Moses eventually renounces his position as the son of Pharaoh. He gave up power and authority. This is analogous to the temptation of Christ in the wilderness when the enemy of your soul offered Him everything if He would bow down and worship him. Moses chooses to suffer with the people of God rather than enjoy sin for a little while. He valued God’s salvation over the riches of Egypt. All of this response was faith driven as Scripture tells us. God did remarkable things in the heart of Moses and there are many parallels with Christ.
God’s preparation of Moses teaches us things about our preparation for service to God as well. Moses spent years herding sheep so leading a group that is smelly and dumb was already on his resume and maybe because of that he wasn’t as eager to lead as he was when he was younger. Protesting isn’t a good thing but at least in Moses’ case it expressed a humility that had prepared him. Those who make wild claims about what they’ll do for God and forget that without God’s power they will not do good for God are bound for correction. That corner of the desert was good for Moses.
When Moses is before the burning bush, he asks God what he should say His name is when the Children of Israel ask (Exodus 4:13). This is when we learn one of the most wonderful but simple names of God. God tells him to say that “I am” sent him. The name has a weight of meaning that conveys I was, I am, and I always will be. It is such a comfort to know our God does not change and it faithful through all ages. Notice also that God began to act on behalf of the Israelites before they had a clue. They weren’t calling out in his name and Moses knew they would want to know who he was working for. The other great contrast here is that our God “is” while all other gods do not exist. He is eternally self existent. And when Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am” He was making a clear statement that He was God. The Jews didn’t miss it and picked up stones to kill Him.
Notice that God told Moses what was going to happen. God calls His shot in Exodus 3:16-22 but Moses doesn’t believe it. God says that “they will listen to your voice (3:18)” and Moses says “they will not believe me or listen to my voice”. We shouldn’t argue with God. I know I’ve done it and God is merciful to me; but even I probably wouldn’t directly contradict Him. I’d at least rephrase it. However, when you find yourself disagreeing with God (as He has been pleased to reveal Himself in Scripture) then please do the smart thing and admit you’re wrong. However, here is an encouragement to serving God. Moses wasn’t smart enough to avoid directly contradicting God and yet God used him and didn’t toast him where he was standing. God will use you as He pleases and you don’t have to be perfect before it will happen. Just repent when you make mistakes. If God ever decides to only use people who didn’t make mistakes then we could all just quit and go home now.
The Rod that Turns into a Snake
God gave Moses signs to show to the Israelites. First He gave Moses the sign of his rod that became a stake. Moses was taught a practical lesson. His rod or staff was his support. It helped him walk. When he was tired he leaned on it. So it was a picture of God’s Grace that when cast away reveals the danger we’re in from the enemy of our souls. So Moses was taught that the staff, as a picture of God’s Grace was something to lean on constantly.
The other aspect is the picture of rule and authority. The Lord has said that the day will come when He will rule the nations with a rod of iron. So in the casting down we see delegation of rule and authority and the picture in particular of the corruption and evil in Egypt oppressing the Israelites. Moses, as God’s representative, had no problem taking it up again. The rod never slips from God’s hand and God never has trouble taking it up again. We can trust completely in God’s sovereignty over this world.
The Leprous Hand
The second sign was found when Moses put his hand inside his shirt and pulled it out and found it leprous. Secondly, he did it again and found it healed (Exodus 4:6-8). Leprosy was seen as a symbol of sin and is used in that way here. It was obviously a demonstration of God’s power to send and cure a disease that would then mean that He could save the Israelites from Egypt. Our hands are not fit to serve God apart from His Grace. We are sinners by nature and corrupt our work for God with sin. So if God says show me your hands then I know that in my flesh, there is sin and I’m not fit to serve Him. But the second time that Moses pulled his hand out and it was clean shows that God will use us by His Grace. He cleanses us and purifies our work and receives it by His Grace. We corrupt our work for God. We can acknowledge in our head that a good work is a work done at God’s direction, when He directs it, in the way He directs it, and with no thought but for His glory. However, in practice, we are veteran high fivers who think we need God to pin a gold star on every time we get lucky and do something halfway right. Oh well, it is humbling to see how easy our hearts depart from serving God in holiness but don’t forget the second picture of the hand that was healed and looked perfect. God will purify our works. Just repent when you sin and seek God with your whole heart by His Grace.
Nile Water to Blood
The Nile was life to Egypt. It was in a real way worshipped by the Egyptians. So for Moses to take water from the thing that brings them life and wealth and turn it into blood on dry land turns a blessing into a curse. Instead of life you get death.
So this is a solemn warning. If you reject God’s rule and authority, if you refuse healing from sin, then God warns that good things will become bad things in your life. Even the blessing of life isn’t a blessing anymore if you die without Christ.
So Moses was the first man ever formally called by God to service. God prepared him without any formal training but he had 40 years as a Prince of Egypt and 40 years as a shepherd in the desert. However, God’s Grace was the real preparation for service. God dealt personally with Moses. God still deals personally with us and uses Scripture to teach us His will. God enabled Moses by giving him what he needed for the task he was called to do. Moses’ response, which is often like our response, is that we aren’t suitable for the job. We actually raise an irrelevant objection and display more trust in just about anything than God’s ability to do His will.
Moses finally decides to obey God. But when he goes to do the decent thing and let his father-in-law know what he needed to do he just says he needs to go see his brothers.
God shows His foreknowledge in Exodus 4:21-23. God will use a wicked man according to his wicked nature and there is nothing he can do to effectively stop the plans of God. How would you surprise God? He knows for certain how Pharaoh will act but Pharaoh is making real decisions and God is not just predicting the future behavior of Pharaoh. God stands outside time and sees the end from the beginning. His knowledge is perfect and He knows not just all that will be (because He sees it) but also all that could be. We’ll talk more about God’s sovereignty as we work through Romans in a few weeks.
A few verses indicate the gravity of our roles as men in families in Exodus 4:24-26. Moses had not circumcised his son by Zipporah. There is some room for questioning if the one in danger of death was Moses or his son but since Zipporah is the one who finally circumcises her son it looks like the judgment fell on Moses. Zipporah wasn’t happy about but then Moses and his household was ready to move on into Egypt. It is not reasonable to think that this came as a surprise to either Moses or Zipporah. From the response of Zipporah it looks like it was a longstanding problem the just couldn’t last in the kind of work that the family was moving into. It is a real challenge to men to live godly lives and represent biblical principles in their family. The child involved was probably his firstborn named “Gershom” and Moses had obviously neglected his responsibilities. We have biblical responsibilities too and God expects us to be aware of those and to fulfill them. We no long have circumcision as a sign of our covenant relationship but scripture teaches us how to lead our children into a covenant relationship with God and just like Moses we shouldn’t neglect our family even for a ministry.
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