Back to Egypt

From Exodus 6:16-25: Aaron, Miriam, and Moses were the children of Amram, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Jacob, who is called Israel. Amram was married to Jochebed, a sister of his father. Aaron married Elisheba. She bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

Exodus 4 ¹⁸Moses returned to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, "I would like to go back to Egypt to see if my people are still alive." "Go in peace," Jethro replied. ¹⁹ YHWH told Moses in Midian that he could return safely to Egypt, since everyone who had sought his life was dead. ²⁰ Moses put his wife and children on a donkey and set out on his journey back to Egypt. He held the staff of God in his hand.

Pharaoh had died. A new Pharaoh sat on the throne and started with a clean slate. Aaron and Miriam longed to see their younger brother again. To meet his wife and children. And Moses, who had been given up as a child, wanted to know who his family was, who his parents had been, how they had served their God.

Messages were sent back and forth. It was a journey of what, six days? Aaron would meet them halfway so that he could escort them safely to Goshen.

The time to return had come. The sheep and goats went back to his father-in-law, who is now called Jethro (perhaps something like "reverend"). With Jethro's blessing, he returned to Egypt, back to his people. Moses and Gershom walked ahead, Zipporah followed with little Eliezer on the donkey.

"It feels different," he said to Zipporah, looking back at his wife.

            "What feels different?"

            "This staff," he replied. "It was my staff, but now it is the scepter of God."

            "How does that feel?" Zipporah looked at him questioningly.

            "Scary."

Moses walked on in silence. Gershom led the donkey, because Zipporah needed all her attention for Eliezer, who was sitting in front of her and was tired of the long journey.

            "Wait a minute," she called out. She slid off the donkey and set the child down on the ground. "Do you want to walk yourself?" Eliézer started running and immediately tripped over a rock. He cried. She quickly set him back on his feet and kissed his hair. "Be careful, sweetheart."

            Moses was waiting for them a little further on. He stared at them without seeing them.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"It feels like I've already lived two lives. I was almost forty when I left Egypt. Now that I'm going back, it feels like so long ago. Like I'm already eighty."

"Look at your children," she said. "They're not that old yet."

"That's not what I mean," he replied. "It seems as if those lives are now over and I have to start a new life."

When they reached the hill that would be their meeting point, Gershom pointed enthusiastically at a traveler walking up the path from the west. "An Egyptian!" he cried.

It was Aaron.

The Angel of Death

Exodus 4 ²¹ Then YHWH said to Moses, "When you return to Egypt, you and Moses must perform all the wonders I have given you the power to do. I will make sure that he stubbornly refuses to let the people go. ²² And then you must say to Pharaoh, 'This is what YHWH says: Israel is my son, my firstborn son. ²³ I have commanded you to let my son go to worship me, but you have refused. Therefore, I will kill your firstborn son. (…) ²⁷ The LORD had said to Aaron, "Go into the desert to meet Moses." Aaron set out and met Moses at the mountain of God. He kissed him ²⁸ and Moses told Aaron what the LORD had commanded him: what he was to say and what wonders he was to perform.

Deuteronomy 4 ²⁰ For you have been chosen by YHWH and taken out of the crucible of Egypt to belong to Him as His own people...

Zipporah was stunned when she heard what Moses told his brother. "What do you think God said to you?" she asked. "Do you really think God is going to kill Pharaoh's firstborn son? What has that child done wrong?"

            "The Israelites must learn that they are not runaway slaves, but the apple of the eye of the Most High God."

            "But then why these terrible miracles? You are messengers of death, not of life. You can't do that!"

"The Egyptians think they can crush and pulverize us, and that is what they are doing. But they will burn with us in the furnace of misery that God will stoke ever hotter. That is what I saw in the fire. And when the heat becomes unbearable, Israel will be reborn and shine like the sun. The Egyptians will beg them to leave, they will give them gold and silver, and beautiful clothes—if only they will leave."

Aaron listened wide-eyed to his younger brother's story. "Will I see that too?" he asked.

Blood brother

Exodus 4 ²² (…) "This is what YHWH says: Israel is my son, my firstborn son. ²³ I commanded you to let my son go to worship me, but you refused. Therefore, I will kill your firstborn son." ²⁴ On the way, at the inn, YHWH came upon him and tried to kill him. ²⁵ Zipporah took a stone knife, cut off her son's foreskin, and touched his members with it, saying, "You are a blood brother to me." ²⁶ Then YHWH left him alone. (She called him a blood brother because of the circumcision.)

