Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 4:17

17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.

The last instruction from God in the burning bush was that Moses should take the rod that had been temporarily turned into a snake, and with it he would continue to do the miracles that were required of him. This rod thus became the first spiritual artifact that we hear of in the Bible, eventually being joined by Aaron’s rod, the stone tablets, and the ark of the covenant. Interestingly, while the Israelites would go on to worship all manner of idols and graven images, we never hear of them adulterating these actual sacred artifacts in that way. Perhaps this is because it is easy to be profane with the idea of sacred things, but we are humbled when actually in the presence of them.

I also want to note that this staff had been Moses’s basic tool as a shepherd. It had been his instrument for doing his earthly work, and now it would be his instrument for doing God’s heavenly work. There is a lesson here about God being able to take our natural talents and resources and sanctifying them for a holier purpose. The ordinary can be made extraordinary by God.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 4:16

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.

This verse gives one of the clearest examples of divine investiture and delegation. I’ll work through it backwards. Moses was told that he is to be to Aaron in the place of God. This wasn’t to say that Moses was God. This wasn’t even to say that he would be infallible, we know that he still made mistakes, such as when he struck the rock at Horeb. But from now on, God was going to speak to Aaron through Moses, so if Aaron wanted to have a full relationship with God, he was going to have to heed Moses.

The role that Moses was being called to fill was both old and new. Long before Moses there had been the patriarchs who stood as representatives of God to their sons. Now, though, the Israelites were a multitude of separate family units. They could not literally all have the same father, but they still needed a divine father figure. Moses is the first person we hear of that was chosen to fill this position. He was called to be a presiding prophet. Yes, every Israelite was still going to be commanded to seek the Lord on a personal basis, but that relationship was going to be cultivated, in large part, by following the directions of Moses.

And this is perfectly appropriate. Obviously, God is entitled to set whatever terms He chooses for how we will receive His light, and for the Israelites He had decided that a significant portion of that light would be channeled through Moses.

But just as God was going to be represented in the figure of Moses, parts of Moses would be represented in others. God would direct Moses in what to do and say, and Moses would delegate that “saying” part to Aaron. This idea would be further expanded on when Moses, at the suggestion of Jethro, delegated the judging of the multitude to a hierarchy of worthy men.

So, taking these two principles as a whole, the presiding prophet was specially selected to represent God by directing the affairs of the covenant people. That prophet was able to spread that responsibility out to others, and thus an entire body of people could become responsible for executing the will of God on the Earth. This was a new system of society and government, a gift of structure and procedure from God. Presumably we had not heard of this system previously among the Abrahamic nation because they had not yet been large enough to require it. Now that the system had been introduced, though, it would persist throughout much of the Biblical record.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 4:13-15

13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.

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.

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.

I am trying to understand what Moses meant by saying “O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send,” and why God apparently had such an angry response to it. Moses’s statement seems to be him finally showing compliance to the Lord’s command, so why is the Lord now upset?

I can see three possible explanations for this. First, one might argue that the Lord was already angry at Moses for his prior reluctance, and was simply now showing that anger all at once. Sometimes when someone finally relents we feel exasperated at how hard we had to push to get them to see reason. It could be that this was God’s reaction, though to me that seems petty.

A more likely possibility, in my mind, would be that Moses was consenting to God’s plan, but in a grumbling way. We are told what he said, but not what sort of tone he spoke with. It might be that he was essentially saying “well, if I have to, okay then.” In this instance it would make sense for God to upbraid Moses for being bitter even in his compliance.

And a third option could be that Moses wasn’t actually complying. He might have been adjuring God to send someone else, someone more fitting than Moses. In this case, then God’s anger would simply be due to Moses’s near-refusal to do as he was commanded.

I’m not sure which of these three interpretations is accurate, or if any of them even are. In any case, one way or another Moses had incurred the anger of God, but even while chastising Moses the Lord show graciousness. He gives Aaron as a companion and a spokesperson for Moses, someone to share this incredible burden. What’s more, God reveals that Aaron is already on his way to Moses. God had already been setting in motion the special help that Moses needed. Yes, God was frustrated at Moses faithlessness, but He had also accounted for it in advance.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 4:10-12

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.

