Why was Moses worried that the Israelites would not believe him?

Moses remembered how his earlier attempt to help his people had been rejected, so he feared they would again say that the LORD had not appeared to him. Even though God had already said they would listen, past hurt and his sense of weakness weighed on him. God did not brush this off, but answered it kindly by giving him clear signs to show the people. This helps us see how fear and old disappointments can make trust hard, and how God often strengthens faith with real helps, not just words.

What is the meaning of Moses’ rod turning into a serpent and back again?

The rod turning into a serpent and then back into a rod shows that God is in control of nature and can change things by his word. The rod was just a shepherd’s staff, something lowly and common, yet God used it to show his power and to mark Moses as his servant. The sign was meant to make the people believe that the God of their fathers had truly appeared to Moses. It also hints that God can confront and overcome the power that held his people down.

Why did God make Moses’ hand leprous and then heal it?

God told Moses to put his hand into his bosom, and when he pulled it out it was leprous like snow, then healthy again the second time. This sign shows that sickness and healing are both in God’s hand. It taught Moses and Israel that God could both send and remove trouble, so the coming rescue from Egypt would be clearly from God, not from Moses’ own strength. It was also another witness so that, if they doubted the first sign, they might believe when they saw God’s power to wound and to heal.

Why did God give a third sign about water from the river becoming blood?

The third sign was that water taken from the river and poured on dry land would become blood. This looked ahead to what God would later do in Egypt and showed that he ruled even over the Nile, which was the life of the country. If the people did not believe the first two signs, this stronger sign would show how serious it was to doubt God’s word. It warned that the same God who could comfort them in bondage could also bring judgment on their enemies if they would trust and follow him.

How did God answer Moses’ claim that he was slow of speech?

When Moses said he was not eloquent and was slow of speech and tongue, God reminded him who made the mouth, the deaf, the blind, and the seeing. God was not asking Moses to trust his own speaking skill, but to trust the One who gave speech in the first place. God promised, “I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” Later, he also provided Aaron to speak for him. This shows that God does not depend on human polish, but gives words and help to those he sends.

Why did God become angry with Moses and yet give him Aaron as a helper?

After many answers and signs, Moses still tried to avoid the task, asking God to send someone else. This crossed the line from fear into holding back from obedience, and God’s anger was kindled. Yet even in anger, God did not cast Moses away. Instead, he appointed Aaron, who could speak well, to be Moses’ spokesman. Moses would receive God’s words, and Aaron would pass them on. This shows both that God expects us to obey his call and that he kindly provides partners when we feel our limits.

What does God mean when he calls Israel his firstborn son?

When God tells Moses to say to Pharaoh, “Israel is my son, even my firstborn,” he is saying that this people is especially dear to him and belongs to him in a close way. A firstborn son in that time had a special place in the family. God warns Pharaoh that if he refuses to let Israel go so they may serve God, then God will strike Pharaoh’s own firstborn. This picture shows God’s deep care for his people and the seriousness of standing against his purpose to set them free.

Why did God seek to kill Moses at the inn, and what did Zipporah do?

This is a hard part of the story and has been understood in more than one way, but the passage clearly links it to circumcision. At the inn, the LORD met Moses and sought to kill him, likely by a sudden sickness. Zipporah quickly circumcised their son with a sharp stone and touched the foreskin to Moses’ feet, calling him a “bloody husband” because of the circumcision. Then God let him go. This shows that God’s own servant could not ignore God’s covenant sign while going to speak for him.

How did the people of Israel respond when Moses and Aaron spoke to them?

Moses and Aaron gathered the elders of Israel. Aaron spoke all the words God had given Moses and did the signs in front of the people. The passage says plainly that the people believed. When they heard that the LORD had visited them and seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped. This answers Moses’ earlier fear that they would not listen. It also shows that God’s signs, joined with his care for their suffering, moved their hearts to faith and to worship.

What does this passage teach about God using weak and fearful people?

In this story, Moses is full of doubts about himself. He fears the people will not believe him, he feels unable to speak well, and he even tries to avoid the call. God does not pick someone strong in himself, but someone who knows his own weakness. Then God covers those weak places with his own presence, power, and the help of Aaron. The signs, the promise “I will be with thy mouth,” and the success among the elders all show that God often works through those who feel least able, so that the honor goes to him.

Exod.4.1

Exodus 4:1

KJV

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.

Moses’ Staff

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 it.

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 unto thee.

Moses’ Hand

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, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.

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 land.

The Appointment of Aaron

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.

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?

12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.

14 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

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.

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.

17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.

Moses Leaves for Egypt

18 ¶ And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

19 And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.

20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

21 And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

24 ¶ And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.

25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.

26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

The People Believe Moses and Aaron

27 ¶ And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.

28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.

29 ¶ And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:

30 And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

31 And the people believed: and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

Cross References

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