EXODUS: After The Lord God Prepares Him, Moses and His Family Return to Egypt; "Then Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand."

So Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” (Exodus 4:18) 

In the previous lesson, we studied that the Lord God spoke to Moses and commanded him to return to Egypt; And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14) He also gave Moses power to perform signs and said, "And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land.” (Exodus 4:9)

Moses tried to convince God to choose someone else by saying, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” (Exodus 4:10) But the Lord God rebutted, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do. So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God. And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.” (Exodus 4:14-17)

Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead.” Then Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand. (Exodus 4:19-20) 

And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.”’” (Exodus 4:21-23) 

We have to understand very clearly that God knows who will and who will not accept His free gift of salvation, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings." (Jeremiah 17:9-10) God gives everyone the opportunity to hear the Truth and freewill to make their own decision based on that hearing, as He will do with Pharaoh. But for those who refuse to believe, at some point, Therefore God also gave them up... (Romans 1:24)

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. (Romans 9:14-18) 

You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? (Romans 9:19-21) 

What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (Romans 9:22-24) What better way for God to witness His power and absolute authority over the earth and man to the entire world than through Egypt and Pharaoh, the most powerful country and ruler on the earth at that time.

God created ALL THINGS for a purpose, even though He knew all things would not believe in Him or accept his fee gift of salvation. But now, O Lord,You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand. (Isaiah 64:8) God did not predetermine who would be saved, but He did predestine the way for all people to be saved. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6)

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:7-12)

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14) The way to salvation was the same back then as it is today, we must believe the Word of Truth, the Word of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) Therefore, we today must believe in Christ Jesus; but back then, if the people, including Pharaoh would believe the Word of God, they were saved also.

And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!” So He let him go. Then she said, “You are a husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision. (Exodus 4:24-26) 

This event which appears to happen out of no where and for no reason may seem odd, but it's really not.  God is a God of order and before He would allow Moses to represent Him before the children of Israel, He had to make sure Moses' "house was in order".  Remember when the Lord God gave Abraham the sign of the covenant, He commanded, "And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.” (Genesis 17:14) 

The scripture doesn't go into all the details of Moses childhood, but remember even though he was raised as an Egyptian by the princess of Egypt, his biological mother was hired as his milk nurse; So the woman took the child and nursed him. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. (Exodus 2:9-10) During the time his mother had him, being a Hebrew, she would have had him circumcised. 

Now, Moses wife was not Hebrew, and while they lived in Midian, there was no need for Moses to circumcise his children. But now that they were going to the children of Israel as representatives of God, they had to do what God required of all Hebrew males. Let this be a lesson to us, there is nothing wrong with marrying someone from a different nationality, race or culture, as long as they believe in the same God. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? (II Corinthians 6:14-15)

Similarly when a Hebrew, Naomi's husband died and her sons died, one of her Moabite daughters-in-law, Ruth insisted on returning to Judah with her, she said, For wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. (Ruth 1:16) Unequally yoked doesn't just refer to marriage relationships, but any intimate and close relationship we have with another person should only be reserved for those who believe in the same God as we do.

Now, how did Moses wife know that the Lord was attacking Moses because his children were not circumcised?  The scripture doesn't go into detail, but more than likely during their time of consummating their marriage, Zipporah may have asked about the appearance of Moses penis, then he would have had the opportunity to explain to her the commandment God gave regarding all Hebrew males. However she knew, she did what God required, So He let him go.

And the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him on the mountain of God, and kissed him. So Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him. (Exodus 4:27-28) 

Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped. (Exodus 4:29-31)