Yahweh said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.”
He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it.
Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail.” He stretched out his hand, and took hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand.
“This is so that they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” Yahweh said furthermore to him, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.
He said, “Put your hand inside your cloak again.” He put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, behold, it had turned again as his other flesh.
“It will happen, if they will not believe you or listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land.”
Moses said to Yahweh, “O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”
Yahweh said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn’t it I, Yahweh? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak.”
Moses said, “Oh, Lord, please send someone else.”
Yahweh’s anger burned against Moses, and he said, “What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he is coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. He will be your spokesman to the people. It will happen that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God. You shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16 This power to work miracles was to confirm his…
This power to work miracles was to confirm his doctrine, and to assure him of his vocation.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–17 Exo 4:2 And the LORD said unto him, What…
Exo 4:2 And the LORD said unto him, What [is] that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
Ver. 2. A rod.] Heb., Matte, in answer to Maze, What is that? an elegant antonomasia in the original. This is ordinary in both Testaments; the penmen whereof, many of them, were, as Cicero saith of Demetrius Phalereus, oratores parum vehementes, dulces tamen, soft, but sweet orators.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 It became a serpent, i.e. was really changed into…
It became a serpent, i.e. was really changed into a serpent; whereby it was intimated what and how pernicious his rod should be to the Egyptians.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v10 Moses still continues backward to the service for which…
Moses still continues backward to the service for which God had designed him, even to a fault; for now we can no longer impute it to his humility and modesty, but must own that here was too much of cowardice, slothfulness, and unbelief in it. Observe here,
I. How Moses endeavours to excuse himself from the work.
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1. He pleads that he was no good spokesman: O my Lord! I am not eloquent, Exo 4:10. He was a great philosopher, statesman, and divine, and yet no orator; a man of a clear head, great thought, and solid judgment, but had not a voluble tongue, or ready utterance, and therefore he thought himself unfit to speak before great men about great affairs, and in danger of being run down by the Egyptians. Observe, (1.) We must not judge of men by the readiness and fluency of their discourse. Moses was mighty in word (Act 7:22), and yet not eloquent: what he said was strong and nervous, and to the purpose, and distilled as the dew (Deu 32:2), though he did not deliver himself with that readiness, ease, and elegance, that some do, who have not the tenth part of his sense. St. Paul's speech was contemptible, Co2 10:10. A great deal of wisdom and true worth is concealed by a slow tongue. (2.) God is pleased sometimes to make choice of those as his messengers who have fewest of the advantages of art or nature, that his grace in them may appear the more glorious. Christ's disciples were no orators, till the Spirit made them such.
2. When this plea was overruled, and all his excuses were answered, he begged that God would send somebody else on this errand and leave him to keep sheep in Midian (Exo 4:13): "Send by any hand but mine; thou canst certainly find one much more fit." Note, An unwilling mind will take up with a sorry excuse rather than none, and is willing to devolve those services upon others that have any thing of difficulty or danger in them.
II. How God condescends to answer all his excuses. Though the anger of the Lord was kindled against him (Exo 4:14), yet he continued to reason with him, till he had overcome him. Note, Even self-diffidence, when it grows into an extreme - when it either hinders us from duty or clogs us in duty, or when it discourages our dependence upon the grace of God - is very displeasing to him. God justly resents our backwardness to serve him, and has reason to take it ill; for he is such a benefactor as is before-hand with us, and such a rewarder as will not be behind-hand with us. Note further, God is justly displeased with those whom yet he does not reject: he vouchsafes to reason the case even with his froward children, and overcomes them, as he did Moses here, with grace and kindness.
1. To balance the weakness of Moses, he here reminds him of his own power, Exo 4:11. (1.) His power in that concerning which Moses made the objection: Who has made man's mouth? Have not I the Lord? Moses knew that God made man, but he must be reminded now that God made man's mouth. An eye to God as Creator would help us over a great many of the difficulties which lie in the way of our duty, Psa 124:8. God, as the author of nature, has given us the power and faculty of speaking; and from him, as the fountain of gifts and graces, comes the faculty of speaking well, the mouth and wisdom (Luk 21:15), the tongue of the learned (Isa 50:4); he pours grace into the lips, Psa 45:2. (2.) His power in general over the other faculties. Who but God makes the dumb and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? [1.] The perfections of our faculties are his work, he makes the seeing; he formed the eye (Psa 94:9); he opens the understanding, the eye of the mind, Luk 24:45. [2.] Their imperfections are from him too; he make the dumb, and deaf, and blind. Is there any evil of this kind, and the Lord has not done it? No doubt he has, and always in wisdom and righteousness, and for his own glory, Joh 9:3. Pharaoh and the Egyptians were made deaf and blind spiritually, as Isa 6:9, Isa 6:10. But God knew how to manage them, and get himself honour upon them.
2. To encourage him in this great undertaking, he repeats the promise of his presence, not only in general, I will be with thee (Isa 3:12), but in particular, "I will be with thy mouth, so that the imperfection in thy speech shall be no prejudice to thy message." It does not appear that God did immediately remove the infirmity, whatever it was; but he did that which was equivalent, he taught him what to say, and then let the matter recommend itself: if others spoke more gracefully, none spoke more powerfully. Note, Those whom God employs to speak for him ought to depend upon him for instructions, and it shall be given them what they shall speak, Mat 10:19.
3. He joins Aaron in commission with him. He promises that Aaron shall meet him opportunely, and that he will be glad to see him, they having not seen one another (it is likely) for many years, Exo 4:14. He directs him to make use of Aaron as his spokesman, Exo 4:16. God might have laid Moses wholly aside, for his backwardness to be employed; but he considered his frame, and ordered him an assistant. Observe, (1.) Two are better than one, Ecc 4:9. God will have his two witnesses (Rev 11:3), that out of their mouths every word may be established. (2.) Aaron was the brother of Moses, divine wisdom so ordering it, that their natural affection one to another might strengthen their union in the joint execution of their commission. Christ sent his disciples two and two, and some of the couples were brothers. (3.) Aaron was the elder brother, and yet he was willing to be employed under Moses in this affair, because God would have it so. (4.) Aaron could speak well, and yet was far inferior to Moses in wisdom. God dispenses his gifts variously to the children of men, that we may see our need one of another, and each may contribute something to the good of the body, Co1 12:21. The tongue of Aaron, with the head and heart of Moses, would make one completely fit for this embassy. (5.) God promises, I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth. Even Aaron, that could speak well, yet could not speak to purpose unless God was with his mouth; without the constant aids of divine grace the best gifts will fail.
4. He bids him take the rod with him in his hand (Exo 4:17), to intimate that he must bring about his undertaking rather by acting than by speaking; the signs he should work with this rod might abundantly supply the want of eloquence; one miracle would do him better service than all the rhetoric in the world. Take this rod, the rod he carried as a shepherd, that he might not be ashamed of that mean condition out of which God called him. This rod must be his staff of authority, and must be to him instead both of sword and sceptre.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–17 And the Lord said unto him,.... Not reproving him…
And the Lord said unto him,.... Not reproving him for contradicting him, or showing any diffidence of what he had said; but rather as approving the hint he gave of having some sign or miracle wrought, to command from the Israelites an assent unto him, as commissioned of God to deliver them:
what is that in thine hand? which question is put, not as being ignorant of what it was, but to lead on to what he had further to say, and to the working of the miracle:
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and he said, a rod; or staff, such as shepherds use in the management of their flocks, for Moses was now feeding the flock of his father-in-law; but Aben Ezra seems rather to think it was a walking staff, such as ancient men lean upon, since Moses did not go to Pharaoh after the manner of a shepherd; yea, it may be added, he went with the authority of a prince or ruler of Israel, and even with the authority of the ambassador of the King of kings.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 A rod - Or staff.
