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.

2And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.

3And 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.

4And 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:

5That 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.

6And 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.

7And 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.

8And 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.

9And 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.

10And 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.

11And 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?

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

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

14And 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.

15And 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.

16And 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.

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

18And 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.

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

20And 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.

21And 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.

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

23And 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.

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

25Then 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 artthou to me.

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

27And 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.

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

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

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

31And 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.

1 And Moses answered, and said, But behold, they will not beleeue mee, nor hearken vnto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared vnto thee.

2And the Lord said vnto him, What is that in thine hand? and hee said, A rod.

3And 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.

4And the Lord said vnto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the taile: And he put foorth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:

5That they may beleeue that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Iacob hath appeared vnto thee.

6 And the Lord said furthermore vnto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosome. And he put his hand into his bosome: and when hee tooke it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snowe.

7And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosome againe. And hee put his hand into his bosome againe, and plucked it out of his bosome, and behold, it was turned againe as his other flesh.

8And it shall come to passe, if they wil not beleeue thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first signe, that they will beleeue the voice of the latter signe.

9And it shall come to passe, if they will not beleeue also these two signes, neither hearken vnto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the riuer, and powre it vpon the drie land: and the water which thou takest out of the riuer, shall become blood vpon the drie land.

10 And Moses saide vnto the Lord, O my lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken vnto thy seruant: but I am slow of speach, and of a slow tongue.

11And the Lord said vnto him, Who hath made mans mouth? or who maketh the dumbe or deafe, or the seeing, or þe blind? haue not I the Lord?

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

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

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

15And thou shalt speake vnto him, and put words in his mouth, and I wil be with thy mouth, & with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall doe.

16And he shal be thy spokesman vnto the people: and he shall be, euen hee shall be to thee in stead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him in stead of God.

17And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt doe signes.

18 And Moses went and returned to Iethro his father in law, and said vnto him, Let me goe, I pray thee, and returne vnto my brethren, which are in Egypt, and see whether they bee yet aliue. And Iethro said to Moses, Goe in peace.

19And the Lord said vnto Moses in Midian, Goe, returne into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.

20And Moses tooke his wife, and his sonnes, and set them vpon an asse, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses tooke the rod of God in his hand.

21And the Lord said vnto Moses, When thou goest to returne into Egypt, see that thou doe all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I haue put in thine hand: but I wil harden his heart, that hee shall not let the people goe.

22And thou shalt say vnto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my sonne, euen my first borne.

23And I say vnto thee, let my sonne goe, that he may serue mee: and if thou refuse to let him goe, behold, I will slay thy sonne, euen thy first borne.

24 And it came to passe by the way in the Inne, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.

25Then Zipporah tooke a sharpe stone, and cut off the foreskinne of her sonne, and cast it at his feete, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to mee.

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

27And the Lord said to Aaron, Goe into the wildernesse to meete Moses. And hee went and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.

28And Moses tolde Aaron all the wordes of the Lord, who had sent him, and all the signes which hee had commanded him.

29 And Moses and Aaron went, and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.

30And Aaron spake all the wordes which the Lord had spoken vnto Moses, and did the signes in the sight of the people.

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

II == Ex 4:17 , 20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

V == Ex 3:15 ; 19:9

 

 

VI == Num 12:10 ; 2nd Kings 5:27

 

 

VII == Num 12:13-14 ; Deut 32:39 ; 2nd Kings 5:14 ; Matt 8:3

 

 

 

 

 

IX == Ex 7:19

 

 

 

 

 

X == Ex 6:12 ; Jer 1:6

 

 

 

XI == Ps 94:9

 

 

XII == Isa 50:4 ; Jer 1:9 ; Mark 13:11 ; Luke 12:11-12 ; 21:14-15

XIII == Jon 1:3

 

XIV == Ex 4:27 ; 1st Sam 10:2-3 , 5

 

 

 

