1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
We are going to find that Moses has self-esteem issues. This, of course, makes him more relatable, because we all share issues in this area, especially when we want to present qualifications of our Godly work. But God is with Moses (Exodus 3:12). Moses is simply wondering “Why Me?”, as any of us would rightly ask in this situation. But what Moses must learn is that isn’t just about him…it is about God sending him. Moses is concerned about how people will react to him. God is with him. He is not alone. Therefore, Moses must rely on God’s strength int he circumstance, not his own.
2 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. 3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 “This,” said the Lord, “is so 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.”
God performs a miracle for Moses using, what will become, his signature implement of God’s work (he will part the Red Sea with his staff, he will also strike a rock that will pour out water). This miracle first scares Moses, but God brings him along to show him that he can trust God. Grabbing a live snake is dangerous, especially one found in the desert. But Moses does it, and God shows him that he can be trusted. The trust for Moses is him reaching out, and when God turns it back into a staff, it is God’s way of showing Moses the fullness of the trust. This is the miracle that will bring Israel into believing that God is with them.
6 Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow. 7 “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. 8 Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”
There is significance in each of these signs. First, we have the rod changing to the serpent. This has to do with transformation. If Moses is to obey God, then his enemies will become powerless. The second, also having to do with transformation, has to do with Moses. If he is to obey God, God can restore and purify him. The third miracle (pouring the water on the dirt) has more to do with judgment. Pouring of water onto the dirt is symbolic of something pure becoming tainted; if something is tainted, can it be brought back to its pure form? When we see this later in the first plague of Egypt (Ex. 7:14), God’s judgment of Egypt (His proclamation for Egypt to turn back to God) begins the series of events (judgment) on the land that rejects Him. If the first two miracles can’t turn the hearts of the people, then perhaps judgment will.
10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
It is always easier to do nothing. In our life, many chances to change people and to grow closer to God are lost because we look at our faults and decide that it is impossible, whatever the task. Perhaps Moses is trying to wriggle out of this duty. But God has a plan, and Moses is part of it.
11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
God reminds Moses that He is the one who created a mouth, speech, dialect, intelligence. God is offering a moment for Moses to trust him, even though Moses’ self confidence tells him that he doesn’t posses the skills. If Moses had been a great orator, then perhaps the work he was to do could be claimed to be Moses’ work alone.
13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” 14 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”
Moses finally lays it on the table. He’s been beating around the bush of turning down this mission, and just comes out and asks God to send someone else. This lack of willingness is a trait many people have and use throughout their life to lack accountability. You’ll notice theses the first time God is angry with Moses. Why? Because this is just plain unwillingness.
God will call his brother Aaron to help. Now, as we will discover later on, Aaron may be a more eloquent speaker but there is something wrong with the content his character. We’ll see this most alarmingly in the worship of the Golden calf (Ex. 32:1-6), and also in challenging Moses’ leadership (Numbers 12:1-2). It is important to understand that Aaron was helping Moses by God’s direction. He wasn’t necessarily God’s spokesman. Moses is the one who will talk with God and he will tell Aaron what to say.
18 Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.” Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.” 19 Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.” 20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand. 21 The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’”
Moses dutifully returns to Egypt. All of those seeking justice have died and he is coming into a new Egypt, with new Pharaoh and officials. His directive is clear: he is to perform the wonders of God for the Egyptians in order to free the Hebrews. But God’s message is clear: he will harden the heart of the Pharaoh so that he will not listen. This is an important wrinkle. If you are Moses, you may say “then why even try?” But the point is this: even though Pharaoh will be in in opposition to Moses, Moses is to continue working on God’s behalf in Egypt, in faith.
24 At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. 25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it.[c] “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. 26 So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)
Apparently, Moses had not circumcised one of his son’s. This perhaps was a stumbling block into getting into Egypt, something Moses had to make right before continuing on. This is a mysterious event, one that doesn’t have a concrete conclusion. But if we go back up to verse 22, we see this: Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’ On the night of the Exodus, men ho were not circumcised were not allowed to eat from the sacrifice (Pesach). They would be left outside the sacrifice, outside the house- death (Ex. 12:22-23). For those who weren’t circumcised, it meant certain death, to be killed by God. This is also the first time in the Bible that blood is associated with circumcision. The blood saves from death.
Jumping ahead to the night of the final plague on Egypt (Exodus 11), we see that the blood of the sacrificial lamb, spread across the threshold of Israelites homes, is what saves them. The blood of the circumcision is like the blood of sacrifice; Moses had to sacrifice this one thing, which he had failed to do, in order to purify himself before God.
27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28 Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform. 29 Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, 30 and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, 31 and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
God told Moses that he would send Aaron to him, and he and Aaron meet in the desert. This is divine appointment, God working behind the scenes to exact his will, and the brothers meet for their mission. Moses would tell Aaron what God wanted to him to say and Aaron would eloquently say it. Then, the brothers go to the officials in Israel and show them the miracles. They understood that Moses was here for God’s purposes and worship, not Moses, but God.