Exodus 4-6
Day 31: Exodus 4-6 Notes & Takeaways
CHAPTER 4
We continue where we left off in yesterday’s reading: Moses has been called by God to return to Egypt and lead his people out of Egypt. But, Moses doubts his abilities, and whether the Israelite elders and Pharaoh would believe him. So, the Lord shows him 3 miracles to perform:
He turns the staff into a snake and back into a staff (Exodus 4:3) The Lord could turn a simple item, like a rod into a great weapon. See 1 Samuel 17:49 for when he used David’s stone to defeat a giant. Later he uses the jawbone of a donkey in Samson’s hand to defeat a thousand men (Judges 15:15).
Instructs him to put his hand in his cloak, when he takes it out it is white as snow, like a leper, then when he puts it back in and takes it out it’s restored (Exodus 4:7) This transformative power is the same power that can heal and make a person brand new. That same power is living in every believer today!
“The Hebrew word for leprosy covered a number of assorted diseases much as our word ‘cancer’ currently does.” (Kaiser)
If they still don’t believe, he tells him he can take water from the Nile, pour it on the ground, and it would turn into blood (Exodus 4:9)
Moses mentions that he is “slow of speech and tongue” (Exodus 4:10) But we know that “Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was powerful in speech and actions” (Acts 7:22). But, after 40 years of being in Midian, tending sheep, he had lost his confidence. The answer the LORD gives to him is one of my favorite passages in the entire Bible
The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say” (Exodus 4:11-12).
Even after the miracles that the LORD performs for Moses, and after the Lord declares that He created human’s mouths and gives them the ability to speak, Moses still does not feel equipped to do what the Lord commands him to do. “Please send someone else,” he says (Exodus 4:13). So the Lord tells him to use Aaron. Aaron would speak for him and Moses would put the words in his mouth.
We may feel just like Moses, we may feel inadequate for the job he is calling us to do. We may feel that we aren’t educated enough, or have enough degrees on our walls to reach others for Christ, but time and time again, the Lord used those who were unqualified and equipped them for the job he had already qualified them to do. It is through God and with God’s help that we are able to perform our calling to the fullest of our abilities. We can’t do it alone. As Paul puts it, “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Cor 9:8).
We will see that although God allows Aaron to be Moses’ spokesperson, he would bring a lot of trouble for Moses (Exodus 31:6, Leviticus 10:1-7, Numbers 12:1-8). You see, when we are called to do something, we should know that we are FULLY capable of doing it because God already prepared the way for us, but when we try to “help” God’s plan, it usually brings trouble. Also, if we look back at the patriarchs, when something was done with half obedience, trouble tended to follow. See Genesis 12 for the call of Abram. The Lord had called Abram to leave his people and his father’s household to the land God had showed him, and he did so, but with half obedience Abram went and took Lot with him. Lot would later be the cause of Abram going into battle in Genesis 14 to rescue Lot from those that had taken him captive.
Moses starts on his journey back to Egypt with his family, but with the understanding that once he is there and goes up to Pharaoh, God would harden his heart and only the loss of the firstborn child would cause him to let the people go.
Who really hardened Pharaoh’s heart? We might say that it was both God and Pharaoh; but whenever God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, He never did it against Pharaoh’s will. Pharaoh never said, “Oh, I want to do what is good and right and I want to bless these people of Israel” and God answered, “No, for I will harden your heart against them!” When God hardened, He allowed Pharaoh’s heart to do what Pharaoh wanted to do – God gave Pharaoh over to his sin (Romans 1:18-32) (Guzik).
On Moses’ trip back to Egypt, God intercepted him and “was about to kill him” (Exodus 4:24). Moses’ wife, Zipporah, “took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it” (Exodus 4:25). At that time, she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” After that, God relented and in this way, Zipporah saved her husband’s life.
This part of the chapter was a tad confusing at first, but we must remember and even annotate it on our Bibles for later if need be, that these circumstances happened some time after Moses left Midian and was on the journey to Egypt. Moses had been called, and when you are called into a leadership role, you are to make sure you have your house in order (1 Tim 3:5), and Moses had missed one big thing in his house affairs: circumcision.
