My Summary
Moses said, "What if they don't believe me?" God told him to throw his staff on the ground and it turned into a snake. God had Moses grab the snake and it turned back into a staff. God said that would be a sign that it really was God who had sent Moses. Then God made Moses' hand leprous, and then God made it whole again. God said if they didn't believe the first sign to show them the second. God also told him if they did not believe either sign Moses could turn water from the Nile into blood. Moses protested that he was not an eloquent speaker. God reminded Moses that it is He who gives me the ability to speak or not speak and He would tell Moses what to say. Moses asked for God to send someone else, but God became angry with Moses. He told Moses that Aaron the Levite, Moses' brother, could speak for Moses. God would tell Moses what to say and Moses would tell Aaron what to say. Moses got permission from Jethro and started back for Egypt with the Lord's promise that those who wanted to kill him were dead. God tells Moses to perform the signs for Pharaoh and to tell Pharaoh to let the Hebrew go since they are God's children. However, God will harden Pharaoh's heart and Pharaoh will not listen, so God will kill Pharaoh's firstborn. On the way God was going to kill Moses, but Moses' wife circumcised Moses' son and God was appeased. Moses met Aaron and together they met with the elders of Israel. They showed them the signs, the elders believed and fell down and worshiped.
Random Historical Things
1. It is interesting that the signs given to Moses by God all were similar to things that the Egyptian magicians were renowned for. Even the idea of the staff being important is from Egyptian culture. The Egyptians would have seen the staff as a symbol of leadership and the signs as directly attacking their gods.
2. The word for leprousy used here can be used for many different types of skin dieseases including the one we would think of as leprousy.
And So What We Have Learned Applies to Our Lives Today...
1. What are we to think about Moses arguing with God over whether or not to go to Egypt? Theologians differ in opinion over whether Moses was just doubtful about his abilities, or was being directly disobedient to God. We can see for sure, however, that God was very patient with Moses, answering his questions and assuring his doubts. Even when God got angry at Moses for continuing to question, He still provided Aaron to serve as Moses' speaker. When God calls us to something we should always obey Him right away. However, we are weak and do not always immediately obey God. He will provide the help and abilities that we need, however, if we will only trust Him and follow!
2. It is a most interesting diversion from the line of thought in the chapter when we learn that God almost killed Moses (or Moses son? There is an indefinite article leaving it up to us to decide who that is) on the way to Egypt. Apparently, Moses had not circumcised his son as God has commanded all of Israel's descendants to do. The ironic thing is that Moses was on his way to tell Pharaoh that God was going to punish Pharaoh for not following God's commands. Yet Moses was living in a constant state of obvious disobedience to God. We see Moses' wife as the hero here, taking the initiative to circumcise Moses' son and satisfy God. When we are looking outward at sin, we must always be sure we have faced the sin within. We must never be guilty of charging others to obey God in an area where we are blatantly disobeying Him. Check the speck before you reach for the plank!
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