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Exodus 4:

Reading #164  The return to Egypt

After hearing of his mission, Moses, as so many of us would, thought only of the difficulties.

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Exodus 4:

1 And Moses answered and said, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken to my voice: for they will say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you’”.

2 And the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A rod”.  3 And He said, “Cast it on the ground”.  And he cast it on the ground, and it became a [dangerous] serpent; and Moses fled from before it.  4 And the LORD said to Moses, “Put forth your hand, and take it by the tail,” (and he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand): 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, has appeared to you”.  [He was not to argue, but merely show the POWER of God”.]

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Moses saw before him difficulties that seemed insurmountable.  What proof could he give his people that God had indeed sent him? Evidence that appealed to his own senses (and that of the Hebrews) was now given.  He was told to cast his rod upon the ground and it became a snake in front of him.  Because it was real Moses ran from it.  He was then commanded to seize it (by the tail of all places), and when he did this by faith in God’s word, in his hand it became a rod again.  These miracles were not for Pharaoh’s benefit but to develop faith in the people of God, although they were used for him as well. 

Every one whom the LORD calls should be distrustful of self, and at the same time have full trust in God.  Moses was to go forth in the name of “I AM THAT I AM,” without outward display of grandeur; yet the rod in his hand was a symbol of the divine power of the creator Son of God, and Moses was the instrument through whom God would deliver Israel from the bondage of tyranny.

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Exodus 4:

6 And the LORD said furthermore to him, “Put now your hand into your bosom”.  And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.  7 And He said, “Put your hand into your 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.  8 “And [the LORD said] it shall come to pass, if they will not believe you, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign [with its different purpose]”. 

9 “And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which you take out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land”.  [This sign was not needed by Israel – it became the first plague sent by Satan and the power of the Son of God was shown in the control of it.]

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Moses was then told to put his hand inside his robe.  He obeyed, and when he took it out, his hand was like a leper’s.  After being told to put it in again, he found on withdrawing it that it had become like the other.  In this way Jesus showed His healing power.  By these two signs, creation and healing, the LORD assured Moses that His own people, as well as Pharaoh, should be convinced that One mightier than the king of Egypt was among them. 

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Exodus 4:

10 And Moses said to the LORD, “O my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since You have spoken to Your servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue”.  (Not according to the later word of God!  See Acts 7:22.)

11 And the LORD said to him, “Who has made man's mouth?  Or who makes [heals] the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind?  Have not I the LORD? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall say”.

13 And he said, “O my LORD, send, I pray you, by the hand of him whom You will send [send someone else]”.  14 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well.  And also, behold, he comes forth to meet you: and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart [after a 40 year separation]. 

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The servant of God was still overwhelmed by the thought of the strange and wonderful work before him.  In his distress and fear he now pleaded a lack of ready speech as an excuse.  He had been so long away from the Egyptians that he had not so clear a knowledge and ready use of their language as when he was among them. 

The LORD said to him, “Don’t you believe that I the Creator can make the blind see, the deaf hear, and the dumb talk?”  To this was added another assurance of divine aid: “I will be with your mouth, and teach you what to say”. 

But Moses still asked that a more competent person be selected.  Consider Isaiah’s answer in similar circumstances, or Mary’s humble acceptance of an even more difficult position.  Isaiah 6:8; Luke 1:38.  Moses’ excuses at first proceeded from humility and diffidence; but after the LORD had promised to remove all difficulties, and to give him final success, then any further shrinking back and complaining of his unfitness showed distrust of God.  It implied a fear that God was unable to qualify him for the great work to which He had called him, or that He had made a mistake in the selection of the man. 

Because of this we are also told that “the anger of the LORD” was “kindled” against him.  Our God is not like erring humans, for which we should be thankful, and therefore we should hesitate before applying our understanding of those words to that situation.  Isaiah 55:8-9.  Only the Bible can explain the meaning of terms used in it, for only the Spirit knows the emotions of God. 

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1 Corinthians 2:

11 For what man knows the things of a man, save [except through] the spirit of man which is in him?  Even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God.  12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

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He was actually very sorry at the way Moses was responding!

We have a problem here that not many can explain.  How can a God who appears to get angry and who appears to kill, command His people not to do so, and yet ask them to be like Him?  He says, “You shall not kill,” and “Be you angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath

.  .  .”  (Exodus 20:13 and Ephesians 4:26)  Yet He appears to do, and says He does both of those things often in the early part of the Bible.  How can the Son of God of the New Testament be the same Son of God in the Old Testament?  In this regard He also tells us:    

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Jeremiah 9:

23 Thus says the LORD, “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24 but let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight,” says the LORD.

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It is precisely because He (the Son of God, the Saviour of the New Testament) exercises lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness in the New Testament that He says these things in the Old Testament.  Exodus 34:6-7.  In the New He proved what He said in the Old.  He desires to be known and understood, therefore He has instructed us to make His character our study in both Testaments.  If we do this, then one day we shall be able to join with the apostle John (who had only the Old Testament as his Bible) and say,

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1 John 3:

2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; FOR WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS.  3 And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as He is pure.

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There is a very good book available free online on this subject.  Here is the URL:

http://www.oigc.net   “Light on the Dark Side of God”

Moses was then directed to Aaron, his elder brother, who was able to speak the language of the Egyptians perfectly.  He was told that Aaron was coming to meet him, and that was to be that.  He made no further resistance, for all ground for excuse was now removed.

The next words from the LORD were an unqualified command because Moses at that point accepted his call.  He was 80 years old, Aaron 83 and Miriam 92.

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Exodus 4:

15 And you shall speak to him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.  16 And he shall be your spokesman to the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to you instead of a mouth, and you shall be to him INSTEAD OF GOD”.[God always works in pairs.  Mark 6:7.]

17 “And you shall take this rod in your hand, wherewith you shall do signs”. 

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The divine command when first given to Moses found him self-distrustful, slow of speech, and timid.  Like so many of us, he was at first overwhelmed with a sense of his incapacity to be a mouthpiece for God to Israel.  But having once accepted the work, he entered upon it with his whole heart, putting all his trust in the LORD.  The greatness of his mission called into exercise the best powers of his mind.  The Son of God blessed his ready obedience even in this faulty situation, and he became eloquent, hopeful, self-possessed, and well fitted for the great work ever given to a man.  This is an example of what God does to strengthen the character of those who trust Him fully and give themselves unreservedly to His commands, and also how He works with a less than perfect situation.

Had Moses relied upon his own strength and wisdom, and in this manner eagerly accepted the great charge from the first, he would have shown his entire unfitness for such a work.  The fact that a man or a woman feels their weakness at the call of God is at least some evidence that they realize the magnitude of the work appointed them, and gives some indication that they will make God their counsellor and strength.  But when we have God’s assurance that all will be well, then we must trust and obey.

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Exodus 4:

18 And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said to him, “Let me go, I pray you, and return to my brothers [and sisters] which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive”.  And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace”.

19 And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought your life”.  20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. 

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With his wife and children, (for he now had another son named Eliezer, Exodus 18:4), Moses set forth on the journey.  He had not dared to make known even to Jethro the priest of God the real object of his mission, lest they should not be allowed to accompany him.  A secret dread of Pharaoh Thutmose III and the other Egyptians, whose anger had been kindled against him forty years before, had also made Moses reluctant to return to Egypt; but after he had set out to obey the divine command, the LORD revealed to him that all of his personal enemies were dead. 

He was now to deal with Amenhotep IV on God’s behalf.

Back next week,

RonP 

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