A rod - Or staff.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 Verse 2. A rod.] מתה matteh, a staff, probably…
Verse 2. A rod.] מתה matteh, a staff, probably his shepherd's crook; see Le 27:32. As it was made the instrument of working many miracles, it was afterwards called the rod of God; see Ex 4:20.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17 Exo 4:2. He said, A rod — Probably this…
Exo 4:2. He said, A rod — Probably this was his shepherd’s staff, for he was feeding his father-in-law’s flocks when God appeared to him.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 6, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 A rod - The word seems to denote the…
A rod - The word seems to denote the long staff which on Egyptian monuments is borne by men in positions of authority. It was usually made of acacia wood.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv4, 7, 9, 10, 13, 16, 17 A rod. This alluded to the three states in…
A rod. This alluded to the three states in which the Hebrews had lived in Egypt: 1. As holding the sceptre; 2. as persecuted in a crafty and cruel manner; and 3. as liberated by Moses. (Menochius) --- The dragon [i.e., the serpent] was so terrible as to make even Moses flee. (Philo.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 6, 9, 10, 14 the Lord said, . . . What is that…
the Lord said, . . . What is that in thine hand?--The question was put not to elicit information which God required, but to draw the particular attention of Moses.
A rod--probably the shepherd's crook--among the Arabs, a long staff, with a curved head, varying from three to six feet in length.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 17 2-5. A rod — The shepherd’s staff which Moses…
2-5. A rod — The shepherd’s staff which Moses casts down is the emblem of the shepherd life which now, at God’s call, he abandons. But at once he finds himself confronted by a hissing serpent, the emblem of Egyptian royalty, from which he flees, for his flesh shrinks from this conflict with Pharaoh. In Egypt the asp was the hieroglyph of royalty. But when, at God’s bidding, he boldly grasps his formidable foe, the very wrath of Pharaoh calls forth the power of Jehovah and Jehovah’s messenger. The serpent becomes the “wonder-working rod.” This sign sets forth the character of Moses, God’s messenger.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 2. A rod] ‘The rod was one of the…
2. A rod] ‘The rod was one of the ancient elements in the tradition. Here, in J, it is represented as the shepherd’s staff which was naturally in Moses’ hands, and it becomes the medium of the display of the divine power to him. In E it is apparently given him by God (v. 17), and consequently bears the name ‘rod of God’ (v. 20b): as such, it is the instrument with which Moses achieves the wonders, Exo_7:20 b, Exo_9:23, Exo_10:13’ (C.-H.; cf. below, p. 56). In P the rod appears in Aaron’s hands (cf. p. 55), and the occasion on which it is changed into a serpent is a different one (Exo_7:8-13).
2–5. The first sign.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 (2) A rod.—Most commentators regard the “rod” of Moses…
(2) A rod.—Most commentators regard the “rod” of Moses as his shepherd’s crook, and this is certainly possible; but the etymology of the word employed seems rather to point to an ordinary staff, or walking-stick. Egyptians of rank usually carried long batons; and one suggestion is, that the rod of Moses was “that which he had been accustomed to carry as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” But even if this was still in his possession after forty years of exile, he is not likely to have taken it with him when he went a-shepherding. Probably the “rod” was a common staff, such as a shepherd of eighty years old might need for a support.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 A rod. Or "a staff." Some suppose the ordinary…
A rod. Or "a staff." Some suppose the ordinary shepherd"s staff, or crook, to be meant; but it is objected that this would have been an unfit object to have brought into the presence of Pharaoh (Kalisch), being unsuitable for a court, and emblematic of an occupation which the Egyptians loathed; (Gen_46:34) and the suggestion is therefore made, that it was the baton or long stick commonly carried by Egyptians of good position and especially by persons in authority. But Moses in Midian, forty years after he quitted Egypt, is not likely to have possessed such an article; nor, if he had possessed it, would he have taken it with him when shepherding. Probably a simple staff, the natural support of a man of advanced years, is meant.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv2, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14 What is that in thine hand?
Exo_4:2-5
What is that in thine hand?
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A trivial possession
I. God frequently makes inquiry about the most trivial possessions of men.
1. Have they been honourably gained?
2. Are they being put to their proper use?
3. Are they in a line with Divine power?
II. God frequently makes the most trivial possessions of men teach great truths.
1. This shows the Divine adaptability to the circumstances of men.
2. This shows the Divine wisdom in making insignificant things teach Divine truth.
3. This shows the Divine simplicity of the plans and purposes of Heaven.
III. That the most trivial possessions are useful to others as well as those to whom they belong.
IV. That the most trivial possessions of men prove, after all, the most useful, and ought therefore to awaken human gratitude. (J. W. Johnston.)
A rod
1. The subject of Divine inquiry.
2. The token of a shepherds office.
3. The symbol of a leaders power.
4. The prophecy of a nations freedom. (J. W. Johnston.)
The rod
When God installed Moses into his great trust, He gave him a wand or staff of office as its badge. But it was not the baton of a general nor the sceptre of a king. It was only the shepherds rod. In Moses hand it became what no jewelled crosier ever has been or will be. This stick was to be not only the ensign of his power, but its instrument. And in this simplicity, indeed, lay its special fitness for its office; because all men who looked upon it could see that its power was not in itself, not inherent; not in the rod, but effectual only by a self-imposed law of Gods action, and conditioned in its success upon His fidelity to His own rule. In this, as afterwards of the yet humbler symbol of the cross,--in this, the symbol of his simplicity, of his exile, of his lowliness, the world was to be conquered.
1. I remark in regard to this rod, that it had no natural aptitude for its work. There was nothing in its natural qualities to distinguish it from any other rod, and its appointment to be Moses staff of office and instrument of miracle wrought in it no physical change whatever. It was still mere wood. Sufficient force would break it. A sharp tool would cut it. And it was according to the analogy of His ways: and so St. Paul broadly states it. Base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are. It is Gods way to do great things by weak means. That is the Divine philosophy of action, the opposite of mans.
2. Notice, again, that God in doing His great works does not need any instruments, but uses them simply of His own sovereign will; and this appears in their obvious inadequacy in themselves to the results which they, nevertheless, produce. Moses was not indispensable to God, nor his rod to Moses, but by Gods determination. If we look at our Lords miracles when He was upon earth, we shall see this truth strikingly illustrated. In the variety of their methods they are so exhibited as at once to show His independence of all means, and His sovereign power in appointing and employing them. So this wonder-working rod of Moses answered simply the purpose of forming a visible link between the Divine will and the effect that was produced. The rod did not do the miracle, but a Power that worked by it; and that showed itself able to dispense with it by employing in its work an instrument so manifestly incapable of contributing anything to the proposed result. A word brings Lazarus from the grave; a touch of the bier awakens the widows son. And thus we come to the philosophy of means in the system of grace. They are visible signs of Gods working, such signs as cannot work except as God works in them; and to us they are tests of obedience and trials of faith. There is nothing quite so irrational as rationalism. To obey God is the most rational of things. And to stand arguing and questioning about a thing, debating its propriety and efficacy when God has told us to do it, is eminently irrational. Moses might have stood and said, This wooden stick cannot divide the waters, or turn the dust to flies, or make the heavens dark, or draw water out of a rock; and he would have said nothing but the truth. And yet, if Moses had thrown away his rod, he could never have invented anything else that would have done these things, and the things would have remained undone. There is a supernatural working in the world that the world does not take knowledge of. And it works by a class of instrument talities that the world regards as childish and impotent. The reliance some people place upon them it counts superstition, and derides as futile and delusive. To expect any benefit from them they consider irrational. The measure of their belief is their reason. So they eliminate all miracle from the Scriptures, and all that is supernatural from the Church of God; and out of the poor residue they construct what they call rational Christianity, and a very mean Christianity it is. And so they illustrate very well the apostles saying, Professing themselves wise, they became fools. And there are too many Christians who, without going such lengths, are quite too ready to criticise Gods appointments, and either hold them of light obligation, or greatly underrate their value and efficacy. But there is a supernatural element in the Church of Christ, and God in it works invisibly by means. Water, say they, cannot cleanse the soul, nor bread and wine nourish it. The touch of a prelate can have no power to convey the influences of the Spirit to ministers in Ordination, or to lay people in Confirmation. Men may see that the ten commandments are right and salutary, and may observe them on that account. Their reason pronounces them proper, and therefore they regard them. They would regard them if they had found them in the Koran, or the Books of Confucius. There is much of this sort of virtue, and it is respectable and useful to its possessor and to society. But it is not obedience, it is not religion. Faith does not underlie it. The love of God is not its life. Moses took his rod in his hand and with it he did wonders. He believed in it, because he believed in God, and in Gods assignment of it to him as an instrument of power. And then it was an instrument of power, a wonder staff, before which impediments vanished and foes fled away. (R. A. Hallam, D. D.)
