EXODUS LESSON 7


    We will begin this lesson in Exodus 4:1 "And Moses answered and said,
 But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: 
for they will say,The LORD hath not appeared unto thee."

    Here we see again, that feeling of inability on Moses' part to
carry out the task that God had called him to do.  He suddenly felt
panic that they would not believe him, even though God had already
promised him success and favor with Pharaoh.  In a way, Moses was
feeling sorry for himself.  He said they (the people) won't believe
him.  He was forgetting that God was with him.  This was total lack of
faith.

    Exodus 4:2 "And the LORD said unto him, What [is] that in thine
hand? And he said, A rod."

    Notice, here, that God uses whatever is at hand.  We are not told
for sure, whether this was a shepherd's staff, or whether this was a rod
the elderly use; we do know that it doesn't matter with God what it
is, He can use it.  Egyptians loathed shepherds, and a shepherd's
staff would have been an offense to them.  As I said, whatever this
piece of wood was, God would make use of it.  There was a staff that the
rich in Egypt used to signify they were upper class, but I doubt this
was what this was.

    Exodus 4:3 "And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on
the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it."

    This would be a frightening thing to happen.  The "He" that said
this was God, of course.  All of this was to build Moses' faith.
Probably, God used this particular sign, because the magicians of Egypt
would bring this very sign against Moses.  The difference being that
Moses' or God's serpent would swallow the Egyptian serpents.  This would
be a show that God's power was greater than Satan's power.

    Exodus 4:4 "And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand,
and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and
it became a rod in his hand:"

    The symbolism here, to me, is that believers who have faith in God,
and are obedient to God's commands, can truly take the serpent (devil)
by the tail, and subdue it.  Here, we see that God was showing Moses to
have no fear, God had given Moses power to overcome.  Moses overcame
the fear he felt in the last verse and, on instructions from God, had
picked up this serpent by the tail, and God had transformed it into a
rod. I believe God had chosen this sign to use, because the Egyptians
had such a fascination with snakes.  They had snakes carved on their
head gear.  Whether this meant the snake ruled over them, I do not
know. It seemed to indicate headship, because it was worn on the head.
This could be telling the world where the Egyptians' loyalty lay.

    Exodus 4:5 "That they may believe that the LORD God of their
fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
hath appeared unto thee."

    Here, we see that God gave this to Moses as a sign, not only
for the Egypyians, but for the Hebrews, as well. They, probably, had
seen these Egyptian magicians demonstrate this very thing many times.
The clincher that Moses was actually from God, was when his serpent 
swallowed up the magicians' serpents.  This just says, one more time,
 that God was more powerful than the Egyptian false gods.

    Exodus 4:6  "And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine
hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he
took it out, behold, his hand [was] leprous as snow."

    Leprosy was a very dreaded disease, and was thought to be
incurable.  The whiteness spoken of here, meant the disease had
progressed to a very bad stage.  This would strike terror in the
hearts of not only the Egyptians, but in the Hebrews, as well.

    Exodus 4:7 "And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And
he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom,
and, behold, it was turned again as his [other] flesh."

    This verse, right here, is what would convince them that this was
God's power, because there was no cure at this time for leprosy.  Here,
Egyptians and Hebrews alike could plainly see God at work.  To the
leper, it, also, held out some hope; that hope being Jesus.

    Exodus 4:8 "And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe
thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will
believe the voice of the latter sign."

    Miracles do have a voice.  Not a literal voice, but a speaking.
You see, signs and wonders have been the voice of God throughout the
Bible.  Even Jesus said to believe Him for the very works' sake.  John
14:11 "Believe me that I [am] in the Father, and the Father in me: or
else believe me for the very works' sake." The people who followed
Jesus believed, because of the signs and wonders.

    Exodus 4:9 "And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe
also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt
take of the water of the river, and pour [it] upon the dry [land]: and
the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon
the dry [land]."

    It was almost unbelievable that they would doubt both of these
miracles, but God would not have mentioned it, if it wouldn't happen.
Water was very important in Egypt, because it is such a dry land.  The
Egyptians depended so much on the Nile River for water to keep the
crops going, that they worshipped the Nile as one of their false gods.
This, miracle then, was a personal attack on their false god.  This
would destroy their way of life.  Turning the water from the Nile into
blood should convince them that God was greater than any, or all of
their gods.  In the first miracle, the ones who wanted to believe would,
fear might drive some to believe in the second.  In the third, those
who were really indoctrinated in worshipping false gods, should surely
be convinced that God was greater than their false gods.

    Exodus 4:10  "And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I [am] not
eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy
servant: but I [am] slow of speech, and of a slow tongue."

