Exodus 4

          Verses 1-9: Despite God’s promises – including the revelation of His name – to Moses, Moses is still not ready to commit to the task that God is calling him to. His third objection in verse 1 is a fear that the Israelites will not believe him when he says that God sent him. In response to this, God performs two miracles for Moses. He tells Moses to cast his rod upon the ground. Moses does so, and the shepherd’s staff instantly becomes a snake. (v.3) This was no mere illusion, for the text says that Moses fled from it. It was an actual, living snake, and this is significant for two reasons. One, the snake was an oft used symbol in Egyptian iconography and in their mythology. Two, the serpent, when seen in scripture, is always representative of Satan. (Genesis 3:1) When God tells Moses to grab the serpent by the tail – as opposed to the neck which would have protected Moses from getting bitten – He was, in effect, showing Moses that he would have victory over Pharaoh by God’s power and authority. The snake is turned back into a staff once more. (v.4) By this one miraculous sign, God was demonstrating His power not only over Satan and the false gods of the Egyptians, but, by extension, the Pharaoh himself, also an agent of the devil.
          Next, God tells Moses to put his hand inside his cloak. When Moses withdraws it he is stunned and horrified to see it white with leprosy. (v.6) God then tells him to put it back inside his cloak, and after Moses withdraws it a second time it’s made whole and clean. (v.7) God tells Moses that these two signs will prove to the Israelites that it is the God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that has sent Moses unto them. (v.5, 8) But, if they won’t believe those two miracles, then God tells Moses to draw up water from the Nile river and pour it out upon the land. It will be turned to blood, and then they will believe. (v.9) This is a foreshadowing of the first plague. (Exodus 7:19)
 
         Verses 10-17: Moses’ final excuse to God for why he’s not the right man for this job is that he’s not eloquent. “…I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” (v.10) Eloquence and oratory skills were highly prized among the Egyptians, and Moses is explaining to God that he’s not an orator. He wouldn’t know what to say to Pharaoh to convince him to let the Israelites go. Even after God has already told Moses that He will be with him, and that Pharaoh will refuse Moses’ requests at first, Moses still thinks that he’s going into this alone, that it will be up to him to convince Pharaoh to free the children of Israel. Once again, God patiently assures Moses that He will tell him what to say. (v.12) God also reminds Moses that He is sovereign above all things, including the tongues of men. (Psalm 94:9, 146:8, Matthew 11:5, Luke 1:20, 64)
         But Moses is still not convinced, and he finally, bluntly, asks God to send someone else. (v.13) At this point God’s patience with Moses is at an end, and He tells Moses that He will send Aaron, Moses’ brother, to go with Moses, but that God will still speak to Moses and Moses will relay the messages to Aaron. Aaron will be the one to stand and speak before the Israelites and before Pharaoh. (v.14-16) (Deuteronomy 5:31) God’s final command to Moses is to take up his rod by which he will do the miracles that God will perform through him as signs to the Israelites and to Pharaoh. (v.17)
 
           Verses 18-23: Moses returns to Jethro and asks permission to return to Egypt to free his people. Jethro gives his blessing. (v.18) The Lord then informs Moses that it’s safe for him to return to Egypt “…for all the men are dead which sought thy life.” (v.19) So Moses gathers his family and his shepherd’s staff and departs for Egypt. (v.20) Along the way, God adds further instruction for Moses, repeating that he is to perform the signs and wonders that God showed him earlier at the burning bush. But then God adds, “I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.” (v.21)
          In verse 22, God refers to the nation of Israel as “…My son, even my firstborn.” (Isaiah 63:16, 64:8, Hosea 11:1, Romans 9:4, 2 Corinthians 6:17-18) Then, in verse 23, God explicitly states that Moses is to tell Pharaoh that if he doesn’t let the children of Israel go, God “…will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.” (Exodus 12:29, Psalm 105:36, 135:8, 136:10) There is an interesting dichotomy here in that God has displayed a pattern of most often choosing the second – or third or fourth – born son rather than the firstborn. With the exception of Abram/Abraham (Genesis 11:27, 12:1), God has selected the younger/youngest son for a special calling, i.e. Abel over Cain, Jacob over Esau, Joseph and Judah over Reuben, and, eventually, David, the youngest of all the sons of Jesse, as the second king of Israel. Yet here in this passage God refers to the children of Israel as His firstborn, and He has marked them as His chosen people ever since, even to our present day.
 