A talk with children-What is that in thine hand?
This was a question which astonished Moses. It was a surprising thing to him that God should think anything of a shepherds crook. It would not have astonished him to hear God speak about sceptres, but that He should call special attention to an old rod that he had carried as a shepherd a thousand times was more than he could have ever expected. But God now began to show Moses that he could turn that rod to higher use than he had ever done hitherto. There are many things put into the hands of little children the full use of which they do not yet know.
1. For instance, when at first you are taught to write a pen is placed in your hand. What an amount of trouble you have before you learn even how to hold that pen! For a long time you do not exactly know how to hold the gift that is given you; and for a still longer time you little know what use you may yet make of it. When the apostle Paul was a boy in school, and had to learn how to use the stylus, or pen, he little knew what use he would be able to make of his pen in writing his Epistles. So with regard to the apostle John. So also with reference to John Bunyan. When he was at school, a poor boy, he was not taught much, since he was only to be a tinker. But a pen was put into his hand, and it is wonderful what use he made of it in later years in writing the Pilgrims Progress. Who knows? perhaps there is a child here to-day who has only just learnt how to use the pen, and yet thousands may yet thank God for what he will write.
2. Again, some of you have recently been on a journey by train. Had you looked at the engine before you started you might have seen a man laying hold of a handle, or lever. You might well have asked him, What is that in thine hand? Had you done so, he would have replied, This is the lever by which I have power over the engine and make it to go fast or slow, or by which I stop it. Thus, by holding just that little piece of iron, the engine-driver is perfect master of theft huge and powerful engine.
3. Again, you go with your father to a telegraph office. He wants to send a message to America. The clerk looks at the message and lays hold of a small handle by which he sends those words along the cable through the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, and they are read in a few seconds in New York.
4. Again, in times of war, when ships draw near a port, you may find a man in a small room, or shed, who watches until a ship comes to a certain point. He then touches a little button and the ship is blown up in an instant. There is a connection between that little button and a mine of explosives which is hidden in the water beneath the ship; and although that mine may be many miles away from that little telegraph office, a touch of the button by a mans hand at once explodes the mine and works terrible destruction. When an Arab baby-boy is born, his parents put a little ant into his right hand, and closing the hand upon it say, May the child be as busy and clever as the little ant. That is the best wish they can utter for their children. But we would put something better than an ant in your little hands. We would have you hold firmly the Bible, and remember all that it tells you of the Saviours love. We would have you study prayerfully that Book, and live according to its teaching. (D. Davies.)
Work for all
The subject that I desire to bring before your attention is that of appointed instrumentality. God accomplishes the purposes of His grace by instrumentality. Blessed are they who are enabled to give themselves up with all that they have and all that they are to be employed in the Lords service. We are not employed to be writers of Gods revealed will, nor to be leaders of Gods people, nor to be in other respects what Moses was. But he was a pattern to believers in Christ, as far as instrumentality went, in the work to which he was called.
I. Now consider preparation for usefulness. In the case of Moses we see very remarkably a course of preparation going forward for many years, both as respects the dealing of Gods providence with him, and also as respects the blessing of Gods grace bestowed upon him.
II. But this brings me now to the second particular, namely, encouragement in Gods service as his instruments, You will observe our text brings Moses before us, after all this lengthened preparation and when God was calling him to begin his work, as one who was making excuses and objections. As if he had said, Well, but what good can I do? There is no use in my going on this errand; I am not fit for it. If you read the remaining part of this chapter, you will see that this conviction of his mind was expressed again and again. And here we may observe, by the way, that there is such a thing as false humility. Humility, when it is genuine, the work of Gods Spirit, cannot be overprized. But there may be what looks like humility, that is not the fruit of Gods Spirit. If God calls me or you to any particular service, and we think that we are very humble and say, No, I cannot attempt that service, I am not fit for it, this is false humility, because God never gives work without giving strength and wisdom to do it. God never brings a trial upon us without providing grace to enable us to bear the trial; so that believers in Christ may say, under all circumstances, All is well. But without dwelling further upon this, the point I wish to notice is, how God removed Moses objection. The Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And the Lord said, Cast it on the ground. He did so, and then the circumstances occurred which you will read in the following verses. Observe, Moses had but a simple rod in his hand when he came to that point in his history on which the Lord was telling him to enter upon the special work for which he had been prepared. And yet if Moses heart were right with God, he had that in his hand which might be useful in Gods service, though it was only a rod. Mans wisdom is here utterly at fault. If man had been asked, Now, what means should be used in order to deliver out of the iron bondage of a powerful monarch a nation such as Israel? man would have formed some plan by which an army might be raised, and furnished with suitable weapons of war, and a suitable opportunity taken in order to throw off the yoke of Pharaohs government and rule. But here was Moses, Gods instrument, and he had neither sword, nor spear, nor army; he had a simple rod, a shepherds rod in his hand. Observe, God does not require of Moses, when He tells him to go to His work, that which Moses has not. He does not require of Moses sword, and spear, and shield, and armies, in order to go forth to be a deliverer of Israel. The question is not to him, What canst thou do? Canst thou Obtain those who will go forth under thy command to fight a battle of loyalty and for liberty? Canst thou get together, ammunition and other things which they will need for their warfare. Moses might have then said with truth he could not engage in the work. But all that God said to him was, Moses, what is that in thine hand?--not, What canst thou get? but, What hast thou got? Now, we learn from this, that God can use any instrument which He pleases for His work, and that those are altogether wrong who suppose that they are not called upon to do anything in the service of God because, perhaps, they are not distinguished as others of their fellow-creatures--have not so much money, not so much influence, not so great learning, not so much time on their hands, and so on. It is not to be looked at in this way, as if God demanded of us that which we have not, but simply that He requires of us that which we have. Observe, next, the Lord said unto Moses, Cast it on the ground; and upon its being cast on the ground, the rod, we are told, became a serpent. Afterwards he was told to put forth his hand, and it became a rod in his hand. God, by this double miracle, laid hold of that rod of Moses as His rod; it was no longer the rod of Moses only; it was the rod of God. (W. Cadman, M. A.)
What is that in thine hand
I. A question for moses. Well--what had he? A rod. That is, as I suppose, a shepherds crook: a stout sapling, curved at one end, to help him in caring for his flock. But how could this help him in caring for Israel? Who can turn it into a talisman to draw their hearts to him? It is enough to tell of the Being and the power and the skill of the Creator; but not enough to prove a Divine commission. There was need of some further revelation--and this further revelation was not withheld. What was Moses told to do with the rod? Cast it on the ground; as though God had said, You can do nothing with it, see what I can do. And it became a serpent. Now here we are confronted with the supernatural, the miraculous; for there is no natural evolution of vegetable out of animal, or animal out of vegetable. God can do it--and do it quite as easily as He can bring the sturdy staff out of the feeble bud; but it is not in His ordinary course of action. He will only resort to it when some extraordinary end is in view. But was there not a lesson in this miracle? Was it not a symbol of the great things God was about to do?
