Exodus 4:1-31

Exodus: Israel becomes a nation

The *Israelites leave Egypt

Exodus Chapter s 1 to 18

Hilda Bright and Kitty Pride

Chapter 4

The *LORD gives great power to Moses – verses 1-9

God shows his power to Moses in three ways:

1. The snake – verses 1-5

v1 Moses answered the *LORD. ‘Suppose that the *Israelites do not believe me?’ Moses asked. ‘Suppose that they do not listen to me? They may say to me, “The *LORD did not appear to you”.

v2 ‘What is that in your hand?’ the *LORD asked him.

‘A stick’, Moses replied.

v3 ‘Throw it on the ground’, the *LORD told him.

So Moses threw the stick on the ground. Immediately it became a snake and Moses ran away from it.

v4 Then the *LORD spoke again. He said, ‘Reach out your hand and hold its tail’.

So Moses reached out and grasped the snake’. It became a stick again in his hand.

v5 The *LORD said, ‘This *sign will cause the people to believe you. They will believe that I have appeared to you. I am the God of their dead relatives. I am Abraham’s God and Isaac’s God and Jacob’s God.’

Verses 1-4 Perhaps Moses remembered how a *Hebrew man had refused to accept him as ‘a ruler and a judge’ (Exodus 2:14). People use special sticks when they work with sheep. And Moses used a stick like that when he was caring for his sheep. So it may have been that special stick. Or the stick may have been a long wooden pole that showed a person’s authority.

*Pharaoh had a metal snake, called a cobra, on the front of his crown. It seemed ready to attack. It was a *sign that the king had power against his enemies. Also it showed that *Pharaoh was like a false god with great power. Moses’ stick became a snake and he ran away from the snake. He ran away in the same manner that he had run away from *Pharaoh in the past. It was dangerous to hold the snake’s tail. It could turn round and bite Moses. But Moses obeyed God and the snake became a stick again. It would be dangerous to oppose *Pharaoh’s power. God was showing him that God’s power is much greater than *Pharaoh’s power.

Verse 5 That would be a *sign to the *Israelites that Moses could defeat *Pharaoh. Those acts or ‘*signs’ were powerful. So the *Israelites would believe that the God of their dead relatives had appeared to Moses.

2. The hand with the terrible disease in the skin – verses 6-7

v6 Then the *LORD spoke to Moses again. ‘Put your hand inside your coat’, God said. So Moses put his hand inside his coat. When he brought out his hand, it had become white like snow. It had a terrible disease in the skin.

v7 ‘Now put your hand inside your coat again’, God said. So Moses put his hand inside his coat again. And when he looked at it, the hand was healthy again. It was like the rest of his skin.

Verses 6-7 The *Israelites thought that a sudden disease in the skin was the patient’s fault. It meant that God was angry. But with that powerful act, God showed Moses and the *Israelites that he could send disease. He could also cure disease.

3. The River Nile – verses 8-9

v8 And the *LORD spoke to Moses again. ‘Suppose that the people do not believe you. They may not believe the first wonderful *sign, but then they might believe the second *sign. v9 But suppose that they do not believe either *sign. Suppose that they refuse to listen to you. Then take some water from the River Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water that you take from the river will become blood on the ground.’

Verses 8-9 The *Egyptians thought that the River Nile was a god. The annual flood from it provided excellent soil, which gave very good harvests. There was also a plentiful supply of fish in the river. That *sign showed the power of the *Israelites’ God. He had power over the *Egyptians’ false god of the river.

Moses’ last excuse – verses 10-12

v10 Then Moses replied to the *LORD. ‘My *Lord, I have never been an impressive speaker. I was not a good speaker before you spoke to me. And I am still the same now. I speak very slowly, and it is difficult for me to say the right words.’

v11 So the *LORD asked him. ‘Who gave to people their mouths? Who makes them deaf or makes them dumb? Who gives to them sight or makes them blind? I do these things. It is I, the *LORD. v12 Now go. I will help you to speak. I will teach you what to say.’

Verse 10 Moses used the word ‘Adonai’, which means ‘my *Lord’. He spoke as a servant would speak to his master. He said that it was difficult for him. He could not say the right words. He had always had that difficulty. And he had not improved since God began to speak to him. Almost he seems to suggest that it was God’s fault.

