Monday, October 02, 2006

Exodus 4

Moses - The Reluctant Leader



1 But Moses protested again, "Look, they (Israel) won't believe me! They won't do what I tell them. They'll just say, `The LORD never appeared to you.'"



   How do we react when God calls us to do the hard thing or what we perceive as impossible? Moses suspected they wouldn't believe him because of what happened in Exodus 2:14. In Exodus 3:18, God already told Moses that the leaders of Israel will listen to him, but he doesn't believe God's promise! Before, Moses had pleaded inability (3:11) and that the people would want to know by Whose power he came (3:13), and now he simply states that they will not believe that Yahweh has appeared to him.



   This was a totally different Moses from the one who ‘was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.’ Forty years earlier he had been supremely confident in his own abilities but in doing so had not relied on the Lord and had raced like a horse ahead of God’s plan. Despite Moses' stubbornness, this is the Moses which God chose to use. Humility and meekness are virtues that the Lord loves to mold into a person’s character and Moses definitely had these. Although, we need to be careful that we don’t focus so much on our own weakness that we start to use it as an excuse for disobedience. This, Moses was doing here and we read that the Lord’s anger burned against Moses. - www.jesusplusnothing.com/studies/online/exodus3.htm



2 Then the LORD* asked him, "What do you have there in your hand?"
"A shepherd's staff**," Moses replied.



*LORD: Jehovah or Yahweh



**staff: God sometimes uses the most ordinary thing (or person) to accomplish great things. The same rod (staff) David talks about in Psalm 23:4; it’s the rod, the staff that comforts him. A shepherd's rod usually had events from his whole life carved into it (his encounters with danger, his victories, the significant events), so his rod represented his identity. To answer his own question, he needed to look at his own past - his own training as both a leader and a keeper of flocks, and realize that he was indeed specially groomed for this task. That rod of Moses would part the Red Sea. It would strike a rock and see water pour forth. It would be raised over battle until Israel was victorious. It would be called the rod of God (Exodus 4:20; 17:9). - www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0204.htm



   The shepherd's staff represented two things to Moses: identity and security. Where do you find your identity? Where do you find your security? Is it a job? A relationship? A brokerage account? A title or degree or position?



3 "Throw it down* on the ground," the LORD told him. So Moses threw it down, and it became a snake**! Moses was terrified, so he turned and ran away.



*Throw it down: Sometimes you have to throw down what is in your hand so God can make you into who He wants you to be. If you hold on to the staff you'll count sheep the rest of your life. You'll never know what you could have accomplished with God's help. You'll never know who you could have become. Your staff will remain a staff. Your success doesn't depend on what's in your hand. Read the Exodus account and you'll find three distinct references to "hand." God says He is going to stretch out His mighty hand. He promises the Israelites that they won't exodus Egypt empty-handed. And He tells Moses to throw down what is in his hand. Here is the fundamental mistake we make: we think the way to avoid being empty-handed is by hanging on to what we have. The real key is throwing down what is in your hand so that God can stretch out His hand and fill your hand with what's in His hand. But God can't put something in your hand if you're clutching your staff. - www.evotional.com/2005/09/summer-reflectionsthrow-down-your.html.



**snake: The same word as for the serpent that appeared to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Here, most likely, a cobra because it was one of the symbols of pharaoh. Pharaoh was portrayed as a god, always the son of Amon-Ra, ruling not merely by divine right but by divine birth, as a deity tolerating the earth as his home. On his head was the falcon, symbol of Horus; from his forehead rose the serpent, symbol of wisdom and life, and communicating magic virtues to the crown.



   The Egyptians believed in the sacred snake as a symbol of protection, often on Pharaoh’s brow leading him to victory in battle. But to Israel the snake represented the traditional enemy of God (Genesis 3). Here it would be demonstrated that the one represented by the snake had been mastered by God. Satan is the real power behind the throne. And so Exodus is much about the battle between God and Satan.





4 Then the LORD told him, "Take hold of its tail." So Moses reached out and grabbed it*, and it became a shepherd's staff again.



