Episode 351 - "God gives three signs to Moses" - Exodus 4:1-9
Ex. 4:1 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you.’” 2 The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the LORD said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 “that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6 Again, the LORD said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. 7 Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 9 If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”
So far, Moses has had some reasonable questions for the LORD. “Who am I? What should I tell the people when they ask your name? Now, after the LORD addresses these questions, Moses thinks he can educate the LORD. He predicts that the Israelites will not believe the LORD appeared to him. I must admit that I’d probably say the same thing. If I were to go to the people in my church and tell them that the LORD appeared to me and gave me a message, I would expect them to question it or even deny it outright. In fact, I think I’d be worried if they didn’t.
There have been countless people through the generations who have made outlandish claims to have some special authority and identity with God and end up leading others into some disastrous ruin. One should not accept such claims at face value. Later in the New Testament, Jesus will tell his antagonists to consider the witnesses to his identity. There was John the Baptist’s testimony, the Scriptures, and the works (signs) that he was performing. They all testified of his identity as the Son of man and the Christ. He told them that if his only evidence was his own claims, they should not believe him. So, Moses’ concern has merit.
In response, it was the LORD’s turn to ask Moses a question. “What is that in your hand?” Clearly, the LORD was not ignorant about the staff. The question prompts Moses to stop and consider the instrument he likely used every day for forty years as a shepherd. “It’s a staff,” he responded. Imagine the surprise when he threw it down according to the LORD’s command, and it became a serpent. The LORD was teaching Moses that His mighty power would be ever-present with him. He wouldn’t have to convince people to return to this mountain of the LORD and lead them to the burning bush. God would be with Moses and demonstrate his power and presence throughout the entire journey. The LORD had Moses put his hand inside his cloak and withdraw it. It came out with some obvious skin disease. When instructed to do it again, it came out completely healed. The LORD had demonstrated with two miracles that not only could he perform a sign that would cause anxiety and terror for people, but he could also completely resolve the problem. Without needing to demonstrate it, the LORD informed Moses that if the people still needed a sign, he could draw water from the Nile, pour it on the ground, and it would turn to blood. This information foretells what would soon come in the story.
What might we glean from this section of the Exodus story? First, God has significant power. He has the power to transform an inanimate object into an animate one and then completely reverse the change. He has the power to bring disease upon humanity, and he has the power to heal completely. He proved this without any help from Moses. In other words, he doesn’t need Moses to do his work. Yet he chose Moses as his human agent to the Israelites and Egyptians alike. Indirectly, he chose Moses as his agent to the world, since we are reading Moses’ story. Finally, the LORD may not (and likely won’t) appear to us in a burning bush. Yet, without asserting ourselves as superior to others, we can and should be willing to act as agents of the LORD, taking God’s message to others and sharing the good news of the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life through Jesus.