Exodus 4:24 Tells us that Lord wanted to kill him. We know that the Lord is all powerful, and if he wanted to kill Moses, he could have. Therefore we can assume that the meaning of this phrase is that perhaps Moses probably had gotten sick in some way that both Moses and Zipporah understood it was because they had failed to be fully obedient in the circumcision of their child. Thus, until the child was circumcised, Moses was in danger of being killed by God. Zipporah, understanding exactly what she needed to do, quickly acts and then touches Moses’ feet with the foreskin and complains to him with the words, “you are the bridegroom of blood” referring to the circumcision. This can be seen as a lament on her part. She is angry at Moses for what she had to do. In common terms it would be like calling her husband, a husband of horrors. Thereafter, God sends Aaron to Moses and they meet with the elders of the Israelites and the elders all believe and worship God for remembering them.
CHAPTER 5
As Moses and Aaron arrive in Egypt and speak to Pharaoh they not only get a no from Pharaoh, but now the workload of the Israelites is increased. They are required to have the same number of bricks made but now they are to gather their own supplies as well (mostly straw), which they did not have to do before. Pharaoh did not think of himself as just a mere leader, in Egypt, the Pharaoh was thought to be a physical representation of their god, Ra. He had supreme power and authority there.
Straw has an acidic content that makes the bricks stronger. The use of straw in making bricks in Egypt during this period is confirmed by archaeology. “Bricks of all sorts have been found in Egypt, some with regularly chopped straw, some with rough roots and oddments, some without straw at all.” (Cole)
Because of this the Israelites went to Aaron and Moses and complained, “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us” (Exodus 5:21). The Lord knew this would happen, the Lord was still in control of the situation. He knew it would make the Israelites uncomfortable and test their faith in Moses and in Him, but He was going to free the Israelites, He was going to make a way for them to exit Egypt, but first there was some testing to do.
That’s what happens in our lives sometimes. We are living comfortably in our sin and when we come to Jesus, satan goes on the attack. When we were in sin satan didn’t have to bother us. He had us right where he wanted us, but it is when God intervenes and we turn our gaze and lives toward him that the devil will begin his attack. He doesn’t want us to fulfill our calling, he doesn’t want us to trust God. He wanted the Israelites to look at the struggle and not at the coming rescue of their people. He wanted Moses to faulter as a leader and to doubt his mission, and Moses did. “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me?” (Exodus 5:22). We see a huge difference here from his predecessor Joseph. In all things, at all times, through victory or struggle, Joseph trusted in the Lord and never complained, but in this situation, Moses did stumble. But, thank God we serve a God full of grace, because He would give it, time and time again to Moses and the Israelites.
CHAPTER 6
Perhaps Moses thought God wasn’t aware of what would happen, but in all things, God is supreme and in control. God reminds Moses who He is and the covenant He made to his ancestors Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), Isaac (Genesis 26:2-5), and Jacob (Genesis 28:13-15).
“God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.” (Exodus 6:2-5)
Moses reported all this to the Israelites, “but they did not listen to him because of their discontent and harsh labor” (Exodus 6:9). The Israelites had been in slavery for so long now that they no longer thought of themselves as covenant people, but as slaves. Their mentality had changed from a nation set apart, to a people oppressed. To them Pharaoh was way bigger than their God, and some of us find ourselves like this too. We think our problems our bigger than God. We have lived a life so beat down by the oppression and the difficulties of life that we can’t see God and his greatness anymore. Our God seems tiny compared to what we’re dealing with. But, the same God that spoke this world into existence (Genesis 1), the same God that would part the sea for them (Exodus 14), the same God that would bring them out of Egypt, is the same God that lives in us now. There is nothing He can’t do! This is why Paul says we must not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:1-2). The children of Israel needed a renewal of their minds, and sometimes, so do we.
In the latter part of chapter 6 we see the heads of families and their descendants. The main families would come from the tribe of Levi: the families of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
We move down to the father and mother of Moses and Aaron: Amira and Jochebed. And from there we see Aaron’s descendants. These will be important because from his descendants will come the priesthood. We do not hear much about Moses children or wife after these chapters so we know that they do not rise up into any leadership roles after Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt. In fact, Joshua (son of Nun, from the tribe of Ephraim) will take the lead after Moses, not Moses’ own children.
We end the chapter with Moses’ insecurity once again, “since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?” This is where we shall pick it up tomorrow when we read chapters 7-9 in Exodus. I hope you’re learning a lot and enjoying it all at the same time. I know I am! Make sure to follow RF on Instagram, and join our FB Group to stay up to date for our next weekly zoom sessions!
REFERENCES
Cole, R. Alan Exodus, An Introduction and Commentary (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 1973)
Guzik, David Enduring Word Commentary (Enduringword.com)
Kaiser, Walter C. Jr. “Exodus” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary Volume 2 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1990)
