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.