*reached out and grabbed it: Would have required a great deal of faith, because the snake could easily have bitten Moses that way.



   So Moses learned not to fear ‘the snake’ and all that it symbolized of Pharaoh and of other-world powers, for he now knew that God controlled the snake. This was his first practical step in trusting God. And he had learned by it not to be afraid of the Serpent who lay behind it all, or of the Pharaoh whose head bore the snake. And he could demonstrate to Israel that they need not be afraid either. - www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus1.html



5 "Perform this sign, and they will believe you," the LORD told him. "Then they will realize that the LORD, the God of their ancestors--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob--really has appeared to you."



   Note the continued emphasis on ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’ (3:15&16 and here).



6 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Put your hand inside your robe." Moses did so, and when he took it out again, his hand was white as snow with leprosy*.



*leprosy: Or with a contagious skin disease. This sudden skin disease indicated that God was able to bring such diseases on Egypt in the plagues and that only he could remove them. The whitening was the first stage of death for the diseased (Numbers 12:10; 2 Kings 5:27). The Hebrew words traditionally rendered “leprous” or “leprosy,” as they are used in Leviticus 13 and 14, encompass a variety of conditions, not limited to the disease called leprosy and identified as Hansen’s disease in modern times.



7 "Now put your hand back into your robe again," the LORD said. Moses did, and when he took it out this time, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.



8 "If they do not believe the first miraculous sign, they will believe the second," the LORD said.



9 "And if they do not believe you even after these two signs, then take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on the dry ground. When you do, it will turn into blood."



   The Nile god was seen as one of Egypt’s greatest gods, responsible for much of its prosperity. If Yahweh could make him bleed, He could do anything. The water of the mighty Nile god, that water which was the very life of the people, could be turned by Him into blood. It was a symbol of what Yahweh could do to the Nile and to Egypt. It warned that if the Egyptians would not do what God demanded their future would be saturated in blood, for the Nile symbolized Egypt. He would ‘slay’ the Nile and with it many of the people of the Nile god who had claimed so many Israelite victims at their hands. - www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus1.html



10 But Moses pleaded with the LORD, "O Lord, I'm just not a good speaker*. I never have been, and I'm not now, even after you have spoken to me. I'm clumsy with words."



*not a good speaker: literally "heavy of mouth." NO, NO - NOT ME - Pick someone else, but not me! The idea that he had a speech impediment such as stuttering was a later rabbinic tradition but Stephen says in Acts 7:22 says Moses was “mighty in words”.


   Moses continued to seek to avoid his unwelcome assignment. This time he argued that he was no good at refined conversation. In those days eloquence was looked on as vital in diplomacy, and requests, submissions and arguments were seen as needing to be couched in flowery language. Thus, Moses felt that he was not suitable. Through living with the Midianites, he felt that he had long since lost any ability he had to be flowery in his speech like a diplomat. He was now a rough and ready tribesman. And he knew that meeting Yahweh had not improved the situation. Yahweh’s reply was to point to Who was behind Moses. Does he not recognize that He is the One controls all man’s functions? He could therefore enable Moses and show him what to say. But Moses was still reluctant. He was too aware of his inability in that field, and besides, he did not like the whole idea. His next words make that clear. - www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus1.html



11 "Who makes mouths?" the LORD asked him. "Who makes people so they can speak or not speak, hear or not hear, see or not see? Is it not I, the LORD?



   Moses is really bothered by this. Everyone speculates as to what this is. There have been suggestions this is a speech impediment. There have been suggestions that this is a loss of some of his linguistic skills, even though he’d grown up in Egypt. Even though he had grown up speaking their language, perhaps he was fearful that he had lost the pronunciation or the touch in his forty years in the wilderness. I don’t know what it is, but the point is, Moses’ worry misses the point. God has not chosen him because he’s eloquent. Eloquence is not what is needed. A man who simply speaks the truth is that which is needed. And Paul recognized this in his own day. If you turn to 2 Corinthians 10:10, Paul himself was accused by the Corinthians of being fairly unimpressive in his public speech when he was preaching amongst them. They apparently thought Apollos was a lot better preacher than Paul. God takes Moses right back to the doctrine of creation. If God has called Moses, he can give Moses what Moses needs. - www.fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/exodus/Exodus%20Vol%201%20&%202/05bExo.htm



