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you what you shall do. He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him'" (Exodus 4:14-16).
And so, the partnership was forged. Aaron, eloquent and ready, would be Moses’ voice, his advocate before Pharaoh and the Israelites.
As they continued their journey, a chilling encounter occurred. "At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it. And she said, 'Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!' So he let him alone. Then she said, 'A bridegroom of blood,' because of the circumcision" (Exodus 4:24-26). It was a stark reminder of the covenant, and the seriousness of obedience to God’s commands, even amidst the greatest of missions.
Finally, the long trek neared its end. "The Lord said to Aaron, 'Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.' So he went and met him at the mount of God and kissed him" (Exodus 4:27). A reunion, long awaited, filled with purpose and divine mandate. Moses recounted all that the Lord had told him, the signs and the words, the immense task that lay before them.
Together, they entered Egypt, their hearts perhaps still trembling, but now bolstered by faith and the sure knowledge that God was with them. They gathered the elders of the people of Israel, and Aaron spoke the words the Lord had put in Moses’ mouth. Moses performed the signs before their very eyes.
"And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped" (Exodus 4:31). A flicker of hope ignited in the oppressed hearts of the Israelites. The long night of slavery might, at last, be nearing its end. The stage was set, and Moses, once a reluctant shepherd, now stood poised to confront the most powerful man on earth, armed not with military might, but with the power of the Almighty God.
* https://www.universityreformedchurch.org/sermons/anyone-but-me/
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