seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Exodus 4:1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
Here's the link to the commentary I use.That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers… has appeared to you: This miracle would make the children of Israel realize that the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob was with them and that the God of the covenant had not forsaken them.
Makes the mute, the deaf… the blind: Some think this is cruel of God. Nevertheless, the point here was not to analyze the origin of evil, but to show that God is so mighty that He can even call the mute, deaf, and blind to do His work. Moses’ perceived inadequacies didn’t matter at all.
I know that he can speak well: Aaron was a smooth talker, but a man weak on content. Moses had to put the words of God into the mouth of Aaron (you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth). In this sense Aaron was like a modern-day news reader, who does nothing but read what others have written for him.
Check out verse 3. Moses threw his staff on the ground and it turned into a snake. The snake was so lifelike, Moses ran from it. Giggling at Moses is a good way to start the day! Can't you see him hiking his cloak and skittering away? Can't you see the serious terror in his eyes?
When God told Moses to reach out and grab the snake by the tail, I bet Moses kind of snuck up on it. I bet when it turned back into a staff, Moses put his hand to his head and said "phew".
Moses would also be able to scare everyone with leprosy. That must have freaked him out too. I bet he was thrilled to get his normal skin back.
Pouring Nile water on the ground and watching it turn to blood. Well, that's just a head scratcher. How did that happen? When I googled "what caused the Nile water to turn to blood?", google replied "Red Algae". So, was the algae left on the surface while the clear water was strained in the sand? I don't find a plausible explanation... other than God is God and God turned the water into blood to show Moses.
Moses wasn't good at being in front of the crowd. Moses is reported to be tongue tied. Moses stuttered.
Aaron, Moses' brother, on the other hand, was a smooth talker. No, he wasn't sleezy. Aaron was eloquent. He would have made a great reporter, according to the commentary.
Here's a question.... Why didn't God just heal Moses' stutter?
Would the people have believed Moses if he didn't stutter? Would the people believe Moses if he were healed of his stutter?
What if they didn't believe Moses?
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