12 Now go, and do as I have told you. I will help you speak well, and I will tell you what to say."



   It is never "God is so mighty we can't do anything," but it is always "God is so mighty, He can work through us if we make ourselves available." - www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0204.htm



13 But Moses again pleaded, "Lord*, please! Send someone else."



*Lord: Adonai rather than Jehovah! Moses has run out of excuses. Now, he's revealing his real attitude - he just plain does not want to go!



14 Then the LORD became angry with Moses. "All right," he said. "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? He is a good speaker. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. And when he sees you, he will be very glad.



   Literally, "his nose became red". He was already bringing him out to meet Moses and then he could act as his spokesman. But Moses must take final responsibility. Moses was God’s chosen spokesman. God had already anticipated Moses’ reaction and had already made provision for it. God knew ahead how Moses would respond and had called Aaron to come. (Remember that they didn't have e-mail back then). God's foreknowledge does not interfere with our free choice.



15 You will talk to him, giving him the words to say. I will help both of you to speak clearly, and I will tell you what to do.


16 Aaron* will be your spokesman** to the people, and you will be as God** to him, telling him what to say.



*Aaron is a type of Christ as both priest and prophet. Moses is a type of Christ as King. Only Christ and Melchizedek are/were priest-kings.



**spokesman: Literally "he will be to you a mouth." The background to these words is clearly Egyptian. There "mouth" (ra) is used metaphorically for a representative of Pharaoh. The office of a "mouth" was so important that it was held by the highest State dignitaries. The titles “mouth” and "chief mouth" were used for chief superintendents and overseers of public works who acted as intermediaries between the Pharaoh and the Government officials. - www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus1.html



***as God: standing in God’s place. As Pharaoh’s ‘mouths’ spoke for him as a god, so Aaron will parallel these high officials and speak in the name of Moses. God will say to Moses later, “I will make you a god to Pharaoh (Exodus 7.1).”



17 And be sure to take your shepherd's staff along so you can perform the miraculous signs I have shown you."



   From now on this staff, which will have delivered God’s first sign, (and is here linked also with the other signs) will be called ‘the staff of God’ (verse 20). It will be with Moses, and often used by Aaron, in all his future activities, a reminder that the power of Yahweh was with him and that his authority was derived from God, and that thereby he could control the snake, and smite and heal. It was a visible evidence of God’s presence with him, and through it he would soon perform many other signs. - www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus1.html



   Pharaoh was considered by himself and his people to be a god. He was considered to be the living manifestation of two Egyptian gods, Ra, the god of the sun and Horace, the god of death. These two gods were sovereign over all gods; and so the story of the Exodus is the story of the God of Israel entering into contests with the god of Egypt, the self-proclaimed god of Egypt, Pharaoh, and Egypt's many gods. In the Near Eastern world the gods are constantly depicted as having staffs or scepters or rods. This shows their power, it’s an artistic or literary expression of their power and their authority. For Moses to go into Egypt carrying the rod of God is a visible depiction that he goes wielding the power of God. It is a picture that even Pharaoh would have understood. When somebody shows up in Pharaoh’s court with a rod, Pharaoh knows that somebody is there claiming authority. And that is, of course, precisely what God wanted Pharaoh to receive as far as the message. But notice again here that God is the real deliverer of Israel. Moses has to be commanded to go down into Egypt, he has to ask permission of his father-in-law to go down into Egypt. He has to be assured by God that it’s safe to go back to Egypt, and he has to be clothed with God’s might. So God sends Moses as His deliverer, but God is the One who is the real the deliverer of Israel. - www.fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/exodus/Exodus%20Vol%201%20&%202/06aExo.htm



18 Then Moses went back home and talked it over with Jethro, his father-in-law. "With your permission," Moses said, "I would like to go back to Egypt to visit my family. I don't even know whether they are still alive."
"Go with my blessing," Jethro replied.



