DBG - January 21 - Exodus 4-6

In this chapter continues the Moses’s encounter with God at the burning bush and his return to Egypt.

vs. 1 – Moses’s third excuse is that no one will believe his claim that God had spoken to him.  God gives him three signs to prove the validity of his claims.

vs. 2-5 – The first sign is casting down his shepherd’s staff, it becomes a serpent, and when he picks it up and it becomes a staff again.  The serpent is a common picture of the devil, so this illustrates that he is not working through Satan and in fact is working through greater power than him.

vs. 6-8 – The second sign is that he would be able to put his hand within his coat, pull it out, and it would be leprous.  He could repeat the process, and it would be made whole.  Leprosy is a picture of sin and death.  This illustrates the cleansing and deliverance God would perform on His people.

vs. 9 – The third sign is that he could pour water from the Nile on the ground and it would become blood.  This speaks of the judgment against Egypt, whose very existence relied on the Nile.  It may also represent judgment against Egypt for the drowning of the Hebrew infants.

vs. 10-12 – Moses’s fourth excuse is that he is not a good public speaker.  This is a common excuse, even made by others in the Bible like Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:6).  The confidence of the servant of God does not come through natural talent but the faith that God will supply the needed message.

vs. 13 – The gist of this verse is that Moses wanted God to send someone else, even after God had dealt patiently with Moses and graciously countered every excuse made.  That someone else may be hinted at as the Messiah.  Regardless, Moses’s faith still rebelled against following God’s call.

vs. 14-17 – God counters the unbelief of Moses by appointing his brother Aaron to aid him.  God will tell Moses what to say, and Moses would then tell Aaron what to say.  Moses is to act as mediator between God and men, which we will see him do many times.  It is interesting to me that the Scripture does not indicate that Aaron delivers any messages, only stating Moses spoke.  The authority stays with Moses even if it is not his mouth speaking. 

vs. 18-20 – Both God and his father-in-law give Moses permission to go back to Egypt.

vs. 21-23 – God reveals how things are going to playout.  God would work wonders through Moses and Pharaoh would refuse to let Israel go.  Because he so refused, the judgment would be the death of the firstborn son in the Passover, see 12:29-32.

vs. 24-26 – A.C. Gaebelein comments on this strange event: “What comes next is closely connected with the message to Pharaoh. There was a stumbling block in Moses’ family. Circumcision, which stands for the sentence of death, had not been executed in the case of one of Moses’ sons. No doubt Zipporah made objections to this rite and kept her husband back from doing what he Knew was imperative. This failure of Moses stood in his way to carry out the divine commission. The hand of the Lord was upon Moses, and he was in danger of being cut off for his sin, for he had been disobedient and yielded to his wife. Then Zipporah is forced to do herself what she hated and the reproach was removed. The words ‘surely a bloody husband art thou to me,’ were addressed to Moses. She had been forced, as it were, to purchase him again by the shedding of the blood of her beloved son. She received him back as one who had been in the realm of death and was joined to him anew. It must have been there that Moses brought the sacrifice of separation by sending Zipporah and the sons back to Jethro (chapter 18:2).”

vs. 27-28 – God sends Aaron to met Moses where he learns of God’s purpose and plan to deliver Israel.

vs. 29-31 – The initial reaction of the Hebrews is joy at the prospect of deliverance.  This was, of course, after they had seen the signs God gave to Moses, a characteristic they will retain through the centuries (I Corinthians 1:22, etc.).  Their enthusiasm will wain as their situation grows more difficult before God draws them out.

In this chapter we see the first demand made of Pharaoh and his rough response.

vs. 1 – The initial request is not for full emancipation of the Hebrews, but for them to be released for a few days from their labors to conduct a religious ceremony in the desert.  Pharaoh would doubtless have rejected the call for full freedom out of hand.  The request begins smaller and escalates along with Pharaoh’s resistance. 

vs. 2 – Pharaoh does not recognize the authority of Jehovah, dismissing any gods that were not part of the Egyptian pantheon.

vs. 3 – The request is essentially for the enslaved Hebrews to have a week off to conduct their religious ceremony lest their God punish them.  Even to a pagan such a request is not unreasonable.  Every ancient religious system went to great lengths to appease its gods so they did not send retribution against their followers.  To Pharaoh this is a matter of principle.  He will not grant the Hebrews or their God any ground in the matter.