Verses 11-12 God did not say that Moses had given an excuse. God made everybody and he reminded Moses about that. ‘Deaf and dumb’, ‘sight and blind’ are the *Hebrew way to include everyone. Moses had spoken to God as his master, so he must obey God. And God had given to Moses a mouth to speak on his behalf. So God would help Moses to speak. He would teach Moses what to say.

Aaron’s help – verses 13-17

v13 But still Moses argued. ‘My *Lord, please send someone else to do it’, he said.

v14 Then the *LORD became very angry with Moses. God said, ‘There is your brother, Aaron the *Levite. I know that he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you. He will be glad when he sees you. v15 You must speak to him and tell him what to say. I will help both of you so that you can speak. And I will teach you what to do. v16 Aaron will speak to the people on your behalf. He will be like your mouth. And you will be like God to him. v17 But take the wooden stick in your hand. You will do wonderful *signs with it.’

Verse 13 Moses had no more excuses. Actually, he did not refuse to obey God. But he asked God to choose someone else.

Verses 14-16 God was angry because Moses did not trust him. Moses wanted less risk and less responsibility. So God promised that Moses’ brother, Aaron, would help him. Aaron became the chief priest. Like Aaron, all the priests came from the family called Levi. God promised to be with both Moses and Aaron. Aaron would receive God’s messages from Moses. Then Aaron would speak to the people and he would give God’s message to them.

Moses returns to Egypt – verses 18-23

v18 Then Moses went back to his wife’s father, Jethro. Moses said to him, ‘Let me go back to my own people in Egypt. I want to see if any of them are alive still.’

‘Go! And I hope that everything goes well for you’, Jethro replied.

v19 The *LORD had spoken to Moses in the country called Midian. ‘Go back to Egypt’, God told him. ‘All the men who wanted to kill you are dead.’ v20 So Moses took his wife and his sons with him. He put them on a *donkey so that they rode. Then they started to go to Egypt. And Moses took God’s wooden stick in his hand.

v21 The *LORD spoke to Moses again. ‘When you arrive in Egypt, go to *Pharaoh. In front of him, do all the wonderful *signs that I tell you. I have given to you the power to do these wonderful things. But I will let him be unwilling to listen to you. He will not let my people go.

v22 Then you must give to *Pharaoh this message from me. “The *LORD says this to you: The nation called *Israel is like my oldest son. v23 Let my son go, I told you. I want him to *worship me. But you refused. You would not let *Israel go. So now, I will kill your oldest son.” That is what you must tell *Pharaoh’.

Verse 18 Moses went home to Jethro, the head of the family. Moses made a polite request. Jethro should allow Moses to return to Egypt. Moses did not tell everything to Jethro. Jethro’s daughter and his grandsons were going to Egypt with Moses. So Jethro might have worried about them.

Verse 20 Moses had two sons. Exodus 2:22 names Moses’ first son as Gershom. But the name of his second son, Eliezer, does not appear until Exodus 18:4. ‘Eliezer’ means ‘God is my help’.

A *donkey is an animal that works. It is like a horse, but it is smaller. *Donkeys are useful to carry both people and goods. Moses carried God’s wooden stick. God would do wonderful things with that stick in Moses’ hand.

Verse 21 God is the Judge of everything on the earth. He is always fair (Genesis 18:25). God let *Pharaoh be unwilling to listen to Moses and Aaron. But that was only one side of what happened. God’s power and human responsibility are both true. Someone may refuse to do what he should do. He may continue to refuse. Then it becomes more and more difficult for him to change his attitude. The *Hebrew texts say that he makes his own ‘heart hard’. That means that he became unable to change.

Verse 22 The oldest son was special in a family. So God was saying that the *Israelites were his special people. Jeremiah speaks about *Israel as God’s oldest son (Jeremiah 31:9). God had chosen the nation called *Israel. Those people would be the first nation to know God as ‘father’. And Hosea said that God would call his ‘son’ out from Egypt (Hosea 11:1).

God sent a series of terrible events to Egypt. Those events happened to persuade their ruler, *Pharaoh. He must let the *Israelites go. The last of these terrible events would be the death of *Pharaoh’s oldest son (Exodus 11:5; Exodus 12:12). *‘Israel’ includes all the people who were *Israelites. So ‘your oldest son’ probably included the oldest sons of all the *Egyptians.

