Moses Given Powerful Signs

INTRO

Moses interacted with the Lord in one of the most unique encounters recorded in Scripture. God used Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egypt and to be the deliverer who pointed to Jesus as the Deliverer.

TEACHING

Exodus 4:1–5: Yesterday we looked at two of the five excuses Moses used when God told him to go to Pharaoh: (1) I’m a nobody; and (2) I don’t know Your (God’s) name. Today, we’ll look at three more excuses Moses gave.¹The third excuse is Moses claims the elders won’t believe him.Moses knew the Jews were always looking for a sign for proof. He also knew that they would need confirmation that God told Moses to throw his staff on the ground. This word “throw” was the same word used when Pharaoh commanded the people to throw the Hebrew babies into the Nile.² When Moses obeyed God, the staff became a snake, and Moses ran from it. God told Moses to grab the snake by the tail, and when he did, it instantly became a staff again. Sign #1: The staff became a snake and then it became a staff again. God did this so that the Israelites, especially the elders, would believe. Although Moses had offered an excuse, God provided a sign so that the elders would believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Exodus 4:6–8: As commanded, Moses put his hand inside his cloak, and it became leprous. Then God told Moses to put his hand back into his cloak and his hand was healed. Sign #2: Moses’ hand became leprous, and then the leprosy was healed. Since they didn’t believe the first sign, God gave “the evidence of the second sign.”

Exodus 4:9: Sign #3: If they didn’t believe the first or the second signs, Moses was instructed to take water from the Nile and pour it on dry ground where it would turn to blood. The Nile was the source of water for everything!

Exodus 4:10: Fourth, Moses said he was not a fluent speaker. Moses was focused on himself, not on the Lord. Wiersbe said, “True humility isn’t thinking poorly of ourselves; it’s simply not thinking of ourselves at all but making God everything.”³

Hamilton listed four reasons why Moses’ arguments could have been legitimate: maybe Moses wanted to avoid God’s will; maybe Moses really did have a speech defect; maybe Moses truly had difficulty speaking Hebrew (he was raised Egyptian); and maybe Moses was just nervous with public speaking.⁴Wiersbe said, “Moses was clothing his pride and unbelief in a hollow confession of weakness.”⁵

Exodus 4:11–12: God responded, effectively saying, “I made your mouth! I will teach you what to say.” The Spirit of the Father speaks through us! When we claim we won’t know what to say to people on the streets, we’re saying that the Holy Spirit is not adequate to speak through us.

Exodus 4:13–14: Fifth, Moses asked God to send someone who could do the job. This was the first time the Lord really showed His anger. When God spoke of His plans to destroy the earth and all He had made, He didn’t say He was angry; He said He was “grieved in His heart” (Genesis 6:6). Moses wrote, “Who understands the power of Your anger? Your wrath matches the fear that is due You” (Psalm 90:11). In Exodus 34:6, God said: “Yahweh—Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth.” Though God was angered by Moses’ excuses, He said that He could use Aaron to speak for Him. Wiersbe said, “One of the most painful judgments that God can send is to let His own people have their way.”⁶

Exodus 4:15–17: “You will speak with him and tell him what to say. I will help both you and him to speak and will teach you both what to do.” Moses doubted his ability to speak for God, but God assured Moses He would tell him everything he should say and do. “He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and you will serve as God to him. And take this staff in your hand that you will perform the signs with.” Moses was instructed to take his staff and his brother and go where God directed him.

Exodus 4:18–21: Moses had now lived for 40 years in Midian. He went to explain to Jethro, his father-in-law, that he wanted to return to Egypt to see if any of his relatives were still living. His father-in-law blessed him to go in peace. (In contrast to Laban and Jacob, when Jacob snuck away, and Laban chased after him.) Moses didn’t tell the whole story though. All the men who wanted to kill Moses were now dead. This was the same imagery of Christ with King Herod. When Herod died, Jesus (and His family) could leave Egypt and go back to Israel. The threat was gone. God wanted Moses to pursue what God called him to do, and that was to deliver God’s people. Walking out your calling is pretty special. Moses spent 40 years learning all of these things, and now God told him to go. God told Moses: “When you go back to Egypt, make sure you do all the wonders before Pharaoh that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he won’t let the people go.” Even as Moses started his journey to Egypt, God told Moses it wasn’t going to work.

Exodus 4:22–26: God told Moses to say to Pharaoh, “Israel is My firstborn son.” Now we’re talking about a people group, not just Jacob. Israel was God’s chosen people. In Jeremiah 31:9, God said, “I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.” In Hosea 11:1, God called Israel, “My son.” God said He would kill Pharaoh’s firstborn son because Pharaoh would refuse to let God’s firstborn, Israel, leave Egypt! The promise to kill the firstborn was a big deal. As Moses and his family began the journey from Midian to Egypt, the Lord confronted Moses and “sought to put him to death.” Moses had neglected to circumcise one of his sons, probably his second son Eliezer. Genesis 17:1–11 specified that circumcision was the sign of God’s covenant with them. Zipporah was the one who saved the day. Biblical scholar, Cassuto, said Zipporah removed God’s judgment from Moses and her family by righting Moses’ disobedience. His wife Zipporah knew the covenant. She saved the Deliverer.⁷First Timothy 3:4–5 indicates that when God uses someone publicly, they have to be obedient at home as well! If Moses didn’t clean up his family, he would not be adequate to lead God’s people. If you don’t manage your household, I believe God withholds the calling on your life.

Exodus 4:27–31: Greeting each other with a kiss was a normal custom of the time. Romans 16:16 included the instruction to “greet one another with a holy kiss.” Moses met up with Aaron and told him everything God had sent him to say and showed Him the signs God had commanded him to do. The brothers went together to speak with the elders of the Israelites. Aaron repeated everything Moses was told and performed the signs for the people as well. When you don’t feel as though you’re adequate to do the Lord’s work, He’ll find someone else. If the Lord is calling us to do something, let’s be the ones to walk it out. The Israelites believed, and they bowed down and worshipped God. Belief will always lead to bowing down and worshipping the Lord.

CLOSING

In Exodus 5, the elders believed, and they approached Pharaoh and began to walk this out. Wiersbe listed three questions that summarize Exodus 5: (1) Pharaoh: Why should I obey the Lord?—Exodus 5:2; (2) Pharaoh: Why should your people stop working?—Exodus 5:4,14; and (3) Moses: God, why did You send me?—Exodus 5:22–23.⁸

Tomorrow we get the opportunity to dig into Exodus 6. I’m excited about unfolding how Moses, as deliverer, points to the Deliverer, Yeshua.