(…) 18 ² Zipporah, Moses' wife, was sent away—with her two sons.

A story from the night. Everything is dark, threatening, and shrouded in darkness. Translators guess who YHWH was trying to kill, who was circumcised, and who was touched with a bleeding foreskin. Had Zipporah and Moses had another argument about the age of circumcision (after eight days or after twelve years)? Had Moses fallen ill, or was it one of his sons? And in the latter case, why didn't he circumcise his son? Did the fever get higher and higher so that they had to fear for his life? And then she says something like "blood brother-in-law," because where we speak of bride and groom, at that time they used almost the same word for the future father-in-law and son-in-law: the men became brothers-in-law through their bloodlines. Language from another world in which circumcision and entering into family ties went hand in hand.

In any case, Zipporah relented and circumcised her son herself. She smeared the blood on the sick man. And she sounds angry, disappointed. As if she had difficulty accepting the bloody consequences of Moses' mission.

For him, it was different. The fever subsided and the sick man remained alive. Moses learned to fear God as the Angel of Death, who would kill the uncircumcised firstborn in Egypt but would pass over the houses of the Israelites because of the blood on their doorposts. Later, when he instituted the Passover feast in remembrance of this, Moses would forbid an uncircumcised person from celebrating it: "If a stranger who lives among you wants to prepare the Passover meal in honor of YHWH, he may do so only after he and all his male relatives have been circumcised."

The incident at the inn took a heavy toll on the marriage of Moses and Zipporah. The child was now circumcised, but Moses sent his wife and sons back to her parents' house.

            "Do you want to divorce me?" she asked.

            "Believe me, this is better for all of us. Think of the smelting furnace," he said. "Everyone must be clean and pure, otherwise it will be life-threatening."

Rejected

Exodus 4 ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron went together to Egypt and there they called together the elders of Israel. ³⁰Aaron repeated word for word what YHWH had said to Moses and showed the people the miracles. ³¹The Israelites were convinced by this; when they heard that YHWH had seen their misery and taken pity on them, they knelt and bowed down deeply.

5 ¹ After this, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, "This is what YHWH, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness."

²"Who is this Yahweh that I should obey him?" asked Pharaoh. "Why should I let the Israelites go? I do not know Yahweh, and I will not let the Israelites go."

³They said, "The God of the Hebrews has come to us. Allow us to go three days' journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. Otherwise, He will strike us with pestilence or the sword."

⁴But the king of Egypt said, "Moses and Aaron, how dare you keep the people from their work? Get back to work!"

While Moses and Aaron descended the mountain toward Egypt to stir up the fires of misery, a rejected Zipporah returned to her parental home.

She would never reach Egypt.

Song of Liberation

Exodus 14 ^9-10 The Egyptians pursued the Israelites and overtook them at Pi-Hahiroth, where the people of Israel had camped near the sea, opposite Baal-Zephon. When the Israelites saw Pharaoh approaching with all his horses, chariots, and horsemen, and all his foot soldiers, they were terrified and cried out to YHWH for help.

¹¹ They said to Moses, "Were there no graves in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die in the wilderness? How could you do this to us! Why did you bring us out of Egypt? ¹² Did we not say in Egypt, 'Leave us alone, let us serve the Egyptians as slaves, for that is better than dying in the desert'?"

¹³But Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid, wait quietly. Then you will see how YHWH wins the victory for you today. The Egyptians you see there now, you will never see again. ¹⁴YHWH will fight for you, you do not have to do anything yourself."

¹⁵ JHWH said to Moses, "Why are you calling on me for help? Tell the Israelites to move on.

(...) 15 ¹Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song in honor of YHWH:

I will sing to the LORD,

his power and majesty are great!

He threw horses and riders into the sea.

(...) ⁸ The breath of your nostrils stirred up the waters,

the wild waters stood like a wall,

the swirling water solidified in the depths of the sea.

⁹ The enemy thought: I will pursue them, overtake them, divide the spoils.

Soon my thirst for vengeance will be satisfied,

I will draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.

¹⁰But You blew, Your breath blew, and the sea covered them,

they perished in the awesome waters,

they sank like lead.

