Exodus 4:1-17 - Signs Validating God’s Messenger

Exodus 4:1-17

Miraculous Signs for Pharaoh

1 Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’”

2 So the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

He said, “A rod.”

3 And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out 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, has appeared to you.”

6 Furthermore the LORD said to him, “Now put your hand in your bosom.” And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow. 7 And He said, “Put your hand in your bosom again.” So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his other flesh. 8 “Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. 9 And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land.”

10 Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

11 So the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD? 12 Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”

13 But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”

14 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and He said: “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do. 16 So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God. 17 And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”

The LORD God gave several signs at Moses’ hands to validate him as a spokesman for Him that the Pharaoh and all other onlookers might see and acknowledge the word of the LORD delivered through him.  These things were also given to the apostles as recorded in Acts for us to see the gospel’s authenticity and validity that the words could be heard and written down for all who follow and need no further signs and wonders to prove they came from God Him, breathed out (2 Timothy 3:16) by Him and spoken authoritatively by them for all generations to follow.  Moses was given the visual signs of the rod that could be turned into a serpent and back again as well as his hand that could turn leprous and back to normal again.  These signs were not to entertain or prove the godliness of Moses, but were so that “they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”  How different from those trying to convince others today of their level of spirituality or greatness at the expense of the gospel message with a focus on pointing to knowing God and His Son (John 17:3) Jesus Christ and not the messenger!  As for Moses, if the signs proving the validity of God’s word to the Pharaoh were not sufficient to cause him to heed the words, God’s messenger was also told to then take water from the Nile and pour it onto land in the king’s sight to watch it turn to blood, water that then could not satisfy his thirst.  Moses knew he was not equal to the task; he did not boast in having powers or greatness gifts of working miracles, but admitted he was not smart enough or eloquent enough to speak God’s word to the Pharaoh as commanded.  God informed him that He had made him for His glory, including his mouth to be enabled to so speak, but Moses still resisted obedience and asked Him to pick someone else to speak His word.  The LORD was angry at the lack of faith, not the lack of ability, and pointed to Aaron who was approaching them and appointed him as the mouthpiece of the mouthpiece.  Moses would be the true mouthpiece of the LORD, but Aaron would mouth the words of God given to Moses eloquently to the hearers.  The LORD then sent the two of them on the mission with the rod of God as the instrument of implementation of the signs.  How we often see our lack of worthiness (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12) to speak the gospel, yet forget that it is the Lord who enables us by His Spirit (Romans 15:19, Galatians 3:5) to speak with His authority and power in our weakness and stumbling (1 Corinthians 2:3-4, 2 Corinthians 10:10) speech!  Signs and wonders are not required to prove His word as that has already been done and His word is cemented and attested as true to His messengers the apostles in its validity and power for all time as it is written for us in the completed word of God from Genesis to Revelation.  These words are a lesson for us today now that we have the full counsel of God in the completed scriptures as the source of all wisdom and godliness (2 Peter 1:3) to live by and bear witness to the gospel.