We will begin this lesson in Exodus 4:1 “And Moses answered and said,
But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they
will say,The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.”
Here we see again, that feeling of inability on Moses’ part to carry out
the task that God had called him to do. He suddenly felt panic that they
would not believe him, even though God had already promised him success and
favor with Pharaoh. In a way, Moses was feeling sorry for himself. He said
they (the people) won’t believe him. He was forgetting that God was with
him. This was total lack of faith.
Exodus 4:2 “And the LORD said unto him, What [is] that in thine hand?
And he said, A rod.”
Notice, here, that God uses whatever is at hand. We are not told for
sure, whether this was a shepherd’s staff, or whether this was a rod the
elderly use; we do know that it doesn’t matter with God what it is, He can
use it. Egyptians loathed shepherds, and a shepherd’s staff would have been
an offense to them. As I said, whatever this piece of wood was, God would
make use of it. There was a staff that the rich in Egypt used to signify
they were upper class, but I doubt this was what this was.
Exodus 4:3 “And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the
ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.”
This would be a frightening thing to happen. The “He” that said this
was God, of course. All of this was to build Moses’ faith. Probably, God
used this particular sign, because the magicians of Egypt would bring this
very sign against Moses. The difference being that Moses’ or God’s serpent
would swallow the Egyptian serpents. This would be a show that God’s power
was greater than Satan’s power.
Exodus 4:4 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take
it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a
rod in his hand:”
The symbolism here, to me, is that believers who have faith in God, and
are obedient to God’s commands, can truly take the serpent (devil) by the
tail, and subdue it. Here, we see that God was showing Moses to have no
fear, God had given Moses power to overcome. Moses overcame the fear he
felt in the last verse and, on instructions from God, had picked up this
serpent by the tail, and God had transformed it into a rod. I believe God
had chosen this sign to use, because the Egyptians had such a fascination
with snakes. They had snakes carved on their head gear. Whether this meant
the snake ruled over them, I do not know. It seemed to indicate headship,
because it was worn on the head. This could be telling the world where the
Egyptians’ loyalty lay.
Exodus 4:5 “That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared
unto thee.”
Here, we see that God gave this to Moses as a sign, not only for the
Egypyians, but for the Hebrews, as well. They, probably, had seen these
Egyptian magicians demonstrate this very thing many times. The clincher that
Moses was actually from God, was when his serpent swallowed up the
magicians’ serpents. This just says, one more time, that God was more
powerful than the Egyptian false gods.
Exodus 4:6 “And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand
into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out,
behold, his hand [was] leprous as snow.”
Leprosy was a very dreaded disease, and was thought to be incurable.
The whiteness spoken of here, meant the disease had progressed to a very bad
stage. This would strike terror in the hearts of not only the Egyptians,
but in the Hebrews, as well.
Exodus 4:7 “And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put
his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold,
it was turned again as his [other] flesh.”
This verse, right here, is what would convince them that this was God’s
power, because there was no cure at this time for leprosy. Here, Egyptians
and Hebrews alike could plainly see God at work. To the leper, it, also,
held out some hope; that hope being Jesus.
Exodus 4:8 “And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee,
neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the
voice of the latter sign.”
Miracles do have a voice. Not a literal voice, but a speaking. You see,
signs and wonders have been the voice of God throughout the Bible. Even
Jesus said to believe Him for the very works’ sake. John 14:11 “Believe me
that I [am] in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the
very works’ sake.” The people who followed Jesus believed, because of the
signs and wonders.
Exodus 4:9 “And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also
these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the
water of the river, and pour [it] upon the dry [land]: and the water which
thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry [land].”
It was almost unbelievable that they would doubt both of these miracles,
but God would not have mentioned it, if it wouldn’t happen. Water was very
important in Egypt, because it is such a dry land. The Egyptians depended
so much on the Nile River for water to keep the crops going, that they
worshipped the Nile as one of their false gods. This, miracle then, was a
personal attack on their false god. This would destroy their way of life.
Turning the water from the Nile into blood should convince them that God was
greater than any, or all of their gods. In the first miracle, the ones who
wanted to believe would, fear might drive some to believe in the second. In
the third, those who were really indoctrinated in worshipping false gods,
should surely be convinced that God was greater than their false gods.
Exodus 4:10 “And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I [am] not
eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant:
but I [am] slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”
Frankly, I do not believe that God calls those who are eloquent of
speech to speak for Him. God does not want us to speak in our own ability.
God wants to speak through us. Most ministers will tell you that they were
very shy, before the Lord moved upon them. God is not interested in our
ability, just our willingness. It appears, to me, that Moses was just
looking for excuses.
Exodus 4:11 “And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or
who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the
LORD?”
It appears to me, here, that God was getting a little bit annoyed with
Moses. If God had called Moses to do a job, He could certainly loose his
tongue and make him an eloquent speaker, if that was what it took.
God was reminding Moses, here, that God was the power, not Moses. He is
the Creator of it all. Nothing is impossible to God. This is a esson we
all need to learn. If God calls you to do a job, don’t worry a bout whether
you can do it or not. God will make you able. The lesson is sometimes hard
to believe. Go back to this Scripture. You may not be able to speak now,
but God is the one who made your mouth and tongue. He is perfectly capable
of anointing anyone to speak for Him. Verse 12 tells it all.
Exodus 4:12 “Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach
thee what thou shalt say.”
Here, again, we see Moses would be anointed of God to do this job. God
would empower him. Moses just had to open his mouth, and God would speak
through him. There are too many ministers today who rely too much on
worldly training, and not on God. God really doesn’t care how much
education you have. God just needs you to have a willing heart, and He
provides everything else.
Exodus 4:13 “And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand [of
him whom] thou wilt send.”
Moses had gone too far.
Exodus 4:14 “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he
said, [Is] not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well.
And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he
will be glad in his heart.”
Here, Moses had made a terrible mistake. Aaron was not as close to God.
Aaron was the very same one who would make the golden calf. Even though God
was angry with Moses, He was not angry enough to punish him severely. The
only punishment was that God withholds the loosing of Moses’ tongue to
speak, because of Moses’ lack of faith to receive it. God foreknew what
Moses would do, and had Aaron already on his way. We, also, see here a look
into the future when Aaron would be a high priest. A priestly family to take
care of the temple and the spiritual needs of the people, would be taken
care of in the separation of the Levites for that purpose on the way to the
promised land.
Exodus 4:15 “And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth:
and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye
shall do.”
Here, we see that God would not speak directly to Aaron. God would
speak to Moses, and Moses would convey the message to Aaron. God would
guard Aaron’s mouth, to make sure truth came forth.
Exodus 4:16 “And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall
be, [even] he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him
instead of God.”
Here, again, we just see the line of command. God spoke to Moses, and
Moses spoke to Aaron, and Aaron spoke to the king. What a shame that Moses
didn’t believe God for the ability to speak himself.
Exodus 4:17 “And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou
shalt do signs.”
These signs were for Moses to do, not Aaron. The power was given to
Moses to do these miracles, not Aaron. Aaron was just the mouth.