Free Children of God

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Opening Prayer

Loving Father, I stand before You today. Unpeel my pretenses, masks, and facades. May Your Word do Your transforming work in me.

Read Exodus 4:18-31

^[18] Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Let me go back to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.” Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.” ^[19] Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.” ^[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. ^[21] The LORD said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. ^[22] Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son, ^[23] and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'” ^[24] At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him. ^[25] But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. ^[26] So the LORD let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.) ^[27] The LORD said to Aaron, “Go into the desert to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. ^[28] Then Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had sent him to say, and also about all the miraculous signs he had commanded him to perform. ^[29] Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, ^[30] and Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, ^[31] and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

As children, we are “heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory” (Rom. 8:17).

Think Further

Moses’ concern for his own people while he was in Midian (18), his meeting with Aaron (27,28) and the believing response of Israelite leaders (29-31) are straightforward steps on the path towards deliverance. In between, however, come two sections that have caused much debate.

God “hardening the heart” of Pharaoh (21) raises issues of human responsibility. Here, as in 7:3, God’s action is in the future, but similar words follow later statements about Pharaoh hardening his own heart: “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (9:12), comes after Pharaoh “hardened his heart” (8:15,32). As previously in the call of Moses, the response of the humans who encounter YHWH, whether appropriate or inappropriate, often leads to a further response from YHWH, which takes the human action into account. The words here assure Moses in the face of Pharaoh’s future intransigence: Moses’ words will be inadequate, but God’s purposes will not be thwarted. Note the parallel: the continuation of Pharaoh’s power, with the Israelites as mere property, is centered in his firstborn son, but God has wider purposes for his own “firstborn son”, Israel (22), the one who receives the inheritance. Our thoughts, however, go to the focusing of God’s saving purposes in the Son of God. In Christ the powers that oppress have been defeated and all may enjoy the status and freedom of “children of God,” “co-heirs with Christ.” (Matt 2:14,15). The second problematic incident is Moses’ mysterious divine encounter (24-26). This incident, with release through the “blood” of a “son,” is one of the most enigmatic incidents in the Bible, but in some way, Moses, like Jacob (Gen. 32:22-32), is prepared for his task.

Straightforward events, the interplay of divine and human actions, troubling experiences—all play a part in the journey of faith.

Apply

Despite struggles and unresolved issues, encourage yourself and others with the knowledge that we are “co-heirs with Christ.” What will that mean for you today?

Closing prayer

Loving Lord, I praise You because I’m not an orphan adrift in the cosmos; I’m Your child, loved and cherished.

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