II. A question for Christians.
1. Is there not work for every one of us?--and work not unlike that to which Moses was called. The state of the world at large is described in this volume under many figures, very sad and very affecting; and one of the saddest and most affecting is that of slavery. Slaves of appetite--slaves of covetousness--slaves of fashion: we hear their sighs--their groans, sometimes. For the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are hard taskmasters; they will give their bondsmen no rest or peace: there is no slavery like that of sin! And therefore the cry of the gospel is--Emancipation! If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
2. But what good can we hope to do? There are as many difficulties in our way as in the way of Moses. Our fellow-men are so accustomed to slavery that they wont believe in freedom. Ay--and they are so accustomed to all kinds of folly and imposture that they wont believe that our message comes from God. How then can we succeed? Now comes the question of the text, What is that in thine hand? What power of influence has God given you? Now see whether that power may not be used for Him. Oh, but, you say, my influence is a very insignificant thing! And so is a shepherds crook. But see what a shepherds crook became in the hand of Moses; and remember that God may choose weak things to confound the mighty, and foolish things to confound the wise.
3. And so the question comes to us--What is that in thine hand? Not--what would you like to have there, or hope to have there? but--what have you? Be it the three hundred pence, or be it the two mites--use it for God, and see what God will make of it! Certainly nothing will recommend the gospel to those around us like the personal exertion of those who advocate it. (F. Tucker, B. A.)
Great things from small
God often does His greatest works by the humblest means. The great forces of nature are not the earthquake which tumbles cities into ruins. This power passes in a moment; the soft silent light, the warm summer rain, the stars whose voice is not heard--these are the majestic mighty forces which fill the earth with riches, and control the worlds which constitute the wide universe of God. So in Providence. Not the great Church organization, excellent and proper as it is. Martin Luther, a poor monk who had difficulty in getting bread to eat, shook the world; Linnaeus, with eight shillings in his pocket, began to study botany; Columbus had no grand steamer to carry him across the wide Atlantic. He wearied his life, and at last got from the rulers of his time a reluctant permission to embark with a hundred and fifty men only, and in three small ships. The founders of the United States of America were humble pious men. The Pilgrim Fathers sought only a place to rest the soles of their feet where they could worship God in peace. The founders of Christianity were fishermen. Christ Himself the Carpenter, the Nazarene, despised and crucified, was the wisdom and the power of God. For, did He not say--I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me? So in the text--What is that in thine hand? A rod--the emblem, the tool of his daily work. With this Moses was to do mighty deeds, Rabbinical tradition has it that Moses was an excellent shepherd. He followed a lamb across the wilderness, plucked it with his rod from a precipice amid the rocks, and carried it in his bosom; whereupon God said--Let us make this Moses the shepherd of Israel. He, a stranger, a fugitive, a humble shepherd, becomes the lawgiver, the leader, the deliverer of his people. The lesson of the text is plain. God still meets every man, and asks the old question--What is that in thine hand? Is it the tool of an ordinary trade?--with that God will be served. The artisan where he is, in his humble workshop, by using the rod which is in his hand, the merchant in his business, are in the place where they are now; all are called upon to do service. Few have rank, or wealth, or power, or eloquence. Let those illustrious few use their ten talents; but let us, the obscure millions, use the simple duties of life--the rod that is in our hand. A smile, like a little rushlight, may cheer a sick man tossing on his bed. Happiness-givers are the true representatives of Christ; to shed abroad in home and social circles the joy and the charity of Christ is the true work of Christs followers; and in this blessed happiness-giving all, exalted and lowly, may alike engage. (J. Cameron Lees, D. D.)
Splendid instruments not necessary
A rod: probably the shepherds crook, the symbol of his present condition. Among the Arabs a long staff with a curved head, varying from three to six feet in length, is used for this purpose. This rod was made the subject of a double miracle. From the story of Moses rod the poets invented fables of the thyrsus of Bacchus and the caducaeus of Mercury. Homer represents Mercury as taking his rod to work miracles, precisely in the same way as God commanded Moses to take his. God takes the weakest instruments to accomplish His mightiest ends. A rod, a rams horn, a cake of barley meal, an earthen pitcher, a shepherds sling, anything, in short, when used of God, will do His appointed work. Men imagine that splendid ends can only be reached by splendid means, but such is not Gods way. He can use a crawling worm as well as a scorching sun, a gourd as well as a vehement east wind. (A. Nevin, D. D.)
The rod as a symbol
The staff was the shepherds crook, with which he had hitherto conducted the flock of Jethro. Hence it represented his vocation as a shepherd. This he was to throw away, i.e., he was to give up his calling and follow a new one. But the staff which he had thrown away became a serpent, and Moses fled before it. His vocation hitherto had been a poor and despised one; but it was also quiet, peaceful, and free from danger. When this was given up, he was to be exposed to dangers of such magnitude, that even his life would be threatened. Moses could foresee all this, and hence the obstinacy with which he refused to enter upon his new vocation. But at the word of God he laid hold of the snake, and it became a staff in his hand once more. This showed that, by the power of God, he would be able to overcome the dangers that would surround him, when he relinquished his present calling. By overpowering the snake he recovered his staff, but it was no longer his staff; it was the rod of God (verse 20), and with the staff thus altered he was to perform the work entrusted to him (verse 17). It was still a shepherds staff, and his new vocation was a shepherds calling. From being a shepherd of Jethros sheep he was to become the shepherd of Gods sheep, the leader and lawgiver of the people of God. And he became so, by overcoming the dangers which intervened between these two different employments. We must also observe, that this was the rod with which he was to bring the plagues upon Egypt; and therefore it was the retributory counterpart to the rod with which the Egyptian taskmasters had beaten the Israelites (verse 14). As soon, then, as Moses appeared before the people and performed this sign, it showed them, first, that the dangers to which the mission of Moses would expose them--dangers which they soon experienced (chap. 5.)--would be overcome; and secondly, that the staff of shepherd and ruler, with which Moses was to lead and govern them, was not assumed without authority, but given to him by God, and therefore the question could not be asked, as it was before, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? (Exo_2:14). He afterwards performed the same miracle in the presence of Pharaoh (Exo_7:10, etc.). (J. H. Kurtz, D. D.)
The symbol of a consecrated life
I believe the rod cast down, and taken up again, typifies the entire consecration of the Christians life to God. The rod was the ordinary sign and instrument of Moses daily occupation. That cast down, and taken up, became filled with power; and by it he proved to Israel and to Pharaoh that he had seen Jehovah. We are commanded in 1Co_7:24 to abide in the calling wherein we are called. I suppose we may understand from this that we do not need to change our station and calling (supposing it to be an honest one) in order to serve God. Are we shepherds, carpenters, merchants, lawyers, doctors, teachers, servants, or what not, we may serve God in that calling quite as efficiently as in any other. So He can, and will, make you mighty in the use of your calling, be it what it may, high or low, learned or mechanical, the calling of a master or a servant, a mistress or a maid. Only cast it down at the feet of Jesus, in humble and holy consecration; and then take it up again to use it and pursue it for Him. What God needs to-day in this world is a host of men and women, in every walk of life, who are living for God, and serving Him in their calling, using it as a means of illustrating Gods righteousness. He wants some merchants to do business for Him, that the world may know what Gods thought of righteousness in trade is. The banker may serve God in the same way. The medical man has a calling in which he may leave the testimony of Gods tenderness in the sick room; and by his ministry of healing exercised on the body he has an opportunity, such as is afforded to no other man in the world, to point his patients to the great Physician and Healer of souls. As it is, alas that so many Christian physicians fail to cast down their rods at the feet of Christ! The lawyer at the bar, and the judge on the bench, may be Gods witnesses in their profession. The teacher with the children (a most difficult position) may also cast his or her rod down. The governess, the nurse, and the mother may be consecrated to God for those to whom God has sent them, or whom He has given them. The servant in the house--both the maid-servant and the man-servant--every one, in his or her place, may throw down the rod of their calling at the feet of Jesus, and take it up again in power. (G. F. Pentecost, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv6, 10, 14 MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Exo_4:6-7
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Exo_4:6-7
LEPROSY AS EMBLEMATICAL OF DOUBT
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I. That as leprosy was the worst disease that could have been permitted to the hand of Moses, so doubt of the Divine Word is the most hurtful that can overtake the human mind.