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?

12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

Thus far Moses had blamed external factors for his hesitancy, insisting that the people wouldn’t believe him, that they would require proof of his divine commission, that they would require Moses to tell them the name of the Lord. God had addressed each of these concerns, but now Moses moved to another excuse. This one was at least more honest in that it was directed at Moses’s inner adequacy, rather than trying to put the blame on others. Moses claimed he was not eloquent of speech. Some have wondered if this means he had a speech impediment, but that is merely conjecture. Perhaps he did, or perhaps he simply struggled to find the right way to say things.

In either case, God delivered a resounding rebuke to Moses. Who made man’s mouth?! Who made the dumb? The deaf? The seeing? The blind? God made Moses to begin with, so if there ware any difficulties of speech lingering in him, God could remake him without those flaws.

Also, Moses was missing the point. Moses was seeing himself as the one who had to come up with a convincing enough argument to get the Israelites to follow him, and a compelling enough demand to get Pharaoh to let the people go. But God’s plan never was for Moses to do this by his own power or intelligence. Moses was correct that he would be totally inadequate to do this on his own, but Moses wasn’t supposed to do this one his own. Moses wasn’t to speak his own words; he was to speak God’s words. Moses wasn’t to be the leader; he was just to be the spokesperson. God explained all of this in verse 12. “I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” All Moses had to do was present himself and act as directed!

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 4:8-9

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.

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.

After turning the staff into a serpent, the healthy hand leprous, and then changing them back, God tells Moses how to perform another miracle. This one is different from the other two, though. For one thing, God does not actually rehearse this one with Moses, telling him only to do it in the land of Egypt. For another, while there is still a transformation of something pure into something unnerving, there is no return transformation back to the original.

It seems to me that Moses didn’t act out this last wonder by himself because its message was directed specifically to the people of Israel and Egypt. It was not intended to test him personally as the first two miracles had been.

So, what was the special message that it conveyed to the people in Egypt? It seems clear to me that it was a reminder of evil done and a promise for retribution. Recall the former Pharaoh’s instructions that “every son that is born [of the Israelites] ye shall cast into the river.” Now Moses was to go to that same river, draw from it, and pour blood upon the land. It was the blood of the innocent, the blood of the infant sons killed by Pharaoh’s decree. God had not been blind to this horrific injustice. He had collected the full measure of blood, and now He would pour the same upon the people of Egypt. As it would be written, “vengeance is mine, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19). This is why this sign would not only be shown to the assembly of Israelites, but also to Pharaoh himself. Both the ruler and the Israelites needed to understand that God remembered what was done, and He had come to repay!

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 4:6-7

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.

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.

God had tested Moses’s faith by asking him to grab the tail of a poisonous viper, and then miraculously turned it back into a rod. Next, the Lord caused Moses’s hand to turn leprous and then made it whole again. In the first test God had caused Moses to face a danger outside of his body, but in this second test it was a danger inside of his body. The message to Moses—and to all of us—is clear: God has complete control over life, both to destroy it and to save it. Moses had been hesitant to go to the Israelites because he was afraid they wouldn’t believe his message, and God was making a point to Moses of how his fear was misplaced. Moses needed to fear God, not man, and Moses also needed to trust God, not man. God was wrenching Moses off of his dependence on the mortal world, calling him to surrender to the Almighty.

Many of us proclaim that God is all-powerful, but we don’t often live like that is true. We have our faith, but we also have our uncertainty. People that believed in God’s presence and omnipotence all the way to their core would live a life that is totally fearless and focused. All hesitation and all distraction would fall away because they would know that none of that other stuff really matters.