vs. 4-9 – Pharaoh determines to break the will of the Hebrews by increasing their work load.  Most of the Hebrew slaves seem to have been engaged in building projects made from bricks.  Part of the increased workload was that the straw that was used in making bricks was no longer delivered to them.  The slaves had to go and fetch the straw themselves from the fields and process it themselves.  So increased the workload required to meet the increased quota.

vs. 10-12 – To meet the expected quotas, the desperate Hebrews resort to using whatever they can find.  Generally the straw would have been the stalks left after harvesting wheat or barley.  Now they are using whatever can be scrounged from the fields.

vs. 13-18 – The Hebrews are unable to meet the assigned quotas and are ill treated by their Egyptian masters.  Their situation has only grown worse since Moses appeared.

vs. 19-21 – The Hebrews blame Moses for their situation.  This is going to happen a lot as we continue.

vs. 22-23 – Moses acts as mediator.  He takes the complaint to God and allows Him to respond.

In this chapter we see God’s promise of deliverance and the lineage of Moses and Aaron.

vs. 1 – God responds that the present hard times do mean deliverance will not come.

vs. 2-8 – God here links the deliverance of Israel to the covenant promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Genesis 12:1-3, etc.

vs. 9 – It is often overlooked that just as God was working through Pharaoh’s hard heart, He was also working through the hardened hearts of His people.  He constantly has to prove to them Who He is and His care for them.

vs. 10-13 – God’s plan does not change because of the hearts of Pharaoh or His people.  He again commissions to Moses to demand that Pharaoh let the Israelites go.  It is still not a demand for full emancipation as we will see, but it is escalating to it.

vs. 14-16 – The only genealogical section in Exodus begins here. It opens with the songs of the three eldest sons of Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, and Levi.  No other tribes are covered as with Levit the focus shifts to the family of Moses and Aaron.

vs. 17-25 – Here is the history of the descendants of Levi with special emphasis on the lines of Moses and Aaron.  They are the sons of Amram, who is the son of Kohath, who is the son of Levi. 

vs. 23-25 – The family of Aaron is important to note as they will become the high priests.

vs. 25-30 – These final verses serve as a transition from genealogy back to narrative.  We see that vs. 30 is a repetition of the content of vs. 12.

God can move swiftly when He desires.  That is what we often want and expect.  He could have allowed Pharaoh to give into Moses’s first request and we could skip maybe ten chapters.  But God is working something greater than just bringing His people home.  He is going to leave no doubt that He is the Almighty.  All will know that it was He, not a king or a revolutionary, that led Israel out of Egypt.  We would do well to remember that when God does not when or as we desire, He is still working and in the end will be glorified.

Our hymn for today, “The God of Abraham Praise” is based one on a Jewish hymn called Yigdal Elohim, which means “magnify the Lord”.  Thomas Olivers, a Methodist minister, overheard the original being sung in a synagogue.  Around 1770, he translated it into English and, shall we say, “Christianized” it.

The God of Abr'ham praise,
who reigns enthroned above;
the Ancient of eternal days
and God of love!
Jehovah, great I AM,
by earth and heav'n confessed
I bow and bless the sacred Name
forever blest.

The God of Abr'ham praise,
at whose supreme command
from earth I rise, and seek the joys
at His right hand.
I all on earth forsake,
its wisdom, fame, and pow'r,
and Him my only Portion make,
my Shield and Tow'r.

He by Himself hath sworn,
I on His oath depend;
I shall, on eagles' wings upborne,
to heaven ascend,
I shall behold His face,
I shall His pow'r adore,
and sing the wonders of His grace
forevermore.

He keeps His own secure,
He guards them by His side,
arrays in garments, white and pure,
His spotless bride:
with streams of sacred bliss,
with gross of living joys-
with all the fruits of paradise
He still supplies.

Before the great Three-One
they all exulting stand;
and tell the wonders He hath done,
through all their land:
the list'ning spheres attend,
and swell the growing fame;
and sing, in songs which never end,
the wondrous Name.

The whole triumphant host
gives thanks to God on high;
"Hail, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost"
they ever cry.
Hail, Abr'ham's God and mine!
I join the heavenly lays;
all might and majesty are Thine,
and endless praise.