Exodus 4:18-23: a reflection

18Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.” Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19The LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead.” 20Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took God’s rod in his hand. 21The LORD said to Moses, “When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go. 22You shall tell Pharaoh, ‘The LORD says, Israel is my son, my firstborn, 23and I have said to you, “Let my son go, that he may serve me;” and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’”

As Moses sets out to return to Egypt to confront Pharaoh, God gives him the message he is to deliver, and it reveals God's heart toward his enslaved people. You shall say to Pharaoh, God tells Moses, the LORD says, Israel is my son, my firstborn. I say to you, let my son go, that he may serve me. God does not describe Israel merely as a people or a labor force; he calls them his son, his firstborn, and demands their release with the fierce insistence of a father claiming his child.

Notice how God speaks of his people: Israel is my son, my firstborn. This is the language of tender, familial love and of a father's claim. God's people were not, to him, an abstraction or a distant nation; they were his child, whom he loved, and whose bondage he was determined to end. The exodus was not merely a political rescue; it was a father coming to free his son, driven by a love that would not leave his child in slavery.

That fatherly love is not for Israel only. Through Christ, those who belong to God are called his children, his sons and daughters, loved with a father's love. God is not distant from his people; he claims us as his own children, loves us as a father loves a child, and acts on our behalf out of that love. When you doubt whether God cares for you, remember how he spoke of his people: my son, my firstborn. If you are his, you are his beloved child, not a distant subject or a mere servant. Rest in being claimed and loved by God as a father loves his own child, and live as his son or daughter, loved and freed by him.

Lord, when you sent Moses to Pharaoh, you called your enslaved people your son, your firstborn, demanding their release with the fierce love of a father claiming his child. Thank you that you do not regard your people as an abstraction or a distant nation, but as your own children, loved with a father's love. And thank you that through Christ, those who belong to you are called your sons and daughters, loved as a father loves his child. When I doubt whether you care for me, remind me how you spoke of your people: my son, my firstborn. If I am yours, I am your beloved child, not a distant subject or a mere servant. Help me rest in being claimed and loved by you as a father loves his own, and to live as your child, loved and freed by you. Thank you for so tender a claim upon me.