◄ Exodus 4:18 ►
Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, "Please let me return to my brothers in Egypt to see if they are still alive." "Go in peace," Jethro replied.
Study Bible
Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro
Moses had been living in Midian for about 40 years after fleeing Egypt. Jethro, also known as Reuel, was a priest of Midian and Moses' father-in-law. This return signifies Moses' obedience to God's command to go back to Egypt. The Midianites were descendants of Abraham through Keturah, indicating a shared ancestry with the Israelites.

and said to him, “Please let me return to my brothers in Egypt
Moses refers to the Israelites as his "brothers," highlighting his identification with them despite his upbringing in Pharaoh's palace. This request shows respect for Jethro's authority and acknowledges the family ties and responsibilities Moses had in Midian. It also reflects Moses' humility and the importance of seeking permission before leaving.

to see if they are still alive.”
Moses' concern for the Israelites' well-being is evident here. This phrase may also reflect the uncertainty of the Israelites' condition under Egyptian oppression. It underscores the harshness of their slavery and Moses' compassion for his people, aligning with God's concern for their suffering.

“Go in peace,” Jethro replied.
Jethro's response is a blessing and a release, indicating his support for Moses' mission. The phrase "Go in peace" is a common biblical expression of goodwill and safety, suggesting Jethro's trust in God's plan for Moses. This blessing can be seen as a foreshadowing of the peace that God will ultimately bring to the Israelites through Moses' leadership.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Moses
The central figure in this passage, Moses is a Hebrew who was raised in Pharaoh's household and later fled to Midian. He is called by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

2. Jethro
Moses' father-in-law, also known as Reuel, a priest of Midian. He provides Moses with counsel and support.

3. Midian
The region where Moses fled after killing an Egyptian. It is here that he marries Zipporah, Jethro's daughter, and tends to Jethro's flocks.

4. Egypt
The land where the Israelites are enslaved. Moses is called by God to return to Egypt to lead His people to freedom.

5. The Israelites
Moses refers to them as "my brothers," indicating his connection and concern for their well-being.
Teaching Points
Respect for Authority
Moses shows respect for Jethro by seeking his permission to leave. This demonstrates the importance of honoring those in authority over us, even when we have a divine calling.

Obedience to God's Call
Despite his initial reluctance, Moses prepares to obey God's command to return to Egypt. This teaches us the importance of obedience to God's will, even when it requires personal sacrifice.

Peaceful Departures
Jethro's blessing, "Go in peace," underscores the value of leaving situations or relationships on good terms, fostering peace and goodwill.

Concern for Others
Moses' desire to see if his brothers are still alive reflects a deep concern for the welfare of others, reminding us to care for and check on those we love.

Faith in Action
Moses' journey back to Egypt is an act of faith, trusting in God's promise and provision. This encourages us to step out in faith when God calls us to action.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does Moses' request to Jethro reveal about his character and his relationship with his father-in-law?

2. How does Moses' journey back to Egypt demonstrate obedience to God's call, and how can we apply this in our own lives?

3. In what ways can we show respect and honor to those in authority over us, as Moses did with Jethro?

4. How can we ensure that our departures from situations or relationships are marked by peace, as seen in Jethro's blessing to Moses?

5. Reflect on a time when you had to step out in faith. How does Moses' example encourage you to trust in God's promises and provision?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 3:1-10
This passage describes Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush, where he receives his divine commission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

Acts 7:29-30
Stephen recounts Moses' flight to Midian and his life there, providing a New Testament perspective on Moses' journey.

Hebrews 11:24-27
This passage highlights Moses' faith and his choice to identify with the people of God rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin in Egypt.
Sermons
A True Recognition of Filial DutyJ. S. Exell, M. A.Exodus 4:18
Domestic Sympathy in DutyG. F. Pentecost, D. D.Exodus 4:18
The Compulsion of ServiceW. M. Taylor, D. D.Exodus 4:18
The ReturnJ. Orr Exodus 4:18-21
True Faith and its JoyJ. Urquhart Exodus 4:18-23
Facing EgyptH.T. Robjohns Exodus 4:18-31
People
Aaron, Isaac, Israelites, Jacob, Jethro, Moses, Pharaoh, Zipporah
Places
Egypt, Horeb, Midian, Nile River
Topics
Alive, Brethren, Brothers, Departed, Egypt, Father-in-law, Jethro, Kinsmen, Law, Peace, Please, Relations, Return, Returned, Turn, Turneth, Whether, Wish, Yet
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Exodus 4:17

     8421   equipping, physical

Exodus 4:15-17

     4512   staff

Library
January 13. "Thou Shalt be to Him Instead of God" (Ex. Iv. 16).
"Thou shalt be to him instead of God" (Ex. iv. 16). Such was God's promise to Moses, and such the high character that Moses was to assume toward Aaron, his brother. May it not suggest a high and glorious place that each of us may occupy toward all whom we meet, instead of God? What a dignity and glory it would give our lives, could we uniformly realize this high calling! How it would lead us to act toward our fellow-men! God can always be depended upon. God is without variableness or shadow of turning. …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

