Go Back to Egypt

And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand. And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’” (Exodus 4: 19 to 23)

God told Moses to go back to Egypt to bring back Israelites. He also gave Moses power to perform signs. With the power Moses could change his staff into a snake then back to the staff, hand to have leprous then back to normal with simple moves. If neither signs could convince Israelites that God had sent him, then God gave Moses the power to put some water from the Nile on the dry ground to become blood. Yet, Moses was still reluctant to go back to Egypt until God made his brother Aaron his surrogate speaker and told him that all the men who were seeking his life were dead. Finally, Moses started the journey back to Egypt. Then God sought to put him to death because he didn't circumcise his son until his wife Zipporah did that. At any rate, even with the power, Moses knew that the journey wouldn't be easy because he knew about Israelites and Egyptians well. Don't even mention that God would harden Pharaoh's heart to let Israelites go.

This was like when Jesus Christ was sending his disciples to people to be his witness. At first, Jesus would give them power as described below.

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. (Matthew 10: 5 to 7)

Then Jesus warned the disciples as described below.

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. (Matthew 10: 16 to 18) 

Jesus also sent the seventy-two disciples the same way. Yet they returned as described below.

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. (Luke 10: 17 to 19)

Indeed, it's not easy to be the witness for Jesus Christ and God after being saved. We may not have the burden to be the witness. Or feel powerful enough at first like Moses. Yet, to experience more divine power, we need to be bold to proclaim as we go as Christ taught the disciples. We belong to God who is faithful and almighty as described in the Bible below.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. (Second Corinthians 4: 7 to 10)

This was true for Moses and the disciples, and it is true for us nowadays. Emmanuel.

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