◄ Exodus 4:27 ►
Meanwhile, the LORD had said to Aaron, "Go and meet Moses in the wilderness." So he went and met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.
Study Bible
Meanwhile, the LORD had said to Aaron
This phrase indicates divine intervention and guidance. Aaron, Moses' brother, is chosen by God to assist Moses in the mission to free the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. This highlights God's sovereignty and His ability to orchestrate events according to His will. Aaron's role as a spokesperson is significant, as Moses had expressed his own inadequacies in speech (Exodus 4:10-16). This divine communication underscores the importance of obedience to God's commands.

“Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.”
The wilderness often symbolizes a place of testing and preparation in the Bible. It is in the wilderness that God prepares His people for future tasks. Aaron's journey to meet Moses signifies a pivotal moment in the unfolding of God's plan for Israel's deliverance. The wilderness also serves as a backdrop for divine encounters, as seen in Moses' earlier experience with the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-4).

So he went and met Moses at the mountain of God
The "mountain of God" refers to Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai. This location is significant as it is where Moses first encountered God in the burning bush and where the Israelites would later receive the Ten Commandments (Exodus 19-20). The mountain represents a place of divine revelation and covenant. Aaron's meeting with Moses here foreshadows the significant events that will occur at this sacred site.

and kissed him.
The act of kissing in ancient Near Eastern culture was a common greeting among family members and close friends, symbolizing affection and reconciliation. This gesture indicates the bond between the brothers and their mutual commitment to the task ahead. It also reflects the unity and cooperation necessary for the fulfillment of God's plan. The kiss can be seen as a sign of peace and solidarity, essential for the leadership they will provide to the Israelites.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The LORD
The covenant name of God, Yahweh, who is orchestrating the events and guiding His people.

2. Aaron
Moses' brother, who is called by God to assist Moses in leading the Israelites out of Egypt.

3. Moses
The chosen leader of the Israelites, who has been called by God to deliver His people from slavery.

4. The Wilderness
The region where Moses was tending sheep and where God called him through the burning bush.

5. The Mountain of God
Also known as Mount Horeb or Sinai, a significant place where God reveals Himself and gives His commandments.
Teaching Points
Divine Appointment
God orchestrates meetings and events according to His divine plan. Trust in His timing and guidance.

Brotherly Support
Aaron's role as Moses' supporter highlights the importance of family and community in fulfilling God's mission.

Obedience to God's Call
Aaron's immediate response to God's command demonstrates the importance of obedience in our walk with God.

Significance of Sacred Places
The mountain of God serves as a reminder of the sacred spaces where we encounter God's presence.

Expressions of Affection
The kiss between Aaron and Moses signifies reconciliation and unity, which are vital in our relationships.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Aaron's obedience to God's command to meet Moses inspire you in your own walk of faith?

2. In what ways can you support and encourage others in their God-given missions, similar to Aaron's support for Moses?

3. Reflect on a time when you experienced a "divine appointment" in your life. How did it impact your faith journey?

4. How can you create or recognize "sacred spaces" in your life where you can encounter God's presence more deeply?

5. What steps can you take to foster reconciliation and unity in your relationships, following the example of Aaron and Moses' meeting?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 3:1-12
This passage describes Moses' initial encounter with God at the burning bush, setting the stage for his mission.

Exodus 4:14-16
God appoints Aaron to be Moses' spokesperson, highlighting the partnership between the two brothers.

Exodus 18:5
Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, meets Moses at the mountain of God, showing the mountain's continued significance.

Numbers 12:1-8
Aaron and Miriam's relationship with Moses is further explored, emphasizing the dynamics of their leadership roles.
Sermons
Christian BrothersJ. S. Exell, M. A.Exodus 4:27
Family RelationshipsDean Goulburn.Exodus 4:27
LessonsG. Hughes, B. D.Exodus 4:27
Moses and AaronG. R. Leavitt.Exodus 4:27
Moses and AaronD. C. Hughes, M. A.Exodus 4:27
Moses and Aaron; Or, the Use of AssociationR. A. Hallam, D. D.Exodus 4:27
Providential ArrangementsProf. Gaussen.Exodus 4:27
The Meeting of Two BrothersJ. S. Exell, M. A.Exodus 4:27
The Two BrothersJ. S. Exell, M. A.Exodus 4:27
The Two BrothersT. S. Millington.Exodus 4:27
Facing EgyptH.T. Robjohns Exodus 4:18-31
My Times are in Thy HandG.A. Goodhart Exodus 4:19-29
Interpretation of ProvidenceJ. Orr Exodus 4:24-27
The Three MeetingsJ. Urquhart Exodus 4:24-31
A Meeting of BrothersJ. Orr Exodus 4:27, 28
People
Aaron, Isaac, Israelites, Jacob, Jethro, Moses, Pharaoh, Zipporah
Places
Egypt, Horeb, Midian, Nile River
Topics
Aaron, Across, Desert, God's, Kiss, Kissed, Kisseth, Meet, Meeteth, Met, Mount, Mountain, Waste, Wilderness
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Exodus 4:27

     5898   kissing

Exodus 4:27-28

     5072   Aaron, spokesman

Library
January 13. "Thou Shalt be to Him Instead of God" (Ex. Iv. 16).
"Thou shalt be to him instead of God" (Ex. iv. 16). Such was God's promise to Moses, and such the high character that Moses was to assume toward Aaron, his brother. May it not suggest a high and glorious place that each of us may occupy toward all whom we meet, instead of God? What a dignity and glory it would give our lives, could we uniformly realize this high calling! How it would lead us to act toward our fellow-men! God can always be depended upon. God is without variableness or shadow of turning. …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

