Exodus

Chapter 4

Summary

Exodus 4 details Moses’ initial hesitation and the LORD’s patient response as He provided signs to confirm the divine mission. the LORD gave Moses the power to perform miracles with his staff and empowered his brother Aaron to serve as his spokesman. After receiving his father-in-law Jethro's blessing, Moses set out for Egypt with his family. Following a mysterious and solemn encounter on the journey—emphasizing the necessity of covenant obedience (circumcision)—Moses met Aaron in the wilderness. Together, they gathered the elders of Israel, who believed and worshipped the LORD when they saw the signs and heard that He had seen their cries.

But Moses answered, "What if they don't believe me or listen to what I say? They might say, 'the LORD never appeared to you.'"

Then the LORD asked him, "What is that in your hand?" Moses replied, "A staff."

God said, "Throw it on the ground." When Moses threw it down, it turned into a snake, and Moses ran away from it!

But the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and grab it by the tail." So Moses reached out and caught it, and it turned back into a staff in his hand.

God explained, "This is so they may believe that the LORD, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has really appeared to you."

Then the LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." Moses did so, and when he took it out, his hand was covered in a white disease like snow.

"Put your hand back into your cloak," God said. So Moses did, and when he pulled it out again, it was completely healed like the rest of his skin.

the LORD said, "If they don't believe you or follow the first sign, they will believe the message of the second sign."

"And if they don't believe these two signs or listen to you, then take some water from the Nile River and pour it on the dry land. The water you take will turn into blood on the ground."

Moses said to the LORD, "O LORD, I have [1] (never been a good speaker), not in the past and not even since you have been talking to me. I struggle to speak clearly and I am [2] (slow with words)."

the LORD said to him, "[3] (Who made a person's mouth)? Who makes them unable to speak or hear? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD?"

"Now go! I will be with your mouth and I will teach you the exact words to say."

But Moses pleaded, "O My Lord, [4] (please send someone else)!"

At this, the LORD became angry with Moses. He said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he is a good speaker. He is actually on his way to meet you right now and will be very happy to see you."

"You will speak to him and tell him what to say. I will be with both of you when you speak and show you both what to do."

"He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and you will be like God to him, telling him what to say."

"And make sure you take this staff with you, so you can perform the miraculous signs with it."

So Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said, "Please let me return to my family in Egypt to see if they are still alive." Jethro told him, "Go in peace."

While Moses was still in Midian, the LORD told him, "Go back to Egypt, because all the men who wanted to kill you are now dead."

So Moses took his wife and his sons and put them on a donkey to return to Egypt. He also carried the staff of God in his hand.

the LORD told Moses, "When you return to Egypt, make sure you perform all the miracles I have given you the power to do before Pharaoh. But I will make his heart stubborn, and he will not let the people go."

Then you will tell Pharaoh: 'This is what the LORD says: [5] (Israel is my firstborn son).'

'I told you to let my son go so he may worship me, but you refused. Therefore, I will kill your firstborn son.'

On the journey, at a place where they stopped for the night, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.

But Zipporah took a sharp stone, performed the circumcision on her son, and touched the skin to Moses' feet. She said, "To me, you are a husband of blood."

So the LORD let him go. She used the phrase "husband of blood" because of the circumcision.

Meanwhile, the LORD said to Aaron, "Go into the desert to meet Moses." So Aaron went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.

Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had said and about all the miracles He had commanded him to perform.

Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered all the leaders of the Israelites.

Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses, and Moses performed the signs in front of the people.

When the people heard that the LORD had visited the Israelites and seen their suffering, they believed and bowed their heads and worshipped.

Notes

[1]Hebrew: אִישׁ דְּבָרִים לֹא אָנֹכִי (Ish Devarim Lo Anoki). Literally 'I am not a man of words.' Moses' objection emphasizes his lack of rhetorical skill.

[2]Hebrew: כְּבַד פֶּה (Kevad Peh). Literally 'Heavy of mouth.' It suggests a physical or psychological difficulty in speaking clearly.

[3]Hebrew: מִי שָׂם פֶּה לָאָדָם (Mi sam peh la-adam). the LORD's response identifies Him as the Creator of human faculty, implying His ability to overcome any physical limitation.

[4]Hebrew: שְׁלַח נָא בְּיַד תִּשְׁלָח (Shelach na be-yad tishlach). A Hebrew idiom for 'Send by anyone else you choose.' Moses' final reluctance reveals his deep insecurity.

[5]Hebrew: בְּנִי בְכֹרִי יִשְׂרָאֵל (Beni Bekori Yisrael). This familial language establishes a father-son relationship between the LORD and the nation.