The Muster of God's Men: Text: Exodus 4:27-31
Introduction: The Unseen Hand in Human Affairs
We live in an age that prides itself on its alleged autonomy. Modern man imagines himself to be the master of his own fate, the captain of his own soul, a sovereign individual making his own way through a random, meaningless cosmos. He believes history is a chaotic jumble of human decisions, driven by economics, or power, or blind chance. But the Scriptures present us with a radically different picture. History is not a jumble; it is a story. And that story has an Author.
The God of the Bible is not a distant, deistic clockmaker who wound up the universe and then retired to a safe distance to see what would happen. He is the sovereign Lord who works all things after the counsel of His own will. He is intimately involved in every detail, from the fall of a sparrow to the rise and fall of empires. And He is particularly involved in the affairs of His covenant people. What appears to us as a series of fortunate coincidences or well-executed human plans is, from the divine perspective, the meticulous unfolding of a predetermined plan.
In our passage today, we see this principle in sharp relief. Moses, having survived a bizarre and terrifying encounter with the Lord on his way back to Egypt, is about to embark on a mission that will shake the foundations of the world. He is a man full of doubts and insecurities, armed with little more than a staff and a message. But he is not alone. God, who orchestrates all things, is already moving the other pieces on the board. He is mustering His men. This is not a story about the heroic initiative of Moses and Aaron. This is a story about the absolute sovereignty of God, who calls, equips, and assembles His servants to accomplish His purposes, for His glory.
What we are about to witness is the formation of the leadership for the greatest jailbreak in human history. But more than that, we are seeing a foundational principle of God's kingdom: God's work is done by God's men, in God's way, and on God's timing. When God determines to act, He does not just issue a decree from heaven. He sends men. And He prepares the way for them, ensuring that every meeting, every word, and every action serves His ultimate design.
The Text
Then Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and encountered him at the mountain of God and kissed him.
And Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh with which He had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him to do.
Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered all the elders of the sons of Israel;
and Aaron spoke all the words which Yahweh had spoken to Moses. He then did the signs in the sight of the people.
So the people believed; and they heard that Yahweh cared about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction. So they bowed low and worshiped.
(Exodus 4:27-31 LSB)
The Divine Appointment (v. 27)
We begin with a simple, sovereign command that sets everything in motion:
"Then Yahweh said to Aaron, 'Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.' So he went and encountered him at the mountain of God and kissed him." (Exodus 4:27)
Notice the glorious efficiency of God's direction. God does not give Aaron a set of coordinates or a detailed itinerary. He simply says, "Go." While Moses was arguing with God at the burning bush, complaining about his inability to speak, God had already designated his spokesman. God's solutions are already in motion before we have even finished articulating our problems. Aaron is in Egypt, and Moses is somewhere in the vast wilderness of Sinai, yet God orchestrates their meeting with perfect precision. This is not luck. This is providence.
They meet at "the mountain of God," which is Horeb. This is holy ground, the very place where God had commissioned Moses. It is as though God is bringing the two pillars of His deliverance plan together at the site of the original covenant promise. This is a sacred rendezvous. Aaron's journey is an act of sheer faith. He is to go into a barren wilderness to find a brother he has not seen in forty years, based on nothing more than a divine command. This is the nature of all true obedience. We walk by faith, not by sight, trusting that the God who gives the command will also direct the steps.
The kiss is not merely a sentimental family reunion. In that culture, it was a sign of peace, fellowship, and mutual recognition. It is the visible seal of their partnership. God has not only brought them together physically; He has united their hearts for the task ahead. This is a picture of the church in miniature. God calls different men with different gifts and commands them to find one another, to unite in purpose, and to advance His kingdom together. He is the one who builds the team.
The Transmission of Truth (v. 28-30)
Once the leaders are united, the message must be faithfully transmitted. This is the non-negotiable foundation of all ministry.
"And Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh with which He had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him to do. Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered all the elders of the sons of Israel; and Aaron spoke all the words which Yahweh had spoken to Moses. He then did the signs in the sight of the people." (Exodus 4:28-30 LSB)
Here we see the principle of delegated authority and revelational integrity. First, Moses, the direct recipient of the revelation, communicates everything to Aaron. He holds nothing back. "All the words... and all the signs." There is no editing, no abridging, no attempt to soften the message to make it more palatable. God's servant is a steward, not an author. His job is to deliver the mail, not to write it.