Zipporah and *circumcision – verses 24-26

v24 On the way to Egypt, Moses stopped to camp for the night. The *LORD met Moses there and he was going to kill Moses. v25 But Zipporah took a hard, sharp stone to use as a knife. She *circumcised her son with it. Then she touched his feet with the skin she had cut off. ‘You are my husband, and I must cause my son to bleed’, she said. v26 So the *LORD did not kill Moses. (Zipporah was talking about the *circumcision when she said this. ‘You are my husband, and I must cause my son to bleed’.)

Verse 24-25 On their way, perhaps Moses became very ill. Zipporah thought that Moses had not obeyed God. To ‘*circumcise’ means to cut off the piece of skin at the end of the male sex part. The *Israelites *circumcised all the baby boys. It was the *sign that they believed God’s special promise to his people (Genesis 17:10). And it was the father’s duty to *circumcise his son. But Moses had not done that for his son. So his wife, Zipporah, *circumcised their son. She used a sharp stone as a knife. Verse 25 says that Zipporah touched ‘his feet with the skin’. But that does not tell us whether she touched her son’s feet or her husband’s feet. If she touched her husband’s feet, probably she was including him in her act. She had marked her son. So now he was part of God’s special people.

Verse 26 Moses did not die. It is difficult to know what Zipporah meant. ‘You are my husband, and I must cause my son to bleed’, she said. There are two different explanations:

• She was blaming her husband that she must cause her son to bleed. Perhaps she hated the custom of *circumcision. Perhaps that was why Moses had not done the custom earlier.

• She believed that God had given back her husband to her. God did not kill Moses or let him die. So perhaps she had *circumcised their son as a prayer to God. And he had answered her.

The meeting with Aaron and the leaders – verses 27-31

v27 The *LORD spoke to Aaron. ‘Go into the *desert to meet Moses’. So Aaron went into the *desert and he met Moses at God’s mountain. Aaron greeted him with a kiss. v28 Then Moses told Aaron everything that the *LORD had said to him. God had sent him to speak to *Pharaoh. Also Moses told Aaron about all the wonderful *signs. And Moses said that God had given him the power to do these *signs.

v29 Moses and Aaron called together all the leaders of the *Israelites. v30 Aaron told them everything that the *LORD had said to Moses. And Moses did the wonderful *signs in front of the people. v31 Then they believed. They understood that the *LORD cared about them. He had seen all their difficulties. So they bent over and they *worshipped God.

Verses 27-28 Aaron listened to God and he obeyed God. Aaron had not seen Moses for many years, but Aaron believed God. So he went to meet his brother, Moses.

Verses 29-30 The *Israelite leaders organised the people. So the leaders were the first men to hear Moses’ message. Aaron acted as Moses’ speaker, exactly as God had promised. Then Moses did the *signs from God. So the people accepted the message. Later when troubles began, they were not so willing to believe. To ‘bend over’ means that they gave honour to God.

Jesus told a story about different people who accepted his message. The *Israelites were like the shallow soil in that story. The roots could not grow properly from the seed (Mark 4:16-17).

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has been here always.

Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the Hebrew word ‘Adonai’, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

Hebrew ~ the language that the Israelites spoke. A Hebrew is a Jewish person or an Israelite

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to the Jews.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
sign ~ a signal; a mark to show that something is special; a powerful act.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Israelites spoke. A Hebrew is a Jewish person or an Israelite

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to the Jews.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
Pharaoh ~ the Egyptian ruler or king.

Egyptian ~ someone from the country called Egypt; anything with a relationship with Egypt.
Egyptian ~ someone from the country called Egypt; anything with a relationship with Egypt.
LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has been here always.

Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the Hebrew word ‘Adonai’, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

Hebrew ~ the language that the Israelites spoke. A Hebrew is a Jewish person or an Israelite

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to the Jews.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
Levite ~ someone who belonged to the family called Levi. Levi was a son of Jacob. Levites had special duties connected to worship. All Israelite priests were Levites.

worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a gift to God.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
donkey ~ an animal that is like a horse with long ears. People use donkeys as animals to do work. They can carry people or loads. And they can pull carts or ploughs.
Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.
worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a gift to God.
donkey ~ an animal that is like a horse with long ears. People use donkeys as animals to do work. They can carry people or loads. And they can pull carts or ploughs.
circumcision ~ the act of circumcising a person.
circumcise ~ to cut off the piece of skin at the end of the male sex part. This marks Jewish boys and reminds the Jews about God’s special promise to them.

Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
desert ~ a wild place where there are small bushes and not much water. It has poor soil and people cannot grow crops there. So, not many people live there.