Exodus 4:1-91And 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. 2And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. 3And 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. 4And 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: 5That 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. 6And 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. 7And 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. 8And 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. 9And 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. (Exodus 4:1‑9)
Moses was still unwilling to go back to Egypt. “Behold,” he says, “they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.”
How wonderful that the Lord, (instead of rejecting His servant, should bear with him still more, and give miraculous signs to strengthen him in his weakness, and to dispel his unbelief.
Moses had his shepherd’s rod in his hand, and God would use just what he had. Once, as the well-educated son of Pharaoh’s daughter, he was “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and mighty in word and in deed.” But in the desert he was just a poor shepherd with a rod, and God would use him as he was. He did not need all the wisdom of the Egyptians to accomplish His purposes. The rod in Moses’ hand was enough at this time for God to use.
If we are willing to let God use what we have, whether it be a rod, or five smooth stones, as David had, or anything else, God can accomplish His purposes through us. But He will not allow any of His servants to take any praise or credit to themselves.
“And the LORD said unto him What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. 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. 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.” 10:2-4.
Two more signs are even added. His hand, on putting it into his bosom and taking it out again, became “leprous as snow”; when the act was repeated, “it was turned again as his other flesh.” In case they should not hearken to the first or to the second sign, a third was added. He was to take water out of the river and pour it upon the dry ground, and it should “become blood upon the dry land.”
The rod, in Scripture, speaks of authority and power. Cast down on the ground, it became a serpent, the well-known emblem of Satan. The power of Satan was seen in Egypt oppressing the children of Israel. But in Moses’ taking the serpent by the tail, at the word of the Lord, it became a rod again, the rod of chastening or of judgment. In the hand of Moses it became the rod of God’s judicial authority and power.
Leprosy is a type of sin, defiling the whole man. But we have its healing brought about, as we know, through the death of Christ. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7).
Water represents that which refreshes. It speaks of life and refreshment coming from God; but poured out on the earth, it becomes judgment and death.
Let us remember these three lessons which Moses had to learn bore the Lord could use him in His service: 1) The power of Satan and the judgment of God; 2) What sin is and the old nature in us which can only sin, and how that there is cleansing only through the blood of Christ. 3) That this Egypt world in which we live is but a scene of death, having no refreshment for our souls, and that life alone is found in Jesus.
ML 08/04/1968