(…) ¹³ You freed this people and lovingly led them,

strong and mighty, You led them to Your holy dwelling.

¹⁴ All the nations heard it, all the nations trembled,

the Philistines trembled, they cowered in fear,

¹⁵ terror seized the chiefs of Edom,

the mighty men of Moab. They were paralyzed with fear.

The Canaanites trembled, all were terrified.

¹⁶ Fear seized them, dread shook them

when they heard of your mighty deeds,

they became dumb as stones,

as your people passed by, O Lord,

as your people passed by, the people you created.

Miriam

Exodus 15 ²⁰ Miriam, Aaron's sister, the prophetess, took her tambourine, and all the women followed her, dancing and playing the tambourine. ²¹ And Miriam sang this refrain:

"Sing to the Lord,

his power and majesty are great!

He threw horses and riders into the sea."

Miriam was a prophetess. She spoke the words of God, this time through song, music, and dance.

"Sing to the Lord," she said.

And all the women followed her.

Prophets allow themselves to be carried away by the Spirit. They foresee the end of the path we are walking—and what other path God is opening up. And they can judge on behalf of God, because they let God's wind blow in their hearts.

When did Miriam learn to understand that voice? Her mother became pregnant just when Pharaoh ordered that newborn boys should die. During the birth, Miriam had to take care of her little brother Aaron. After the birth, she saw her father come out crying. She ran inside and saw the naked body on her mother's chest.

"He is so beautiful," she said, "what is his name?"

Sifra, the midwife, bent over and grabbed Mirjam's head with both hands. "No one can know that a boy has been born, Mirjam. Don't tell anyone that your mother has given birth. We will take him to safety. Leave it to us."

Miriam shook her head. "No," she said, "he is my brother, he is staying with us."

After three months, it was no longer possible. Too many neighbors had heard the newborn crying. Too many passersby as well. Family members asked when Jochebed would finally give birth.

            Her mother took a wicker basket, coated it with pitch and tar, and placed her beautiful child inside.

"What are you going to do, Mama, what are you going to do?"

Weeping, Jochebed walked to the riverbank.

"Mama, what are you going to do?"

A little later, the Pharaoh's daughter came to the Nile to bathe, while her servants walked back and forth along the river. She discovered the basket among the reeds and had one of her slaves fetch it.

            Then Miriam heard a voice in her soul. An inescapable voice: "It is your little brother, you are here for him. Go."

"This must be a Hebrew child," she heard the princess say, "what shall we do with him?"

Miriam stepped forward. "Madam," she said, "shall I go and find a Hebrew woman to nurse and care for the child for you?"

The princess hesitated.

"He is so beautiful," said Miriam, "what shall we name him?"

Then the princess looked at the baby again. "Moses," she said. "He must be called Moses, for my son was born out of the water today."

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Suggestions for reading groups

• Check in with the group and with yourself, seek stillness/humility.

• First share the story. In his family story, Moses is around fifty when he begins a third phase of life and a completely new mission. He has a task to accomplish to exorcise the demons of his past. He must return to Egypt and back to his family. Zipporah wants to go with him; his past and place of origin fascinate her enormously. But those two desires conflict with each other. What did you read?

• Encourage, comfort, inspire. Can people stand in the way of their loved ones in resolving problems from their childhood or in their family? Can your calling and your relationship be at odds with each other? When do you choose your own path and when do you choose your relationship? Have you had to make compromises and how do you look back on that? What in your past or family do you still need to address?

Reflecting on Genesis 37-50 and Exodus 1-4, civilization and oppression

Egypt represents the pinnacle of human development, including the social differences, prestige projects, and state coercion that go with it. Egypt is both promising and risky for talented people. Joseph, sold by his brothers, goes to Egypt where his faith in God is severely tested but also keeps him going. Ultimately, this enables him to save his degenerate family. Moses, on the other hand, has to leave Egypt in order to discover God and his true nature.

• Encourage, comfort, exhort. How important are career and social success to you? Can you do a lot of good with them, or do they alienate you from who you are? Can you hold on to your own standards and values in your work, or does your work environment determine what you think?
• Leave room for silence and contemplation. Perhaps you will be allowed to "see" or "hear" something from "God." Like Moses and Zipporah, do you dare to enter into conversation with that voice? What answer wells up within you? How do you test that answer?