   Moses doesn't tell Jethro the whole story! Perhaps, he was afraid Jethro would think the whole thing absurd or that Moses was crazy. Or, perhaps, Moses was afraid Jethro would try to talk Moses out of it. Jethro was leader of the family tribe and had to be consulted. Tribal loyalty was seen as extremely important. Moses could not just go off at will. On the other hand, family loyalty was seen as equally important, so permission was unlikely to be refused.



19 Before Moses left Midian, the LORD said to him, "Do not be afraid to return to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead."



20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to the land of Egypt. In his hand he carried the staff of God*.



*the staff of God: It was the staff of Moses, but now it's the staff of God! Moses' identity and security are no longer his own.



21 Then the LORD reminded him, "When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform the miracles I have empowered you to do. But I will make him stubborn so he will not let the people go.



   Who really hardened Pharaoh's heart? We might say that it was both God and Pharaoh; but whenever God hardened Pharaoh's heart, He never did it against Pharaoh's will. Pharaoh never said, "Oh, I want to do what is good and right and I want to bless these people of Israel" and God answered, "No, for I will harden your heart against them!" When God hardened Pharaoh's heart, He allowed Pharaoh's heart to do what Pharaoh wanted to do - God was giving Pharaoh over to his sin. - www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0204.htm. According to 1 Samuel 6:6, God didn't harden the Pharaoh's heart; the Pharaoh did it himself.



22 Then you will tell him, `This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son.



   First of all, in verse 22 we see a phrase introduced that has never been used before in the Bible but will be used hundreds of times hereafter. It is the phrase, Thus says the Lord. Or in the King James, "Thus sayeth the Lord." It is classic Near Eastern formula whereby a prophet announces that he is delivering the words of the deity verbatim. Everyone in the Near East would have known that when a prophet entered the room and announced"thus sayeth the Lord", he was claiming to speak not his own words, not his own ideas, but the very words of the god who had sent him. And in this passage Moses is to announce to Pharaoh that what is about to be spoken to him is the very word of the God of Israel. - www.fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/exodus/Exodus%20Vol%201%20&%202/06aExo.htm



   The first sonship relates to Yahweh Himself. In verse 22 He declares true Israel’s relationship with Him. He declares, ‘Israel is my son, my firstborn.’ What amazing words were these. They depicted God’s love for Israel as being like a father’s love for his firstborn son. He was declaring that they had become so precious to Him that He had adopted them as His firstborn. It was they who were chosen to receive His inheritance. It is this concept that lies at the root of all that will follow. Israel as a whole is His son, Israel as He intended it to be. It was on them that He had set His love.



   The use of the term firstborn demonstrates how important God’s people are to Him. The firstborn son was always received with the greatest joy. Here was the one who would inherit and maintain the continuance of the family name. Here was the one who would receive the choice portion. He was highly prized. And this was what Israel were to God.


   We have here the paradox of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. Pharaoh would in fact have been hardhearted in this matter whatever God did. But the writer recognizes that all is of God, and therefore if he was hardhearted, then God had done it. (And even then Pharaoh chased after Israel once he had let them go, which was very much the result of his own hardness of heart).



   Central to God’s actions is His love for Israel. As the descendants of Jacob, they are as a firstborn son to Him. As He cherished Abraham, Isaac and Jacob so will He cherish these His people. He is their father and they are his adopted son, treated as His firstborn and therefore of great importance.



   The people to be brought out of Egypt had practically lost their spiritual character. They would be born again as they made their pledge of faithfulness, but this could not happen in Egypt.



23 I commanded you to let him go, so he could worship me. But since you have refused, be warned! I will kill your firstborn son!' "



   Then he must issue him with a dire warning. He must tell him that Israel is to Yahweh like a firstborn son, beloved and treasured, and that because he has refused them permission to go to worship Him and offer sacrifices to Him in the wilderness He will slay Pharaoh’s firstborn in return. If he sought to break Yahweh’s heart, Yahweh would break his heart. This will be a direct challenge to Pharaoh’s deity. He may see himself as a god, as may his people, but the assertion is that he will not be able to protect his son, also a budding god. And he will deserve it. - www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus1.html



24 On the journey, when Moses and his family had stopped for the night, the LORD confronted Moses and was about to kill him.



