Exodus 4:1-9

Exodus 4:1-9

[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. [2] And the LORD  said  unto him, What is that in thine hand?  And he said,  A rod.  [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  [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:  [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  [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.  [7] And he said,  thine hand  into thy bosom  again.  his hand  into his bosom  again;  and plucked  it out of his bosom,  and, behold, it was turned again  as his other flesh.  [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.  [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 

What does Exodus 4:1-9 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

God gave Moses three miracles to convince the Israelites that the God of their fathers had appeared to him. They also served to bolster Moses" faith. Moses had left Egypt and the Israelites with a clouded reputation under the sentence of death, and he had been away for a long time. He needed to prove to his brethren that they could trust and believe him. Not only were these miracles strong proofs of God"s power, but they appear to have had special significance for the Israelites as well (cf. Exodus 4:8). [1]
God probably intended the first miracle, of the staff and serpent ( Exodus 4:2-5), to assure Moses and the Israelites that He was placing the satanic power of Egypt under his authoritative control. This was the power before which Moses had previously fled. Moses" shepherd staff became a symbol of authority in his hand, a virtual scepter. The serpent represented the deadly power of Egypt that sought to kill the Israelites, and Moses in particular. The Pharaohs wore a metal cobra around their heads. It was a common symbol of the nation of Egypt. However the serpent also stood for the great enemy of man behind that power, Satan, who had been the foe of the seed of the woman since the Fall ( Genesis 3:15). Moses" ability to turn the serpent into his rod by seizing its tail would have encouraged the Israelites. They should have believed that God had enabled him to overcome the cunning and might of Egypt and to exercise authority over its fearful power. This was a sign that God would bless Moses" leadership.
The second miracle, of the leprous hand ( Exodus 4:6-7), evidently assured Moses that God would bring him and the Israelites out of their defiling environment and heal them. But first He would punish the Egyptians with crippling afflictions. Presently the Israelites were unclean because of their confinement in wicked Egypt. Moses" hand was the instrument of his strength. As such it was a good symbol of Moses, himself the instrument of God"s strength in delivering the Israelites, and Israel, God"s instrument for blessing the world. [2] Moses" hand would also have suggested to Pharaoh that Yahweh could afflict or deliver through His representative at will. The wholeness of Moses" hand may have attested to God"s delegation of divine power to him.
The third miracle, of the water turned into blood ( Exodus 4:9), provided assurance that God would humiliate the Egyptians by spoiling what they regarded as a divine source of life. The Egyptians identified the Nile with the Egyptian god Osiris and credited it with all good and prosperity in their national life. Blood was and is a symbol of life poured out in death (cf. Leviticus 17:11). Moses possessed the power to change the life-giving water of the Nile into blood. The Israelites would have concluded that he also had power to destroy the gods of Egypt and punish the land with death (cf. Exodus 7:14-24).
"Like Abel"s blood that cried out from the ground, so would the infants" whose lives had been demanded by Pharaoh ( Exodus 1:22)." [3]
Each of these signs attested Yahweh"s creative power. Normally at least two witnesses were necessary to establish credibility under the Mosaic Law ( Deuteronomy 19:15; et al.). A third witness further strengthened the veracity of the testimony. Here God gave Moses three witnesses to confirm His prophet"s divine calling and enablement. God entrusted Moses with His powerful word and endowed him with His mighty power. He was the first prophet with the power to perform miracles.