XV == Ex 7:1-2 ; Num 22:38 ; 23:5 , 12 , 16 ; Deut 5:31 ; 18:18 ; Isa 51:16 ; Jer 1:9

XVI == Ex 7:1 ; 18:19

 

 

 

XVII Ex 4:2

 

 

 

 

 

 

XIX == Ex 2:15 , 23 ; Matt 2:20

 

XX == Ex 17:9 ; Num 20:8-9

 

 

XXI == Ex 3:20 ; 7:3 , 13 ; 9:12 , 35 ; 10:1 ; 14:8 ; Deut 2:30 ; Josh 11:20 ; Isa 63:17 ; John 12:40 ; Rom 9:18

 

XXII == Jer 31:9 ; Hos 11:1 ; Rom 9:4 ; 2nd Cor 6:18 ; James 1:18

XXIII == Ex 11:5 ; 12:29

 

XXIV == Gen 17:14 ; Num 22:22

XXV == Josh 5:2-3

 

 

 

 

 

XXVII == Ex 3:1 ; 4:14

 

 

XXVIII == Ex 4:8-9 , 15-16

 

 

 

 

XXX == Ex 4:16

 

 

XXXI == Gen 24:26 ; Ex 2:25 ; 3:7 , 16 , 18 ; 4:8-9 ; 12:27 ; 1st Chr 29:20

1 "But," objected Moses, "suppose they will not believe me, nor listen to my plea? For they may say, 'The LORD did not appear to you.'"

2 The LORD therefore asked him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he answered.

3 The LORD then said, "Throw it on the ground." When he threw it on the ground it was changed into a serpent, and Moses shied away from it.

4 "Now, put out your hand," the LORD said to him, "and take hold of its tail." So he put out his hand and laid hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand.

5 "This will take place so that they may believe," he continued, "that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, did appear to you."

6 Again the LORD said to him, "Put your hand in your bosom." He put it in his bosom, and when he withdrew it, to his surprise his hand was leprous, like snow.

7 The LORD then said, "Now, put your hand back in your bosom." Moses put his hand back in his bosom, and when he withdrew it, to his surprise it was again like the rest of his body.

8 "If they will not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, they should believe the message of the second.

9 And if they will not believe even these two signs, nor heed your plea, take some water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water you take from the river will become blood on the dry land."

10 Moses, however, said to the LORD, "If you please, LORD, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past, nor recently, nor now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and tongue."

11 The LORD said to him, "Who gives one man speech and makes another deaf and dumb? Or who gives sight to one and makes another blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

12 Go, then! It is I who will assist you in speaking and will teach you what you are to say."

13 Yet he insisted, "If you please, Lord, send someone else!"

14 Then the LORD became angry with Moses and said, "Have you not your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know that he is an eloquent speaker. Besides, he is now on his way to meet you.

15 When he sees you, his heart will be glad. You are to speak to him, then, and put the words in his mouth. I will assist both you and him in speaking and will teach the two of you what you are to do.

16 He shall speak to the people for you: he shall be your spokesman, and you shall be as God to him.

17 Take this staff in your hand; with it you are to perform the signs."

18 After this Moses returned to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, "Let me go back, please, to my kinsmen in Egypt, to see whether they are still living." Jethro replied, "Go in peace."

19 In Midian the LORD said to Moses, "Go back to Egypt, for all the men who sought your life are dead."

20 So Moses took his wife and his sons, and started back to the land of Egypt, with them riding the ass. The staff of God he carried with him.

21 The LORD said to him, "On your return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put in your power. I will make him obstinate, however, so that he will not let the people go.

22 So you shall say to Pharaoh: Thus says the LORD: Israel is my son, my first-born.

23 Hence I tell you: Let my son go, that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, I warn you, I will kill your son, your first-born."

24 On the journey, at a place where they spent the night, the Lord came upon Moses and would have killed him.

25 But Zipporah took a piece of flint and cut off her son's foreskin and, touching his person, she said, "You are a spouse of blood to me."