May the Eleventh but -- --!
"And Moses answered and said, But----" --EXODUS iv. 1-9. We know that "but." God has heard it from our lips a thousand times. It is the response of unbelief to the divine call. It is the reply of fear to the divine command. It is the suggestion that the resources are inadequate. It is a hint that God may not have looked all round. He has overlooked something which our own eyes have seen. The human "buts" in the Scriptural stories make an appalling record. "Lord, I will follow Thee, but----" There …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

May the Twelfth Mouth and Matter
"Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth." --EXODUS iv. 10-17. And what a promise that is for anyone who is commissioned to proclaim the King's decrees. Here can teachers and preachers find their strength. God will be with their mouths. He will control their speech, and order their words like troops. He does not promise to make us eloquent, but to endow our words with the "demonstration of power." "And I will teach thee what thou shall say." The Lord will not only be with our mouths, …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

A Bundle of Myrrh is My Well-Beloved unto Me; He Shall Abide Between My Breasts.
When the Bride, or rather the lover (for she is not yet a bride), has found her Bridegroom, she is so transported with joy, that she is eager to be instantly united to Him. But the union of perpetual enjoyment is not yet arrived. He is mine, she says, I cannot doubt that He gives Himself to me this moment, since I feel it, but He is to me, as it were, a bundle of myrrh. He is not yet a Bridegroom whom I may embrace in the nuptial bed, but a bundle of crosses, pains and mortifications; a bloody husband …
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon

Preaching (I. ).
Earthen vessels, frail and slight, Yet the golden Lamp we bear; Master, break us, that the light So may fire the murky air; Skill and wisdom none we claim, Only seek to lift Thy Name. I have on purpose reserved the subject of Preaching for our closing pages. Preaching is, from many points of view, the goal and summing up of all other parts and works of the Ministry. What we have said already about the Clergyman's life and labour, in secret, in society, in the parish; what we have said about his …
Handley C. G. Moule—To My Younger Brethren

To the Saddest of the Sad
I often wonder what those preachers do who feel called to make up their message as they go on; for if they fail, their failure must be attributed in great measure to their want of ability to make up a moving tale. They have to spread their sails to the breeze of the age, and to pick up a gospel that comes floating down to them on the stream of time, altering every week in the year; and they must have an endless task to catch this new idea, or, as they put it, to keep abreast of the age. Unless, indeed, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 34: 1888

The Sweet Uses of Adversity
Now, I propose to address myself to the two classes of persons who are making use of this question. First, I shall speak to the tried saint; and then I shall speak to the seeking sinner, who has been seeking peace and pardon through Christ, but who has not as yet found it, but, on the contrary, has been buffeted by the law, and driven away from the mercy-seat in despair. I. First, then, to THE CHILD OF GOD. I have--I know I have--in this great assembly, some who have come to Job's position. They …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

"For if Ye Live after the Flesh, Ye Shall Die; but if Ye through the Spirit do Mortify the Deeds of the Body, Ye Shall Live.
Rom. viii. s 13, 14.--"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." The life and being of many things consists in union,--separate them, and they remain not the same, or they lose their virtue. It is much more thus in Christianity, the power and life of it consists in the union of these things that God hath conjoined, so that if any man pretend to …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Hardening in the Sacred Scripture.
"He hath hardened their heart."-- John xii. 40. The Scripture teaches positively that the hardening and "darkening of their foolish heart" is a divine, intentional act. This is plainly evident from God's charge to Moses concerning the king of Egypt: "Thou shalt speak all that I command thee; and I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not harken unto you, and I will lay My hand upon Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Quotation in Matt. Ii. 6.
Several interpreters, Paulus especially, have asserted that the interpretation of Micah which is here given, was that of the Sanhedrim only, and not of the Evangelist, who merely recorded what happened and was said. But this assertion is at once refuted when we consider the object which Matthew has in view in his entire representation of the early life of Jesus. His object in recording the early life of Jesus is not like that of Luke, viz., to communicate historical information to his readers. …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Flight into Egypt and Slaughter of the Bethlehem Children.
(Bethlehem and Road Thence to Egypt, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 13-18. ^a 13 Now when they were departed [The text favors the idea that the arrival and departure of the magi and the departure of Joseph for Egypt, all occurred in one night. If so, the people of Bethlehem knew nothing of these matters], behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise [this command calls for immediate departure] and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt [This land was ever the …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Appendix xii. The Baptism of Proselytes
ONLY those who have made study of it can have any idea how large, and sometimes bewildering, is the literature on the subject of Jewish Proselytes and their Baptism. Our present remarks will be confined to the Baptism of Proselytes. 1. Generally, as regards proselytes (Gerim) we have to distinguish between the Ger ha-Shaar (proselyte of the gate) and Ger Toshabh (sojourner,' settled among Israel), and again the Ger hatstsedeq (proselyte of righteousness) and Ger habberith (proselyte of the covenant). …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

A Canticle of Love
It is not only when He is about to send me some trial that Our Lord gives me warning and awakens my desire for it. For years I had cherished a longing which seemed impossible of realisation--to have a brother a Priest. I often used to think that if my little brothers had not gone to Heaven, I should have had the happiness of seeing them at the Altar. I greatly regretted being deprived of this joy. Yet God went beyond my dream; I only asked for one brother who would remember me each day at the Holy …
Therese Martin (of Lisieux)—The Story of a Soul

Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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