    Frankly, I do not believe that God calls those who are eloquent of
 speech to speak for Him.  God does not want us to speak in our own
 ability.  God wants to speak through us.  Most ministers will tell
 you that they were very shy, before the Lord moved upon them.  God is
 not interested in our ability, just our willingness.  It appears, to
 me, that Moses was just looking for excuses.

    Exodus 4:11 "And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's
mouth?  or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind?
have not I the LORD?"

    It appears to me, here, that God was getting a little bit annoyed
with Moses. If God had called Moses to do a job, He could certainly
loose his tongue and make him an eloquent speaker, if that was what it
took.

    God was reminding Moses, here, that God was the power, not Moses.
He is the Creator of it all.  Nothing is impossible to God.  This is a
lesson we all need to learn.  If God calls you to do a job, don't
worry a bout whether you can do it or not.  God will make you able.
The lesson is sometimes hard to believe.  Go back to this Scripture.
You may not be able to speak now, but God is the one who made your
mouth and tongue.  He is perfectly capable of anointing anyone to
speak for Him.  Verse 12 tells it all.

    Exodus 4:12 "Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and
teach thee what thou shalt say."

    Here, again, we see Moses would be anointed of God to do this job.
God would empower him.  Moses just had to open his mouth, and God would
speak through him.  There are too many ministers today who rely too
much on worldly training, and not on God.  God really doesn't care how
much education you have.  God just needs you to have a willing heart,
and He provides everything else.

    Exodus 4:13 "And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the
hand [of him whom] thou wilt send."

    Moses had gone too far.

    Exodus 4:14 "And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses,
and he said, [Is] not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can
speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when
he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart."

    Here, Moses had made a terrible mistake.  Aaron was not as close to
God.  Aaron was the very same one who would make the golden calf.  Even
though God was angry with Moses, He was not angry enough to punish him
severely.  The only punishment was that God withholds the loosing of
Moses' tongue to speak, because of Moses' lack of faith to receive it.
God foreknew what Moses would do, and had Aaron already on his way.
We, also, see here a look into the future when Aaron would be a high priest.
A priestly family to take care of the temple and the spiritual needs
of the people, would be taken care of in the separation of the Levites
for that purpose on the way to the promised land.

    Exodus 4:15 "And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his
mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will
teach you what ye shall do."

    Here, we see that God would not speak directly to Aaron.  God would
speak to Moses, and Moses would convey the message to Aaron.  God would
guard Aaron's mouth, to make sure truth came forth.

    Exodus 4:16 "And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he
shall be, [even] he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou
shalt be to him instead of God."

    Here, again, we just see the line of command.  God spoke to Moses,
and Moses spoke to Aaron, and Aaron spoke to the king.  What a shame
that Moses didn't believe God for the ability to speak himself.

    Exodus 4:17 "And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith
thou shalt do signs."

    These signs were for Moses to do, not Aaron.  The power was given to
Moses to do these miracles, not Aaron.  Aaron was just the mouth.


                                 NOTES



















                          Exodus 7 Questions


1.  Moses said, the people would not believe him, and would say what?
2.  What was Moses forgetting?
3.  God asked Moses, What was in thine hand, and Moses answered what?
4.  What should we notice in this?
5.  Why was this, probably, not a shepherd's staff?
6.  What did God tell Moses to do with the rod?
7.  What happened when Moses did it?
8.  What did Moses feel, when he saw it?
9.  What did God tell Moses to do the second time?
10. What did the serpent become?
11. What is this symbolic of to the believers?
12. Why did God, probably, choose this sign?
13. What did the Egyptians have carved on their headgear?
14. In verse 5, God called Himself the God of 3.  Who were they?
15. What was the clincher that Moses' God was more powerful than the
    Egyptian false gods?
16. What was the second sign God told Moses to use?
17. Why was white mentioned?
18. Why would they believe more on the second miracle than the first?
19. What was the 3rd thing God would have Moses do?
20. In St. John 14:11, Jesus told them to believe Him for what?
21. What shall the water turn into?
22. What false god does this attack?
23. Even after all this, Moses had another excuse.  What is it?
24. Why does God call people, who are not eloquent to speak, to work
    for Him?
25. In verse 11, what questions did God ask Moses?
26. If God calls us to do a job, should we give excuses?
27. Who would empower Moses?
28. What angered God at Moses?
29. Who did God send to help Moses?
30. What relation was he of Moses?
31. What did God prophetically call him?
32. Moses would be to Aaron as what?
33. What was Moses to do with the rod?