          Verse 21: This is a good spot to park for a moment and address the issue that has caused much debate about the sovereignty of God and His divine will versus human free will and choice. As I noted in my commentary of Exodus 3, there are ten references in the first 14 chapters of this book that clearly state that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. But, at the same time, there’s verses that also clearly state Pharaoh hardened his own heart. (Exodus 8:15, 19, 32, 9:7, 34-35) The central question, to me at least, is whether or not God gave Pharaoh the opportunity to repent first before the judgment, or whether God chose to reject Pharaoh from the very beginning since He knew that Pharaoh would never repent, despite all the proofs of God’s existence and His power and sovereignty over all things.
         As I’ve stated before, 2 Peter 3:9 says that God is longsuffering, “…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” John 3:16 states that God “…so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Yet, in Romans 9, Paul addresses this very topic of Pharaoh and God’s sovereign election in verses 17 and 18: “For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” Then, in verses 20 and 21, Paul says, “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”
        In one sense, it seems that God deliberately hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would serve as a vessel of dishonor in order that God’s power and majesty and sovereignty would be known throughout the whole earth. Paul even quotes Exodus 33:19 in verse 15: “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” The logical conclusion to this is stated in verse 18: “…whom He will He hardeneth.” Therefore, it seems that Paul is directly contradicting what Jesus Himself stated in John 3:16 and what Peter echoed in his epistle. If God granted mankind free will to either choose or reject Him, and if God is not willing that any should perish, but that ALL come to repentance, why does He deliberately harden some men’s hearts and speak in parables so that some will never understand, “…lest their sins should be forgiven them.” (Mark 4:12) Do we truly possess free will, or is that merely an illusion? Has God already determined long before each of us is born whom He will save and who will be vessel of dishonor with no hope whatsoever of salvation?
         When Moses meets Pharaoh for the first time in Exodus 5:1 and relays God’s message to him, Pharaoh’s response in verse 2 is, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.” Pharaoh knew of God because of the presence of the Israelites. Ever since the arrival of Joseph in Egypt four hundred years earlier, all of Egypt knew of the God of Jacob and the children of Israel. The mention of high priests such as Melchizedek and Jethro, who were of other nations and people groups that were not related to Abraham and his chosen seed, indicates that God was known to all the world at this time, long before the children of Israel appeared on the scene. Paul states in Romans 1:19-20 that “…the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made…”. God has revealed Himself to His creation in a variety of ways, the primary one being conscience. All of us are born with an innate and subconscious knowledge of what is right and wrong. He is also revealed in the order and design of the natural world around us. Our ability to question our existence, to instinctively seek out a purpose and an answer to the existential question, “Why am I here?” is external evidence of our souls seeking the One who made us.
        Thus, Paul concludes verse 20 by saying, “…they are without excuse.” Pharaoh, like so many of us today, rejected his conscience as well as the knowledge passed down to him from his forefathers who knew Jacob and Joseph. He rejected the children of Israel by continuing the oppression and enslavement of them begun by his grandfather, thus rejecting and rebelling against God Himself. Pharaoh did exactly what Paul describes in verses 21-25 of Romans 1. “…they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful.” (v.21). “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” (v.22) “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator…” (v.25) The many false gods of the Egyptians – as well as those of the heathen nations that currently inhabited the promised land at that time – were depicted in writings and drawings of that time as animals, or as celestial bodies, such as the sun god Ra. The Egyptians elevated the created things – the animals, sun, moon, stars, etc – above the Creator, thus rejecting God and causing their consciences to be seared. (I Timothy 4:2)
         Therefore, both the truths stated in John 3:16, 2 Peter 3:9, Mark 4:12, and Romans 1 are correct. God has revealed Himself to man in a variety of ways so that all of us are without excuse. (Romans 1:20) Some of us, of our own free will, have rejected that truth, as in the case of Pharaoh. As a result, God hardens the hearts and sears the consciences of those who have willfully, continually rejected Him and His truth. He deliberately blinds their eyes and ears as a form of judgement. (Mark 4:12) Furthermore, He gives them over to “…vile affections…” (Romans 1:26) and “…a reprobate mind…” (Romans 1:28) as a form of judgment. This is exactly what happened to Pharaoh throughout chapters 5-14 of Exodus. He continually and willfully rejected Moses and defied God, and thus God hardened his heart as a form of divine judgement.
        What complicates all of this, and what is hard for us with our finite, temporal minds to fully understand, is that God already knows who will reject Him and who will accept Him. It’s not that He deliberately chooses whom He will save and whom He will condemn without even giving us the opportunity to repent; it’s that He merely knows who will eventually receive Him as Lord and savior and who will persist in their sin and pride and rebellion against him. Commentary from my study Bible on this passage: “One must remember that God deserves the right to judge sin and the sinner whenever He desires. The sinner is subject to the wrath of God at any point in his/her life. God has the right to judge sin in any way He so desires the first time one commits sin. It is really the mercy of God that allows the sinner to continue to live. Pharaoh sinned knowingly, willfully and continually. (Exodus 9:34)” We are born sinners, and we deserve the fate of Hell for our sin. God could have withdrawn completely from His creation the moment Adam and Eve ate that forbidden fruit. But He didn’t. He loved us so greatly, and He desired so greatly to restore the fellowship and communion that was lost because of sin that He devised the plan of salvation by sending His only begotten son to die for all mankind.
         But the opportunities that God grants each of us to repent of our sin and turn to him are not infinite. As in the case of Pharaoh, God may give sinners only so many chances and then, after they consistently refuse Him, He may withdraw his mercy and execute judgment at any time. He will, in effect, give them what they desire: the freedom to continue in their pride, rebellion and wickedness. Then, after they die and stand before Him, He will execute the final judgment: “…Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41) But before that, while they persist in their sin in this life, God will use them in spite of their rebellion to bring about His honor and glory, just as He did with Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
 
