Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 18:1-6

1 When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt;

2 Then Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back,

3 And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:

4 And the name of the other was Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh:

5 And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God:

6 And he said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.

Back in Exodus 4, when Moses had left the land of Midian to return to Egypt, we were told that Moses had taken his wife, Zipporah, and sons with him. It was during this sojourn that Moses had been reproved for having not yet circumcised his sons, and Zipporah had done the deed for him.

Today we learn from verse 2 that Moses apparently sent his wife and children back to Midian, though, and they had resided there with Zipporah’s father while Moses finished his work in Egypt. We are never given an explanation as to why Moses had sent them back. Perhaps they were in danger from Pharaoh after the curses Moses brought against Egypt. Perhaps Moses’s calling required his constant attention, and they would receive more care in Jethro’s home.

In any case, it may very well have been an extended absence of multiple years, but at last the family was all together again. At the end of this chapter we will hear that Jethro did not stay with the Israelite people in the wilderness, though. He came simply to return Moses’s family to him, observed the good that had been done to the Israelite people, offered some counsel to Moses, and then took his leave and went back to his own land. Being a priest, he must have had a work and a flock of his own to attend to, and he only lingered long enough to show Moses the ropes for leading the sheep in this region.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 4:27-28

27 And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.

28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.

Not only did the Lord address Moses’s insecurities by assigning Aaron as a spokesperson, but He even sent Aaron to meet Moses along the way. The path God had described to Moses was forming itself before him, and Moses would come to the Israelites ready and prepared with his brother.

We do not get much insight to the relationship between Aaron and Moses. We will learn later that Aaron was born three years before Moses, presumably before the Pharaoh’s murderous decree, and thus he was allowed to live with his family unlike Moses. Aaron would have been there as his mother weaned infant Moses and may have had memories of the time. He would have been around when his younger brother was given away to the Egyptians, and we do not know what relationship Moses had with his real family after that. And then Moses had been in exile far from Aaron, living an entire life in Midian with the family he established there.

It seems quite likely, therefore, that the two were mostly strangers to one another, knowing who the other was, but not who they really were. Even so, their reunion was still full of brotherly love and care. Aaron kissed Moses when he saw him, and this happy reunion calls to mind a very similar one between Jacob and Esau. Unlike those two, though, Aaron and Moses’s reunion was to be permanent. They would now work side-by-side for the rest of their lives. Moses informed Aaron of all the details of the Lord’s plan, and now the two shared a united in purpose.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 48:1-2

1 And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

2 And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.

Now begins the final story of Jacob. It began a full 23 chapters ago, in Genesis 25, when he strove with his brother in the womb. At that time, we were told that the striving was representative of the wars that would rise between the two nations that came of those brothers, but more than this, it set the tone for the rest of Jacob’s life.

All throughout, Jacob has been a man of strife. He strove against his brother for the birthright, he strove against his father-in-law for his wife and for fair wages, he strove against the Lord before his reunion to Esau, he strove against his rebellious sons, and he strove against the famine. Over and over again, he has had to make himself strong against the struggle.

Here in verse 2, he makes himself strong one more time, striving against his own declining body to receive his son and bless his grandchildren. He will do this, and give a final blessing to all his sons, and then he will die.

I also find interesting the repeated phrase “one told.” This was not a pre-arranged meeting between Jacob and Joseph, they are each dependent upon third parties to make known to them the state of the other, and to motivate and prepare them for this final reunion. Fortunately, everything works itself out for them to have this moment before it is too late.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 46:28-30

28 And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. 

29 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. 

30 And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

Jacob selects Judah to lead the way to Goshen. Previously we have discussed that Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, the three eldest sons of Jacob, had each forfeited their birthright through various sins they committed. And while Judah was by no means a saint, clearly Jacob sees him as the most steady and trustworthy of his elder sons, and so gives him the honor and responsibility that are befitting of a first-born.

I’m amused by the understated description of Jacob and Joseph’s emotional reunion, simply stating that Joseph wept upon his father’s neck for “a good while.” Jacob had been the one to protect and love Joseph, even when all the rest of the household reviled him for his dreams. He had been the boy’s only parental support after his mother, Rachel, had passed away. And then this last great support had been torn prematurely from Joseph’s side. Perhaps it had been necessary, so that Joseph could fully come to rely on God as his support instead, but still, what a joyful reunion to be back with the man who always loved Joseph most.

And as for Jacob, he emphatically declares that he is ready to die. Though he has lost many things in life, by having this one relationship restored at the end he is at peace.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 33:1-4

1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. 

2 And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost. 

3 And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

4 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.

At long last the moment of reckoning has come for Jacob. He sees Esau and his men, which presumably means that they have also seen him, meaning it would be too late to run away. Jacob sets himself ahead of his family, and as he comes to Esau he bows seven times, a final gesture to show his immense reverence and respect. It truly is hard to think what more he could have done to appease any lingering wrath in Esau.

And then…Jacob finds out that all his fear was unnecessary. Esau runs forward, embraces his brother, and kisses him. He has no intention of causing harm to Jacob, rather he is moved to tears by being reunited after these long twenty years!

All of Jacob’s preparation may not have been necessary for his survival, but I do not think it was a wasted effort. Abraham’s preparation to sacrifice Isaac ended up not being necessary either, but the exercise was still essential in how it revealed Abraham to himself. So, too, I imagine that Jacob had a far greater understanding of what he was made of for having passed through this trial. And, like Abraham, he had learned that with God as His shepherd, things would work themselves out.