26 Then God let Moses go. At that time she said, "A spouse of blood," in regard to the circumcision.

27 The LORD said to Aaron, "Go into the desert to meet Moses." So he went, and when they met at the mountain of God, Aaron kissed him.

28 Moses informed him of all the LORD had said in sending him, and of the various signs he had enjoined upon him.

29 Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites.

30 Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses, and he performed the signs before the people.

31 The people believed, and when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their affliction, they bowed down in worship.

v 1. This excuse was legitimate fear. They hadn’t believed him before, why now?

 

v 2. God might ask us the same question. What is in our hand? We should use what time, talents and resources we have. We may need to develop, improvise, adjust.

 

v 3-5. A serpent is worn on the crown of Pharaoh, and is the of symbol of royal and divine power. Moses probably recognized this as a live poisonous snake and ran. The only safe place to grab a snake is behind the head, so this took faith to obey God and grab the tail. He didn’t know it would turn back into his rod. This startling miracle would convince the elders of Israel that God had appeared to him.

 

 

 

v 6,7. Having his hand turn leprous, would be horrifying until he was healed.

 

 

 

 

v 8,9. Any who didn’t believe those signs would believe if water turned to blood. 

 

 

 

 

v 10-12. Moses pled not being an eloquent speaker, but Acts 7:22 says he was mighty in word and deed. He spoke with intellect in powerful, well thought words, but speech impediment kept him from being a good orator, harming his confidence. God ignored the excuse and said He would be with his mouth and teach him what to say. We may have trouble in witnessing, but God is the answer to any of our personal lacks.

 

 

v 13. This is the real reason behind all Moses’ excuses, he didn’t want to do it. Unsaved don’t come to the Lord because they don’t want to. Christians may have various excuses for not wanting to obey the Lord, but really, they don’t want to.

 

v 14-17. God knew what Moses’ responses would be, but still, He was angry for his obstinacy. He must have already prompted Aaron to go meet him. He would be overjoyed to see his “little” brother after over 75 years separation. Moses’ unbelief cost him the loosing of his tongue,

v 12; lost the opportunity for undivided leadership; (line of priests0 and his helper, Aaron was a stumbling block at times. God would now speak to Moses, Moses would speak to Aaron, and he would speak, with God’s help, with the people.

 

v 18,19.Jethro was quite willing for Moses to go check on his family, but Moses had not divulged the most important reason for his return to Egypt. According to Egyptian law, Moses could not be punished for a crime he had committed while the former king was living, so Aaron may have been looking for him to tell him he was now free. Whether or not Moses hesitated, the Lord gives him added encouragement.

 

v 20-23. Moses’ staff is now known as “the rod of God”. It is of more importance than if he had raised an army to support him, Zech. 4:6. God fore warns him that Pharaoh will not willingly let the people go. The warning regarding the first born may not have been given to Pharaoh, Amenhotep 2, until time for that plague.

v 24-26. Assuming Moses had circumcised his first son,l he neglected to circumcise his second son, possibly because his wife had found it offensive. On the eve of delivering Israel, Moses was stricken almost fatally ill as a reminder that without circumcision, an Israelite was cut off from the covenant. Some think the angel of the Lord may have appeared to him with drawn sword, as He did to Balaam. Being made aware that Moses’ life depended on it, his wife performed the ceremony, but threw the skin at Moses feet, retorting he was a bloody husband. This may not have been a rebuke, but a recognition that he was saved by the blood. Then God let Moses alone to recover and she repeated her rebuke. It may have been at this point that Moses made total commitment and sent his family back to Jethro, 18:2.

v 27. God surely started Aaron first, because they met at Mt Horeb, or Sinai. It could even be at this point that Moses sent his family back.

v 28-30. Moses probably “briefed” Aaron of all the details on the way back to Egypt, where they gathered all the elders of Israel first. Aaron became spokesman for Moses as God had permitted, but the signs were performed before the congregation.
v 31. First gaining cooperation of leaders, now all the people believe & worship.