1. Both are small in their commencement. Leprosy first manifests itself as a little spot upon the skin. Then it is not accompanied by any pain. Any one, unacquainted with the malady, from seeing its first indication would have no idea that it was leprosy, and that its end would be so terrible. And so it is with doubt in reference to divine truth. At first it presents itself to the mind in a very innocent form, as a question, or as a suspicion. There is no mental grief or conflict. The soul has no idea that a terrible moral sickness is coming upon it, but regards the little indication of unbelief as an effort of investigation, and brave progress. Whereas if it was acquainted with the reality of the case it would see the first spot of mental leprosy.
2. Both are progressive in their development. That spot of leprosy does not long remain such—it grows larger—spreads wider—from limb to limb—until the entire system is full of it—and the whole man is covered with it. So it is with doubt. It does not long remain as a question—or as a suspicion of the truth—it advances to great uncertainty—to dimness of moral vision—until the mind is plunged into an impenetrable gloom. The man no longer doubts one truth, but all truth; the entire habit of his soul is rendered sceptical to heavenly things.
3. Both are gloomy in their forebodings. What dark and terrible forebodings would naturally occupy the soul of the leper, after the first terror and consciousness of the disease had come upon him. He would feel that certain death was before him—that no remedy—care—skill could attain his recovery. The grim shadow of the future would ever rest upon his soul. Life would be a burden to him. And who can describe the painful forebodings which fill a sceptical mind. There are the inner reasonings of the soul—there are bitter cries for light and truth. In quiet moments the conscience reveals another life—an eternal destiny—toward which the man is travelling, and the thought of its mystery fills him with awe. In fact all the doctrines of the Bible are turned by his scepticism into phantoms, which haunt him ever, and torment him with a sad prophecy of his awful future.
4. Both are isolating in their tendency. The leper had to be separated from his family—from his neighbours—friends—companions—he had to go into solitude and loneliness—away from all the active scenes of life In all probability his malady was contagious. Equally has doubt an isolating tendency—how often has it broken up families and near friendships. Scepticism throws a man in upon himself too much—it alienates his sympathy from those who differ from him in opinion—it places him without the spiritual enjoyments of the church—and renders him intensely lonely in spirit. Doubt is also contagious—it spreads not only from subject to subject—but from person to person—by speech—by argument—and thus, if it does not isolate itself—the community ought to demand its removal—especially from near the young.
5. Both are paralysing in their influence. How thoroughly paralysed are the limbs of the leper. They are withered. They are incapable of activity. They are almost useless to him. And so what a paralysing influence has doubt. It paralyses the mental faculties of man, rendering them almost incapable of a healthful and vigorous investigation of truth. It paralyses the sympathies of men—rendering them almost incapable of pity. It paralyses the activity of men—rendering them almost incapable of spiritual effort in the church of Christ.
6. Both are deadly in their result. In the system of the leper all vitality is destroyed—there is no play of physical energy—all the streams of life have been one by one dried up—its ultimate issue is the grave. Equally deadly is the issue of scepticism. It destroys mental vitality, and its sad destiny is the second death, far more awful than the first.
II. That as leprosy comes upon men unexpectedly, so does doubt upon the human mind. The leprosy generally comes suddenly and unexpectedly upon the individual afflicted thereby, although it might have been lurking long within his physical constitution. And so it is with scepticism and doubt. It comes unexpected upon the mind, it may have been hiding there for months; the thinker knows not where he has imbibed it, from what book, conversation, or series of mental reasonings. The germ of scepticism often remains long concealed in the human mind, its workings are subtle, and we know not what will be the extent of their future harvest.
III. That as leprosy could only be removed by the Divine touch, so human doubt can only be removed by communion with God. We read in the New Testament of a leper coming to Christ, and being healed by the Divine touch The coming of that wretched man to the Saviour must be typical of the ad vent of all doubting sceptical souls to him, and the result will be equally beneficial and happy. Such a mental and moral attitude will not be healed by logic—by argument—by entreaty—by persuasion—but only by a personal and spiritual interview with the Saviour. True prayer is the only cure for unbelief. LEARN:
1. To watch the first outgoings of the mind in relation to Divine truth.
2. Not to cultivate a captious spirit in relation to heavenly things.
3. To spend much time in communion with the Eternal Truth.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exo_4:6. Varied suppositions as to the meaning of this miracle—
1. Some give it a moral signification—as that the leprous hand of Moses sheweth the works of the law that justifieth not
2. Some give it a mystical signification—that the leprous hand of the synagogue of the Jews was cast off as the leprous person out of the house, and the hand restored betokeneth the Gentile Church adopted instead of the Jewish [Augustine].
3. Some refer it to Christ, that he being the hand, that is, the power of his Father, by taking our nature upon him, became as it were leprous, that is deformed, by his sufferings and passion, but by his resurrection and ascension His glory appeareth
4. Some give it an historical signification—by the leprous hand they understand the miserable state of the Hebrews in the time of their cruel servitude, who in their deliverance received their former liberty.
5. Some think that the leprous hand signifieth the pollutions of Egypt, wherewith Israel was defiled, who being delivered were restored to the true worship of God.
6. That the first sending of Moses to the Israelites brought upon them more cruel treatment, but his after ministry brought them joy and deliverance.
7. That the hand being the instrument of working, betokeneth the ministry and authority of Moses, and that God would use a weak instrument to effect His will, Moses having lived a long time in banishment seemed a thing leprous and vile, yet God should in this His service make him a glorious vessel and instrument.
8. That as the leprosy is only cured by God so their deliverance was only God’s work, and to humble Moses by the remembrance of his own infirmity.
9. As far as the intrinsic significancy of the sign is concerned, it was evidently calculated to teach that whatever is new, vigorous, vital, and flourishing, may at once be withered at the word of Omnipotence; and again with equal facility restored to its pristine condition [Bush].
Power for God’s service:—
1. Human hands weak and unfit for service.
2. Sanctified power is only attained from God.
3. Hence the worker must be humble, but not impotent or paralytic in hand.
“Leprous as snow.” The white leprosy was that form with which the Hebrews were best acquainted, and the most difficult of cure.
God sometimes commands His servants in order to disease and try them.
A sudden change from soundness to leprosy is God’s miracle.
That there are times and circumstances when the use of legitimate things may prove injurious.
LEPROUS AS SNOW
I. “Leprous as snow.” Then our moral condition is a picture of woe. What more pitiable sight than a leper—with a fearful disease running through his veins. An outcast in the world. Contemplate the sinner. His natural bias to evil. Surrounded by his vices. He is restless. He is grief-stricken. He is without virtuous friendship. Truly he presents a sad spectacle. Contemplate the world—its passion and pride—its heathenism—superstition—and crime—it is “leprous as snow.”