Then, the two of them go together to the elders, the recognized leadership of Israel. This is crucial. God's deliverance is not a chaotic, populist uprising. It is an orderly, structured work that respects established authority. God is a God of order, not of confusion. They present the message to the leadership first.
And notice the precise division of labor that God had ordained. Aaron speaks, and Moses does the signs. Aaron is the mouthpiece, the eloquent one. But the signs, the miraculous authentication of the message, are performed by Moses, the one who held the staff of God. The Word and the power are united, but they flow through the distinct callings of two men working in partnership. Aaron preaches the sermon, and Moses provides the illustrations, as it were. And the content of the sermon is simple: "all the words which Yahweh had spoken to Moses." It is a secondhand sermon, and that is its glory. All faithful preaching is secondhand. We are not called to be original; we are called to be faithful.
The Proper Response: Faith and Worship (v. 31)
How do the people respond to this message, authenticated by signs? The text gives us the answer, and it is the only proper response to a true word from God.
"So the people believed; and they heard that Yahweh cared about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction. So they bowed low and worshiped." (Exodus 4:31 LSB)
First, "the people believed." This is the initial, necessary step. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. God spoke, Aaron preached, Moses demonstrated, and the people believed. This is not a blind leap. It is a reasonable faith, grounded in the clear proclamation of God's Word and authenticated by God's power. They believed the message.
And what was the content of that message that produced such faith? It was twofold. They heard that "Yahweh cared" and that "He had seen their affliction." The Hebrew word for "cared" is paqad, which means to visit, to attend to, to take notice of. After four hundred years of apparent silence, this was the gospel. God has not forgotten you. He has seen your suffering. He has come down to act. This is the heart of the good news in every generation. Our God is not a distant deity, indifferent to our plight. He is a God who sees, who cares, and who intervenes in history to save His people.
This belief immediately and necessarily flows into action. What do they do? "They bowed low and worshiped." This is the telos, the ultimate goal of redemption. God does not save us so that we can be autonomous and self-fulfilled. He saves us from slavery to a false god, Pharaoh, so that we can become true worshipers of the one true God. Deliverance is for doxology. The goal of the exodus is not just to get Israel out of Egypt, but to get Israel to Sinai, and ultimately, to get them into the presence of God as a kingdom of priests. True faith always culminates in worship. If your theology does not make you bow, it is a dead theology. If your understanding of God's grace does not lead you to bend the knee in adoration, you have not understood it at all.
Conclusion: The Muster for a Greater Exodus
This entire episode is a pattern, a type, of a far greater deliverance. The world lies in bondage, enslaved to the tyranny of sin and death, a far more cruel master than Pharaoh. The people are afflicted, suffering under a curse they cannot break.
And into this wilderness, God sends His Son. Like Moses, He comes to His own people. But He does not merely bring the words of God; He is the Word of God. He does not merely perform signs; He is the ultimate sign. He is the one who comes from the Father, full of grace and truth.
And He, too, did not work alone. He called and gathered His apostles. He sent them out, two by two, to proclaim the good news. And what was that news? It was that God had seen our affliction, that He had visited His people (paqad), and that He had provided a Redeemer. The message was the same: God sees, God cares, God has come down to save.
And for all who hear that message and believe, the response is the same. Faith and worship. We believe that God has seen our desperate state in sin, and that in Christ, He has acted decisively for our salvation. We believe that He has triumphed over our Pharaoh, Satan, sin, and the grave, not with plagues, but with the blood of His own Son.
And so we bow low and worship. We are delivered from the kingdom of darkness for the express purpose of becoming worshipers in the kingdom of light. Every time we gather as a church, we are re-enacting this scene. The Word is proclaimed, the signs of bread and wine are administered, and we, the redeemed, bow our hearts and lift our voices in worship to the God who saw our affliction and visited us with salvation. He is still mustering His people, and the only right response is to believe His Word and to worship His name.