seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Exodus 4:18 Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.”
Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.”
Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.”
Wait.... he didn't tell Jethro the truth. Way to start a commission for God!
Bible.org has an explanation.
Moses avoids telling Jethro of God’s appearance in the burning bush and of the commission he had been given. Can you imagine asking your father-in-law to release his loved ones to accompany a man who is going to take on Pharaoh and the entire nation of Egypt? And can you conceive of trying to convince Jethro that you were sure of this, based upon a conversation you had with a bush that burned, but did not burn up? No wonder Moses wished to avoid the real purpose of his return.
Avoiding the true (or the whole) purpose of his return was one thing, but Moses went beyond this. He told Jethro that he wanted to learn if any of his people were still alive. It is possible that Moses meant that he wanted to see if his mother and father were still alive. He certainly knew that the Israelites were living, for how could God send him to rescue a people who had been exterminated (which was, of course, Pharaoh’s intention)?
Avoiding the true (or the whole) purpose of his return was one thing, but Moses went beyond this. He told Jethro that he wanted to learn if any of his people were still alive. It is possible that Moses meant that he wanted to see if his mother and father were still alive. He certainly knew that the Israelites were living, for how could God send him to rescue a people who had been exterminated (which was, of course, Pharaoh’s intention)?
All the way down the mountain, Moses must have been thinking, "How am I going to ask Jethro". Unlike his ancestor Jacob who took his family and ran in the night, Moses would have to explain things to Jethro. He's got his hands full.
I agree, going to his father-in-law [let alone his wife] with a tale about a burning bush that did not burn up, talking person to person [even arguing and pleading] with God is not a story that would be told by a sane man. Who would let their daughter and the family travel back to Egypt to free the Israelites with a man who claims God was in a burning bush? He had enough trouble trying to get past the fact he would be wanted for murdering the Egyptian. If he's locked up or dead.... who's going to take care of Jethro daughter and family?
Well he did the right thing. It doesn't say that God moved in Jethro to make him respond the way he did. So the story he told Jethro must have sounded like something Moses would be asking. Something plain and easy to understand.... besides, surely Moses had discussed his Mother on many occasions. She did get to raise him in the palace.