II. “Leprous as snow.” Then our moral condition is an argument and a plea for Divine help. Would not a leper excite the pity of all who saw him. So our moral woe is a forceful appeal to the Divine mercy. Our grief is a prayer for the exercise of Divine power. Human aid is ineffective here. Men may pity the sinner. Only God can heal his leprosy. Every sinner in the universe is an object of Divine compassion. But wicked men will not allow the argument of their misery to find its conclusion in their moral reformation; they will not permit the prayer of their grief to be answered, they refuse the pardon it would obtain.
III. “Leprous as snow.” Then our moral conversion is a triumph of Divine grace. What a conversion for a leper to become a healthy, vigorous man. What a change in all his surroundings. How happy. How benevolent. So it is equally a marvellous transition for the sinner. Spiritual life courses richly through his soul. He is surrounded by heavenly companions, and animated by new hopes. His unrest is calmed. His grief is removed. His moral disease is healed. He is indeed a trophy of Divine grace.
IV. “Leprous as snow.” Then the greatest sinner is within the reach of Divine restoration. Your leprosy may be of the worst kind—may have been long continued—yet there is hope. For the sympathiser is Divine. The healer is God. Wherefore He is able to save to the uttermost, etc.
Exo_4:7. After trial God commands His servants again in order to healing.
God answers the obedience of His servants with wonderful healing.
It is God’s prerogative alone to send disease and healing to his creatures, miraculously by His word.
SOUL-INSTRUCTION
I. As undertaken by a Divine Teacher. The Divine Being is here instructing Moses about his mission to Israel. There are many instructors of human souls in the world. God is the supreme. There are lessons for every man to learn which heaven only can teach. Happy the soul that receives the lesson of its life from God. Ministers who aim to instruct the souls of men are in true sympathy with the Divine.
II. As employing the most impressive symbolism. The burning bush. The rod turned into a serpent. The hand made leprous. The Divine teaching is always suggestive, never exhaustive. Heaven has always fine illustrations at command in which to convey truth. Hence our attention is gained. Our souls are impressed. We are made to feel that duty is imperative and responsible, and to prepare for its discharge. The pulpit would be much more effective in its work of soul-instruction if it employed more impressive imagery.
III. As occupying but a short space of time. The Divine Being was not long in giving these signs to Moses, they followed in quick succession. Heaven is spontaneous in its teaching. It can teach a soul an eternal lesson in a moment. Ministers in these days are too long in their communication of spiritual truth. They spend too much time on detail.
IV. As preparing for important duty. God is preparing Moses to achieve the freedom of Israel. The Divine instruction always has a definite result in view. It is not aimless. It is not random. It is designed not merely to make men clever, but to give them the power of moral emancipation. God teaches human souls not merely for their own welfare, but that they may make a practical use of their knowledge by striving to enhance the spiritual condition of humanity.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Exo_4:8-9
THE DIVINE TREATMENT OF HUMAN DOUBT
I. That the Divine Being recognises the probability that men will not welcome the truth upon its first presentation to them. “And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign,” etc. If this history had not been complete before us, we should have imagined that the Israelites would at once have welcomed the message which Moses had to declare unto them, and that they would immediately have received him as their deliverer.
1. The message he proclaimed was adapted to their condition. They were slaves; he preached to them of freedom. Their lives were saddened by oppression; he announced the removal of their tyranny. They were degraded; he proclaimed to them moral elevation. In this light how astonishing is their unbelief. We should have expected that the Israelites would have gladly responded to his voice, and have followed him to demand of Pharaoh their release. Equally surprising is the unbelief of men to-day in reference to the Gospel. It announces the moral freedom of humanity, of release from the tyranny of sin, from envy, from disappointment, from degradation, and in place thereof to give enjoyment, rest, and ultimately heaven. Yet men hesitate to believe the glad news, or to receive those who bring it. Is it not surprising that men should reject a Gospel so thoroughly adapted to their moral need. See the folly of unbelief, in that it will not accept a divine freedom of soul when benevolently offered. The tendency of all unbelief is to intensify the slavery of the moral nature.
2. The message he proclaimed was wonderfully simple. It was simply a message of freedom. True, at certain points this proclamation of Israel’s freedom bordered on the supernatural and sublime, as when associated with the mystery of the burning bush, with the progressive revelation of the name of God, and with the difficulties to be overcome in the future; yet this was but natural, as freedom, wherever found, must inevitably be connected with mystery, as it is the work of God. Yet the message of freedom to Israel was simple. Their bondage was acknowledged. Here is a leader. They have the power of numbers; They have the aid of Heaven. What great mystery, then, in its practical side, could their freedom present? And so the truth of the Gospel presented for the credence of humanity is simple. It is but a message of moral freedom. True, there are points at which it enters into the mystery of God; but this fact ought to make the freedom more probable, as it is an indication of Divine thought and energy. But unbelief is associated with prejudice, sees difficulties in the most simple truth, and even rejects a freedom which one effort to attain would demonstrate to be true.
3. The message he proclaimed was Divinely authenticated. The Israelites were not called merely to receive the tidings of their freedom upon the bare word of Moses, although that ought to have commanded their attention, but upon the evidence of the Divine power. Moses was empowered to work miracles before them, so that, reasoning from the evidence of sense, they might attain ultimately to the evidence of faith. But miracles will not convince a sceptic. His unbelief will question their reality. Scepticism is well-nigh invincible. It is certainly unreasonable. The gospel of freedom now proclaimed to men is well authenticated by prophecy, and miracle, by its internal consistency and purity, and by its external achievements and progress. It bears Divine credentials. Yet men will not believe it. They call it fable Truly God might well tell Moses that the first sign would not win the confidence of Israel, even though the message he proclaimed was what they needed, was simple in its meaning, was well authenticated in its evidence, and sublimely grand in its destiny. Ministers of Christ know right well, and may truly wonder, that their hearers do not more often embrace the truth upon its first presentation to them, impelled not only by the woe of sin, but also by the well-authenticated grace of God.
II. That the Divine Being mercifully makes provision for the conviction and persuasion of men in reference to the reality of the truth proclaimed; notwithstanding their confirmed unbelief. “And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken to thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river,” etc.
1. This method of treatment is considerate. It would be considerate towards the Israelites; it recognised their degraded position, and their consequent difficulty of entering into a message of freedom, however simple in its terms. Much of the unbelief of the Gospel arises from the moral degradation of men. They consider the freedom of a degraded soul an improbability. This method of treatment is considerate toward the mental and moral condition of the race, and gives men repeated opportunities for examination in reference to the truth. The truth is not arbitrary in its demand of credence. It gives every facility for complete investigation. In fact it is often much more considerate than many who pretend to advocate its claims.
2. This method of treatment is merciful. The Divine Being might have required the Israelites to have credited the message of their freedom on the bare word of Moses; or, He might have given them one token of approval, and then have left them to their own reasonings and effort. But not so. He gave sign after sign, to convince them of the necessity and likelihood of their freedom as declared by Moses. So, we have been repeatedly urged to welcome the salvation of Christ, the glad tidings of the Gospel. Have we not had many tokens of its divinity? Truly we have. God might have left Himself without a witness, but He has not done so, and this merciful arrangement is in harmony with the holy and kindly freedom He offers to our souls.
3. This method of treatment is condescending.
III. That the persistent unbelief of men is likely to awaken evidences of truth indicative of the Divine displeasure. “And the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.”
1. Evidences that recall past sorrows. Moses was to take water from the river, and it should be turned into blood. This would remind the Israelites of the murder of their children in those waters. So if we are persistent in our unbelief, God can make recollections of past grief come anew to our minds with deep significance of woe, to give emphasis to the Gospel He wishes us to welcome.