   The next section (verses 24-26) records a rather strange story. God had said that if Pharaoh would not comply he would kill his son – but now God was ready to kill Moses, the representative of Israel, God’s own son. Apparently, one would reconstruct that on the journey Moses fell seriously ill, but his wife, learning the cause of the illness, saved his life by circumcising her son and casting the foreskin at Moses’ feet (indicating that it was symbolically Moses’ foreskin). The point is that this son of Abraham had not complied with the sign of the Abrahamic covenant. No one, according to Exodus 12:40-51, would take part in the Passover-exodus who had not complied. So how could the one who was going to lead God’s people not comply? Since Moses was taking his family with him, God had to make sure the sign of the covenant was kept. It may be that here Moses sent them all back to Jethro (18:2) because of the difficulties that lay ahead.



25 But Zipporah, his wife, took a flint knife and circumcised her son. She threw the foreskin at Moses' feet and said, "What a blood-smeared bridegroom you are to me!"



   Moses had failed to circumcise his son on the eighth day! The question was to whom Moses owed authority, that was why the circumcision of his son was so important. This may suggest that his wife was refusing to allow her son to be circumcised out of loyalty to her own tribe. Once she agreed to the circumcision, the issue was resolved, which may have been why she was so angry at being thwarted. It was a sign of disobedience and refusal to respond to the covenant requirements. And it may well have indicated the divided loyalties of his family. And this with Moses of all people, the one who would act in the name of the covenant! Thus God moved in to warn him.



   ‘Her son.’ The relative pronoun may signify that she saw the firstborn as especially her son, or it may be that while Moses had insisted on circumcising his firstborn son, his wife had claimed the second to be more peculiarly hers, and had resisted his being circumcised.



26 (When she called Moses a "blood-smeared bridegroom," she was referring to the circumcision.) After that, the LORD left him alone.



27 Now the LORD had said to Aaron, "Go out into the wilderness to meet Moses." So Aaron traveled to the mountain of God, where he found Moses and greeted him warmly.



   Despite his life in Egypt, Aaron was still hearing from YHWH. YHWH already had a man in Egypt. Yet he needed to go out to get Moses before the deliverance could occur. How was Aaron free to leave Egypt? Some traditions say the Levites were never enslaved, since the priests always had special privileges in Egypt.



28 Moses then told Aaron everything the LORD had commanded them to do and say. And he told him about the miraculous signs they were to perform.



29 So Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and called the leaders of Israel to a meeting.



30 Aaron told them everything the LORD had told Moses, and Moses performed the miraculous signs as they watched.



31 The leaders were soon convinced that the LORD had sent Moses and Aaron. And when they realized that the LORD had seen* their misery and was deeply concerned for them, they all bowed their heads and worshiped.



*seen: Watched over: or visited, mustered, numbered. The last time a Hebrew had spoken to Moses, the message to him was “Who made you our judge?” But after 40 years, the tables have turned.





On-Line Sources:



Off-Line Sources:



  • "Cruden's Complete Concordance" - Zondervan Publishing House

  • "Breath of the Holies: Secrets of Moses' Tabernacle" - DVD by Perry Stone

  • "In Search of the Mountain of God" by Robert Cornuke and David Halbrook - Broadman & Holman Publishers

  • "Symbols of Judaism" by Marc-Alai Ouaknin - Barnes & Noble Books, publisher

  • "The Exodus Revealed: Searching for the Red Sea Crossing" - (2001), DVD, Studio: Questar, ASIN: B00005AUE2, available from Amazon.com

  • "The Defender's Study Bible" -World Bible Publishers

  • "The Miracle of Passover" - DVD by Zola Levitt

  • "The NIV Application Commentary - Exodus" – Peter Enns – Zondervan™

  • "The Ten Commandments" (1956 film) from Paramount Pictures, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Charlton Heston as Moses

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