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][source]
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. [source][source][source]
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. [source][source][source]
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). [source][source][source]
"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][source]
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. [source][source][source]