It is also worth noting that these two miracles show a certain sequence. Each began with something that was whole and right, a shepherd’s staff and a healthy hand, then the whole and right thing was corrupted, becoming a snake and turning leprous, and finally the corruption was overcome and returned to its original, whole state. These are allegories for Moses’s pure attempt to help the Israelites, his failure and departure to Midian, and this new call from the Lord to try again. These are also allegories for the Israelite people living freely and abundantly under Joseph, then being enslaved and oppressed by the Egyptians, and their eventual deliverance to freedom. And these are also allegories for mankind existing pure and perfect in the garden of Eden, then falling from grace and entering a fallen world, and then being redeemed by the atonement of Jesus Christ. These isolated miracles were types and shadows of the man, the nation, and the world!

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 4:2-5

2 And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine 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 serpent; and Moses fled from before it.

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:

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.

Moses had just expressed doubt in the God’s plan, arguing that the Israelites would not believe that Moses was actually sent by the Lord. God immediately illustrated how easily He could and would provide evidence to overcome any skepticism, and thus invalidated Moses’s argument. The people would be convinced, there was no need to worry about that.

Of course, Moses’s hesitancy before and after these verses suggest that his real concern had very little to do with what the other Israelites would think. The longer this conversation goes on, the more apparent it becomes that the person he actually has doubt in is his own self. Thus, God’s little exercise with the staff and the snake was very shrewd, accomplishing multiple things at the same time. First, God provided a solution to Moses’s stated concern. Second, by dismantling Moses’s arguments, He was pushing Moses to be honest about what his real fears were. Third, He was testing Moses in a way that would shore up Moses’s real fears.

How did God test Moses? Well, we know that He turned the rod into a snake that Moses was deathly afraid of because Moses fled from it, and then He commanded Moses to grab hold of it! In fact, God specifically instructed Moses to grab it by the tail, which would leave the snake enough flexibility to turn and bite him! Thus, God made Moses face his fears by having him do something that could go very badly unless God came through for him. Moses did exercise his faith, and God did exercise His power, and the crisis was averted. This likely reinforced Moses’s hope and faith that together they could succeed.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 4:1

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.

God had just given explicit detail for how Moses would succeed in his calling and lead the Israelites to their freedom. Even temporary snags, like Pharaoh’s initial refusal to release the people were foretold of and accounted for.

And yet, Moses still doubted. In spite of what God had proclaimed would happen, Moses was frozen by what could happen. Notice the certainty that Moses spoke with. He didn’t say that the Israelites “might not” hearken to his voice, he said that they “will not.” Here we see an example of how fear is the opposite of faith. Whereas faith is confidence in an unrealized good thing, fear is anticipation of an unrealized bad thing. And while we “hope” in faith, all too often we are “certain” of our fears.

Moses was cynical and pessimistic. Perhaps this was because he had already tried to help the Israelites and it had ended in failure, or perhaps God’s promises were simply too lofty for him to accept. In either case, he tried to smother the miracle before it even happened, unwilling or unable to believe in God’s assurances. Fortunately for Moses—and for the Israelites!—God wasn’t going to give up on him that easily.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Answers Take Preparation

God often has to prepare the answers to our prayers. Outside of our view people are being moved, opportunities are being orchestrated, hearts are being readied, and all of this takes time and effort. We only recognize the work when God presents the gift to us, finished and whole.

Just because you haven’t received your desire yet does not mean that you have been forgotten, or that God has answered with a “no.” Like the Israelites in Egypt, God might very well be working out your deliverance over time.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Thought for the Day: Inevitable Disappointment

An argument that is made for giving in to our hedonistic desires is that it is cruel to perpetually deny and disappoint ourselves. But really, disappointment is a given. For on the one hand we want one thing, but on the other hand we want its opposite.

We want to get away with telling lies, but we also want to be understood as we truly are. We want to lust, but we also want to have mastery over self. We want to treat ourselves as the center of the universe, but we also want to be part of something that bigger than ourselves. We want to be lazy, but we also want to be there when others need us.

Disappointment, frustration, self-denial…one way or another all of these are inevitable. And so long as one side of us has to be disappointed, why not make it be the carnal, selfish, and dishonest side?