Exodus 4:18
And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace. And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.
The time had come for Israel's deliverance, when God heard their groaning under bondage and remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, and had respect unto them. He purposed to pour contempt on human pride by sending the deliverer forth as a humble shepherd with only a rod in his hand, making that rod the symbol of His power. Just before, near Horeb, the mountain of God, Moses saw a bush in flames that burned without being consumed, and as he drew near he was called by name from the flame and answered that he was present. He was warned to remove his shoes because the ground was holy, and he heard the self-identification as the God of his father and of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the same one who had revealed Himself to the fathers in ages past as the Angel of the covenant, so that Moses hid his face from fear of looking upon God. Coming into God's presence requires humility and reverence, not bold presumption as toward an equal or inferior or as in an earthly audience chamber, but bowing in humility before Him whom seraphim adore and before whom angels veil their faces and who is greatly to be reverenced, though in the name of Jesus there is confidence to come before Him.
Moses had been reluctant to return to Egypt from fear of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, whose anger had been stirred forty years earlier. He asked Jethro's permission to return to Egypt to see whether his brethren, his people, his Israelite relatives, were still alive, and Jethro sent him in peace and with a blessing. He secured permission for himself and his family to go back, but did not disclose his commission to deliver a message to Pharaoh and confront him, because he feared Jethro might refuse to let his wife and children join such a dangerous mission. He set out for Egypt with his family but, for their safety, later sent them back to Midian. Once he had set out to obey God's command, God told him that his enemies were dead.