2. Evidences prophetic of future woe. Who can tell the depth of meaning there would be to Israel in this miracle of the water being turned into blood? It would indicate a strange and unhappy transition in their condition, if they embraced not the message of Moses. And so God will send evidence of the truth to convince the unbelieving which shall but faintly foreshadow their end if they obey not the Gospel.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exo_4:8. These signs were spoken to the ear of reason, if not of sense:—“They will believe the voice of the latter sign.” This is not, perhaps, to be understood as a positive affirmation; for the next verse intimates the possibility that they may require still further evidence. The words appear designed to express the intrinsic adaptedness of the signs to produce belief, or the effect which might be reasonably anticipated from their exhibition. The circumstance strikingly shews the extent of the Divine indulgence. The perverse rejection of the great sign alone would clearly show them unworthy of being favoured with another. But God multiplies mercies, even when judgments are most richly deserved. He gives sign upon sign, as well as line upon line [Bush].
That a true minister, notwitstanding
1. His call.
2. His spiritual preparation.
3. His knowledge of the Divine name.
4. His supreme moral power—and,
5. Intimate communion with God—is exposed to the unbelief of those whom he seeks to benefit.
Miracles at first may miss their end, and not persuade men to faith.
Second miracles may do that which the first failed to effect.
God’s word and promise alone can make miracles themselves effectual means of faith.
Miracles have voices which should command faith and obedience.
“The voice of the first sign:”—
I. It speaks of the thraldrom of man.
II. It speaks of the inability of man to liberate himself therefrom.
III. It speaks of the agency that God has provided for the freedom of man
IV. It speaks of the strange unwillingness of man to credit the tidings of freedom.
Exo_4:9. “Take of the water of the river”—that is, of the river Nile. Thus, it would appear, was a miracle to be wrought for the confirmation of Moses’ calling before the Israelites, and not before the Egyptians; for in that mentioned (Exo_7:17), the waters in the river were to be turned into blood; here the water taken out of the river, this was done before the elders of Israel; but that was turned into blood before Pharaoh, and continued so seven days, to his great annoyance.
The Nile was venerated as a divinity, under the name Hapi, cognate, if not identical, with Apis. Its waters were therefore regarded as sacred, and highly esteemed as salubrious to the drinker, and fertilizing to the soil. If Moses was endowed with the power to turn these waters into blood, it was a pledge that his delegated power should prevail over all the power of Egypt.
This sign also denoted that the time was now at hand when God would judge the Egyptians for the death of the Hebrew infants whose blood they had shed in the waters.
Some would yield to the evidence of the first miracle; others would hesitate till they had seen the second; and others would not believe till they had seen the water of the Nile turned into blood, when poured upon the dry ground [A. Clarke].
The obstinacy of unbelief:—It will reject the truth.
1. In opposition to the word of Him by whom it is brought.
2. In opposition to the Divine power by which it is accompanied.
3. In opposition to the benevolent design it contemplates.
4. In opposition to accumulative demonstration.
God trebleth His indulgence to help the infirmities of His servants.
It is natural to sinful man to mistrust the wonders of God.
Such incredulity may discourage God’s wonder-working instruments in their work.
God knoweth this evil of men, and permits it—but not approves it.
God works not only strange, but terrible signs to make sinners believe.
When God giveth forth His word, water shall blood the land, not water it.
When waters are made blood-guilty, they are justly turned into blood.
Signs demonstrative of God’s power, unto His servants, are vindictive unto His enemies.
God is willing more abundantly to show the truth of His word, and is not sparing in His proofs; the multitude and variety of the miracles corroborate the evidence.
Unbelief shall be left inexcusable, and convicted of a wilful obstinacy.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY THE
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Exo_4:6-7—Leprosy!—In the cabbinical books of the Jews there is a curious tradition about the growth of leprosy, that it began with the walls of a man’s house—then, if he did not repent, it entered his garments—then it affected his body, until it spread over every part—
“His skin grew dry and bloodless, and white scales
Circled with livid purple covered him.
And then his nails grew black, and fell away
From the dull flesh about them, and the bues
Deepened beneath the hard, unmoistened scales.”
So with unbelief, it first affects the walls of the mind—thence extending its corruption to the heart—and onwards through the entire inner man; until death ensues.
Exo_4:6-7—Sceptic Fears!—History relates of David Hume that, having visited the family of the worthy La Roche, where the consolations of the Gospel were practically evidenced, he was afterwards heard to confess that there were moments when, amid all the pleasures of philosophical discovery and the pride of literary fame, he wished that he had never doubted—
“And evermore his eyes about him went,
As if some proved peril he did fear,
Or did misdoubt some ill, whose cause did not appear.”
—Spencer.
Exo_4:6-7—Doubt-Paralysis!—We may as well, says Shepherd, expect a singing bird to be vocal in a receiver where it has little or no air to respire, as expect the genuine exercise of real goodness from the paralysed doubter. As leprosy is the destitution of those physical powers by which sound health can be sustained; so doubt of Divine truth is the destitution of those efficient principles of which the moral and spiritual life can be sustained. The experimentalist may display a vessel from which air has been more or less exhausted, and may tell us that there is nothing pernicious in it, but if we discover a deficiency of support for animal and vegetable life, we shall charge him with a paltry equivocation. Doubt is that air-void vessel, in which the mental, moral, and spiritual life cannot subsist—
“Doubt is the eternal shade by evil cast!
‘The vision and the faculty divine’
Fail when the spirit o’er its empire vast
Throws appetite and crimes.”
—Harris.
Exo_4:6-7—The Divine Touch!—In healing the leper by a touch, our Saviour not only showed His power, but claimed a right that belonged only to the priest, and asserted His own exemption from ceremonial defilement; while in saying “I will, be thou clean,” He assumed a still higher prerogative, and pointed to a more thorough purification of the whole nature:—
“He took a little water in His hand
And laved the sufferer’s brow, and said, ‘Be clean!’
And lo! the scales fell from him, and his blood
Coursed with delicious coolness through his veins,
And his dry palms grew moist, and on his lips
The dewy softness of an infant’s stole.
His leprosy was cleansed, and he fell down
Prostrate at Jesus’ feet, and worshipped Him.”
—Willis.
Exo_4:6-7—The Healer!—It is related that a student once visired Dr. Hodge regarding some doubts entertained by him as to the divinity of Christ, when the venerable man of God at once counselled: The best way to remove your doubts and guard yourself from future and greater troubles is to have Christ in you: learn His life—to trust in Him more—to love Him more; become identified with Him, and your doubts as to His Divinity will disappear:—
“Abide in me, I pray, and I in Thee;
From this good hour, Oh! leave me nevermore,
Then shall the discord cease, the wound be healed,
The life-long bleeding of the soul be o’er.”
—Stowe.
Exo_4:6-7—Sinner Leprous!—What a pitiable, repulsive sight! We pass by a leprous stone unnoticed; it is unconscious of its state, and meant to be trampled under foot. But rising, says Trench, to a step higher in the scale of creation—to an unclean, leprous plant—we become conscious of a slight emotion of dislike; because we see that which might have pleased the eye disfigured. But a leprous human being excites our loathing more than all. It presents our nature in a light so disgusting, that it lessens our pity for him if he be miserable, and excites in us ideas of disease, contamination, and pain:—
“Depart, and come not near
The busy mart, the crowded city, more;
Nor set thy foot on human threshold o’er;
And stay thou not to hear
Voices that call thee in the way.”
But a leprous soul—a sinner—how loathsome above all things! It is the most unclean object in the universe—the soul and essence of pollution—the spectacle which appals angelic hosts and excites deep abhorrence in the mind of God.
Exo_4:6-7—Nil Desperandum!—The healer is God; and who can tell what God can do? A man utterly despairing of his soul’s salvation thought that he might as well be in the woes of hell’s abyss at once. He therefore went to a river, designing to throw himself in; but as he was about to commit the mad deed, he seemed to hear a voice saying to him, “Who can tell?” His thoughts were arrested, and thus began to work on what he had heard. “Yes, who can tell what God can do? Who can tell what purposes God will serve in my recovery?” By such thoughts as these, it pleased God to enable him to shake off the delirium of despair, and to throw himself into the arms of hope in Christ as able to save to the uttermost.