          Verses 24-26: This brief interlude, which takes place during the journey to Egypt, is a bit confusing. But from the little information that we are given in these three verses, we can conclude that Moses did not completely obey God regarding his calling. Though it never clearly states anywhere in chapters 3 and 4, we can safely assume that God commanded Moses to circumcise his sons, just as Abraham did with himself and all his house when God first initiated His covenant with him. So it appears that, for whatever reason, only one of Moses’ sons was circumcised, and thus, God’s anger is kindled against Moses, and He seeks to kill him. (v.24)
         According to my Moody Bible Commentary, “The death threat was probably some life threatening illness but the exact nature is not clear.” Therefore, it’s up to Zipporah to perform the ritual, which she very likely found disgusting and repugnant due to her non-Israelite origins. Her words in verse 26 can be interpreted as a declaration to Moses that he is her bridegroom a second time because her action stays God’s judgment and delivers Moses from certain death. This also explains why God later tells Aaron to meet Moses back at Mount Horeb. (v.27) God’s punishment for Moses required that he and his family return home to Midian. According to Moody, “The significance of this passage is twofold. First, it demonstrated that if Moses was to be the spokesman for the covenant-keeping God of Abraham, he needed to keep the provisions of the covenant (Genesis 17:9-22). Second, it foreshadowed the requirement that those participating in the Passover were required to be circumcised (Exodus 12:43-48).”
           
            Verses 27-31: God tells Aaron to go meet Moses at Mount Horeb. Aaron, presumably, has been living in Egypt this whole time, and his reunion with his younger brother is a joyful one. (v.27) Moses relays to Aaron all that God has told him, and then they go to Egypt to meet with all the elders of Israel. As God promised, Aaron does all the speaking for Moses, and he also performs the miracles for the people that God showed Moses. (v.30) And, as God had also promised, the children of Israel believe when they witness the signs and wonders and hear Aaron’s words. They respond to this belief by bowing their heads and worshiping YAHWEH, the Lord God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the great IAM.