May the Eleventh but -- --!
"And Moses answered and said, But----" --EXODUS iv. 1-9. We know that "but." God has heard it from our lips a thousand times. It is the response of unbelief to the divine call. It is the reply of fear to the divine command. It is the suggestion that the resources are inadequate. It is a hint that God may not have looked all round. He has overlooked something which our own eyes have seen. The human "buts" in the Scriptural stories make an appalling record. "Lord, I will follow Thee, but----" There …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

May the Twelfth Mouth and Matter
"Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth." --EXODUS iv. 10-17. And what a promise that is for anyone who is commissioned to proclaim the King's decrees. Here can teachers and preachers find their strength. God will be with their mouths. He will control their speech, and order their words like troops. He does not promise to make us eloquent, but to endow our words with the "demonstration of power." "And I will teach thee what thou shall say." The Lord will not only be with our mouths, …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

A Bundle of Myrrh is My Well-Beloved unto Me; He Shall Abide Between My Breasts.
When the Bride, or rather the lover (for she is not yet a bride), has found her Bridegroom, she is so transported with joy, that she is eager to be instantly united to Him. But the union of perpetual enjoyment is not yet arrived. He is mine, she says, I cannot doubt that He gives Himself to me this moment, since I feel it, but He is to me, as it were, a bundle of myrrh. He is not yet a Bridegroom whom I may embrace in the nuptial bed, but a bundle of crosses, pains and mortifications; a bloody husband …
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon

Preaching (I. ).
Earthen vessels, frail and slight, Yet the golden Lamp we bear; Master, break us, that the light So may fire the murky air; Skill and wisdom none we claim, Only seek to lift Thy Name. I have on purpose reserved the subject of Preaching for our closing pages. Preaching is, from many points of view, the goal and summing up of all other parts and works of the Ministry. What we have said already about the Clergyman's life and labour, in secret, in society, in the parish; what we have said about his …
Handley C. G. Moule—To My Younger Brethren

To the Saddest of the Sad
I often wonder what those preachers do who feel called to make up their message as they go on; for if they fail, their failure must be attributed in great measure to their want of ability to make up a moving tale. They have to spread their sails to the breeze of the age, and to pick up a gospel that comes floating down to them on the stream of time, altering every week in the year; and they must have an endless task to catch this new idea, or, as they put it, to keep abreast of the age. Unless, indeed, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 34: 1888

The Sweet Uses of Adversity
Now, I propose to address myself to the two classes of persons who are making use of this question. First, I shall speak to the tried saint; and then I shall speak to the seeking sinner, who has been seeking peace and pardon through Christ, but who has not as yet found it, but, on the contrary, has been buffeted by the law, and driven away from the mercy-seat in despair. I. First, then, to THE CHILD OF GOD. I have--I know I have--in this great assembly, some who have come to Job's position. They …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

"For if Ye Live after the Flesh, Ye Shall Die; but if Ye through the Spirit do Mortify the Deeds of the Body, Ye Shall Live.
Rom. viii. s 13, 14.--"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." The life and being of many things consists in union,--separate them, and they remain not the same, or they lose their virtue. It is much more thus in Christianity, the power and life of it consists in the union of these things that God hath conjoined, so that if any man pretend to …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Hardening in the Sacred Scripture.
"He hath hardened their heart."-- John xii. 40. The Scripture teaches positively that the hardening and "darkening of their foolish heart" is a divine, intentional act. This is plainly evident from God's charge to Moses concerning the king of Egypt: "Thou shalt speak all that I command thee; and I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not harken unto you, and I will lay My hand upon Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Quotation in Matt. Ii. 6.
Several interpreters, Paulus especially, have asserted that the interpretation of Micah which is here given, was that of the Sanhedrim only, and not of the Evangelist, who merely recorded what happened and was said. But this assertion is at once refuted when we consider the object which Matthew has in view in his entire representation of the early life of Jesus. His object in recording the early life of Jesus is not like that of Luke, viz., to communicate historical information to his readers. …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Flight into Egypt and Slaughter of the Bethlehem Children.
(Bethlehem and Road Thence to Egypt, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 13-18. ^a 13 Now when they were departed [The text favors the idea that the arrival and departure of the magi and the departure of Joseph for Egypt, all occurred in one night. If so, the people of Bethlehem knew nothing of these matters], behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise [this command calls for immediate departure] and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt [This land was ever the …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Appendix xii. The Baptism of Proselytes
ONLY those who have made study of it can have any idea how large, and sometimes bewildering, is the literature on the subject of Jewish Proselytes and their Baptism. Our present remarks will be confined to the Baptism of Proselytes. 1. Generally, as regards proselytes (Gerim) we have to distinguish between the Ger ha-Shaar (proselyte of the gate) and Ger Toshabh (sojourner,' settled among Israel), and again the Ger hatstsedeq (proselyte of righteousness) and Ger habberith (proselyte of the covenant). …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

A Canticle of Love
It is not only when He is about to send me some trial that Our Lord gives me warning and awakens my desire for it. For years I had cherished a longing which seemed impossible of realisation--to have a brother a Priest. I often used to think that if my little brothers had not gone to Heaven, I should have had the happiness of seeing them at the Altar. I greatly regretted being deprived of this joy. Yet God went beyond my dream; I only asked for one brother who would remember me each day at the Holy …
Therese Martin (of Lisieux)—The Story of a Soul

Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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