“He came—a leper all unclean and foul:
He left, as fresh as freshest infancy.
So come I to Thy feet, unclean in soul,
So leave I, Lord, cleansed and restored by thee.”
Exo_4:6-7—Illustrations!—Robert Hall, on one occasion, when criticising a sermon in the hearing of the preacher, said: “Yon have no likes in your sermon! You tell us what they are, ‘but not what they are like.’ ” As Hood says, there can be no doubt that for the purpose of teaching, one illustration is worth a thousand abstractions; a sentiment reciprocated by a famous judge of the Supreme Court, who exclaimed to a divine: “I am glad that you employed that touching story ‘to illustrate your thought.’ ” Analogies are the windows of speech; through them truth shines. Ordinary minds fail to perceive truth clearly, unless it is presented to them by expressive imagery, which appeals both to the reason and to the imagination. It is Salter who says that illustrations are like the painting on canvas which, while it charms the eye, also interests the mind. They resemble the incense which flamed on the Jewish altar, and which, while it arrested the eye with its cloudy pillar, regaled the senses with its fragrance—
“Wherefore, it is wise and well—to guide the mind aright—
So to talk of spirit by analogy with substance:
And analogy is a truer guide than many teachers tell of.
Similitudes are scattered round to help us—not to hurt us;
MOSES in his every type, and the greater than a Moses, in His parables,
Preach in terms that all may learn the philosophic lessons of analogy.”
—Tupper.
Exo_4:6-7—Definite Result!—Look at that parent bird picking at the nest which she has built for her tender offspring! See how she breaks off one twig after another—exciting her brood to leave their nest and soar on high amid the sunshine of heaven. And if they will not leave it, she will break it further and further until it is utterly broken up, and they are forced to fly or fall. They would prefer to linger in downy ease; the mother would teach them to fly. Her aim is definite—her purpose one. So God teaches; and never without a design worthy of Him self. And that design is His own glory in man’s everlasting good—
“Oh! I doubt not through the ages one in. creasing purpose runs,
And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the sun.”
—Tennyson.
Exo_4:8-9—-Human Folly!—One can hardly conceive a poor way worn wretch, as he lies on the arid waste, panting with blackened lips and swollen tongue, striking the kind traveller’s flask from his hand, and spilling the precious water among the blistering sands. The slave boy—now an African bishop—exulted gleefully when a British cruiser snapped the fetters from his youthful limbs and bore him to free Liberia. Can folly surpass that insensate madness which makes the sinner spurn the clear, cool, crystal drops of life, and perversely traverse the wilds of sin? Can madness outrival that supreme folly which leads the bapless bondsman of sin to hug the chains of condemnation, and obstinately kiss the fetters of wrath?
“Woe; woe to the sinner who lives in his sin,
Unrighteous without, and unholy within:
Each thought of his heart, and each look of his eye
Is tainted with sin, and his doom is to die.”
—Hunter.
Exo_4:8-9—Unbelief and the Bible!—An infidel said that there was one thing which marred all the pleasures of his life: whereupon a friend enquired of him what it was. He quickly responded, “I am afraid the Bible is true; if I could know for certain that death is an eternal sleep, I should be happy; but the thought that, if the Bible is true, my soul is lost for ever, stings me like a thorn—pierces me like a sword.”
“The avenging horror of a conscious mind,
Whose deadly fear anticipates the blow,
And sees no end of punishment and woe;
But looks for more, at the last gasp of breath;
This makes a hell on earth, and life a death.”
—Lucretius.
Exo_4:8-9—First Sign!—Few but have observed a startling picture suspended on the walls of our metropolitan and suburban railway stations. It is a lion—with shaggy mane, and eyes glaring half with anger, half with fear. Around its agile form are the meshes of a net.—
1. That net speaks of the thraldom of the monarch of the forest.
2. That net speaks of the inability of the lion-king to free himself. And,
3. That net speaks of the agency by which the wild beast is to have liberty; for a tiny mouse is busily employed nibbling the meshes one by one. None can mistake the expression of that animal’s eye—its eagelness to escape—its gleesomeness as it feels one mesh after another give way. Alas! That picture does not speak of what “the voice of the first sign” does:—unwillingness to believe in freedom:—
“He is the freeman whom the truth makes free,
And all are slaves beside. There’s not a chain
That hellish foes confederate for his harm
Can wind around him, but he casts it off.”
—Cowper.
Exo_4:8-9—Obstinate Unbelief!—Away at sea, the mariner will sometimes come upon a bottle floating upon the wide waste of waters. For month—ay, years—the waters have been surging round and round it, and yet not a drop is within. So it is with our hearts, unbelief closes them so that that the water of life cannot fill them; and no matter how numerous and copious mercy’s showers, they remain persistently sealed. The Orientals have a proverb—
“The cocoa-palm leaves infidels without excuse,
For nine and ninety are its common uses;
In hardened carelessness they wait a hundredth use,
Until some new discovery introduces!”
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv2, 6, 14 rod Sign of the rod = power Psa 110:2;…
rod Sign of the rod = power Psa 110:2; Psa 2:9; Rev 2:27. It was Moses’ shepherd’s crook, the tool of his calling. Cast down, it became a serpent; taken up in faith, it became "the rod of God"; Exo 4:20; Exo 7:12. (See Scofield "Exo 7:12")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v10 The Fears of Moses Reproved
The Fears of Moses Reproved
v. 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. The great fear of Moses now made him protest his oratorical inability. which made it impossible for him to do justice to the message of the Lord and therefore threatened failure to the whole plan. He lacked both the natural gift of facile speech and the practice before an audience, and this ability had not been imparted to him in the course of this conversation.
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v. 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? The excuse of Moses might have weight with men, but not with the Lord, who has absolute power over all the senses, being able to give the full use of them or to withdraw this in whole or in part.
v. 12. Now, therefore, go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. It was an easy matter for the Lord to impart divine eloquence to Moses, both as to facility of speech and as to choice of the most fitting words. All reasonable objections of Moses were now removed.
v. 13. And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray Thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt send. The misgivings of Moses were still so great that he wanted the mission to be taken care of by anyone else than himself. The weakness of his flesh was so overpowering that his words sound like a flat refusal.
v. 14. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said, Is not Aaron, the Levite, thy brother? The Lord implied that Aaron surely was more worthy of being called a descendant of Levi than Moses with his hesitation. I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee, for the Lord had arranged for this; and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. Aaron could indeed make fine speeches, and he would be delighted to be connected with this mission as the spokesman.
v. 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.
v. 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, to make known to him both the form and the contents of his speeches to the people. As Moses, the prophet, speaks only what God commands him to say, thus Aaron was to defer to Moses in stating only what Moses told him. "He that has the Word of God and is a believer has the Spirit and the power of God, also divine wisdom, truth, heart, mind, and disposition, and everything that pertains to God. " (Luther. )
v. 17. And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs. The shepherd’s staff was to be a symbol of the divine signs which were to be performed by the hand of Moses. The Lord has patience with our weakness and does not expect too much of us, but strengthens us to remain steadfast in His service and obedience.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv4, 6, 8, 10, 14 take it by the tail
take it by the tail
"pick it up by the tail" or "grasp it by the tail"
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became a staff
"turned into a rod" or "changed into a staff"
the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were three of their ancestors. They all worshiped the same God.
translationWords
God
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 4:3 Across the ancient Near East, the snake was…
4:3 Across the ancient Near East, the snake was a symbol of both death and healing. The person who demonstrated power in these areas was powerful indeed.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.